In Every Walk with Nature…

Although born in Scotland, John Muir is one of, if not the most famous American naturalist.  His quotes are used as much or more than anyone when it comes to the outdoors.  The one in particular that strikes me more than others.

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

-John Muir

Although Muir is most well known for his writings on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, this quote actually comes from an essay he wrote while visiting Utah.  In addition, this quote isn’t entirely accurate.  The actual line from Muir is this:

“But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

There’s always a but right? Most people leave out the but when they reference Muir’s quote.  Whether that’s because it makes the line more complicated, or they just don’t know, we can’t be sure.

I, on the other hand, think the “but” is the most interesting word in the sentence.

In the essay, Muir goes into the mountains looking for one thing, and Nature surprises him with something completely unexpected.  To me, this is something that every one of us can learn.  Sometimes what we receive is GREATER than what we seek, and sometimes we receive some hard lessons. (See here)

My experiences with Nature (I will use the Muir capitalization from here on out) have been overwhelmingly positive.  I want to briefly tell you about a couple of them before, in my next post, I explain my plan of action.

I have been fortunate to hike some really cool places with some really great people.

My first overnight backpacking trip was with a group from Branch County here in southern Michigan.  The Agri-Environmental Wilderness Expedition (AEWE) was started over twenty-five years ago by a teacher at the Branch Area Career center, Bill Earl.  I had heard great things from past leaders, and when I was teaching at Bronson High School, I decided to apply to be a leader. This would turn out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. The planning, prep, teamwork, and execution of this trip is as good as it gets. We camped for two nights at one of the campgrounds at Yellowstone, but the final destination was a three day, two-night back-country hike through Yellowstone National Park.  I was very fortunate to make this trek with two other leaders and five students from Bronson.  Having never backpacked before, I was most definitely spoiled with my first trip being Yellowstone.  However, it definitely gave me the bug to hike more. There is no denying that after this, I was looking for my next opportunity to get out into Nature.

So where does the “But” come in? Well, I also received the unexpected benefit of unplugging from the world.  There was no cell phone service from the time we pulled into the park, until the time that we left.  While this was a little freaky, knowing I would be out of reach for five days, it was also one of the most relaxed stretches of time I had enjoyed in a while.  Walking, talking (and not talking), and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature was exhilarating.

“But“… I also received the chance to be there when these students experienced this kind of Nature for the first time.  These students to put away cell phones, iPads, and all technology and experienced this gift for three days.  I was fortunate enough to be there to observe it first hand.  Kids are so overstimulated by their technology today that opportunities to unplug are few and far between.

My second opportunity to go backcountry backpacking was in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula.  One of my best friends in the world, LJ, lives in Marquette, and we had been trying to get together to go backpacking for a couple of years.  However, since I coach football, basketball, and have three kids and a wife, our schedules hadn’t aligned.  Then, suddenly, they did.  We planned this trip, and I could not have been more excited.  I made the nine-hour drive to Marquette and stayed with LJ and his (now) wife at their house.  We got up early the next morning, made our way to the Porkies, and off we went.  What an awesome walk through Nature it was!

But…I also received a chance to reconnect, catch up, talk, and simply enjoy being with someone who I regrettably don’t get to see that often. LJ and I have been the best of friends since we were freshman in high school, and he had a bowl cut and wore Rec-Specs. I received time with someone else who loves nature and hiking.  The Porcupine Mountains State Park was well worth the drive, and to spend this time with LJ was something I cherished. This picture was of the beginning of our hike, as we started by the Lake of the Clouds.

My next trek into the wild was with my wife.  She has an adventurous spirit, and loves to camp, hike, backpack, and simply be outdoors.  This is one of the MANY reasons I married her.  We incorporated our hike into our trip to Marquette for a wedding; For LJ and his (now) wife Sarah.  Kari and I hiked Grand Island, which is just off the northern coast of the UP, and a short ferry trip from Munising.  This was Kari’s first overnight backpacking trip and we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful hike.  We were only able to stay one night, but we covered around eighteen miles round trip and had a stunning view from our campsite.

“But“… I also received another experience that cemented something that Kari and I had talked about for a while.

We desperately wanted to pass along our love of Nature to our own kids.  Therefore, in the Summer of 2015, we decided that we were going to go on an epic road trip with our family.  One of the common threads during reminiscing with Kari’s family was memories of their camping trips out west when they were kids.  We wanted our kids to have these amazing memories as well.  So we, along with Kari’s parents, loaded up the Family Truckster, and on July 4th, 2015 we hit the road.  Over the course of the next sixteen days, we drove, at best estimate, over 4,000 miles and visited six national parks.

“But“…Despite numerous issues with a pop-up camper which led to my in-law’s coming home a couple of days early, (that’s a whole different post by itself) we had an UNBELIEVABLE trip.  We created memories with our family that we still talk about to this day.  We had the opportunity to show our children that the beautiful panoramic scenes they see in pictures, on TV, and on YouTube videos, are REAL. They got to stamp their National Park passport books at each park, and write in a journal about their favorite memory of the day. As I went through pictures to add to this post, it brought back a flood of memories and got my sense of wanderlust going again.

It was after this trip, and some discussions with colleagues and friends, that I came up with an idea.  This idea, and the plan of action that followed, could bring opportunities for some of our young people to have the chance to walk with Nature, and receive FAR more than they seek.  My next post, I will share this idea, this “But” if you will, and maybe, just maybe, inspire you to join us on this journey.

I’ll leave you with an image of the arch at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park, where the words from the legislation that created the park greet each visitor, and remind us that these wild places are not for the selected few..

Until next time…