June 28, 2001  -  Wilderness Is...  - 
Caribou Pass, Kongakut River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

According to the dictionary, the definition of wilderness is: "An unsettled, uncultivated region left in its natural condition, especially: a) a large wild tract of land covered with dense vegetation or forests; b) an extensive area, as a desert or ocean, that is barren or empty; c) a piece of land set aside to grow wild.

While adventuring in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I've asked my fellow traveling companions how they define wilderness. I think the folks writing dictionaries could learn a thing or two from the responses listed here.

Wilderness is:
Being able to drink straight from a stream.
A place where you feel vulnerably close to nature.
A place where there's no connection to the outside world.
An escape from email.
A place to wear mismatched clothes and nobody looks at you funny.
Fragile.
A place where it's okay not to bathe.
Where we get in touch with where we came from.
A place to eat often.
Where you clean house by picking up your tent and shaking it.
Getting used to seeing hundreds of caribou every day.
A place where time doesn't matter.
A place to feel small.
Pure and simple.
Quiet.
Where you learn what a trowel is.
A warm sleeping bag on a cold night.
Where bears are the boss.
Being comfortably alone without feeling lonely.
Hopeful.
Grit.
The absence of absolute safety and certainty.
Untamed.
A place where you live in the present.
A pinch of trail dust in every meal.
Cold and wet.
Where hot water is precious.
No client phone calls.
A place to feel alive.
A landscape on a scale so large you can't take it in all in one view.

Thanks to Gavin, Craig, Chris, Steve, Paula, Kingsley, Gillian, Terry, Lior and Julia for sharing your wilderness experience with me.


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