6/14/09

edited entry from the pocket-sized Moleskin I carried 30+ miles into the wilderness:

"small, lowgrowing flowers
look exactly like dogwood-
bunchberry."



"Weeds of the West
book recom. by C[___] for non-woody plants."

Editor's Note: One of the things I found most interesting on this trip were non-woody plants, which is odd because most places, I'm crazy for trees and could take or leave the herbaceous undercover. Wildflowers, weeds, strawberries, and all sorts of other stuff captivated me out there, and I was desperate to know what things were as we went along. I have some naturalist-style drawings to accompany a list of noxious weeds I wrote down on the next day of the trip...

"Just told R[__] I probably won't be a backpacker, but I may become a trail runner - wish I had more spicy food. Everything is bland after a few days."

Editor's Note: Trailrunning, can't wait to try it! My hip is still on the mend from the walk out (you'll get some info about that in later posts) but when I'm back up and running (haha) I'm looking forward to getting some grippy running shoes and seeing what it's all about :) This is really because, while on the trail, every time I put my pack down, my legs just begged for a jog up and down the trail while we rested, watered, and cared for blisters. On the first day, we stopped somewhere about halfway through the day, and I swear I could have run at least 5 miles just from the relief of shrugging those 45-50 lbs and having seriously warmed muscles.

I found myself feeling very invested in and protective of urban forestry while in the wilderness, and was very little affected by the wilderness zeal about me. I mean, I enjoyed it in my personal way, but did not find myself wishing to change careers or lifestyle, as I have in the past when encountering something new and exciting (and I find EVERYTHING new and exciting). This is a pre-explanation for this next entry:

"It means I am passionate about something in the absence of anyone else who has passion for that same subject - a personality trait of mine that I have continually fretted over."

Excitement is contagious and I am particularly susceptible to its varying strains. But now I have my own, and it has not been overpowered.

"Privacy is hard to come by with so few."

One of the things I realize I adore and miss about the city is that no matter how many people are around you, or how many people you've talked to today, at any given moment you can decide to be alone, and just be. The irony of wilderness is that only when you are actually alone can you be alone; there is no deciding.