John Muir is probably the best friend mother nature ever had. The legendary man has been called the father of our National Parks and was the founder and first president of the Sierra Club. More importantly he inspired people to care about the natural world over a century ago. He was way ahead of his time.

His appreciation for nature began in Wisconsin where his family immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1849. The small farm his family settled on in Central Wisconsin is now the John Muir State Natural Area. His family farmed on the northeast shore of a beautiful  spring fed lake near Montello. I recently took a hike around the lake to walk in the footsteps of the teenage Muir and take some pinhole photographs.

 Muir spent most of his life out west in the mountains, but always remembered his boyhood  home in Wisconsin. He unsuccessfully attempted several times to purchase the land he grew up on. In 1972 the land was designated a State Natural Area realizing Muir’s dream of preserving the place he grew up.

These oak trees in a row seemed to be part of an old fence line. It is possible some of these oak trees were saplings when Muir walked this land.

John Muir Attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He resided in North Hall, which still looks much like it did in Muir’s day. North Hall was one of a handful of buildings that made up the new university in 1860 when Muir enrolled. North Hall was the first building on the campus when it was built in 1851.  It is said that Muir’s first botany lesson was outside North Hall.

Next to North Hall is Bascom Hall, an icon of the UW campus. Bascom Hall was one of the handful of buildings on the University of Wisconsin campus when Muir attended. It has since undergone many renovations and additions, including the addition of the statue of Abraham Lincoln out front.  Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president In Muir’s first year attending the University in 1860.

The small wooded area next to North Hall is now named Muir Woods. Muir certainly walked these woods and even hunted in the area surrounding North Hall. Today the woods are a quiet little refuge on the busy campus.

This week’s project was a test of infrared film in a pinhole camera and a photo tribute to Earth Day founder Governor Gaylord Nelson. Governor Nelson State Park is named after him and  is located on the north shore of Lake Mendota in Madison. From the lakeshore in the park you can look across the water at the State Capitol where he served two terms as governor before he went on to serve two terms as a U.S. Senator. He was an advocate for the environment his entire life. It’s fitting that a State Park within sight of the capitol is named after him.

An oak tree stands alone in the prairie in Governor Nelson State Park.

Four and a half miles across the lake is the state capitol building. The infrared film proved to be a challenge for use in a pinhole camera, but I got it to work in the end. I like the dreamy look to it, but I’m not sure I’m going use it too often. It was a learning process anyway.

On top of Frederick’s Hill in Pheasant Branch Conservancy there are several Indian burial mounds. The reason this location was chosen by the Native Americans thousands of years ago is probably the same reason it’s now a popular park trail to the top of the hill. It’s a beautiful peaceful place to experience the view.

I took some pinhole photographs there this week. One thing I love about pinhole photography is the images capture a passage of time during the long exposures.  The movement of the trees and grass captures time passing in this ancient place.

The movement on a windy day and lighting really gave this photo an abstract look to it.

The tree bark on the old oak trees show their age like wrinkles in a face.