Lake Itasca State Park

Nature is an amazing thing. It’s sad that we’ve spread so wide and deep across the land that there isn’t much wilderness anymore. Today I hiked a half-mile trail through dense undergrowth. The trail wasn’t well kept (which was intentional), and when I looked to either side I couldn’t see more 5-10 feet into the forest. There was that much vegetation. I could have been within snack range of a bear and I wouldn’t have known it.

It made for an interesting hike. But occasionally the wall of vegetation would break open and I could see across a clearing or a swamp. At one point the trail broke through and opened into this vast hidden lake. It was completely wild, no boat ramps or swimming docks in site. There was a beaver dam in the middle, and green slime coating half the surface. Forest, reeds, and marsh claimed the lakeshore–no sandy beach for the kids here. It was beautiful. A completely wild body of water like that is extremely rare.

The whole scene was stunning. It just reminds me how amazing the creation is. You go out into the wilderness and see something like, compared to man’s ideal: green lawn stretching into green lawn and houses butted up next to each other butted up next to the lakeshore with docks pushing out into the water from every other yard. Our way is so boring.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *