I spent the weekend brushing up on my kayak rescue skills in northern Wisconsin with the Hoofers Outing Club. Our instructor for the day was Scott, who works at the Bear Paw Outdoor Adventure Resort on the Wolf River. We spent Saturday morning going over the basics in the… Read More: Kayak rescue training and how not to run a whitewater… »
Ever since our bicycle excursion to Devil's Lake last month, my girlfriend Katie and I have been talking about other places we could bike to. We got our chance last weekend when we took a sixty-mile round-trip ride to Blue Mounds State Park with some friends from the Hoofers Outing Club.
We were supposed to… Read More: Biking to Blue Mounds »
A couple of times per year, the Hoofers Outing Club holds a Day of Instruction (DOI), where they teach new members basic skills in canoeing and kayaking. Because of the construction at the Memorial Union, this summer's DOI was moved to Devil's Lake State Park. It's the most scenic park in Wisconsin, so this wasn't… Read More: Devil's Lake Day of Instruction »
Last weekend was time for another Twin Cities Couch Fest, an annual gathering of friends old and new in the fabulous Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
On Friday, we headed up to Interstate State Park, which spans the St. Croix River between Wisconsin and… Read More: Twin Cities Couch Fest »
I spent a day at Devil's Lake to learn how to set top-rope climbing anchors from several leaders in the Hoofers Mountaineering Club. After introductions, the leaders taught our group the basics of setting anchors:
– Tying knots in cordelette and Read More: How To Set a Top-Rope Anchor »
I spent another Memorial Day weekend whitewater kayaking with the Hoofers Outing Club. This is one of my favorite trips of the year as it's beginner-friendly and we get to camp on property the club owns in northern Wisconsin known as Hooferland.
Twenty-four people went on… Read More: Memorial Day Kayaking »
My girlfriend Katie recently bought me two panier bags for my road bike. After I got a rack for the back of the bike, I was daydreaming of the faraway places I could tour. But because I had only ever ridden for short distances in the city, I still had many questions: Would my 20-year-old… Read More: Biking to Devil's Lake »
I headed up on Sunday with some folks in the Hoofers Mountaineering Club to go bouldering at Rib Mountain in Wausau, WI. Rib Mountain was closed to bouldering in 2003, but was just reopened a few weeks ago, so we were excited to check it out.
The boulders were right next to the lookout
I spent a recent weekend with 7 friends climbing at Jackson Falls in the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois. I had no idea there was an actual forest with hills and cliffs in Illinois. I always thought the state consisted of Chicago and a bunch… Read More: Southern Illinois Climbing »
On our trip to Joshua Tree National Park, someone in our group borrowed a tent but didn't set it up in their yard beforehand. Only after we were in the park did we discover that the fly was missing, the zippers didn't work, and some of the poles were missing. The temperature was supposed to… Read More: Joshua Tree Cribs »
