Grant Wiley – On Wilderness (student choice)


            I am writing this blog as a quick reflection on “wilderness”. We talked shortly about this concept in our introductory reading on Norman Wirzba’s book, From Nature to Creation, but I want to go a bit more in depth. It seems to me that we, especially in America, have an interesting relationship to the wilderness. I personally enjoy backpacking and hiking because of the lifestyle that it involves as well as my appreciation for the “wilderness”. With this being said, I often struggle to truly embrace the wild. I often focus on upgrading my gear so that I experience less of the tough parts of hiking/backpacking and instead bring some civilization with me on the trail. This can range from a newer, better tent to a filtration system that makes sure my water is extremely clean.

 This makes me ponder why I even go backpacking. If I enjoy the wilderness so much, why don’t I embrace it? If I don’t enjoy the wilderness, why do I go hiking and backpacking? I suppose there is a middle ground that I try to find between the two and that is where I am most comfortable. I would also say that I often don’t enjoy backpacking for the first few days of a trip, but once I get my “hiking legs”, I end up enjoying it more. I suppose this relates to what is often described as flow-state. It seems to me that these hiking legs are required to reach the flow-state because when you don’t have your hiking legs you often are so caught up in thinking about how much what you’re doing hurts. In sum, it’s good to be in shape before you go on a longer backpacking trip.

- February 10, 2021

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