road trip     

the signs at the entrances to state and national parks are always unique and interesting but somehow members of the same welcoming family.

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This sculpture stands at the beginning of the short walk to where steps lead down for crossing the Mississippi, and a little further, the actual place where the waters of Lake Itasca spill out to become the headwaters of the Mississippi. She's called "caretaker woman."

She is the work of Native American artist Jeff Savage (www.savageart.com) and here, quoted from his website, is what he has to say about "Heartwaters -- Caretaker Woman:"

"When looking at the headwaters site, the vision I see is of a woman standing with cupped hands around a bowl (Lake Itasca) with the life force of the headwaters spilling out of the bowl and the Anishinabe symbol of natural life, the turtle, standing watch over these headwaters.
"The woman and turtles are on a drumhead, the drum symbolizes the heartbeat of the Anishinabe Nation, it is the heartbeat of the water which flows from the heartland of this continent.
"The woman figure that I have created is a reflection in the water, her flowing hair is the waters' flowing currents. In Anishinabe tradition the women are the caretakers of the water so the sculpture surely must be of a woman at this important site.
"When visiting the headwaters of the Mississippi, one imagines the long journey ahead for the waters to reach the end of the journey those many miles to the south. On the beginning of its journey the river faces all four directions with south the last and final direction of that journey. This is no different than one of my people making an offering to the four directions before starting on a long trip or voyage. It is asking for a safe and pleasant journey.
"When most people visit the headwaters, they reach down and cup the water in their hands and let it flow through their fingers to join the rest of the water on the beginning of its long journey to the Gulf of Mexico.
I have made this sculpture for the people to touch and run their fingers over, to bring a time worn smoothness to the "Headwaters Caretaker Woman", like running water through your fingers."

She is comforting for me. Everything will be all right. Just after greeting her, we reached a bridge that crossed the short span of the Missisippi River, and we saw the first turtle nursery.
     + JB

We found a number of these dig-outs where baby turtles hatched and found their way out and back to the creek. The remains of the shells are clearly visible.

Last year she walked into Mordor (Newberry National Monument a.k.a. "Lava Land"). This year she walks across the Mighty Mississippi. Who knows what will happen next year?

This is the beginning.

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What goes down...

Or, "the stairs not taken."
     + JB

Itasca State Park mostly looks like this. There are stands of red and white pine, many over 200 feet tall. But the story of this natural area is typical of many of our most beautiful natural areas: money-driven commerce (here it was logging) came in and nearly destroyed the place in the quest for profit. In the case of Itasca, the pine wood from these forests provided building material for the Westward expansion. It took heroic effort, in this case by Mary Gibbs, the forst female superintendent of a state park, to stand up to the timber industry and save what was still left of the trees. If not for the efforts of those like Mary Gibbs and John Muir and many others we would not have these places.

"No one will ever realize how necessarily strenuous were the exertions which finally resulted in establishing Itasca State Park, April 20, 1892... For no measure was ever more unreasonably harassed and opposed."

from http://www.mnopedia.org/event/creation-itasca-state-park:

"Mary Gibbs’ brief tenure as park commissioner in the spring of 1903 continued Brower’s progressive policy. Just twenty-four years old, she had learned about the challenges facing the park from her father, park commissioner John Gibbs. Logging continued on non-state land with companies using Lake Itasca as a holding area.
"That year, a dam outside the park built by the Mississippi Schoolcraft Boom and Improvement Company raised water levels over the shoreline. Worried that pine trees would be damaged, Gibbs contacted company officials. A stalemate ensued when oth sides met at the dam. The local sheriff brought a warrant to open the lift. The officials backed down on April 16, but not before tension neared a breaking point. Gibbs’ small victory aside, loggers maintained influence over the park for the next fifteen years.
"Logging finally ended in Itasca in 1920, ushering in a new era of improved visitor experiences and forest management."