That Wild Country: An Epic Journey through the Past, Present, and Future of America's Public Lands by Mark Kenyon

Author:Mark Kenyon [Kenyon, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542043069
Published: 2019-11-30T22:00:00+00:00

Beaver Basin is an official wilderness, established in 2009 by President Barack Obama and protected by the mandates of the Wilderness Act of 1964—one of the landmark accomplishments of the era and the culmination of the work started decades earlier by Aldo Leopold and Bob Marshall. Beaver Basin was designated as an 11,740-acre portion of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore that would remain roadless and unmarred by future development. As we walked past the wilderness border, I regaled my dad and sister with what that actually meant. In an official wilderness area, with a few exceptions, I explained, it’s illegal to develop any permanent man-made structures, build new roads, or use mechanized forms of travel. This area would remain just as it was now, far into the future: forests, ponds, lakes, streams, swamps, dunes.

The trail led us through open stands of evergreens, their tall beanpole trunks rising bare all the way to the very top where they crowned out with bushy green branches, full of needles. A bigger body of water, Beaver Lake, now bordered us on the right. A sandbar just beneath the water’s surface was visible a few feet out from shore, creating a multicolored ring of various shades of blue that followed the shoreline, like an iris within the eye of the lake. We walked quietly, admiring the blooming wildflowers, feeling the cool breeze and the strain of each heavy step.

Moments like this when I was growing up had kept my father and me close. The outdoors had been our shared passion and an excuse to spend time together well into my teenage years. But as an adult with increasing responsibilities and a hectic schedule, I was rarely able to reconnect with him. This time together was a rare treat. With my father’s sixtieth birthday knocking on the door, I knew our opportunities to do things like this might be fleeting.

“Uh, guys, I need to take a break,” said my dad. When he turned to look at me, his brow was furrowed, and I instantly knew what kind of break he needed. He walked over to a tree about ten feet away. “I’ve never done this before,” he said with a goofy look and began turning away while reaching for his belt.

“Dad!” my sister screamed. “You can’t just do that right off the trail! What if someone comes around the corner?!” Her eyes bugged, while I bent over laughing.

“Come on, Dad, let’s get you out of sight and find a bigger tree. I think you’ll need the extra support.”

“Hey now,” my dad replied to my subtle jab.

After giving my dad a quick rundown on wilderness bathroom etiquette, I returned to the trail and my sister, where we belly laughed for another full ten minutes, occasionally catching glimpses of a bright-blue shirt and stark-white skin amid the distant tree trunks. When Dad returned, he was huffing and puffing, his face red and sweaty, with a swarm of flies following him closely.

“Are there any real bathrooms the rest of the way?” he asked, slapping a mosquito from his face, and letting out a ragged sigh.

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