Being alone in the wilderness is unlike any other. I’m addicted. Each time people ask how it was, “weren’t you scared?”, and so on. My response every time is punctuated by “It was amazing” coming from a glazed over smile.
These solo trips in the Boundary Waters are hard to put into words. I don’t know what it is, but it takes a month for me to unpack a fraction of the entire experience gleaned from them. Yet words can only describe a wisp of it.
They all have been different from each other:
1st Trip: A psychological test to see if I can handle being alone in the wilderness: learning how to let go.
2nd Trip: Centered on seeking the the little things along the way: stop and smell the roses.
3rd Trip: A test of perseverance: empowerment comes from believing in oneself.
4th Trip (recently): Finding calm in the storm: you can’t control what’s going on around you, you can only control how you react to it.
I hope these solos will continue up there until I take my last breath. They center me. However, I’m concerned I may still have breath and may not be able to visit the pristine, public wilderness we Americans have free access to experience – it’s our right. The Boundary Waters may be at risk.
A foreign, private company wants have rights for sulfide-ore copper mining. They vow the mining won’t have any impact (never been proven to be safe), it’ll create jobs (just a couple hundred), etc., etc., etc.
This is yet another Guarantee On The Box…we’ve all see this a thousand times…why don’t we go with a quality product – our natural resources – that draws over a million tourists which spend billions of dollars to help support thousands of jobs each year up there for over a century and counting instead of a piece of sh*t in a guaranteed box that lasts just 20 years and could easily turn our pristine wilderness into a barren wasteland.
Last year, I shared a couple humbling experiences (Solitude and A Night on Wagosh). It’s why I, along with the million others go up there: to experience one of the last natural wonders in our world. Let’s keep it in the hands of the public, not some foreign private company – our land is worth more than a quick buck. Let’s keep it a natural resource.
Every year I go to see you,
Covering my tracks along the way;
The less a presence, the more you give.
Every time I do the same thing,
Unloading my life each step I make;
The less of the world the more you connect.
Every session they plan to drain you,
Uncovering your resources the pickings take;
The less an existence, the more they profit.
Every word guarantees the same,
Loading false pretense each breath made;
The less an aura, the more they sever.