blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike – Details, episodes & analysis

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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.

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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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“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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Walking through woodland ephemerals in early spring reminds us to embrace impermanence and stay present in the here and now. 

• We have a saying in the hiker community, “Be Where Your Feet Are.” 
  
  
• It’s all about staying present in the moment and not dwelling too much on the past or worrying about the future. To “be where your feet are” quite literally encourages us to stay grounded. 
  
  
• On an early spring hike through woodland wildflowers, Blissful Hiker considers the ephemeral quality of our own lives and it makes her appreciate even more the experience of walking with friends in this beauty. 

MUSIC: "Introduccion y Allegro" by Carlos Gaustavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano. 

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Blissful Hiker brings the story of the Te Araroa to a close so she can podcast from trail on the Continental Divide Trail, a 3,000-mile thru-hike on the Rockies. 

In this episode:

1. We have a new name for the podcast: Blissful Hiker, Walking the World. 
2. It's all about clarifying who Blissful is, what she's doing and to keep things consistent. 
3. Blissful closes the story of the Te Araroa with audio piece she made on trail about Kiwi Hut Culture and –
4. A man picking her up at a "Hazard Zone" in Queenstown to take her to the Great Walk Routeburn Track in wild weather, then – 
5. Finishing the Te Araroa by revisiting her tramp in the South Island and walking for a short few days on Rakiura Island. 
6. Support Blissful's podcasting from the Continental Divide Trail on Patreon. 

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

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Blissful Hiker says goodbye to her young friend Tomáš who helped her through the toughest parts of the trail, including reaching a summit above the highest point of the trail. 

In this episode:

1. Blissful continues her journey of the Te Araroa, reaching Stag Saddle and Beuzenberg Peak in New Zealand's Southern Alps, looking towards Mount Cook and the astonishing turquoise of Lake Tekapo. 
2. It's tussock, mud, rocks and stream-as-trail to a magical hollow next to a babbling brook with a magical sunset and a sky full of stars. 
3. The final bit to town is mostly on road where Blissful meets shepherds with a dozen working dogs and a Chinese family on vacation that offers her glasses of milk.
4. In Tekapo, she gets the last bed at the last hostel, rents a bike for the coming days and takes Tom to a restaurant for anything he wants on the menu. 
5. He teaches her how to say "bad ass" in Czech as well as "she is bad ass." 

MUSIC: Suite by Ernst Krenek as played by Alison Young, flute 

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Blissful Hiker discovers hope because repair happens simultaneously with her trailside breakdown.

In this episode:

1. Blissful continues her journey of the Te Araroa, crossing the gigantic braided Rangitata River in New Zealand's Southern Alps. 
2. Before crossing, she joins her young Czech friend Tom on a side-trip to Mount Sunday known as Elorus in The Lord of the Rings, a magnificent bump surrounded by snow-capped mountains. 
3. The river bed is six miles wide of rocks, fast-moving rivers, thorns and quicksand. 
4. Then it's up the Two Thumb Track into a wonderland  of pointy mountains in tussock, and rushing streams. 
5. At Crooked Spur Hut, two Kiwis act resentful that Te  Araroa hikers share their space and seem to delight in disturbing sleep and talking about bad weather coming. 
6. Blissful breaks down in tears but a beautiful waterfall covered in yellow flowers lifts her spirits as well as another hiker offering treats and laughs. 

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

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Blissful Hiker learns that worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

In this episode:

1. Blissful continues her journey of the Te Araroa, walking south in the South Island of New Zealand between the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers, both "Hazard Zones." 
2. From the A-frame Hut, Blissful heads up this "Lord of the Rings" landscape with a trail-as-river to Clent Hills Saddle and down to the Lake Heron Basin, where mysterious clouds look like parade balloons touching the ground like fingers. 
3. After the Manuka Hut, it's road walk past the Hakatere Conservation Park and hooting birds, then the Castleridge Station where the rancher offers her a pile of food so she make it to Lake Tekapo, six days away. 
4. The landscape is glorious snow-capped mountains to the majestic braided river. 
5. She worries about food, about Tom, about going home and about her long lost flute career and finds it does no good, keeping her energy from being in the present moment. 

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

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Blissful Hiker is astonished  when she lets the day take care of itself, miracles occur.

In this episode:

1. Blissful continues her journey of the Te Araroa, walking south in the South Island of New Zealand. 
2. After Hamilton "Hilton" Hut it's rocky and tussock-covered terraces as well as numerous crossings in the knee-high rapids of the Harper River on a hot day.
3. At the campsite  she breaks down in tears not able to set her tent, the Alicoop in the hard ground.
4. The next day is all on road to a "Hazard Zone:" the impassable Rakaia River, where she meets two Kiwis who offer to drive her the 30 miles around it. 
5. It's uphill through cicada-filled meadows and at the saddle, she meets Tomaš and they plan to tackle the next "Hazard Zone" of the Rangitata River together. 

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

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Blissful Hiker's friend from Day 1 falls and dislocates her shoulder and another tramper needs rescuing, and she decides to take things slow so as not to fall – and to not rush to the end.

In this episode:

1. Blissful leaves Goat Pass for Arthur's Pass on the Te Araroa with Alessio and Tomaš in rain, with more on the way. 
2. Alessio tells her he didn't "sign up" to guide a middle-aged tramper, but she realizes what other people think of her is none of her business. 
3.  A friend-of-a-friend loans her "bach" or cabin to the trio for a zero day before heading onto the Harper River Track.
4. It's lovely walking with views of the Southern Alps along tundra rich with alpine plants. 
5. The mountains are eroded and dangerous, a landslip the cause of at least two accidents. 
6. Several hikers stay at the Hamilton "Hilton" Hut, where a Frenchwoman needs rescuing by helicopter. 

MUSIC: Milonga sin Palabras by Astor Piazzolla  as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano

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Blissful Hiker learns a new skill crossing rivers in cold and dangerous rapids and falls in the South Island of New Zealand. 

In this episode:

1. Blissful is on day 89 of the Te Araroa, New Zealand's "long pathway" developing a new skill of crossing dangerous rivers, but with a little help from friends, Alessio and Tomaš. 
2.  Her first challenge out of Hurunui Hut No. 3 is to cross the small side stream called Cameron on a 3-wire bridge, not offering any room for error. 
3. Up an over Harper Pass, the trail crosses over the divide in the Southern Alps and descends on an eroded landslip or flash flood tailings.
4. This is followed by a cross in the deep rushing Upper Taramakau to Kiwi Hut. 
5. It's a long day walking on uneven river bed with numerous crossings, then an awful "flood route" sidling of the river through bush in typical New Zealand style of steep ups and downs without any switchbacks. 
6. The day ends with a wild walk straight up the Deception River on the Mingha-Deception Track to Goat Pass in rapids, waterfalls and awkward crossings, some of the most exhilarating tramping of the entire trail.  

MUSIC: Introduccion y Allegro by Carlos Guastavino and Pastorale Calchaqui by Hector Gallac as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano

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