Hike With Me - Interstate State Park

Interstate State Park

Taylor's Falls, Minnesota/St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin

Trail Hiked: Interstate State Park Loop, Walter F. Mondale River Trail and Railroad Trail Loop, Lake of the Dalles Trail, Silverbrook Trail, Eagle Peak Trail

Distance Hiked: 9.94 miles

Elevation Gain: 906 ft. 

Duration: 3h 30m

Minnesota State Parks now have these tank-like chairs that allow folx with disabilities to traverse the often-rough terrain of their trails. I was fortunate to be joined by a very dear friend of mine for this exact purpose, and the delight it brought me to be able to hike with them is beyond description. Though the kindly gentleman up front seemed rather confused by the request, it ended up being a success. 

I'm not going to stop writing about hikes, goodness where would I be without that motivation to compose 500 words about each step of a wander? But, as hiking YouTube veers away from what I liked about it (like so many things I've enjoyed over the years), I'm taking the advice a creator once gave me about an entirely different media: "Find whatever it is you wish you were seeing and aren't, then make that." 

Now, does that mean channels doing what I am don't exist? Of course not, I'm not that naive. However, channels I used to binge, ones that talked about hikers, hiking culture, and adventures, or even hiking-related mysteries, they seem to have become over-produced, clickbaity, edited in a way that annoys me (and possibly only me, I'm willing to accept that), or they're entirely focused on gear. The latter of which, I'm not even saying is invalid or not necessary, I just can't find the energy to give even half of a shit to listen to someone talking about how cutting a toothbrush in half saves contributing weight. 

And, perhaps most importantly, I refuse to pretend I don't notice the voice inflection changing right before they start trying to sell me whichever possibly relevant product they're hawking this week. For the record, I do not begrudge the creators for doing this. I respect the game, but it sure does break my immersion into the story, location, or adventure. 

I'm new to a GoPro, figuring it out as I use it. The editing is minimalist, not because I can't edit video, but because I don't want it to be flashy or fancy or (again, may only be me that's annoyed by it) over-produced, speeding up with royalty-free music and missing the experience itself. 

That's what I'm going for. I want to share my experience as it happened, as much as time, space, and battery power allow. My unfamiliarity with GoPro was prevalent in this particular hike, as I'd unscrewed the camera from the frame to retrieve the SD card the previous evening, but when I put it back in the frame, I forgot to re-fasten it appropriately. I also had no idea the battery would drain so fast, so on my first attempt filming, it crapped out about halfway through a relatively short excursion. I'm quite proud of how this came out, especially with my camera only staying on my shoulder strap by sheer balance of will and hope. 

And, hey! A new excuse to return to places I've already hiked without getting bored! Bonus!