Chaparral Wisdom

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.