The phrase "happy hunting grounds" comes from early interpretations of some Native American concepts of heaven. The place they described was a mirror image of this world and a utopia of sorts; a place of peace and abundance.

 At Devils Lake however, Happy Hunting Grounds is a long, stand out classic for the grade which demands a cool head and control of your footwork. Its also a showcase route for the Hawks Nest and starts out on the right side of the wall. This technical face route follows an incipient seam system up a gorgeous swath of stone passing marginal small wire placements and 5.9 climbing. A thoughtful and positive 5.11- crux with a few good pieces of gear awaits at 2/3 height and is followed by more airy climbing on good holds with spacey pro. Aim for the small notched roof before the angle break, and then romp to the top.

 This is a fairly serious lead for the grade, and you'll want to make sure you are up for it. The 1979 guide offers this captivating advice if you question your skills: "Leaders who fall on this climb may go to the happy hunting grounds". That said, it is also a gateway route to other more difficult, bold pitches at the Lake. It's an inspiring line, one to remember, and it takes a pretty light rack!

Happy Hunting Grounds

Vivesection

Scylla

Angina

Hallucination

Walpurgisnacht

Nice Corner

R. Exam

No Fruit Please

Mother Fletcher's

Double Hernia

Yellow Pages

Bucket Brigade

Walpurgisnacht Direct

The Ramp (a.k.a. "The Slab")

Charybdis

Coronary

Land's End

Wingspan

Angina II

Alpha Centauri

Flakes Away

Pie Plate

27 Hours of Labor

Anomie

Climb straight up the face a few feet left of Happy Hunting Grounds.

A thin bouldery start leads one into an alcove which yields scant protection opportunities.  The mental crux is committing to hard moves to leave the safety of a good stance in a trough onto the thin vertical face above.  This route protects reasonably well and is quite sustained until high up where it slabs out.  A bold onsight lead.

Start as for "Charybdis", but instead of heading right, continue straight up the incipient crack, and left to the ledge system below the dark, overhanging corner.  Up the dark corner, turn the lip and enter a low-angle ramp.  Where the rock becomes more fractured and loose, exit left to the cedar.

Start from the same large block as Coronary, but instead of moving right to the large ledge, climb up to the roof and out the right side. Finish in the left groove of Coronary.

This starts in the same "Funnel" (5.6) as bucket brigade. At the top of the funnel, take the right dihedral, and at the dirty ledge, instead of continuing up bucket brigade, stick to the broken crack system to the right of the dihedral.

Thrutch through The Funnel, head left, turn the bulge onto a slab, head back right via an airy traverse over suspect rock and finish in a hanging corner with big holds and grand exposure.

This route is a slight squeeze job between Flakes Away 5.12a and Bucket Brigade 5.6 and a good moderate alternative to the both of those routes. As the name states use the blunt corner to the right of Bucket Brigade and to the left of Flakes Away. In my humble opinion the route's crux is near the bottom as a lack of feet make reaching a lovely large ledge quite difficult. The rest of the route climbs on decent ledges with oh so tempting buckets calling your name from Bucket Brigade.

Follow the watermarks right of Happy Hunting Grounds. Angle left and pass the small overhang on the right side.

Climbs the face to top, left of Bucket Brigade and right of Pie Plate, 

  some people use this start, to do Pie Plate, then move left to the good hold,

Starts on "Anomie", exits the alcove to the left, and joins "Charybdis."  The connection is the crux.

Follow thin seam and crimps up to a ledge at 20ft.  From ledge stay right on face to top.  Left corner is off.     Fun and not too bad for a Lake 12.

this is just an insignifacnt variation to alpha centuri

Locate an ugly-looking crack at the base of Hawks Nest, about fifty feet left of Happy Hunting Grounds. Now, look up and notice the tiered roof system. This is the route. 

  The climb starts on the crack, known as the Funnel (5.6), and much maligned due to its insecure climbing and poor pro. Rest assured: the Funnel is only about twenty feet long. Next, continue up easy, broken ledges, reminiscent of an alpine climb. This leads you to the base of the best part of the climb, an overhanging corner system. 

  Climb the corner, made easy by stemming and huge buckets (hence the name), past a relic piton if it is still there, and flop onto a ledge with a perfect view of the Lake. If you are looking for an adventure climb at the Lake, then look no further, and tie in for Bucket Brigade.

A couple of hard pulls and some back step smearing bring you through the crux to a awesome roof sequence on jugs. The "High E" of Devils Lake. 

  This can also be done as 5.8 by passing the first overhang on the right face and then traversing back left under the second overhang.

Thrutch up "The Funnel."  Move left below the tall, sharp arete, and follow the inside corner to the top.  There are several options at the top.

Charybdis is a fine route located about 15 feet east of the giant boulder at the base of Coronary.  The route starts out on challenging holds and remains challenging all the way up.  Follow the small slanting crack up and right, though you may not use the crack much during your ascent as it is very thin.  There is a slight overhang near the top, but the holds are large and copious.  I thought the route was very reachy, but with a few runs on it I'm sure the sequences could be honed to make it more graceful.  This is a fun, challenging 5.7 which, due to its continuous difficulty, could be considered harder than many 5.7's at the Lake.

Coronary is found at Hawk's Nest just above the giant 20-ft high boulder.  Start on the east side of the boulder and climb up the corner made by the wall and boulder.  Stand on top of the boulder, place a stopper to your right, and slither over to the ledge about 5 feet right.  Scrape out a mantel to gain this ledge, then head up and slightly left following the protruding rock (enjoy the exposure!) to the shallow dihedral.  Aim for the pine tree above and finish out this nice climb.

Short but overhung.  Many potential holds are not as good as they look, but enough are that you can eventually work it out. 

  Start in the middle, or start a little right and work you way back left.

Follow the crack up the face to the shallow dihedral below an overhang.

Angina II starts on top of the large block (same start as Coronary.  Head up and left past the overhang and into the hanging dihedral.  Strenuous moves will get you up this easier 5.9.

The start of the route is sequential, starting with your right hand will help TONS. 

  From the start to the crux is solid 10 but the chills out to a fun 8ish afterwards.  

  IMHO this is one of the MOST fun climbs at its grade at the lake.

Stout thin start (12- for direct start off the ground, 11- for jumping to the jug ledge or traversing in).  Thin wandery face utilizing the pie plate hold, which feels like it might rip off when you crank on it.  Eases up higher up.  A very bold lead, but has been soloed.

This route is not included in the Climber's Guide to Devil's Lake. The name comes from a play on words of  27 Years of Climbing in the Red River Gorge. Start by climbing a cute, little problem using the thin crack and finger lock left of the prominent water mark at base. Once over this, trend right on a large layback flake. Make a dynamic move to a very decent ledge which is often times home to local pigeons. From here fire straight up over the right facing corner on small holds.

Up into the alcove.  Exit to the right (the crux).  Move up and right a few moves, then continue more or less straight up.  It is also possible to move just a little further right, and get on the middle part of "Alpha C."

Hawk's Nest is a secluded area found on the far west end of the East Rampart area. It also has some of the tallest routes on the East Rampart.

Description

Protection

Routes in 17: Hawk's Nest