A critique of an original essay from adventure-journal.com
Essays Opinion:
"It's Time to End Cairn Building"
By Robin Martin, High Country News
Via American Hiking Society's FB page.
Kathryn Preston's response:
"Let's check our egos at the door?" and "a reminder of humanity?"
Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure that humanity is part of nature, too. The writer is suggesting that when he (one of those nasty human beings) is out in nature, there should be no trace of OTHER human beings. I think the real problem is that the author doesn't like people. And that's understandable. There's a lot not to like sometimes.
Forgive me for my directness, but the suggestion that a few stacks of rocks are harming the environment seems petty and small at worst, and ludicrous at best. Mother Nature herself whips up cyclones, earthquakes, volcanoes, and any other number of highly destructive forces. There has to be a certain amount of destruction, or death and decay, in order for something new to grow. However, if you want to go on the offensive towards humans that are causing mass destruction, go ahead and point your fingers at Big Oil, Logging, and the Pharmaceutical industries, just to name a few. I highly encourage this. Put your money where your mouth is and go after the "greed heads."
These are just a few of the folks causing damage to the planet at extreme levels. But there is no doubt in my mind that if this planet wants to shake-off us nasty parasitic humans, she WILL, and often DOES. Nature has already created a virus to attack our reproductive systems and kill us off. She knows exactly how to "balance the scales" ... which I'm willing to bet is all these Cairn folks are doing is engaging in an external meditative practice, a symbolic act to achieve balance. Their behavior in the external world is a reflection of their attempts to temper themselves on the inside. The author might try to follow their lead and consciously focus on learning to temper him or herself rather than try to control others by writing what sounds like the whiny, pedantic tirade of a two year old.
Link to original article:
http://adventure-journal.com/2015/07/opinion-its-time-to-end-cairn-building/
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Adirondack: Life and Wildlife in the Wild, Wild East by Edward Kanze.
Published by SUNY Press 2014.
"It may explain why people who grow up in the mountains or at the seashore tend to spend their lives in mountains or beside the sea,
even if the home environment of maturity lies an ocean away from the geography of youth.
'Home is where the heart is,' goes an old proverb. We seek what we love."
The most valuable insight I acquired from this book, is that for Edward Kanze, there is a distinction between two primary Naturalist camps: the John Muir and the John Burroughs camps.
John Muir, according to Kanze, loved Nature but believed Nature should be preserved seperately from Man, that Man was distinct from Nature.
The Adirondack Park, where Kanze and his family now reside, is unique as far as National Parks go, and according to Kanze, is managed more in line with Burroughs' thinking. In Burrough's mind, he was more of a literary naturalist rather than a scientific naturalist, and he felt it was his duty to record his own unique perceptions of Nature.
The Adirondack Park is 6 million acres, covering more territory than Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks combined. It's the only National Park with private in-holdings.
(On a personal note, the whole time I was growing up in the Adirondacks, I was never made aware of the uniqueness of living within a National Park, nor was I aware of the national, historical, or environmental significance of our humble neck-of-the woods.)
I'd like to leave you with a quote from the book that may resonate with some readers:
"William Chapman White, a journalist who wrote the 1954 classic: Adirondack Country, spoke with renowned Saranac Lake guide Les Hathaway (1862-1952) on this score. 'The trouble with people today,' Hathaway told White, 'is they're so busy coverin' ground they aint got time to notice what's on the ground they're coverin.'
Amen, brother.
Published by SUNY Press 2014.
"It may explain why people who grow up in the mountains or at the seashore tend to spend their lives in mountains or beside the sea,
even if the home environment of maturity lies an ocean away from the geography of youth.
'Home is where the heart is,' goes an old proverb. We seek what we love."
The most valuable insight I acquired from this book, is that for Edward Kanze, there is a distinction between two primary Naturalist camps: the John Muir and the John Burroughs camps.
John Muir, according to Kanze, loved Nature but believed Nature should be preserved seperately from Man, that Man was distinct from Nature.
The Adirondack Park, where Kanze and his family now reside, is unique as far as National Parks go, and according to Kanze, is managed more in line with Burroughs' thinking. In Burrough's mind, he was more of a literary naturalist rather than a scientific naturalist, and he felt it was his duty to record his own unique perceptions of Nature.
The Adirondack Park is 6 million acres, covering more territory than Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks combined. It's the only National Park with private in-holdings.
(On a personal note, the whole time I was growing up in the Adirondacks, I was never made aware of the uniqueness of living within a National Park, nor was I aware of the national, historical, or environmental significance of our humble neck-of-the woods.)
I'd like to leave you with a quote from the book that may resonate with some readers:
"William Chapman White, a journalist who wrote the 1954 classic: Adirondack Country, spoke with renowned Saranac Lake guide Les Hathaway (1862-1952) on this score. 'The trouble with people today,' Hathaway told White, 'is they're so busy coverin' ground they aint got time to notice what's on the ground they're coverin.'
Amen, brother.
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