A Trip Through the Past

It has been a surreal journey up to this point.  I am writing this sitting on top of an outlook over Painted Canyon which is a part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, ND.  A few months back this trip seemed like a stretch.  Around my same age Teddy Roosevelt made the trip from the East coast to Medora.  His stop over at the St. Paul, MN stockyards was his last with a civilized area before departing for Medora.  Being a resident of St. Paul this leg of my trip to Idaho was one that I knew would be special to me and arriving in Medora is making me more appreciative of the land and recreational opportunities we have in this country.  A big part is due to the namesake of the park that I am overlooking.

When Teddy first came to Medora he still had a lot of growing and maturing to do.  He took part in the slaughtering and pillaging of the American West when he first arrived.  His time out here changed him.  Though he continued to pursue game animals his entire life, the needless slaughter waned.  In one of young Teddy's hunting journals there is a recap of killing hundreds of animals within a couple short weeks, with a few dozen being big game species.  As he spent more and more time out West his realization of the fragility and beauty of the landscape and its flora and fauna began to sharpen and shape the man that eventually became the President and leader that fundamentally changed the way we view our natural resources.  To this day America's land and wildlife management systems are unmatched.

Everyone in life who pushes themselves to points that previously seemed unattainable have their giants upon whose shoulders they stood to achieve their pursuits.  In the last 24 hours I have had a chance to interact with three of mine in some manner.  The first two are my own father and grandfather without whom I would never have started hunting, which led me to enjoy the peace of surrounding myself in landscapes that awe and inspire.  I had the chance to speak with both of them yesterday as the endless stretch of flat mileage of NW MN and Eastern ND wore on.  Everything that they have taught me is being implemented in this week's hunt and I never could have gotten here alone.  I am forever grateful for their influence on me.  The third is the aforementioned TR.  Without his efforts to radically change the way American's thought of and discussed the land that they lived on and the animals that resided alongside them this journey would not be possible.

The trip thus far from St. Paul to  Medora seemed to have a tone of recollection, despite the fact that I have never traveled this road in my life.  It feels that I have read so much about the place that I currently sit that I have made this journey before and that now I'm at some sort of launch point that's about to fling me into the further wild and unknown.  Watching the horizon go from flat expanses, to suddenly bobbing and swaying like a calm, comfortable and powerful sea before dropping away into magnificent canyons and valleys has set the stage for the experience that is to come.  I know that these places have the ability to inspire and change a person and as I sit here I wonder what a week will do, if anything.  For the time being I will be out of touch as the journey continues forward.

Thanks for everyone's support over these last few months!

Kyle Zibrowski