following the transcendental trail: from lake padden to the bellingham bay

Following the Transcendental Trail: Following the Transcendental Trail: from Lake Padden to the Bellingham Bayfrom Lake Padden to the Bellingham Bay

““ A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and excessive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into excessive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into what the beholder measures the depth of his own what the beholder measures the depth of his own nature” (Thoreau, 168).nature” (Thoreau, 168).

““ We become so distracted by our own agendas that, We become so distracted by our own agendas that, even when face to face with the grandeur of nature, even when face to face with the grandeur of nature, we can only exclaim with Wordsworth, ‘we can only exclaim with Wordsworth, ‘Great God! It Great God! It moves us not’ ” moves us not’ ” (Elder, 16).(Elder, 16).

“ God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages” (Thoreau, 87).

► “ …wilderness possesses great spiritual value. It offers a realm for human activity that does not seek to take possession and that leaves no traces; it provides a baseline for strenuous experience of our own creaturehood” (Elder, 18).

““ We do not ride upon the railroad, it We do not ride upon the railroad, it rides upon us” (Thoreau, 83).rides upon us” (Thoreau, 83).

► ““In our most trivial walks, In our most trivial walks, we are constantly, though we are constantly, though unconsciously, steering unconsciously, steering like pilots by certain well-like pilots by certain well-known beacons and known beacons and headlands, and if we are headlands, and if we are beyond our usual course beyond our usual course we still carry in our minds we still carry in our minds the bearing of some the bearing of some neighboring cape; and neighboring cape; and not till we are completely not till we are completely lost…do we appreciate lost…do we appreciate the vastness and the vastness and strangeness of nature” strangeness of nature” (Thoreau, 154).(Thoreau, 154).

► ““ The idea of The idea of wilderness refers to wilderness refers to the absence of the absence of humanity, yet humanity, yet wildernesswilderness has no has no meaning outside of meaning outside of the context of the context of civilization that civilization that defines it” (Byerly, defines it” (Byerly, 27).27).

“Before I built a wall I'd ask to

knowWhat I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give

offense.”(Frost lines 1 – 3).

“ Little did the dusky children think that the puny slip with its two eyes only…would root itself so, and outlive them, and house itself in the rear that shaded it, and grown man’s garden and orchard, and tell their story faintly to the lone wanderer a half-century after they had grown up and died…” (Thoreau, 236).

► ““ The old roads and bottles The old roads and bottles and piles of stone scattered and piles of stone scattered beneath the pines and beneath the pines and hemlocks of our ridge hemlocks of our ridge always reminded me that I always reminded me that I am not Adam after all, just am not Adam after all, just as the sounds of chainsaws as the sounds of chainsaws and traffic I could hear from and traffic I could hear from Route 116 almost the whole Route 116 almost the whole way up insisted that this way up insisted that this hike would not take place in hike would not take place in Eden. These are healthy Eden. These are healthy reminders, encouraging me reminders, encouraging me to understand wilderness as to understand wilderness as an experience including an experience including family and work, rather than family and work, rather than as an idyll or escape” as an idyll or escape” (Elder, 112).(Elder, 112).

► ““ I understood, too, I understood, too, that ‘a sense of place’ that ‘a sense of place’ would remain a vague would remain a vague concept if founded only concept if founded only in my researches into in my researches into the natural and human the natural and human history of Bristol, and in history of Bristol, and in my readings of Frost my readings of Frost and Wordsworth. The and Wordsworth. The galvanizing stories of galvanizing stories of place are finally those place are finally those we suffer for ourselves” we suffer for ourselves” (Elder, 42).(Elder, 42).

► ““Oh, just another Oh, just another kind of out-door kind of out-door game,game,One on a side. It One on a side. It comes to little more:comes to little more:There where it is we There where it is we do not need the wall:do not need the wall:He is all pine and I He is all pine and I am apple orchard”am apple orchard”

(Frost, lines 33 – 39).(Frost, lines 33 – 39).

►““Human Human existence, existence, personal personal relationships, and relationships, and settlements are settlements are always always encompassed by encompassed by particular particular intervals of time intervals of time and space” and space” (Elder, 137).(Elder, 137).

► ““The life in us is like The life in us is like the water in the river. It the water in the river. It may rise this year may rise this year higher than man has higher than man has ever known it, and ever known it, and flood the parched flood the parched uplands; even this may uplands; even this may be the eventful year, be the eventful year, which will drown out all which will drown out all the muskrats. It was the muskrats. It was not always dry land not always dry land where we dwell” where we dwell” (Thoreau, 296).(Thoreau, 296).

CreditsCreditsTour Guide and Photos:Tour Guide and Photos:Nathan Sun-KleinbergerNathan Sun-Kleinberger

Text by some of my Text by some of my favorite Transcendental favorite Transcendental Authors:Authors:

► Allison Byerly from “The Allison Byerly from “The Uses of Landscape.”Uses of Landscape.”

► John Elder from John Elder from Reading Reading the Mountains of Home.the Mountains of Home.

► Robert Frost from Robert Frost from “Mending Wall.”“Mending Wall.”

► Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau from from WaldenWalden..