Climbing The North Shore
Recently I took a trip up to the North Shore with the bible camp I am working at this summer. It was a time for the instructors to get to know one another and have a bit of fun before the real work started. We camped in hammocks, cooked over the fire, repelled off cliffs, climbed over superior, and hiked next to waterfalls.
The time spent up north was surreal and felt a bit like a fever dream. I will admit though…I was a bit skeptical about how much fun I was actually going to have. It had been a decade since I had last camped without a 40ft RV with running water, food 24/7, and a furnace. To say the least I had been living in luxury and was only slightly nervous to rough it in hammocks and only cook over the fire. (Spoiler alert: I ended up loving it.)
We set up camp at Eckbeck Campground, a gorgeous tree-shrouded area that sits right next to the Baptism River.
It ended up raining the night we got there (bless tarps), so the first day of our trip was a bit wet and a bit windy. The weather didn’t keep us from getting out and climbing though! We ended up going to Shovel Point and started with Dance of The Sugar Plump Faeries — I hopped on the 5.7, and let’s just say if I thought I loved to climb before going outside, I am now fully addicted. There is something about the feeling of real rock underneath your hands, along with using the skills you have been building up indoors and putting them into practice on completely different terrain.
It is a strange feeling dangling off a rope and repelling down a cliff face…the sensation I’ll admit was scary. I volunteered to climb first and didn’t really know what to expect. I got tied in, checked everything with my belayer, and then found myself standing at the edge of a cliff. It was at that moment that I was slightly afraid, which was odd because I usually don’t feel too nervous when it comes to trying nerve-racking things, but this? There was something about the colossal size of the cliffs and how I was about to be lowered down them and expected to climb back up.
I had about thirty seconds of freaking out, told myself everything was fine, and then began to walk myself down the cliff face. It was once I hit the halfway point and looked behind me to see lake superior that all my fear dissipated. Something in my brain switched and I finally understood why so many people risk their lives for this high.
Those few moments where I was afraid at the beginning didn’t even register as I started to climb. It was like a dance and as I found where my hands were meant to go, my feet followed. Everything fell into place and I just felt at peace.
Later in the day after all of our hands were frozen we chose to do some hiking. Our first stop was the Temperance River State Park where we got to do some waterfall chasing. It was a stunning scene where I got to marvel at the power of nature. In my everyday life, I am always in awe of creation but there are just some things that help you realize how magnificent things really are…this waterfall was one of them.
After Temperance, we hiked the two miles up to Carlson Peak and it was on this trail that I realized my endurance is shot. I have never been a huge hiker, this was not from a lack of interest but mostly because of location. I am also not big on cardio, and even though I enjoy walking, for the most part, I don’t purposely go out on walks or run on a treadmill. This was where my ego takes the hit…I was falling behind on the hikes and was the one who needed to stop constantly. It was an eye-opener because even though I am physically in shape due to climbing and lifting, I realized I have been neglecting one very important aspect of my health, that being my endurance.
Day one ended with pie iron pizzas and cinnamon rolls over the campfire. The air was crisp and as the night drew on we sat around the fire sharing stories and laughing alongside one another. The moments spent with these people made me understand how important community and connection are.
I awoke on day two to the sound of birdsong and the gentle crackle of a fire. I was the fourth one awake and two of my fellow instructors had already started a fire for the morning. We made up breakfast tacos, packed up for the day, and then headed over to Palisade Head.
The day beheld gorgeous blue skies and sunshine, which was a welcome change after it being overcast and windy the day before. The first climb we hopped on that day was Danger High Voltage, a stiff 5.8 that went runs along a huge crack.
For this climb, I was somewhat voluntold and ended up being the first to go down…this ended in me getting a bit lost and eventually going way too far to the right. Because of the length of the climb, the wind, and the waves beating against the rocks, I couldn’t hear my belayer or communicate at all with the people up top. I ended up getting hoisted up a bit and then finishing the climb from the second pitch.
In those fifteen minutes, I spent sitting on the edge of a cliff unable to communicate with my belayer and feeling completely stranded, I realized a few things. The first being I need to get better at reading routes obviously, but the second was that there are going to be times you are completely out of control and it’s up to the people on the other end of your rope to pull you up.
I personally hate being stripped of control, which goes along with me being a very independent person in general. In life, I enjoy knowing the ins and outs of what is happening and I find myself most at peace when I am in the driver’s seat. I became the passenger on that cliff and had no idea what was happening. I was freaked out and did not have any control over what was happening, it was the choices of my team that kept me safe.
My experience on that climb helped me realize that accepting help and not being in control sometimes is okay. I needed that reminder.
After being a bit shaken for an hour I decided that I wanted to try again and do it the right way because I did not want to say I had only done half of the climb. So, after looking at the guidebook and watching my peers do the climb after me, I went down again and redid it. I climbed the entirety of Danger High Voltage and I am grateful I did.
We were at the crag for about two hours before we decided to explore a bit. The rest of Palisade Head was a stunning combination of islands with intricate, arching caves, robust greenery, and views for the books.
The rest of the day was spent back at Shovel Point where we learned how up anchors and scope out routes. I climbed three more routes…those being: The Tree Route (photographed below) which was a solid 5.10a that has a variety of slab and crack climbing, Soldier of God a 5.5 though I extended farther right out of the crack and mostly used the slab, and The Great Yawn where I got to get lowered far enough to touch Lake Superior (and get my pants soaked!). It was a 5.6 on a fun dihedral that allowed for some sick jamming.
This trip definitely kindled an already blazing fire — being outside is a passion of mine and the exploration I got to do in those two days was extraordinary and my heart yearns for more.
Even though the trip is over, I know the memories I made will stick with me for a lifetime. If you have a favorite climbing/camping trip you’ve been on what was it?
