Alexandria man walked from Alex to Cyrus, just like his parents did when he was born in 1945
By Rachel Barduson
The walk started at 2 a.m. under the stars of Douglas County -- A trek of 36 miles from the 700 Cedar building (old hospital) in Alexandria to the house where he grew up, in Cyrus.
Gene Olson, at 75 years of age in 2020, walked from Alexandria to Cyrus because, as he said, “I wanted to retrace my journey home.” His dad Cliff was the Cyrus Blacksmith, his mom Mae was a homemaker. Olson, who graduated from Cyrus High School in 1963, was born in Our Lady of Mercy Hospital (later called the Marion Building for many years... and now called the 700 Cedar Building) on Sept. 23, 1945. Gene was introduced to both sets of grandparents when he was brought home from the hospital. And so, 75 years later, on this milestone walk, Gene stopped at his father’s birthplace, a farm homesteaded in 1874, near Farwell, and his mother’s birthplace, a home in Kensington.
Carefully planned, Gene set out to relive his first trip home with this current personal trek. He had driven his car and parked it near the old hospital building and started his walk. He walked that night in 2020, in the dark, using no flashlight... just his reflective vest and walking sticks. It was planned that his brother Rollie would drive to the half-way point (the farm) and they would walk a few miles together, at which point his brother would turn around and walk to his car. However, at 2 a.m. under the stars, Gene was alone.
You could say that Gene caught the walking/hiking fever, or “the bug,” from his dad. “Mom and dad hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in their fifties. Dad was an outdoor guy. He loved the birds, the critters, the trees, the grass and the rocks. He taught us to fish and hunt. Dad told me that when he was a little boy he loved to walk and run in the woods.” Gene’s dad was the first-born in his family, so he invented ways to entertain himself.
In 1974, Gene, his dad, and his brother Rollie, backpacked into the Bob Marshall Wilderness near Great Falls, Mont., to see what is known as the China Wall.
“Dad had read about this unusual formation and wanted to share it with his boys. We carried a tent, sleeping bags, food and water on this five day adventure. We refilled our water bottles from fast-flowing streams. I guess that might have been when my interest began - but the pursuit of what would come later in my adventures had to wait,” Gene explained.
After his high school graduation in 1963, Gene attended the University of Minnesota, Morris, graduating in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business. Also in 1968, Gene and Maureen Hogy of Morris were married in Morris on a hot day in July. A few months later, in November, Gene was inducted into the United States Army and he was on his way to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for basic training.
“The year 1968 was both exhilarating and uncertain,” Gene said. He attended supply schools and On-the-Job-Training (OJT) at the Atlanta Army Depot before he was off to Vietnam for his tour of duty.
“We landed in Bien Hoa, Republic of Vietnam and were then bussed to 90th Replacement Center in Long Binh to learn our future. I took a look at where I was to be stationed and promptly ‘volunteered’ for a day’s duty in a computer operation activity in Bien Hoa. This was a good decision. I worked in that computer operation center until it was time to return to ‘the world’ we called home.” After duty in Fort Hood, Texas, Gene was honorably discharged in 1971. “With Maureen pregnant, we moved to Cyrus where I worked for dad a few months.”
Daughter Michelle was born in Morris, however the young family soon moved to Minnetonka where Gene found a job at General Mills. Son Michael was born while the family resided in Minnetonka.
The computer age was young and through his service in the Army, Gene had the opportunity to begin what would become his career in logistics, “supply chain” and computers. He went to graduate school in Bloomington, Indiana for his master’s degree and from there the family moved to Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota and Colorado (Boulder) before retiring with IBM. Colorado is where Gene was “bitten by the mountain bug.”
“Every morning as I drove west to work, I saw the mountains and wondered what it would be like to stand on top of one those beautiful snow-capped peaks,” he said. “Everyone I knew in the Army hiked and marched, so maybe that got me thinking about what might come next. Maybe I knew the mountains were calling, maybe not...but there they were. And, I guess I knew I had hiking, climbing and adventure in my blood.”
“My grandpa, August Olson, was a ‘Gold Rush Stampeder,’ the name given to 100,000 hopeful miners in the late 1890s. He was in the gold rush and he clearly had gold fever. He panned for gold in Alaska from 1899 to 1914 – north of the Brooks Range. Can you imagine? He came to America from Sweden when he was 18 years old. He met my grandma and said he wanted to marry her, but first he had to go look for gold in Alaska. He asked her if she would wait for him. She waited 15 years for his return. Fifteen years! She waited.”
Gene’s grandpa August along with a partner, a sled and dogs traversed Alaska searching and searching.
“He never found much gold, but maybe you could say grandpa passed along a little wanderlust to his descendants,” Gene said. August and Mathilda were married in 1915 and started their family on the farm near Farwell. Gene’s dad, Cliff, was the oldest of their children. “My dad’s father and mother, August and Mathilda, took over and eventually owned the Erik and Stina Anderson farm,” Gene explained. Blake Olson (5th generation), wife Michelle and their boys own the farm today. This farm was the half-way point (18 miles) of Gene’s 2020 trek from Alexandria to Cyrus.
“The original plan was that my brother Rollie would drive and meet me at the farm. He said he would walk a few miles with me and turn around and walk back to his car and go home. We walked west toward Kensington. After a few miles my brother said, ‘I think I will walk with you all the way to Cyrus.’ We stopped for a water/snack break across the street from mom’s birthplace, my grandparents, Olga and Eddie Forsberg’s home in Kensington. My feet hurt and we had 13 more miles to go. We continued south of Kensington on County Road 3. We made an unplanned and uninvited stop at Lynn and Becky Peterson’s farm. I have known Lynn since our youth. We filled our water bottles and Lynn gave us a bottle of cold water to go.”
“We walked on. Our wives, Maureen and Gayle, came up behind us. It was raining, and they sternly advised us that we should stop this nonsense and get in the car. By this time we were both listing badly, one in each direction. What a sight we were. Naturally we declined their advice. We plodded on. At about three miles from Cyrus the water tower appeared. We knew there was hope. We were 1 1/2 miles from our goal and I announced that I needed to stop. We collapsed into the ditch. We rested and somehow dragged ourselves to a standing position.
Now we were really listing badly. Everything hurt. We got to the Cyrus city limits. Four blocks to go. We got to mom and dad’s house. Fifteen hours ago I had started this trek. Oh my. I could hardly walk. I leaned on Maureen and pictures were taken in front of the house. I had hiked 36 miles. It was difficult to smile but - mission complete. We were transported home.”
Did it take a long time to recover?
“Oddly enough, the next day I felt pretty good. The day after that I felt great.”
Before that walk on the prairie grasses of Minnesota in 2020, Gene had caught another bug that is still in his belly. A fellow worker in Boulder named George loaned him a book about 14ers. “A 14er is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet above sea level,” Gene explained.
“There are 53 of these mountains in Colorado. I told George I wanted to make it to the top of one of them. George said, ‘Gene, be careful of how many you climb, because you may well catch the bug.’ George was correct.”
Gene was 60 years old when he climbed his first 14er. To date Gene has reached the summit of 36, reaching the top of at least one peak each year. He has completed these treks solo or with Colorado friend Mark or son Michael or brother Rollie and George. He is planning his 37th 14,000-foot mountain, The Mount of the Holy Cross, near Aspen, in August 2024 with Mark. “I will carry a backpack with a stocking cap, light rain gear, a 2+ liter of water and snack bars.” For this climb, Gene has been training this summer with the 88 steps down and up to Lake Latoka from he and Maureen’s home, walking in the neighborhood and by climbing Inspiration Peak. “Lots of mosquitoes and sweat,” he said.
Most importantly, during all of his hikes, walks, treks and climbs, Gene has a wonderful cheerleader in his wife Maureen.
“Maureen and I have been married 56 years and she has been patient with my mountain trips and supports my need to hike. She is amazing in every way. I am so happy we chose each other,” he said. A repeat trek to Cyrus in September 2024 is possible, because as Gene said, “the road calls.”
Gene’s route condensed: The old hospital building to Lake Winona to Lake Latoka Beach to 114; under I-94 to MN 27 to Holmes City to Oscar Lake Church to “the farm” on Douglas County 97 (half-way point); and then on to Kensington and south to Cyrus.
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