Right about the time that I got injured earlier this year I heard about some bouldering 2 hours away in Governor Dodge State Park.
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Ever since then I’ve been eager to get out there to check out some of the problems and today I finally had my chance. Unfortunately, I was without multiple pads or any spotters so pictures are minimal as was my margin for error.
Mountainproject.com has great beta for the areas at The Dodge which gave me a few different places to check out. First up I checked out the Area B/Backbone area that is located behind the B group campsite. I imagine the scene is much different in the summer but today the entire campsite (and the whole park) was basically deserted which suited me just fine. The first problem I came across was Get The Hell Outta Dodge. My topo said V5 but it didn’t look too bad so I decided it was as good as anything to warm up on.
It ended up being about what it looked and the only real issue was the top out which took me 2 tries to figure out. After that I went to the other side of the ridge that the boulders jut out of where there was a higher concentration of problems. One theme became clear for just about all the problems: height. Having one pad, no spotters and having heard many stories about the fragile sandstone I was definitely aware of the possibility of taking a bad spill at any moment.
I found a few easier problem to properly warm up on, and I also felt the holds on the area testpiece Sandstone Violence (V8) that was put up late last year by Jason Huston. I ended up giving it a few tries later on and it seems like it could go with some work once I am back in form. I did a few problems on the Picasso boulder that were fun and a bit spicy along with an arete that the topo said was V6 that felt much easier (like V2). The arete problem was even spicier but it was probably the most fun problem I did at the Backbone area. Tall, technical and committing.
Directly adjacent to the Backbone is the line of boulders that make up Area B. Not much looked appealing but I gave Split Personality (V4-5) a try. After a dab getting of the ground I was able to figure out the crimpy sequence in one try which made me quite happy due to the sharpness of the holds. Pictured below, it is actually a really nice line however the holds were a bit too sharp for my liking.
After this, I checked out Huston’s Arete (V4ish) because it sounded fun from reading the description and looking at the pictures. Unfortunately I was either missing something or I’m just a sourpuss because it wasn’t really all that fun. Basically just grovel and balance your way up onto some small, sharp and suspect looking crimps until you can reach a jug at the top.
After that mild disappointment I headed back to the car so I could drive over to the area that promised to have the King Line of the area: Box Canyon. Luckily this area lived up to the hype and it probably contains a couple of the best boulder problems in the whole state. First up was The Godfather (V4). It is on a massive block of sandstone that is quite impressive to climb on. Bad news for me was the landing which sloped downward which didn’t give me much confidence if I had to come off up high. Nonetheless I put the pad where I figured I might land if I came off and set off. The Godfather follows a line of crimps and pockets up a somewhat steep face with super fun moves until you grab a slopey hold for the topout. Overall a superb line that was only dampened a bit by the fact that getting down was damn near impossible save climbing down a large tree.
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To the right of Godfather is a line that I thought was even more fun called All in the Family (V5). It is pretty hard to describe the moves but after I got down I couldn’t help but think that this was one of the most fun problems that I had done in a long long time. It had cool movement as well as all different kinds of holds along with the knowledge that falling basically wasn’t an option once again due to the lack of pads/spotters issue.
Overall, I thought the Dodge was a decent area. Certainly in WI it adds a lot to the climbing that is available and I look forward to going back again to check out more areas and to put some more work in on Sandstone Violence. More pictures next time too!
any hard proejcts?
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Don’t mess around with suspect holds at the Dodge, I made that mistake and landed sans pads on a big rock smack on my butt.
Also, at the Lonely Boulders, the route Another Day Dream(v3) was really fun.
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Jamie – Not sure about hard projects…my impression is no but there did seem to be a lot of stuff that hadn’t been scrubbed yet.
Tony – That was going through my mind every time I left the ground. I feel pretty fortunate that nothing happened. I wanted to go the Lonely boulders but I didn’t really know how to find them plus I wanted to get home to take of some things.
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We didn’t really know where to find them either, just that they were uphill from the horse barn, so we bushwhacked through thornbushes for 2 hours and happened to stumble upon them. Once you know the approach though, its like a 5 min. walk.
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Yeah, I didn’t have any maps to show where the horse barn was and that was where my directions began.
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The park office has a visitor with maps of all the official trails etc. Not that it really matters now.
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i say this with the utmost sincerity: with those relatively flat landings pictured, a single organic big pad will protect your ass perfectly. 20ft fall onto a single layer of organic big pad goodness = totally fine.
for realz.
place looks way cool.
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also, sounds like you’re getting pretty strong with your multiple v4s5s etc crushing in a day!
healing up, eh?
you should definitely force tourists to take photos of you on solo missions.
maybe tie the tourist to a tree so the new camera doesn’t grow legs?
yesh!
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i clickorzed on your advertisements.
i saved the red, in its entirety, just right then.
that was a historical click.
i am supreme.
likes a pizza, yo.
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5 things:
1) We have nearly ordered an organic pad twice and didn’t pull the trigger both times. Mainly due to my not actually climbing much the past 8 months and therefore not needing 2 pads. Perhaps time to reconsider.
2) The main issue with the landings was the downhill slopes involved that made me feel like I might lose my balance if I were to fall off…launching my lanky ass into prickers and trees nearby. The Godfather that was not pictured was the worst as you are committing to the topout on suspect choss-crimps with a 45 degree slope waiting to swallow you whole 15 feet below.
3) Adsense goal has been reached, red saving money will be sent out next month!!!!
4)BPC, you would probably like the choss crushing nature of some of the problems at the Dodge.
5) Starting to feel good again and without pain which is KEY and also a foreign feeling after 8 months of continuous discomfort. Let’s hope this trend continues.
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How’s Tuesday looking by the way?
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Tuesday is a no go…you should have off of school Thursday instead…weather is going to be better anyhow
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You should get a real job like me at A-Rock where you get to pick your own hours. You might have to make some sacrifices though, like eating lentils indefinitly.
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Update: upon further inspection 95% of the rock at the dodge appears to be varying degrees of choss
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Cool website. Wisco aint so bad. I guess…
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So I am trying to climb at this place this weekend. 50 degrees is not so bad. I am down to drive and I have a pad. I live in Cedarburg and really want to get outside this weekend. Reply to this if you want to meet up and we can go crush…. I feel like i am writing a missed connection. -Kevin-
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50 degrees is pretty much perfect at the dodge. I will most likely be climbing at the Lake but I hope you can find someone to go with. Otherwise just go by yourself, that’s pretty much how 90% of my days at the dodge have been.
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