Read about Dan’s travels around the world.

Fall Colors, Whitewater Edition

Last weekend I went on the Hoofer Outing Club's annual whitewater fall colors trip. We camped at the club's land called “Hooferland” in northern Wisconsin and kayaked different rivers each day. The trees were still mostly green and the water was a bit low, but we managed to… Read More »

Bouldering at Governor Dodge

I made a quick trip to Governor Dodge State Park, about an hour from Madison, with the Hoofer Mountaineering Club for some bouldering on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon. We started at the Backbone, a beautiful wall with dozens of problems ranging in difficulty from V0 to… Read More »

Rock Island, Wisconsin

Recently I went with on a trip with a group of nine to the Door Peninsula in eastern Wisconsin. After driving to the very end of the land (the tip of your thumb if you're making the Wisconsin map with your hand), we drove onto a ferry to… Read More »

A Quick Stop at Pictured Rocks

By the time we finally fixed the flat tire after our Crestone Needle climb (see the video from my previous entry), the afternoon rain was upon us. Even as we drove into the valley, we could see that the storm wouldn't let up, so there would be nowhere we could… Read More »

Climbing the Crestone Needle

Over Labor Day weekend, Kim, Gokul and I took a road trip to Colorado to climb the Crestone Needle. This mountain was featured in Fifty Classic Climbs on North America by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. We climbed the Ellingwood Ledges route, which contains several… Read More »

Climbing at Necedah and Ship Rock

I recently went climbing with three friends in Necedah, WI. After a nice sport warmup on a 5.6 called Air, I went for my first ever trad lead. It was only a 5.4, which I could normally climb without even thinking about it, but having to place my… Read More »

Madison Couch Crash

Madison, WI recently hosted its annual Couch Crash, where we invite members from CouchSurfing.org to come to our city for a weekend of festivities. It was an amazing weekend, with lots of interesting people in attendance and many amazing events to partake in.

Here's a little video I put together which summarizes the weekend:

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Colorado Kayaking, Part II

“A group of twelve, huh?” asked Smokey. He was past retirement age and seemed like a nice enough man to have as a campground host.

“Yes,” Ted said. “Is there enough space for us for two nights?” We were still in his car and had just pulled into the campground when Smokey stopped us.

“Well,… Read More »

Colorado Kayaking, Part I

After coming home from my fishing trip, I traveled with a group of twelve Hoofers to the Arkansas River in southern Colorado for a week of whitewater kayaking. Five people from the group were advanced kayakers who had already run far more challenging rivers. The other seven (including me) were intermediate and hadn't run anything… Read More »

The One That Didn't Get Away

For the forth of July, Katie invited me to visit her family in Northern Wisconsin. They rent a beautiful north woods cottage every year on Big Sand Lake near Phelps. Everything's so relaxed there, I took three naps on my first afternoon; it was the perfect location for a… Read More »