When I was completing my senior year of high school my psychical education instructor always reminded us that there was nothing quite like getting out of the city. She said, “We become trapped in this concrete jungle and its surprising how one hike in the woods can change a personality for weeks.” The class was called Adventure Ed, we went hiking or rock climbing or kayaking almost every week. But that reminder has often stuck with me. I easily spend 80 hours a week at MIAD, as most of you do, that’s why getting out of the city is even more important to me.
Last summer I ended up in Yellowstone National Park for maybe the third time in my life. That time it was different, it wasn’t about being a tourist or seeing everything that is well known in the park, it was just about getting out of the city and away from it all. Yellowstone would of not been complete with all the clothes smelling like a bonfire and the terrible instant coffee that takes 30 minutes while you wait for the water to boil. In that trip I had hit up 3 National Parks along the west coast. Glacier was the final stop. The snow was taller than me at the top of the peak. Although there were tons of people there the snowball fight was one of the most fun things of the trip. The views up the mountain were astonishing and the hiking was great.
Without the government making great strides in the preservation movement, who knows what those parks could have been today. They are a great learning experience when I was younger, interesting family trips when I was a teenager and escape backpacking trips as a I got older. The natural landscapes require a lot of upkeep and monitoring with the tourist around. They also provide an interesting viewpoint to see animals in their natural habitat. The National Park Service also makes a lot of the money to employ their staff from the tourist that visit every season.
Preservation does not only have to be on the national scale. Over fall break I ended up out in Delafield to go hiking in the Naga-Waukee State Park. Again this was a small entry fee to get in and it was right around the time where the staff was cleaning up the park for winter. They had the lawnmowers going to pick up the leaves. Easily I was the only visitor in the park that day. Although it was not a large park it was still big enough to get out of the city and be surrounded by trees and enjoy nature.
Sometimes it doesn’t have to be much to create an escape but without them we would run out of the green spaces we have and be stuck in the concrete forever. The preservation of parks is a great idea and I think we should keep making strides to save natural spaces.
You are so lucky to have had a P.E. teacher like that! I personally believe that we learn the most when we try new things and explore outside of our comfort zones, which is what it sounds like your teacher pushed you to do. Do you think that this was a significant learning experience for you in high school?
ReplyDeleteI agree that a lot goes into the preservation of national parks. I cannot imagine what it must be like for a relatively small group of people to be in charge of millions of acres of wildlife. Additionally, it would be terrible if sites such as Yellowstone were never preserved, and eventually paved over to make way for commercial and residential buildings. Imagine seeing a parking structure and mall in the place of a forest or mountain range; that would be terrible. Saving landscapes is just as important as preserving buildings because landscapes offer us things that buildings cannot. Nature allows us an escape from everyday life, and allows us to relax and get back in touch with who we are.
I agree with the need to get out of the concrete jungle. Its important to experience nature in the best settings we have today in which to observe and relieve the stress that happens from everyday life. I too love to go out and rock climb, It is one of my favorite adrenaline junkie sports that one can do outdoors. There is nothing quite like the feeling of muscling and twisting your way up a rock face only to have the adrenaline pumping fifteen foot fall failing to clip into a carabeaner while lead climbing. And climbing Yellowstone someday would definitely be a treat. Either way keep getting outdoors! I know how annoyingly hard it is during the school season with the homework load.
ReplyDeleteI liked the comment you made about if these parks were not preserved long ago then what would be left of them now a days. I feel like with preservation issues now a days too many people think about the short term and what is more convenient. It isn't until the after fact when it is already destroyed that they realize it was a stupid decision. I have never been to yellowstone park myself but I have been to joshua tree park and other like it and have been influenced myself having seeing nature truly untouched.
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