Homeward Bound

Tomorrow I'll be going on the longest solo road trip I've ever taken. Granted it's only an 8 hour drive to Illinois, it's long nonetheless.  Instead of seeing beautiful forests and bluffs, I will see endless miles of open prairie. I'm rather looking forward to the trip and hope to stop quite a few times along the way, visiting numerous small towns. My posts will be a little scarce once I'm back in Illinois. I have to get ready for my best friends wedding, which should be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I won't have much time to go hiking this coming week and weekend, but after that I'm hoping to go up to Jay Cooke State Park and go hiking with a good friend.

Here's a playlist I'm planning for my trip.. Just artists names rather..

Eagan, MN ~ Lifter Puller

Until MN State Line ~ The Cooper Temple Clause

Wisconsin State Line ~ The Seedy Seeds

Heading into Black River Falls, WI ~ Murder by Death

After Black River Falls to Madison, WI ~ Regina Spektor, Leadbelly, Haley Bonar, The Rolling Stones, Violent Femmes

After Madison, WI ~ Tapes n' Tapes, Cursive

Illinois State Line ~ Radiohead, Simon & Garfunkel

From Rockford to Chicago ~ Shiny Toy Guns, The Ting Tings, Muse

From Chicago to Home ~ Random music/Radio possibly?

Or.. I may go to Starved Rock State Park in IL. It's a bit out of the way.. so we'll see.

Not about Hiking or Nature

Today I would like to talk about the only thing I love more than going on hikes. Music. Music has played a huge role in who I have become. Growing up I didn't really listen to music. I heard what the other kids were listening to in the early years of grade school and I never really cared for it. So for quite a few years when people asked me, "What kind of music do you like?" I'd just say, "I don't listen to music." The problem wasn't that there was not any good music out there.. it was more the fact I hadn't been exposed to the right music. In sixth grade that All changed when my father fixed his record player. I put on Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and instantly fell in love. I had never heard music like that before. It opened up a door to all sorts of other musicians like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, etc. Then in high school, I felt sort of out of the cliques and started listening to Nirvana. The music and lyrics felt close to my feelings. As time went on I continued finding new music that I would fall in love with. Radiohead really changed my taste for the more experimental side of music. Then I reached a point where I  basically said, "Ok. That's it... there's no more decent, recent music out there." And so I delved into the past. I started listening to Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Henry Hall and many others. Now I'm probably a bigger fan of music from the 20's - the 50's than I am of the more modern music. But lately I've been on a modern folk music kick. The Seedy Seeds are an amazing folk band that utilizes computer synths and drum machines along with banjo and acoustic guitar. They're truly revolutionary. As for more traditional Folk music of recent years, I have to say Haley Bonar is by far my favorite. Her songs tell countless stories and I never tire of hearing them. Today I had the pleasure of seeing her perform and talking with her for a minute afterwards. She's just a wonderful musician and amazing lyricist. I'm terribly saddened that she is moving out to the West Coast, but at least she will be back to perform a show in August.

I have all of her albums and today while I was at the performance I bought her vinyl of "Big Star" and she got all excited that I was buying the vinyl. It made me smile :) I also asked if she wouldn't mind signing it and she did. She told me how she keeps waiting for someone to come along and tell her they want her to sign really big over her face on the cover hahaha :P I can't wait for her next album and performance. I'm highly anticipating both.

If you don't know who Haley Bonar is, check out her website:

Haley Bonar | Big Star

Frontenac State Park

Today I left with the intention of going to Frontenac and then after that, the Barn Bluff in Red Wing, MN.. I however did not expect the hike Frontenac gave me. Had I stuck the hiking club trails, it wouldn't have been terribly difficult.. But I had taken a separate trail which took be down a steep, winding path. It brought me all the way down from the top of the bluff to the shore line of Lake Pepin. It was just beautiful.. If only there were not so many people out in their motor boats and jet skis.. it would've been peaceful. After that I had to hike back up the steep trail and it did a number on me. It's not the hiking I usually do.. but when I reached the top I felt much more accomplished than I usually do when I finish a hike. After that I hiked for another 3 or 4 miles on the regular trail.. It made me grateful that I went on the difficult trail. It was definitely a welcomed change to what I'm used to hiking at the state parks. Afterward I was quite tired and so decided not to visit the barn bluff, as I knew that was a bit of a climb as well and I don't think I would appreciate it's beauty as much had I gone today. So another day. Plus today was overcast.. I'm sure the view will be spectacular when I return in the coming months.

William O'Brien State Park

Last weekend I went out hiking in William O'Brien State Park. It was definitely a tougher hike than I thought it would be.. but that is mostly because I took all of the difficult trails. I came across a few animals, including some wild turkeys and a snake, not sure what kind. I need to try and have a lighter step while out hiking. I feel I'd have some better instances of observing animals. Here are a few images I took of the park. The landscape had so much variety and beauty that I wasn't really expecting.

This coming weekend I will be hiking in Frontenac State Park as well as the Barn Bluff near it. Henry David Thoreau said of this area this, "Too much could not be said for the grandeur and beauty of the region".

I'm really looking forward to this hike.

Random Post

I love this song. The video is ok.. but i really just enjoy the lyrics. They ring true I think.

YouTube - Regina Spektor- Laughing With (Official Music Video)

Heaven on Earth

My favorite image I have ever taken.

I was at Rocky Mountain National

Park in Colorado. This is truly a place

I would consider Heaven on Earth. If 

I could, I would live here for eternity.

I am a Hiker

By week I am a 3D Designer, but once the weekend arrives, I transform into my true self. I am a hiker. I find that nothing in world makes me nearly  as whole or at peace than when I am out hiking through forests and rolling prairies. For years I have felt a void in my life... I've always felt out of place in modern society... as if born in the wrong time period. I can't relate to many people.. the few that I can relate to, I feel I have little to say to them.. Not because I wish not to speak with them.. but because I feel an unspoken bond of, "You get it. You understand." What greater conversation is there than the one that needs not be spoken, but is simply felt by both persons. So many things are spoken each day.. yet so very little is said. Conversations held thousands of times over.. So much can be said through our bodies and expressions alone. Silence is a blessing. 

Part of the reason I return to nature as often as possible is to experience silence. Let the wind, the creaking of trees, fluttering of long grass, and the song of birds be all that I hear.

Growing up in the south suburbs of Chicago left me feeling isolated and trapped by society.  The only times I really felt content was when I went to the forest preserve in my home town. If only it had been larger. It was my tiny oasis in the desert or society. Since those days I've lived in Minneapolis.. which for the most part made my isolation feel even greater. But now that I am free of college and have work.. I am able to travel on the weekends. It has by far been some of my best experiences in life. It's not often I smile randomly... but when I am away from nature and am sitting in front of a computer for 10 hours a day.. I think.. "I wonder where I will go this weekend?" And I smile, knowing the weekend is always approaching. 

Don't get me wrong.. I don't hate all of society... Not hate.. I think my feelings have already been spoken so perfectly by Lord Byron, "I love not man the less, but Nature more."

I have said enough for the evening. I will try to observe my advice and speak less in this journal and post photos of things in Nature I find beautiful or speaker better than any word that could be spoken.