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| The drive to Kettle Moraine |
The next thing that irked me was the fact that once we had started our 9.5 mile hike, there were a few times when (even when I thought we were well into the woods) cars on the road were still audible. I wondered, how close to the road are we? Even the purity of the woods had been exploited by humans. While we were hiking, once in a while I would notice that the pine trees were arranged in orderly rows. Since trees don't grow in such straight lines, they had to have been planted by humans. In fact, companies use this forest to plant pine trees for lumber.
While I did really enjoy today's hike, I couldn't help but be reminded of Chris McCandless from Into the Wild and how he intended on being "lost in the wild(163). It is very ironic because he ended up being so close to human civilization in Alaska. As Krakauer describes, "Less than thirty miles to the east is a major thoroughfare, the George Parks Highway. Just sixteen miles to the south, beyond an escarpment of the outer range, hundreds of thousands of tourists rumble daily into Denali Park over a road patrolled by the National Park Service" (165). While I do respect McCandless's intentions of being at one with nature, I think it is sad that he was not able to fulfill his goal of being fully submerged in the wild, away from civilization.With over 22 million acres of natural prairie diminished in Illinois alone ("Praries of the Midwest") and satellite GPS programming to tell us where we are at all times, I wonder: in this day and age in America, is it really still possible to get "lost in the wild?" Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Sources:
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
"Praries of the Midwest": http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/missriver/Education/Prairies%20of%20the%20Midwest.pdf
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