It’s been a while since my last post. I wish I could tell you I have been on an extended backpacking or camping trip – but that isn’t the case. I’ve been busy with work, family, and other obligations. It seems everything that can distract from the “getting out and play” things I enjoy hit at the same time.
Continue reading When Life Gets In The Way Of Living (or does it?)
It seems everyone has some sort of yearly recap on his or her blog. These recaps are typically interesting. So I thought I would do a little recap here. The best of 2014 actually occurred on Jan 1, 2015 when I woke up above ground. I think making it through the year intact and alive is a good thing.
In 2014 I was able to get in a lot of camping, hiking and even some biking. So it was a very successful year. Since I write about both backpacking and camping, I expect that there will be many more view of things camping related, which actually happened. But there was one big surprise…
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Sometimes my blog goes silent for long periods of time. That means I am out living. Perhaps I am backpacking, camping, boating, biking, or something else. My outdoor pursuits usually mean I am somewhere that is not connected – no cell phone coverage, no Wi-Fi; nada.
So for most of the past 6 weeks it has been a “time to keep silence.”
Now that I am back at home, I will post some of what I have been up to, over the next few days. Hope everyone had a great holiday season.
A friend of mine asked me to write an article for a magazine about Joshua Tree National Park that would be of interest to owners of tent trailers and small campers. I reluctantly accepted, as I really don’t have time for these kinds of projects — they interfere with my camping and backpacking time. He said I could take a few months to complete it. So I proceeded. In the end, the magazine decided to make it a four part series.
Since the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, it has been under attack. Attacked by those who want to relax the standards and develop wilderness areas for the “benefit“ of society, attacked by those who want more intervention via “land management,” attacked by the trail builders who want more well-groomed pathways, attacked by the sign people who want all kinds of directional and interpretive boards to inform people where they are or what they are looking at.
These attackers may seem to be unrelated to each other, but they have one thing in common — all these groups directly or indirectly see wilderness as an economic opportunity. Additionally groups of people such as the trail guide writers, the whitewater raft companies, and wilderness guides are benefitting financially from the wilderness and increasing man’s impact by bringing an increasing number of people into our wild areas. Oh, they say they do it to introduce more people to wilderness, but lets face it; they do it for the money. More people are not good for wilderness. Especially more people who would not have ventured forward without those who provide information and/or access.
But these attackers are not the biggest threat to wilderness; technology is. To keep our wilderness wild, society must see its value. Technology changes our perception of wilderness. It also changes the individual’s wilderness experience, whether it be used in selecting a destination, planning a trip, or using gadgets once we get there. To sum it up:
Technology marginalizes wilderness.