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“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” —Charles Dickens

Part four in the series takes us on a late-winter hike through Lake Maria State Park, a meditation on seasonal transition and the quiet resilience of a landscape poised between winter’s hold and spring’s emergence.

1. Late February in Minnesota is often a slippery in-between.

2. Sun, sleet, and shadow trade places on glacial hills shaped by retreating ice.

3. Hawks scold, woodpeckers shriek, and winter quietly gives ground to mud, streams, and the smell of thawing earth. 

4. At dusk, the sky burns purple and red at a log camper cabin where a fire catches in the stove, feeling especially good on a winter night in Minnesota.

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Alison Young is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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"Fall is audacious, even if it marks an ending, a last celebration as everything prepares for the long winter, and the Sioux quartzite escarpment that makes up Blue Mounds, bear witness."

Part three in the series brings us to far, Southwestern Minnesota for a day of rock climbing at Blue Mounds State Park. The day unfolds as a contemplative journey through ancient rock, shifting seasons, and the resilient rhythms of prairie life.

1. A mile-long wall of Sioux quartzite rises nearly 100-feet above the prairie, a sentinel watching over the seasons passing over millions of years. 

2. The rock appeared blue from a distance but it's really pink and very climbable.

3. An indigo bunting, roaming buffalo, howling coyotes and the fading prairie grasses and bright yellow flowers surround us as we enjoy the last warm days before winter settles in. 

4. The day ends with the sweet burbling song of a rare, but regular visitor to this park, a blue grosbeak singing a final farewell before flying south. 

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Alison Young is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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“Portage” means carrying a boat and its cargo between navigable waters. Thick forests once made overland travel in Minnesota and lands north slow and punishing, so lakes and rivers served as superhighways of the north. But moving from one lake to the next required hauling everything, canoes included...

Part two in the series takes us on a short hike in Grand Portage State Park revealing the forces that shaped the land as well as the enduring human respect for that land which has long dictated travel, history, and preservation along Minnesota’s North Shore.

1. Gichi-Onigaming is the "Great Carrying Place," a nearly nine-mile portage around Minnesota's highest waterfall, the High Falls, where the Pigeon River plunges 120 feet over over billion-year-old basalt cliffs on a mad rush to Lake Superior.

2. The mist-filled viewing platform under a permanent rainbow is easily accessed by a paved trail and boardwalk, crowded on this hot summer's day with tourists. 

3. A more rugged five-mile trail heads deep into forest to Middle Falls, another obstacle on the river which separates the United States from Canada. 

4. Grand Portage State Park was established in 1989 and is the only state park not owned by the state. Rather it's a cooperative effort with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, shared stewardship, shared history, and shared reverence for the land.

***

Alison Young is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” —Margaret Atwood

Part one in the series highlights a night of near-solitude at Lake Itasca State Park. The moment is a reflection on spring’s renewal and the fragile, hard-won legacy of preservation that allows this landscape to remain alive and vibrant today.

1. Camping alone at Floating Bog Bay amid the rich smell of earth, Alison listens as frogs, birds, and insects erupt in raucous celebration.

2. The episode traces the long, uncertain journey to identify Lake Itasca as the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

3. And highlights how spring's return to this beautiful place depended on a single vote that preserved the land from logging and development.

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Alison Young is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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“The goal of life … is not happiness, peace, or fulfillment, but aliveness.” —Hubert Dreyfuss

1. Sometimes curiosity about what’s around the next corner is enough to keep us exploring and moving forward.

2. Life doesn’t end once you’ve done “enough.” It keeps unfolding.

3. I hike because I am curious and because I can. 

4. Here's a mantra I'll take with me on my next hike of the Great Divide Trail: 

You’re not hiking for records, for ego, or for others.
You’re hiking because you still can—and that’s everything.
Each step is a declaration: “My body is capable. My spirit is willing. I am still in motion.”
There may come a day when this kind of journey is no longer possible.
But that day is not today.
Today, you hike.

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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"You can think your way into a new way of acting, or act your way into a new way of thinking."

• Sometimes we can’t wait for the right mindset to show up. Sometimes we have to step into the behavior first, and trust that the mindset will follow.
  
  
• Credit is due James Loehr the author of "Mental Toughness Training for Athletes." 
  
  
• He says we tend to reside in three energy states: 
  1. Relaxed-Ready, 
  2. Positive-Energized, 
  3. Negative-Energized 
  4. and the dreaded Negative-Fatigued
  
  
• To move out of the more negative states into the positive ones we need to use our emotions as data. What are they telling us? 
  
  
• Instead of resisting how we feel, we can respond with tools like: 
  1. deep breathing, 
  2. focusing on the next small step, 
  3. reframing self-talk 
  4. and leaning on others. 

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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The trail—like life—may not always be what we want it to be, but it offers us the opportunity to choose how we respond to whatever it doles out.

• In the hiking world we have a saying, "Embrace the Suck!" 
  
  
• It's a reminder that the trail doesn't care what we want it to be and is not there simply to meet our expectations.
  
  
• But we always have a choice to accept what is and manage it with faith that things will eventually change for the better. 
  
  
• A good mantra that emphasizes our power is, "Embrace the suck or it will embrace you!"

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between is a great mindset when planning a major thru-hike – or any major life endeavor.

• Blissful is planning a thru-hike of the Great Divide Trail, a rugged and remote route that winds through the Canadian Rockies, tracing the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia.
  
  
• In getting ready, the best mantra is from Maya Angelou, “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”
  
  
• Training to be unsurprised is not naive, but it's learning to be flexible and steady when things inevitably go sideways, while also leaving space for joy, wonder, and the things that can’t be plan for.
  
  
• In your next big endeavor, what are you preparing for, and what are you hoping for? How can being open make for a more successful outcome. 

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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I didn’t expect much when someone asked to closely examine my deformed fingers—but the moment ended up teaching me about what truly matters – and what doesn’t.

• I may be a Blissful Hiker, but my body is twisted and deformed from severe osteoarthritis.
• I’ve learned to ignore their appearance and carry on with life, focusing on what they can do rather than how they look.
• When someone asked to inspect then comment on my fingers, I realized not only was it impolite and uncalled for behavior, but that my interests lie in more meaningful activities like cultivating my mind, my curiosity and my capacity to feel empathy. 

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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Let the Day Unfold! Let its gentle voice guide you toward unexpected surprises and open your heart to the lessons it holds.

• The lowly New Zealand sandfly teaches us about impermanence, to keep moving forward and to stay open to possibility.
• Letting the Day Unfold is a refreshing counterpoint to the classic carpe diem mindset. 
• Rather than gripping the day tightly and trying to control every moment, this phrase invites us to ease our grip, to stay present, receptive, and ready for whatever detours might appear.

MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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