North shore climbing trip, October 2016: A MINNESOTA ADVENTURE

I have always felt that Minnesota was always being overlooked for adventure.

I know I have often complained about the flat terrain, the millions of mosquitoes, and whatever the fuck else but I digress...everyone I've met who has never been to Minnesota pretty much just assumes all we have is farmland.

YA , YOU BETCHA! :thumbs up:

WRONG.

If you look hard enough though, there are so many little hidden gems. One such treasure is the area around Lake Superior.

I am so fucking fortunate to have a dedicated, encouraging, and incredibly fierce climbing crew. My boyfriend @ghostfish, our mutual friends Ross and Angie, all climb a hundred times better than I... I don't know why they are always happy to include my pansy ass in climbing things I didn't even WANT to think about.

We wanted to celebrate a final climbing and camping trip before the weather got too unbearably chilly so we all chose to climb the Mystical Mountain in the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, in Finland, Minnesota.

Though the place we set up camp at was crawling with RVs and other campers, it was really quite breathtaking. Lake Superior was mere minutes from our tent:

The mercury dropped to about 30 °F or -1°C at night. @ghostfish was a gent and gave me the warmer blanket to put over my sleeping bag. I was happy that we managed to stay cozy despite the minor discomfort.

The next day we awoke, continued to freeze our butts off, chugged our coffee and scarfed down a quick breakfast before driving to the ELC.

My good friends Ross and Angie at the start of the hike.

@ghostfish intently reading up on how NOT to kill us all.

The gear that kept us alive and in one piece. I believe in the power of the 'biner.

@ghostfish kindly started the route by inserting gears into the cracks. This is called trad climbing for those that aren't familiar. Trad climbing is a pretty extreme type of climbing after free solos, as you rely on gear placement to keep you safe. I admire the hell out of my dude. I really fucking do. The man has some cojones!

The walls on Mystical Mountain were pretty tall. I gather this was almost a hundred feet!

I gazed down at the treetops. Afraid as usual, but daring to look fear in the face as I always have.

Sometimes the best views are so goddamn hard to get to:

The scenery almost made me cry. I couldn't believe I dragged my ass up higher than I have ever been in my life, with this view as a reward.

Mother Nature, you always render my heart to shreds in complete awe of you, every single goddamned time.

The afternoon sunlight warmed my heart and danced through the fiery cloak of autumn leaves.

There's nothing like sharing hot jasmine tea with a friend after an exhilarating climb.

My friend Angie was also a splendor in the afternoon sun. A girl with a beautiful smile, and a heart of gold.

Thank you for looking! All photos were taken by yours truly, except of course the shot where I was drinking tea. DUH.

<3<3

I may not be rich in material wealth and do not often have the money to travel to exotic locales, but I have a treasure trove of experiences and wonderful memories. I truly am grateful for the life I have been living.