In some men, the need of unbroken country, primitive conditions, and intimate contact with the earth is a deeply rooted cancer gnawing forever at the illusion of contentment with things as they are….I have seen the hunger in their eyes, the torturing hunger for action, distance and solitude, and a chance to live as they will. I know these men and the craving that is theirs…
Sigurd Olson ‘Why Wilderness?’ American Forests 1938
Sigurd Olson wrote so intensely about the craving for wilderness because he experienced it powerfully himself. But why do people feel this desire to abandon comfort and head out with paddle or pack to wild country? At best they will come back with insect bites and aching muscles, and at worst they may not return at all, like Chris McCandless. Why do they do it?
Polar bears do not thrive in the desert. Our modern life is stressful for much the same reason: we find ourselves in an environment very different from the one that evolution adapted us for. The wilderness trip is a return to what is natural for us. Although the wild may seem superficially unfamiliar for the city-bred outdoorsman, on a deeper level it ‘feels’ right. Or, as John Muir put it: “Going out, I found, was really going in”
Another reason is freedom. We may live in a democracy, but we are still subject to a particularly cruel dictator - the one on your left wrist. After the second or third day on the trail the modern concept of time is forgotten and becomes a virtual unreality. Instead we become more tuned into natural rhythms - sunrise, sunset, tides and moonstate - because they matter. You can speed ths process up a bit by leaving your watch behind.
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