Evening Climbing at Cleo's Amphitheater, 7.31.2012

John and the gang clean up shop under a bright end-of-July moon

John Pollakus and I have been trying to revive the Hoofer Outing Club, which has been short on trip leaders for the last two years or so. So we organized a contingent of eager leaders-in-training for Tuesday evening, and headed up to Devils Lake at about 4 PM. I love evening climbing missions because you can get in a full day at the office, school, or whatever, and still have a great PM session on the rock. You get there at 5 PM, the handful of weekday climbers have already left, and you have the cliffs largely to yourself and the squirrels. In high summer, you can easily get 3 - 3 1/2 hours of climbing in... totally reasonable and fun. Plus, you get to "close the Lake down," cleaning up at dusk and hiking out under the stars... or a nearly full moon, as was the case last night. Thanks to John, Marcus, Alex, Tayla, and Dan for a great evening and some good stories; we'll get together again in August.