Eric Kennedy Personal reflections (the C+O Canal Trip)#1
While hiking the C+O Canal I found that I had time to reflect on discussions had in class and I have found that there are a few questions nagging me the whole way.
The first question seems to be why is it that many of the trails that we seem to have are not fully nature? This question was the main one that bothered me through out my trip. The C+O canal trail is a trail that runs from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington D.C. This trail was established as a tow path for donkey teams that towed boats down a canal that helped to bring goods up and down this path. Nowadays we use this path for recreation and historical preservation. There are many amazing sites both natural and historical along this path, and both are easily accessible from the path itself. This question, however is that the trail is mostly man-made, but runs through nature and city streets that distract from the majesty of the area. Now don’t get me wrong this is beautiful country, and the sites are defiantly worth the 43 mile days that we biked, but there is something missing on this trail for me. Every 5 miles or so, 10 in some sections, there is a porta-potty, and a campsite. This is mainly for convince given that now the path is used mainly for hiking and biking. But this to me distracts from the place’s inherent beauty. And the path’s existence only further agitates the question on why are nature experiences and trails not fully nature. I mean the trail is nice, it’s a lot of fun, and very convenient. But I want to see a trail that I cannot see, I want to camp somewhere that is completely left untouched by man, and it seems the only way to experience nature is through these human crafted ideas of what nature should be. Why don’t we just let nature be what it should be and not try to create what we THINK nature should be?
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