Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Scott Holmes: Assignment 2

As a self proclaimed serious trekker I can say that I have a bit of knowledge about hiking and how it feels to be out on the trail for 22 days straight. At that point, the "majestic and pure" crap they've been trying shove down our throats is not an immediate thought. Catching fish and sterilizing everything you eat sucks after a certain point. Its cold at night and that mummy bag ain't shit. When you ask the brick what it wants to be it doesn't say jack about an arch it just asks if it can be a part of the mountain which is a greater landmark than anything we will every build in our life time.

Nature is a frightening place, nature is a beautiful place, and nature is everything in between. You will learn, laugh, be fatigued, and most importantly experience as close to a fabricated-less  life as possible. Life is immediate, your phone is dead and has no service, the only people you can interact with are the ones within shouting distance, and the you keep yourself entertained by looking around and its amazing what you will find. Although that sound like a miserable experience to forty six of you, it isn't because of one simple fact of the human way of life. We are still capable of appreciating the above average things in our lives even if the spectrum changes. So if instagram's filters don't load or we haven't checked facebook in a week, life is still grand. Nature is something you appreciate by interacting WITH not by taking a picture OF (K simps get out). That is something I didn't understand for the longest time and it has been a great thing to learn.

Life on the trail is real. It'll kick your ass if you suck at taking care of yourself and it will give you a fantastic sense of accomplishment if you can check yourself before you wreck yourself. The culture behind the trail is simple. Everyone is your friend but no one is allowed to get near what you need to survive. The views are great at one point and the in n' out meal you have afterwards is even greater in the next but one will stick with you longer than the other. After enough experiences, those memories will build an appreciation. So to all the kids who said that they thought the cut, trimmed, potted bonsai tree Josh Bard showed us in studio, was nature. You are terribly wrong because nature, in my mind, has earned a higher place than anything we will ever do.

Leave no trace and be prepared












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