“People who actually love untouched wilderness stay out of
it.”
That was a comment on my last blog post shared on Facebook
about the crowd alert on the Pacific Crest Trail. At first I took it as
scolding me for going into the forest.
Then I thought that if no one goes there, what good is it.
Quick answer to that came to mind: It’s good for the flora and fauna that lives
there.
But then I thought that if no one goes there, who will know
what flora and fauna lives there. Who will be the defenders of wilderness
against those who would develop it for the resources there? And you know that
those looking for new resources are going to go there poking and prodding for
ways to turn wilderness green into another kind of green. They would “tear treasure
out of the bowels of the land . . .with no more moral purpose at the back of it
than there is in burglars breaking into a safe,” to quote Joseph Conrad in “Heart
of Darkness.”
Finally, the thought came to me that this is just a noble
sounding excuse to stay home and watch TV. So I loaded up the backpack and set
off for the PCT again. Hardly untouched wilderness these days with the through
hikers passing through (where the fires will let them), but still the great
outdoors and I must go.
Whataya think?
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