Wilderness Transcends Human Myopia

Wandering the wilds of the eastern Sierra Nevada this past week, stumbling over rocks and melted snow through Kearsarge Pass, listening to Clark’s Nutcrackers proclaiming their raucous wisdom, and becoming overwhelmed by mountainous crags reflected by moonlight in the alpine lake next to our camp, a gentle calmness settled into our souls.

And so, it should come as no surprise that as we began our return to civilization in the car, my hiking buddy, after attempting to catch up on the multiple human dramas we had missed, via texts, emails, and social media, turned to me and said, “Let’s go back.”

Thus is the magic of Wilderness, of removing one’s self from the confines, expectations, and myopia of civilization for an extended period of time – life becomes free to live authentically, unfettered by the accumulated dross of society’s chatter, or as identified by philosopher Martin Heidegger, Das Gerede (an excellent explanation of Heidegger’s thoughts is available here).

The Sierra helped us resolve the conundrum we’ve faced for the past two decades: how can modern hominids, characterized as sapient beings, see living things, and the thriving, dense habitat in which they live, as merely “fuel?” The Nutcrackers taught us that such a mindset is to be expected from those who have become seduced by their own personas, personas created to survive in an artificial world.

Charles Bukowski’s question, “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” would be an appropriate question for the fuel-centrists to ask themselves. For only lost souls could be so blind to the beauty that wild Nature and Wilderness provides.

Wilderness clarifies all and encourages honest introspection, helping our frail egos discover what really matters. Up in the mountains, human-centrism, the drama, the self-righteousness, all disappear. Getting enough oxygen, keeping warm, finding the next camp override the nonsense. Chatter disappears. The meaning of freedom is embraced. “We need wilderness because we are wild animals,” Edward Abbey wrote. “Everyone needs a place where he can go to go crazy in peace. For the terror, freedom, and delirium. Because we need brutality and raw adventure, because men and women first learned to love in, under, and all around trees, because we need for every pair of feet and legs about ten leagues of naked nature, crags to leap from, mountains to measure by, deserts to finally die in when the heart fails.”

Contrary to the human-centric land management model, Wilderness and undisturbed Nature thrives without human interference, no matter the neurotic obsession humans have with themselves and their pernicious dramas, and both are essential to our species’ emotional and physical well-being.

We’re not sure exactly what happened during this past expedition into the wilds that impacted our hearts and minds so powerfully. Five days away from civilization, the physical challenge, the real possibility of injury or death due to distance from help, all played a part. But for me personally, I think age has a lot to do with it, as I’ve hiked hundreds of miles on high mountain trails during dozens of trips over the past five decades. Not that age guarantees insight, as corners filled with gray-haired retirees waving Trump flags demonstrate, but it should help one accept the fact that life is a vanishing resource, and that one should act accordingly.

Understanding the notion of memento mori may do some good for those so obsessed with themselves and their righteous dramas, both young and old.

If not, there’s always the Nutcracker.

– Rick

P.S. Our legal battle to stop the fuel-centrists from logging, clearing, and spraying herbicide on hundreds of thousands of acres in California is going to court November 9th, and is detailed here.

The Nutcracker.

Glacial moraine.

Glacial striations – signs of moving glaciers scraping against bedrock.

Old-growth poetry.

Water brings life.

Evening solitude.

Reluctantly departing from our Wilderness home.

Photos by R. Halsey and N. Bisesi.