I read through this, and my god, what an epic adventure that must have been. If you go to the home page, there are more trips talked about. Man, the part about that trip that would scare me is walking across those glaciers. But I long for the mountains and the valleys.
One of my friends, Ben, recently went to Montana, and hiked around in Glacier National Park. It makes me wonder why I'm here at the computer, and not in the Sierras.
I mean, look at that. I would go off that trail and, treading lightly, explore that entire freaking valley. I'd love to just set up a tent out there behind some trees and camp. To live that simple, rugged life, just for a week or so.
Seriously, what am I doing? What is everybody doing, not being out there just living the life? Why do I work at a restaurant as a retail person? Why do we concern ourselves with trying to earn so much money, going to great lengths, sacrificing our own (and often times others') well being to do so? Why, when no money is needed for the greatest riches that earth provides?
Insanity...
As I write this blog, I know that I have to go to work later today, and to a dentist's appointment. But even just looking at pictures of nature calms my soul and gives me hope. It's as if those pictures tell me, one day, I will be out there again. One day, I'll be the one hiking through fields and up mountains. That is the life I long for. One with a connection to nature, including my fellow people.
Well, anyway, I've been doing some reading. I actually finished Sand County Almanac pretty quickly, though I didn't read it with as much attention to detail as I did Walden, or the last book I read. But I still got a lot of goodness from its pages. I dog-eared many pages for future reference.
I loved when Leopold talked about the high-tech gear, and how it's only good in a balanced amount. He talks about the difference between using a modern gun to hunt and using a trailer or something to go camping.
One great thing Leopold talks about his how people often try to justify protecting the environment in economic terms. For example, scientists said we had to conserve endangered animals, because without them the food chain would be thrown off and we ourselves would be at risk.
This is not unlike today, where our primary motive in environmentalism is to prevent global warming so that coastal cities don't become flooded, crops don't die, etc. etc. It's like how the oil spill primarily brought up ideas of how the fishing and tourist industries were potentially ruined.
People know something is wrong when they see trash or black oil in our otherwise pristine forests and seas, but it seems too many are motivated to even consider environmentalism purely for economic reasons.
I am now reading a new book, Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv (a great book so far, by the way). He had a fantastic point: "Today, kids are aware of the global threats to the environment - but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading."
This is so true. I see so many in the urban setting of my campus concerned about animal rights, environmentalism, etc., but it seems that not nearly enough of them have experienced nature. Everyone in an organization I am in at college, for example, is concerned about the environment and global warming. But when I bring up the idea of backpacking for a week, they seem to cringe at the idea of not bathing for that long.
But this is exactly what people MUST do! People need to recondition themselves away from all these creature comforts of our consumerist society. Take your shoes off! Dig your toes into the mud! Feel your sweat evaporate in the summer breeze! Cover your hands in bark as you climb up a tree, and drink and eat when your throat is dry and your stomach empty.
It's only then people will learn to live simply, as Thoreau so advocated a century and a half ago. You see, when one is immersed in nature, they realize that there is NO economic value to life whatsoever. There is only life.
That is one of the primary reasons I love backpack camping so much. Because it lets me live that simple lifestyle, if not just for a temporary while. The riches nature offers to my life via its streams and lakes and mountains and trees are far greater than any riches offered by coins and paper bills.
The views I get atop a mountain peak or amidst a valley field are more high-definition and more enticing than any nature documentary on Blu-ray. Even BBC's Earth documentaries (which I love).
I wish I could stop living vicariously so often. I wish it were easier for me to just travel to wilderness, but there are so few wild areas close to where I live. Hocking Hills is the best place that is nearby. But true wilderness is at least a 6 hour drive away in any direction.
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to get a backpacking trip in before summer's end, or at least go to San Fransisco for the Power to the Peaceful festival!
Below I've posted two videos: One I took during a heavy thunderstorm. I stood butt naked on my porch and watched as the rain fell and the lightning lit up the entire face of the earth, like a flickering sun. I edited together the best footage of the lightning. Beautiful.
I also took a video of one beautiful summer evening, just at dusk. The porch was illuminated in a magical, ethereal orange glow, and the sky was absolutely beautiful. More so than it appears on camera. Enjoy!
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