IOU Devil's Lake State Park...

By, Sara Hollerich

6/8/05 – 6/12/05 Devil’s Lake State Park

Day 1

Who would have thought you needed to make reservations a whole year in advance to camp at a state park? Well at some places you do and Devil’s Lake is one, that is unless you’re lucky enough to find a non-reserveable campsite that is still available on the weekend. Well being new at the whole club thing we didn’t think about the prospect of being unable to reserve a campsite two months in advance. We weren’t able to reserve a campsite. That is a mistake that will not happen again. We already have two reserved for next summer we had so much fun.

Due to this mistake I decided to do something I have never done before, camp alone. I don’t know that I would do it again but I didn’t see any other alternative. The trip was planned and we needed the sites. After driving 5 ½ hours after work I arrived at devil’s lake at about 10:45 only 15 minutes before the office closed. They helped me find Anna, who was camping with her class, and two campsites that would be appropriate for our needs. After I reserved the site I had to find it in the dark which was a huge challenge. I wasn’t familiar with the park and I misunderstood the directions the park ranger gave me. I finally got my tent set up and passed out soon afterwards. It had been emotionally and physically draining.

Day 2

The next morning I got up and looked around for a while. The visitor center was pretty cool. They had a number of animals including snakes, fish, frogs and even a 13-lined Ground Squirrel. There were also displays about the native people and the geology of the area. It was very interesting and I was glad I visited the center before going out on the trails. Apparently Devil’s Lake was at the bottom of an ocean at one point and also part of a giant river. The river changed its course but the lake remained. When you’re out on the trails you can see signs of both the river and the ocean. Many of the rocks, even at the top of the bluffs, have ripples in them because at one point they were part of the ocean floor. There are also pot holes in some of the rocks. These were caused by hard round rocks rolling on softer rock. Over time an impression much like a bowl was formed.

After I visited the visitor center I hit the trails. I took along my cell phone hoping to find a place with some reception. I had to let the rest of the group know where to go. Melissa and Mike were coming up today and I wanted to make sure they knew where they were going. I climbed a steep bluff and explored for a while. When I neared the top I stopped to make a few phone calls. About that time I felt a drop or two and though no big deal, it is just starting to sprinkle. Soon it was pouring down rain and I was moving as fast as I could down the hill. By the time I reached the bottom I was completely drenched. It was pointless to try to hurry. The worst part was that it was so nice and sunny when I left the campground that I left my tent fly open. By the time I hiked back to the campground my the rainstorm was over and everything was drenched.

I made a trip into town and found a Walmart. I bought a couple more towels, some food to share for supper, and an extra blanket. By the time I was finished with my shopping I went to meet Anna and her class for supper. They invited me to come over for dinner. Then we went for a hike. It was fun to go with the group of energetic college students. The climb up to the top of the bluff was much steeper on the east side of the lake but we reached balanced rock then the top of the bluff. We came down on the west side of the bluff and walked back on the train tracks, not feeling adventurous enough to walk down in the dark.

When I got back to my own campsite Mike and Melissa had arrived and finished setting up their tent. We sat and chatted for a while around the campfire but we were all so tired we went to bed early.

Day 3

We again went hiking and exploring. Mike and Melissa went rock climbing. They tried to convince me to go but instead I took my kayak over to the lake and paddled around for a while and played with Brody at the lake. Stacey, Emily, Molly and Paul were due to arrive and I wanted to make sure I was around to welcome them.

Molly and Paul arrived late in the afternoon and we went paddling on the lake again before supper. They tried fishing and Paul caught a few nice ones but threw them all back. He didn’t feel like butchering them. Molly had some luck as well but I didn’t have my fishing pole with so I just relaxed. The lake had a very small current in it or maybe it was the breeze but I didn’t have to paddle much on the way back.

We had a simple dinner then Stacey and Emily arrived later. Everyone got to know each other around the campfire.

Day 4

This was probably the most fun day because everyone had arrived and we got to do more things as a group. We started off with an interesting breakfast. We made omelets in a bag which were not only easy to make but tasted great. All you have to do is combine eggs, cheese, and any other ingredients you want to include in a freezer bag and drop it in boiling water. Squish is up every now and then with a pair of tongs to make sure it gets fully cooked and you have your omelet in a bag.

After breakfast we all went over and played with the dogs in the lake for a while. Then we went rock climbing. It was quite a hike up to the area we were going to climb. I was pretty nervous. It was only the second time I have been climbing on real rock and we were climbing pretty high. The first time I went up I got a little bit scared half way up the rock face. The climbing wasn’t too technical but there were a few hard spots. Most of us climbed more than a few times. By my third climb I was much fore comfortable and even horsed around on my way down. Molly and Paul had never climbed before and it was fun to watch them try it out for the first time.

When we were finished climbing we took the boats out for a tour of the lake. It was a little bit windy and hard to paddle. Stacey had her boat out for one of the first times and she was having a bit of trouble navigating in the wind. It rained on us a little bit but after the spat was over the sky cleared and we were able to enjoy the day. We went swimming and played with the dogs for a while before returning to camp for dinner.

Supper was gourmet of course. We had beef and pork ribs, corn on the cob, and other fixings. Supper was great and we were all stuffed to our gills. Soon we were all ready for bed.

Day 5

For breakfast we had orange flavored biscuits baked in orange peels. I had never done this before and it worked great. I would suggest wrapping the peel in tin foil before placing it on the coals to keep the peel from burning too badly. It was not necessary for all the peels but about half the peels burned up to the point where a small hole formed. We also had the dump cake we could eat the night before, nothing like desert for breakfast.

Most of the crew packed up and headed home early. Stacey, Emily and I stayed and went for a paddle and a swim then we too headed home. I didn’t get a chance to see everything I was hoping to and am looking forward to our trip there again next June.