Wilderness: The Gateway To The Soul
Written by Scott Stillman
Follow the author to the canyons of Utah, the California High Sierra and other deep wilderness areas in Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona. Mostly going solo, Stillman describes the physical beauty wonderfully. But as well, he profoundly describes the healing effects of these places to calm the busy modern mind - and ponders the meaning of life itself. Jump in at any chapter, it doesn't matter. Enjoy the start of another adventure and another reminder that the wilderness is calling you in.
Some random quotes and passages:
"Wilderness. My problems are over the moment I step out onto the trail, pack loaded, schedule free. For the next few days everything will be new. The past no longer matters, the future disappears, and the present moment comes at me frame-by-frame, in extreme high definition. It's the one place I feel completely at peace."
"The brisk morning air has us light on our feet. I follow Valerie up the trail, thinking of others who walked here before. The ones who built the trails, fought for wilderness designation, and dedicated their lives to the protection of this land, so that future generations can also experience this magic. Unspoiled beauty like this remains rare, sacred."
"With year-round snow, Mount Bachelor is a playground for gravity sport enthusiasts who come to ski her deep glaciers and steep couloirs. Bend itself is a playground, that is, for connoisseurs of human-powered sport. People who need nothing more than mountains, lakes, winding trails, and wild rivers for their recreation."
"We love our machines, myself included. Without the automobile I could not have traveled here, at least not so easily. But at what point do our machines start to become a species of their own? When do they start taking over our lives? How long can we continue at this rate? What will our world be like two hundred years from how? Two thousand? At what point does the advancement of technology yield a diminishing return?"