Signs of Wilderness

Humans have a habit of creating boundaries that are essentially meaningless. We love dividing the world up into mine and thine, and the results of this love of borders, fences, and boundaries is in some cases visible from space. For me, the boundary with the greatest meaning is that which bounds our wildest and best protected places: Wilderness.

Ever since I started hiking in my early teens I have had a fascination with the rugged markers of these pristine havens - weatherbeaten gray slabs of wood that stand sentinel to these bastions of untamed country. Each proclaims with silent, implacable finality that past this point the works of man are not permitted. Leave your clanking, whirring, roaring contraptions behind. Once across this line you will tread with care, leaving as little mark as possible on the land, and you shall not remain in this place. Past this point is the kingdom of untamed creatures, and its rulers; the wolf, the bear, the elk, and the rest. Do not permit your emigration into their domain lest it be forever altered.

Every time I pass these markers I am compelled to have my photo taken with them. These trophies celebrate my exploration into the depths of our nation's greatest natural treasures. It is an immense thrill to venture into an unknown wilderness area, and a feeling of joyful reunion to return to a familiar one. 

The wilderness boundary sign is a comfort to any lover or champion of our natural heritage. Anywhere else there are worries for the future of the land, but for the most part the power of the 1964 Wilderness Act is all but insurmountable for even the most rabid of the greed driven individuals who would exploit our land for their own petty ends. Thanks to this brilliant piece of legislation we can go and immerse ourselves in a natural environment, the permanent existence of which is as certain as anything can be in this world. The peace brought to me by passing a wilderness boundary sign cannot be bought at any price.

It is my dream that every glorious patch of untouched land one day get its own weathered marker, and that those markers stand their watch forever, guarding the boundaries, and graciously allowing the passage of those who come to pay their respects to the most wonderful and wild places I know.

___________________________________________________________________________

Written in one hour for the #naturewritingchallenge