Back from Devil's Lake

I'm back from Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin. The trip was fun although I didn't get to climb as much as I anticipated. It was my first rock climbing experience. My, were the rocks slippery... & I broke my record! Of wat? Of NOT BATHING FOR 3 DAYS!!! I usually bathe twice a day but having not to bathe for that long of time, this was my first time. We had no choice cos they locked the bathing toilet. THe only toilet which was open was the 'natural' one where they had toilet seats but we can't flush. THe holes go down straight to the soil/ land. Rily yucky n disgusting...

We left BSU at 5pm and drove about 4 hours till we reached one of our leader's dad's home. We stayed in their cozy basement. That was our first "camping" night. Hahaha... Had skones, brownies, cookies etc. Quite a hearty meal i would say. Skones are rather interesting. THey look like big chunks of cookies n are soft. Heat them up in the microwave n they're just plain delicious... EVen without the microwave, they're ready to go...

Continued our journey the next morning for another 4 hours. Reached Devil's lake state park about 2.30pm. Was glad that the weather was dry. No showers. No snow. We immediately set out for hiking n climbing after we parked the van at our campsite. Climbing up the rock stairs was not an easy task, at least not for me. Was panting up the stairs n the rocks were very very slippery. Plus, my shoes didn't have all that much of a grip. Finally found a spot to rock climb/ mountain climb. Wateva it's called... Waited for the experts to hook up the lines while we put on our harness n climbing shoes. THere were 2 routes. Yi climbed first. Then me, then Fang. We didn't try the other route cos the day was getting darker n we were running out of time. Climbing 1 route usually takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on how quick the person climbs. Went back to our campsite. Set up our tents. Realized the unfortunate toilet thingey. Had a nice dinner. Dunno wat they called it. It had egg noodles with cream of mushroom, sour cream, meat etc. Pasta lookalike. We just rinsed our utensils with boiled hot water. I guess this is genuine camping. No lights, no water, no ntg. All by ourselves out in the dark. It was darn cold as hell. Below 0 celcius? about -4 or -5. We built a campfire, cozy n warm. Slept about 9.30pm. Smell burnt thanks to the fire. WE had to cram 4 people in 1 tent. Abit squishy but we made it. Wrapped ourselves in the winter bags. Woke up quite a few times through out the night. Uncomfortable... Back ached...

Day 2. Ate breakfast n set out for our climbing near the lake. Saw boy scouts n many others. More people during the weekends... FOund a spot. Hooked the lines n started climbing. Tough but fun climbing. Wish I had climbed the 2nd route cos that looks more interesting that the 1st that I tried. Anyway, my hand was running out of energy. Haha... A whole 2 hours ++ of climbing. Ate lunch n continued hiking. It was hard to find a spot for climbing cos there were too many people. Finally found 1 which was far back. Climbed the 1st route. Stuck midway cos the rocks were slippery to continue. Hardly found any hand grip. 3 of us got stuck at the same spot. Only our leader managed to climb till the top. Tried the 2nd route. Couldn't even get pass the first part. Not much hand grip. Limited leg space. Sigh... Tried 3 times n slipped/ swinged 3 times. Had to give up in the end. We were running out of time again, as usual. Back to the campsite. Ate stir fry n rice for dinner. Surrounded the campfire again. Slept about 9++ again.

Woke up the next day, ready to pack n leave. 8 hours journey back to Bemidji. Only stopped about 2-3 times for gas n toilet. Ate frozen custard on the way. Delicious.. Yum Yum! Tiring journey having to sit in the van n ntg else to do besides sleeping. Reached home about 7pm. First thing to do on the list - BATHE! We had to take turns. I was the last to bathe. Cleaned up my room first. Washed my clothes, wateva there was to wash. Haha...

THe trip was fun. I enjoyed myself despite the 'pek chek' ness. I'm kinda in love with climbing now. Don consider myself addicted yet but I may if i continue to climb, may be at the rec center. Intend to climb when i get back to Malaysia. SHould be a fun expereince... hehe...