A new book by author Ken Ilgunas comes out this month. It’s called, Trespassing Across America – One Man’s Epic Never Before Done (and Sort of Illegal) Hike Across the Heartland.
Right off the bat, you’ve gotta love that title.
Actually, there’s very little not to love about the book as it follows the first person account of Ken’s journey along the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas. You see, the journey was more than just a hike, it was also intended to shine a light on our oil economy and whether we really need another long distance pipeline. Along the way, Ken meets locals who are for the pipeline and many who are opposed. He talks with oil workers, towns people, and ranchers, and gets a wide range of opinions on the matter which stew informatively in his thoughts as he traverses, often trespassing on huge tracts of private land, the bulk of the Great Plains.
Truth is, in many places, Ken was following very close to the route for the GPT, and one thing he finds, not surprisingly at all, is the sheer beauty of the land – especially in the most wide open areas where wildness still abounds.
I think it’s easy for many people in America (or Canada for that matter), who live along the populated coasts to discount the interior as some sort of windblown wasteland, and not the expansive and invigorating landscape we know it to be. An above ground pipeline is nothing more than an eyesore, and even though I personally benefit from the oil economy as much as anyone else, I agree with Ken that there has to be a better way.
I suggest you pick up a copy of his book and travel along with him. Stay alert – you might have to dodge a cow or two, but you’ll get a good feel for the place, and the good people who call it home.
