Treks and Texts Kenny Swanson 2026

      During the outside activity in the presentation yesterday, when we were tasked to take a picture of something that fit the romanticism ideals, I struggled to find something.  As I looked around me all I saw was man-made buildings and structures, which to me is what the Romantic thinkers were trying to prevent.  In my opinion, the main concept of Romanticism is that humans are small and inconsequential compared to the vast power and beauty that nature holds. As a society I believe we have fallen out of Romantic ideology, instead focusing on industrializing and taming the small amount of wilderness that is still left in certain areas.  This was emphasized in a picture I took later that day, showing the massive dorms and dining halls that have been built on campus, rivaling any trees or plant life near it.  And to top this off there are two massive cranes in the background, indicative of the terraforming and massive structures that are underway to...

        This reading was especially interesting to me because I feel like it encompasses the beliefs that Abbey held most importantly in his life.  From the readings and research, we have done, it seemed to me that Abbey made his life goal to prevent industrial tourism and the spreading of infrastructure into the wilderness.  This chapter sums up his strongest beliefs and biggest fears all into one.   Like always Abbey filled his writing with ironic, borderline crazed thoughts, describing the man surveying for the road as “a pleasant-mannered, soft-spoken civil engineer with an unquestioning dedication to his work. A v*** dangerous man.”  I felt this quote depicted Abbeys beliefs precisely.  Despite how nice someone might be in the ways that regular society focuses on, Abbey does not care, and only views people based on how they plan to treat nature.   Abbey brings up a great point when criticizing the devastating effect ...

  Growing up in Southern California, waking up to snow is not something that I ever experienced.  I lacked the classic "snow day" experience as a kid that my friends talk so fondly about.  This past week however allowed me to experience what waking up to snow covered ground and waiting with anticipation for classes to get cancelled felt like. Whether it stems from the lack of cars on the road or lack of other people walking around, the serenity of walking in cold snowy weather is not something I have ever experienced. Especially as night rolled around, I felt that I was the only person in the city.  This feeling of solitude heightened my senses to what was around me, noticing the crunch of my feet on the icy snow, noticing my ears slowly losing sensation from the cold, and noticing the stars above me a little too well causing me to almost slip on a piece of. Breaking away from the calming elements that the cold snowy weather provided, it also allowed for slightly mor...

I decided to take my walk after class at the Trinity River.  Although we are lucky enough to have the beautiful campus we do, I walk to and from classes everyday so I felt like it would be valuable to go to a different location and experience the nature there.  The first thing I noticed when I started my walk was the biting wind that had seemed to pick up out of nowhere.  At first I was annoyed at my luck for the poor weather but was quickly distracted by dozens of birds I saw flying above me.  I watched as the birds swayed from the wind, looking as if it took all of their strength to simply not be pushed backwards.  My anger at the wind quickly grew to me realizing how little it effects me compared to the birds, and they still manage it just fine. After continuing to watch the birds for a handful of minutes I continued walking down the trail, noticing all of the leafless trees that surrounded the river.  Despite the leafless look not being as pretty at fir...