Nature vs. Civilization Voyageurs National Park

I chose the picture of Kettle Falls in Voyageurs National Park because it is a place that holds personal meaning to me. Ever since i was young I loved to fish and all the outdoor activities that accompany it. Eventually i convinced my friends to take up fishing and now every summer about ten of us go up to Voyageurs National park for a week or so and it is the clear highlight of my summer. The attachment i have to the park is immense but it isn't because of the physical aspects (although it is a beautiful place), but because of what the time spent there has meant to me.

Just as the picture of the lake that we examined during class with its over emhpasized fictional Sierra Nevada peaks I see Voyageurs as larger then life. When I picture it in my mind i think of golden sunsets, glass smooth water, and immense rocks. Which it does have but not in the quantity nor the quality that others would perceive from my personal description. I have an almost romantiscized odea of the place because i escape there every year. I use it to get away from work, the house, everyday tasks and just relax and live a simple life with a few friends for a week, but i wouldn't trade it for anything.

The real rhetoric about all this is we spend so much time trying to advance society placing more and more tasks in day to day life which we see as progress. We get to do things that people couldnt even imagine even a half century ago, but I find myself having the greatest time doing things that a century ago people did on a fairly regular basis. It really has made me think what the importance of having the newest or most cutting edge products will really mean to me in a few years. Its almost as if we place to much emphasis on technological progression and don't slow down enough to realize the wonders that are readily available to us. Almost everyone has a soft spot for nature somewhere and it is way easier then i thought to really get out and explore it. I would recommend a trip like this to anyone because the memories that come from an experience in nature will probably last a lifetime. This is why I perceive Voyageurs to be such a great place, it is by no means the greatest of the national parks but the memories that I have created there truely are some of my greatest.