blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance backpacker Alison “Blissful Hiker” Young has logged more than 14,000 miles across six continents, tackling iconic routes such as New Zealand’s Te Araroa, Europe’s Pyrenean Haute Route, South Africa’s Drakensberg Traverse, Nepal’s Great Himalayan Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail in the United States.
An award-winning professional musician and syndicated American Public Media host, Alison approaches storytelling through a deeply attuned ear. Her series of intimate personal essays — coupled with field recordings gathered on trail — trace a path of self-discovery as a middle-aged, titanium-reinforced cancer thriver. They reveal the often unglamorous but essential truths of empowerment, inviting listeners to find the courage to blaze their own trails on the journey we call life.
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Art of the State (Parks): Fall at Blue Mounds
"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.
