RANGER DAVE HIKES FOR NATURE EDUCATION: Summer 2014, 80 more miles! : Walt Whitman

Monday, July 14, 2014

Hiking the Colorado Trail, inspired by Walt Whitman

Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road.

- Walt Whitman, from “Song of the Open Road,” Earth, My Likeness

These words by Walt Whitman are an inspiration to me as I get ready for my upcoming hike. No, I won't be on the open road, but I'll soon be on the open trail, the long brown path, free among majestic mountains.

(photo from Colorado Trail Foundation Facebook page)

Why I am walking the Colorado Trail for Nature Education…

I have always been interested in education …as a music teacher, as an alternative education activist, as a parent, and now as a grandparent. And I’ve always been into Nature, as a naturalist, as a hiker, as a backpacker. So putting these two passions together has been a very natural process for me. As I became aware of the growing disconnect between young people and the natural world, so well named by Richard Louv in the phrase “Nature-deficit disorder,” I realized that children need first-hand experiences in Nature if they are to grow up to be tomorrow’s Nature advocates. And Nature so needs advocates. Children also need connection and interaction with the natural world for their own healthy development as people. This all ultimately led me to create the Mountain Park Environmental Center, our many programs, and, now, this fund-raising hike.