Pennsylvania has two designated wilderness areas and one of these is near Hearts Content in the Allegheny National Forest. I'll be going up there next week for some primitive camping and it got me thinking over why exactly we find wilderness important in our society.
So many places, even in our most remote states, have these huge urban centers that take away from the beauty of the natural wilds. When looking at a town like Bozeman, MT or Jackson, WY...they're surrounded by these beautiful mountains and scenery, but yet they are yet another urban hustle & bustle center in the middle of what was once the Rocky Mountains of the American West (pictured below is the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana).
The Appalachian Mountains along the eastern seaboard has been inundated with cities and towns.
Where do we draw the line? Do you not find it important
to still have a part of our country that is truly wild? Nature should be able to take its own toll on the land. Man should be merely a visitor and should be subject to the laws of the land as so. My professor states that in a wilderness area, there should be no rescue should you decide to go camping and get in trouble. I feel this is right. You go backpacking and run the risk of knowing t
hat you are completely at the will of how well you can survive.
It is amazing to think of a place that does not have roads, air strips, cabins, or dams on the rivers. There is not a lot of these places left and I think that we need to be able to have beautiful places such as this where we can get away from the busyness of everyday American life and get back to our roots. Enjoy nature...enjoy the land around us...and enjoy knowing that the place you are in is truly wild.
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