What makes me qualified to write something like this? NOTHING but I'm going to do it anyway.
I grew up in a household where there wasn't really a priority made on the outdoors. This doesn't mean I didn't spend time outside, because I did, it means my parents didn't spend a lot of time in the great outdoors - we weren't the camping type. I was lucky enough to grow up mostly in a Northern Suburb of the Twin Cities. I had a pond and a forest in my back yard - because of this I developed a passion for the outdoors but State Parks were mostly off of my radar. We had vacationed to Itasca once and to Duluth on many occasions mostly doing touristy things around the city but on rare occasions we would travel up to Gooseberry and once made it as far as Split Rock, but as most people seem to do, we would stop at the main attractions then leave not once stepping off of the beaten path to discover what else these parks might have to offer. The idea of hiking never struck anyones mind. Fast forward to my teens... my best friend's family was pretty outdoorsy and would bring me along on a lot of their adventures. These are the people who inspired the adrenaline junkie in me. With them I've cliff jumped at Temperence State Park, I have downhill mountain biked the Sawtooth Mountains near Lutsen, watched many kayakers attempt the white water at Jay Cooke and discovered towns like Grand Marais and the gloriousness that is Sven and Ole's Pizza. I even took my first flight with them to San Francisco in 2000 - so to say they opened up new doors for me would be an understatement. But even at this point I hadn't really been hiking. When it came time to go to college, I chose the University of Minnesota - Duluth. Why? Because they had a great art program? I wish that was the real answer (they did have a great program by the way). The real answer is because it was close to all these outdoorsy things that I was curious about. Jay Cooke and Gooseberry Falls quickly became frequented parks, Jay Cooke for rollerblading and Gooseberry for studying - I would hike up to fifth falls and sit and read my text books. Still I hadn't seen much of what these park had to offer and though I went back a few times after graduating and moving back to the cities I never really veered away from the paths that I knew. Things really changed in June of 2016 with a planned vacation of lifetime...
0 Comments
I'm sure you are thinking it is 2018 why start a blog now... wasn't that the cool thing to do in 2009??? The answer is I'm not sure yet. I do know that I wanted a place to share more than pictures and a few brief words about my recent adventures. See, last fall I started out on a quest to visit all of the Minnesota State Parks - at the time it wasn't something I was overly passionate about, it was just a way to keep me busy during a layoff - you know, a way to give some sort of purpose durning one of those possibly life changing moments that could easily lead you into some kind of depression if you aren't careful. Around the same time I had rescued a new dog. Penny, a 1-year old lab/border collie mix with a lot of extra energy. She needed the time spent in Parks as much as I did. She came with a few more challenges than I expected... As I said she was a rescue dog, she spent time in a kill shelter in Missouri before ending up in the care of Coco's Heart Dog Rescue out of Hudson, WI - which is where I found her. Turns out she has severe dog anxiety and a fear of water and metal bridges which prove to be interesting issues when out in a State Park especially the popular ones along the North Shore. This blog will follow our adventures (trials and tribulations) through the Park system and what we learn along the way. |
AuthorThis is my quest to find my place beneath the stars - outside the confines of my office and without the pressures of everyday life. Archives
November 2023
Categories |