I miss the wildness

Well, the odyssey is over and I am home again.
I’ve driven around 9000 miles, flown over 800 miles and walked many in between. I’ve spent over three months away from home sleeping in motels, tents, a beautiful cabin in the woods and in my car. And I took almost 35,000 pictures. 
I miss the wildness.


I miss the call of the road, the woods and the mountains. I miss the rainy days and the sunny ones. I miss the wind and the calm. I miss the snow and the warmth. I miss the moon and stars, the clear days and cloudy ones.
I miss the wildness.


I have walked on sidewalks and roadways with many
others. And I have walked on the paths of grizzly bears and caribou. I have walked through hugh manmade buildings and structures. I have walked on the playgrounds of ground squirrels and foxes. I have walked the concrete canyons of large cities and the rock canyons of the mountains. I have
walked where I see no other person all day and I have walked surrounded by countless people running frantically through their own lives.  I’ve spent time with people who crave the remoteness and I have been with people who
fear it.
I miss the wildness.


I have stood where in every direction I am surrounded by the sights and sounds of man. Large cities like Anchorage, Duluth and Edmonton.  Places where you can’t see the night sky. And I have stood where there is only wilderness as far as I can see. National parks like Denali, Jasper, Banff and Glacier. I have stood surrounded by more stars then I thought were possible. I have stood where the only sounds I hear are manmade. Cars, planes, radios, voices. And I have
stood where the only sounds are natural. Birds, wind, water.
I miss the wildness.


I have driven on many roads to see this world around me. Roads with mundane names like I-75, US28 and Highway 1. I have driven roads with mystical names like The Alaska
Highway, The Yellowhead Highway, The Icefield Parkway and Going to the Sun Road. I have driven on major highways with hundreds of other vehicles and I have
driven on unimproved dirt roads where for hours I travel alone. 
I miss the wildness.


I have seen vistas like no others. I have seen miles and miles of forests, rivers, mountains and valleys. But, I know now that no matter how big and uninterrupted it appears man has imposed his will on the land. For the many miles of wild areas and national parks, they are not infinite. They are measured in acres and in miles, but they end. They end. And once you enter them you see signs of man. Sadly garbage and trash is easy to find. There is not one area that has not been touch in some way by man. The air, the water and the very ground itself show the effect man has on the world around him. Around me. To pretend the Earth is so big we as a species have little or no impact on her health is a
pipe dream. It is one that is proven wrong on a daily basis. It is time we, as the ones who bring so much harm, do what we can to reverse the rush to conquer and destroy the precious resources we have left. It is time we stand and say…

I miss the wildness.