Immersion in Nature Can Be Risky, But It's a Risk Worth Taking

   Below is a link to an interesting article published by NPR that outlines how immersing one's self in nature can be risky.  As a transcendentalist at heart, I agree that escaping into nature is a risk, but it is a risk worth taking (as long as you are prepared and head out knowing it is risky).  When Gavin and I explored Alaska, risk was evident.  Before leaving cushy New Jersey, I always was somewhat aware of how risky a sea kayaking trip in the wilderness of Southeastern Alaska would be, but until I was in the thick of the wilderness, the bay, and at the mercy of Mother Nature, could I fully grasp how risky the situation truly was.  During some particularly trying moments in Alaska, when the danger of hypothermia was in full swing, I remember Gavin looking at me, slashing his arm through the pouring rain, pointing to nature, nature, nature; the absence of human life and shouting: "This is not some Disney princess paddle through Glacier Bay!  We could die out here!"  His remark came from a small mistake I had made on our journey--something so minuscule that in society, one wouldn't even bat an eye.  But here, out here in 3.3 million acres of wilderness, surrounded by no one else except wildlife, a small mistake is big.  So big, it could cost you your life.  Although I knew it was risky, I, then, fully became aware of the grandeur of this risk.  As someone who typically pays attention to detail, I became more focused on survival and surroundings than I had ever done in my life.

    All of this commentary serves not to dissuade folks from immersing themselves in nature--I truly believe nature is great for the soul--but instead it is meant to remove the veil of safety from the wilderness, exposing the harsh realities for which any trekker needs to be prepared.  In the words of a seasoned Park Ranger from Glacier Bay (a celebrity in his own right for being in the park orientation videos, which Gavin and I watched three times, which made recognizing the now grizzled and slightly aged ranger in an airport a simple task):  "You could do everything right in the backcountry and still die."

    Happy reading and happy SAFE, RESPONSIBLE, ALERT trekking!

"Immersion in Nature, Naturally, Can Be Risky" NPR