Devil's Lake

Devil's Lake is one of my new favorite places!  What a great park, there is so much to do around there.  All this time we've lived here and we've never been there until this summer!  It's an easy drive for us, about three hours.

We camped at Baraboo Hills Campground.  Nice campground, nice amenities and lots of entertainment, especially for families with younger kids.

Friday night, I took boy #2 on a kayaking tour of the lake with the naturalist.  When we got to the park, there was a fish fry and a live band next to the lake.  Kayaking on flat water is incredibly boring but for boy #2 it was just the right length of time and level of difficulty.  We learned a little about the history of the lake, I'm always interested in the history of places we visit.  At least, when there is something interesting to learn.

The sun set on our kayak tour of the lake and we headed over to the campsite for a late dinner then to bed.  Rock climbing at 7 a.m.!  We used a guide, Devil's Lake Climbing Guides, we have never climbed before so we don't have equipment or knowledge.  Nick was our guide and he was great, really nice guy, fun to hang out with.

We started with talus scrambling.  I guess that's the rock climbing term for climbing up the big rocks without ropes.  There is a path that goes around these rocks, to the bottom of the bluffs but Nick said it was easier to go this way. 

Hmmm.  I'm not sure I totally agree with that but we did it.  The kids went right up and over without any trouble, I was a little slower.  It's pretty high at the top, I had to stay focused on where I was going, not where I came from because it was a little unnerving for me.  Anyway, we did finally make it to the real climbing. 

We climbed for several hours but ended up cutting it a little short so we could get off to Devil's Lake Resort for some mountain biking.  In July and August the chair lifts are running up to the top of the ski hill so you can mountain bike down. 

This was loads of fun, however, we did come back with two broken bikes.  Boy #2 crashed at the very end of a trail and the teenager did who only knows what, his chain and gears were messed up.  That was it for biking!  I wanted to ride the trails at Devil's Lake State park on Sunday but I was the only with an operational bike so we skipped that.  Next year!  Bike repairs in this house put the husband over the edge, he was pretty crabby when we were loading up the bikes to head back to the campsite.

Sunday morning the husband fished the WI river.  About 9 a.m. he called and said he wanted to stay again Sun night and head back Mon!  Shut the front door!  Really?  That never happens, I always want to stay and he always wants to go home.  Anyway, that gave me some extra time to take my SUP over to Devil's Lake Sunday afternoon.

We got back and dropped the teenagers bike off at the shop, I had loads of laundry to do but all that's okay.  Pay to play, right?  Devil's Lake is on our list of favorite places and will be one that we return too often!  I can't wait to head back next summer. Maybe, if I'm really lucky, we'll go back in the fall...fingers crossed!  Isn't there something to fish for in the fall?