WILDERNESS 50

View of the top of Arrowhead mountain from Gavan Hill
trail that goes along Harbor Mountain in Sitka, AK.
SO took this photo during our trip to AK in July '13.

The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson fifty years ago, almost to the day. It was a watershed moment for the conservation movement, having established the National Wilderness Preservation System, and a necessary reminder that man needs to preserve and protect nature.

My SO and I visited Alaska for two weeks in July, 2013. He wanted to show me the place where he feels most at home. He visited AK for the first time with his Mom when he was just 10 years old, and has gone back almost a dozen times since then. Last year was my first time to venture "North to the Future" :). 

SO hiking in the meadows on the Harding Icefield Trail alongside
Exit Glacier in Seward, AK. (July '13)

While there, my sense of humanity in the great scheme of life came alive. 

I had known for some time that being in the great outdoors was healing and inspiring on multiple levels. However, it wasn't until I visited the wild places of AK that my sense of responsibility and genuine love of nature arouse within me like the first sounds of a bird's song at dawn. 

Since that visit, my life has changed in myriad ways and this blog attest to that evolution. My partner and I seek to live our daily life in a way that contributes to and honors the life around us, in whatever form it comes. We also seek, on a regular basis, the spiritual and physical refuge of the wild. 

It is home away from home. It takes our hearts deep beneath the ground; our minds among the diversity of life; and our souls high among the forest canopies and breathtaking skies. 

Me overlooking Exit Glacier in Seward, AK. (July '13)

May this 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act inspire all human beings to recognize the connective tissue between us and all of life that surrounds us for generations [of species] to come! 

Be WILD-ly happy!

~Modern Akhmatova