Spring Backpacking

“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” -John Muir.        This was my first time camping, and before I was kind of scared, but still kind of excited about exploring through a forest wilderness. Before I didn’t know anything about camping, but after I realized that I could see, hear, and touch real nature with our body. This is so different from learning it from a text book. While camping, I learned so much about nature, river rafting, and the importance of teamwork. Therefore, I disagree with the decision that the administration has decided to cancel future backpacking trips.

          We had a few meetings to prepare for camping about dangerous plants and insects. We learned that poison oak is one of the plants that you have to be careful of. Poison oak has three leaves on the stem and the oil on the leaf will make your body itch for days if you touch it. Even though I learned that in the classroom, I still couldn’t imagine how would it look unless I saw it with my own eyes. I also learned about flowers on the trail. For example, Baby Blue Eyes which looks like baby’s eyes, Popcorn flowers that look exactly like popcorn. Many have special names because of their shapes and color. We won’t find any of these plants in the city or on our campus. Only nature can show us the wilderness.

We river rafted on our backpacking trip. River rafting might sound pretty easy, but it actually matters what you do on the boat. If you stand up, the boat will be unbalanced. If you hold your paddle the wrong way, you might hurt someone. We learned to use all of our body to manuever the boat. It doesn’t sound complicated, but you have to be careful not to fall off the boat while you’re doing big movements. This experience is impossible to recreate in a classroom.

          Can you set up a tent by yourself? Can you carry the boat down to the river by yourself? Can you hike without a hand in front of you to help you go down a steep and slippery hill? Teamwork is important during camping. For example, when you’re carrying the boat, what happens if you suddenly release the boat? The boat will fall! So you have to do everything together. After all, I noticed that you have to always help and do everything together with your partners.

          You can never learn the real feeling of camping with textbooks and tests. I studied about nature, the value of cooperation, and river rafting after I went through the wilderness. Camping is a challenging and educating activity, so I believe canceling backpacking trips is not a very good decision.