So I went camping this past Labor Day weekend at Oak Savannah Fields in Easty Troy. I found their campsite on the website www.hipcamp.com. You should check it out.

Oak Savannah Fields is a part of Grassway Organics., which is an organic farm on about 400 acres and is beautiful. They have free-range chickens, cows, and other animals hanging around the farm. The weekend was nice. I tried out my new Coleman Sundome 6 and love it (it rained overnight and I didn’t get a drop of rain). Cooked some pretty good food, including steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Also did some hiking around the farm to walk off all those carbs! Check out my pics below!

Great place!

Meditation is often understood as something done only on a mat or in a chair. And that is a big part of it, but I wanted to remind readers that many of my meditations over the past several months have come in the form of mindful adventures.

Beginning this past spring, I began trying to get back into the wilderness (hiking or sometimes just walking in woods, camping, etc.), This began as a response to Scott Stillman’s book Wilderness. which asks the reader to rekindle their relationship back to the natural world (getting away from the noisy and often chaotic world in which many of us live).

Now I’m not proposing that one run out to REI and drop $1000 on camping equipment. Nor am I trying to persuade you to sign up for the next 7-day canoeing trip at the Boundary Waters. You don’t have to have an extra grand or spend 7 nights on a cot to have a mindful adventure.

For me, getting outside and away from all the noise (traffic, cityscapes, etc.) is my idea of a mindful adventure. Just taking a walk on a short trail in your town qualifies in my book. Want to “up the ante?” Buy a state park permit ($25 in WI) that allows you to park at and hike all state trails. It’s amazing what solitude you can find by simply walking out on a trail for one mile. Importantly, walk the trails with the mind of a child. Enjoy and bring curiosity to all you see out on the trail (as if seeing them for the first time ever). And don’t worry about your pace (unless bad weather or darkness is approaching).

Camping has also brought me the solitude I seek in my mindful adventures. I love sitting outside by a fire in the wilderness. Again, you don’t have to travel 1200 miles to the Rocky Mountains to enjoy a campfire, wilderness or solitude. Some of the pictures above were taken from a campsite in East Troy, WI, which is 15 miles from my home in southern WI. And let’s face it, I’m no young buck anymore. When I use the word “camping,” I mean spending the night in a really big tent that affords me a lot of extra space (I can stand up in my tent) and I sleep on a cot with a thick sleeping pad that basically functions as a mattress. I definitely wouldn’t say I’m “roughing it.” And as far as campfires, you don’t have to be in the wilderness. Create a space in your backyard or porch (safety first!) and spend some time gazing into the flames (NOT your cellphone). Again, the point is to purposefully insert me into a level of solitude and out of my normal busy, everyday life.

Last week was my last time to campout this summer in CO. I decided to go back to Arapaho Bay’s Roaring Fork Campground, as it was so nice my first trip. Also, I didn’t hike 9+ miles the day I set up camp so I figured I’d enjoy it more:)

The pictures above show off my beautiful campsite facing the west, which provided me with spectacular views of the sunset (it did not disappoint).

Below are pictures of Monarch Lake, which was a 2 or so mile hike away from the campground. Altogether, it was another lovely overnight trip.

Last week I finally made it out to Big Meadows. Starting from the Visitor’s Center, I hiked about 8.5 miles (round trip) with an elevation gain of 736 feet. I previously hiked parts of this trail, but hadn’t made it up to the meadows. Which was beautiful!

The weather was lovely and there was a nice breeze. The trip up to the meadows was quiet, while the return was pretty packed with people (gotta get out early if you want a little solitude).

Like its name implies, the meadow was expansive. No idea how large the actual meadow is, but the park lists a north and south meadow (I didn’t hike to the south meadow, which was another .5 miles). I stopped for a quick lunch and enjoyed the beautiful grasses, flowers, butterflies, trees, and stream. Really was nice! I also saw several moose, a marmot and some chipmunks. Altogether it was definitely worth the wait.

This past Tuesday I hiked to Cascade Falls. A 7.14 mile hike with a 672 mile elevation gain, this trail provided me a nice workout.

My trek began with a nice view of a good-sized moose. Her smaller partner was hiding behind some willows so I couldn’t catch any pics of them.

The trail was a mix of meadows and forest with lots of birds, squirrels, and an occasional marmot. It was particularly rocky in spots, which I don’t particularly enjoy, but the falls were really nice. I’m always surprised at the level of sound a water fall generates. I was sitting about 10 yards from two other hikers who were holding a conversation, but I could only see there mouths move, as the sound of the waterfall dominated all other sounds. I love the unique solitude created by waterfalls.

Cascade Falls is a nice hike for any person (if I can do it, anyone can). It is a heavily-used trail so this isn’t the one for you if you want some quiet. All in all, it was a great morning. Below are the pics from the hike.

Tuesday I went for a 9.6-mile hike and camped overnight. I started out at the Shadow Mountain Dam and followed the Continental Divide Trail to the Arapaho Bay Roaring Fork Campground. Lots of pretty flowers and the views were amazing, especially when I reached Knight Ridge. Pretty exhausted once I arrived at the campground.

Set up my tent, had some food, started a fire and read a couple of chapters from Peter Heller’s Celine. Stayed up till around 11 pm so I could check out the beautiful sky with all the stars above. Truly amazing night.

The rain and snow has finally stopped. this is a view from our room this morning. Hopefully it will begin to feel more like summer in GL.

Alex and I have been in Grand Lake a little over 4 weeks and it’s been lovely. “What have you been doing?” you may ask? Well, let me tell you: read, walk, hike, repeat…read, walk, hike, repeat. You get the idea. I’ve been reading some pretty good books (click HERE to view my Goodreads.com site). I’ve been walking a minimum of 3 miles each day. And new for me this year, I’ve been trying to hike once per week. Below are some pics from my hike of the East Shore Trail. Good times! This coming week I’ll be doing a 1-night camp out at the Arapaho Bay-Roaring Fork Campground.

Yesterday’s cold snap (and snow) reminded me of this article I found on CNN back in February. Click here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/us/new-york-federal-prison-no-heat/index.html

A Federal Prison in NY State lost power on a Thursday and said it wouldn’t be repaired until the following Monday. What that meant for inmates is sporadic heat and power. Officials visiting the prison claimed there were no lights in the cells and the temperature was dipping into the high 40’s.

Last Saturday I camped out in my backyard in preparation for a summer camping trip. The low that night dipped into the 40’s. My wife did leave the porch light on and I had a key to come back inside the house at any time.

Do the inmates have a case for an eighth amendment violation (cruel & unusual punishment)? Maybe? Probably not as long as prison officials can show they were working diligently to restore power. But, seriously, where are the generators or backup power or PLAN?

Thoughts?

Those of you who’ve taken Sociology of Punishment & Corrections from me may remember a documentary entitled “What I Want My Words To Do To You.” It was a story about a women’s writing group in a maximum security prison (Bedford Hills) in New York State. Click HERE to watch the movie trailer.

One of the women in this documentary was Judith Clark who was sentenced to 75 years to Life for Murder (click HERE for more info). Judith was paroled this week after doing 40 years. I’m wondering if you believe 40 years was enough time for her crimes committed (be sure to read the article about her case)