“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, overcivilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”
-John Muir
We are a recently engaged couple who have decided to thru-hike the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico to Canada. Typically taking 5-6 months to complete, the PCT begins in the scorching heat of southern California, traverses the length of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades through Oregon and Washington, and ends just beyond the Canadian border. Most of this spectacular trail lies within wilderness areas, National Forest, or National Park lands, presenting a unique opportunity for us to immerse ourselves in nature in an active and contemplative way.
Our mission on this thru-hike is to experience firsthand and to draw attention to the physical, emotional, social, and other wellness-related benefits of outdoor recreation. There is a growing gap between people and nature, with two issues of particular concern to us. The first is simply that increasing numbers of people are missing the chance to experience the benefits of getting "outdoors." The second concern is that people may begin to see nature as something separate from humans – as a luxury to protect – instead of something that we must protect because we are undeniably a part of it.
Outdoor adventures foster quality relationships, self-discovery, and self-confidence; they can also help to relieve stress, achieve mental clarity, and improve physical fitness. Conversely, the epidemic of obesity and the growing prevalence of attention deficit disorder and depression in America may be partly attributed to "nature-deficit disorder." Coined by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods, this term describes the negative consequences of raising children with insufficient exposure to nature. Never before has a modern, first world society been so unhealthy.
In motivating people to engage in outdoor recreation, we encourage them to consider their individual relationship with nature. We've been inspired by Al Gore's recent campaign to place global warming on the national stage as an issue of grave concern that requires immediate action. We are presently faced with many environmental issues of comparable urgency. If people do not develop a deeper connection with nature, they are less likely to fully comprehend the potential impacts of these threats to our environment.
Our goal is to empower individuals to seek their own experiences in local outdoor settings. Once they begin to feel an improvement in their well-being, it is our hope that they will continue to get outdoors on a regular basis and perhaps to share this experience with others. We believe that people who appreciate the "outdoors" as an invaluable resource will choose to support environmental conservation. They may choose to make small lifestyle adjustments – to conserve energy, for example – that are mutually beneficial to people and nature. Our website will allow visitors to track our progress on the trail and contribute stories about their outdoor adventures or ways they've found to be environmentally conscious.
We see this as a chance to spend our engagement developing our relationship with each other and with the Earth; it is our Wilderness Orientation to Marriage. Jonathan's experience in outdoor and health education and Amanda's background in earth science together make us a unique pair to be thru-hiking the PCT. These areas complement each other well – "how places affect people" and "how people affect places." We believe that it is well worth sacrificing the comforts of home and a steady salary in order to experience the outdoors for an extended period of time and to take action to try to narrow the gap between people and nature. Ultimately, we plan to write about our story and musings on the trail, to share our different perspectives as we go through this adventure together.
