Joel Holsteen- Practice of the wild #2

In Gary Snyder's "The Practice of the Wild", he talks about how journeys were an important part past generations, because it was a time in which elders would pass on knowledge to the young. They would do this through songs and stories. This reminded me of a trip I went on to a high adventure camp in Baxter State Park, which is in Maine. During this trip we spent a week out in the wilderness canoeing for the first half of the week and hiking the last part. The trip was very powerful and almost sacred due to the fact that it was just us and nature no cities or major roads. Along this trip not only did we have an older guide but some of our fathers came along as well for a total of seven of us including our guide. The whole time we were learning from both our guide and fathers about experiences they had and how to use nature and enjoy it. It was a very good trip and when we climbed Mt. Katahdin the view was phenomenal and powerful. I will never forget the things I learned on that trip or the scenic sites that I saw. The fact that this wild environment had an effect like this on me when I didn’t even know about this place until I went there proves that sacred places like the wilderness can have a positive effect on people even if at first they don’t see it as sacred. Because of my experience there I don’t see how anyone would want to get rid of places like this. Places like Baxter State Park allow people to escape life and just relax and enjoy nature and the wild like we are supposed to.