The Wilderness Experience: The Reconnection To Nature is the Reconnection to the Primal Human Condition

The relationship between man and wilderness has been a complicated situation for as long as the Homo sapien became advanced enough to desire comforts aside from their wild and natural habitat. Most of us have lost touch with where our species comes from or the fact that we are just as animal as the bears and elk that wander these mountains. Although, the majority of us have somehow become contented with cramming ourselves in relatively tiny quarters within manufactured boxes far removed from our natural residence in the wilderness, some of us have a deeply rooted connection to the ancestry in which forced the human to evolve into what we have become today.

Although Wilderness, today, is a far cry from what we had before we exploited its resources, over extracted its commodities, and polluted its character, it is still the next best thing for the modern human to receive a taste of what it was like in the great before. All of us go out, or in, to the Wilderness for a variety of personal reasons; however, the core reason can usually always be traced to one fundamental purpose. To put it simply, it’s the need and desire to reconnect with nature. To put it in more technical terms, the reason we feel the need to go to the wilderness is due to our deep instinctive draw that none other than our genetics and ancestry promotes. After hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution in the wild, the instinct for all things natural is still so very present, and you can not eliminate that instinct so easily.

The Wilderness Experience is an important factor in our lives. It is as significant a necessity as love, belonging, and compassion. Evidence is clear that people are happier and healthier when they are surrounded by nature. If you need proof, just look around you, your in Missoula. The Wilderness provides us a chance to test our fit conditions as well as skills and abilities to survive in a self-reliant arena. Reconnecting with nature is actually more of a reconnection to our human condition. This is our nature as biological beings with instincts and reactions to conditional stimuli. When a human presents them self in nature or a wilderness situation, the individual is experiencing sensations that our instincts trigger from our ancestry. It is important for us to be able to feel those sensations because we are in fact animals. Just as an animal captivated in a zoo, humans are not as happy in captivity. Wilderness endures the genuine human element.

Varying conditional factors in the wild promote the Wilderness experience. Extreme conditions from all points on the spectrum are responsible for the human instinct to take over rational thought. We have all experienced this. It is instinct that tells us that we need to get the hell out, and it is instinct that helps us get the hell out when we’ve already gotten ourselves deep into a jam. The success of enduring an extreme situation in the wilderness proves that the individual is fit enough to persist and eventually pass on the desirable gene.  Yeah, its pure evolutionary biology that we are experimenting with.

The human brain receives pleasure from the successful completion of a survival situation because they know that they are fit to survive another day. This is one of our many biologic reactions in which aided in our evolution. Since humans own a more tame environment, the best way to mimic this pleasurable sensation is through Wilderness recreation. When we climb a mountain, float a rapid, or run on the trail, we are pursuing the fundamental human condition. This could be why many of us recreationalists are confident with our alpha status. The constant exposure to this type of survival situation builds up the character of the individual.

The Wilderness experience is a very personal and individual based subject. The human brain is complicated, but the essence of wilderness and our response to its stimuli is simple. We all have our own take on the subject but it can be agreed that the sensations that we feel out there are beyond a human’s capability to manufacture or reproduce. This is what makes preserving and protecting Wilderness so important to the continued existence and evolution of mankind. Without wilderness we are in danger of losing the essence of our species. Wilderness is the only hope we have for humanity. Support wilderness for our species’ sake.

Above The Clouds: An Anthem For Wilderness and Freedom

I wrote this song in order to express how important the Wilderness was in the process of achieving peace through genuine freedom. These lyrics were inspired by the sensation of reaching mountain summits high above the clouds where below only the towering peaks of granite of neighboring monuments share the horizon. My Dad Ray Harwood filmed this video on our road trip through the high Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington. 

Bryan Harwood- Above The Clouds

Lyrics Written By Bryan Harwood

Above the Clouds

Here I stand before the threshold of a man

New truth and knowledge for all that I am

And I try to fully understand

My purpose that burns as a passion for the land

The wisdom that she holds from within

Her whispering spires that keep drawing me in

The energy and life in which I depend

The glory of the truth Amen!

My soul is my conscience my heart and mind make me whole

To listen to the spirit within is to receive the peace and transcend

Rise up from the distractions of a darkened world of sin

The wilderness is calling us home it is time to listen and live

 It is time to listen and live, it is time feel and love,

It is time to understand, It is time to step up and give!

Here I kneel before the alter of stone

The heart of the mountain my temple my home

And I know the answers I seek

Are easily found for I’m no longer weak

My heart pounds strong with the force of the sun

My melodies of nature shall not go unsung

The acceptance of freedom will guide me to see

That wilderness is truth and peace victory

And I fly through this gift of life with a smile

For the blessing of sight and feeling is pure

I fear not the darkness for I have the light and

To shed the truth is my reason to serve

I soar above the clouds of doubt

For contentment has lead to my identity

I embrace the beauty of life and existence

I glide on wings of serenity

Beckoning of the Bitterroots

There is a voice in the distance that only I can hear, there is a calling from a mystical landscape that is drawing me into its realm, and there is a deep beckoning from a range of whispering mountain peaks. I have heard this call many times and I always seem to submit to its persuasive nature. The spirit of the Bitterroot Mountains to the western horizon of the Big Sky knows my name and she knows that my heart is strong with her. Her voice is harmonious with the tranquilly calming sounds of wind through the trees, rivers and streams, and the bird’s song carried by the breeze. This is a voice that cannot be denied by any man, for it is the same voice that called to the primitive man, the mountain man, and to now the modern mountaineer. It is a sweet sound that causes the mind to eliminate all modern turmoil with the freedom of the hills in which she sings. The melody of silence can be interpreted as the truth granted by her alpine wonders and forested mysteries.

            Can you hear this voice, can you hear this magnificent symphony of wilderness in which the heart of these majestic mountains is broadcasting into our minds and into our souls? Listen and feel her intentions of providing love for life and the embrace of freedom. The Bittterroot Mountains and not only calling, they are begging to be noticed and appreciated by man once again. These are the mountains that struck fear and wonder into our species for ages.  They are now, themselves, in fear of being forgotten as the long forgotten primitive man and beasts of the wild that once stood before them as humbled creatures of the Earth. Listen to the song that plays long into the night, the song that shall sooth the most disgruntled mind into bliss, please strain your hearing and your consciousness to listen for the song of the Bitterroot Mountains.

The spirit of the Bitterroot performs her masterpiece. A grand symphony that has been rehearsed for the last millennium with the intention of perfecting its composition for this one point in its long geologic history. The score is written with truth, every note is dynamically perfected by peace, and it shall reverberate the message of freedom to whoever listens and appreciates. It is a beckoning. It is a call to arms yet this assembly is not with intentions of war yet a resurgence back into life and love. Her voice is carried over the crest of snowcapped crags, resounded by the ancestral spirit of the wolves, relayed past the deep canyons of the rivers, recorded into the ancient rocks on the valley floors, and her script has been long written down by the wise souls of the cedar trees.

I hear the calling, I embrace her enticing lyrics and angelic voice for she is beckoning me to her vast kingdom of wilderness glory. I am obedient to her command. I am hypnotized by her song. I need her. The Bitterroot Mountains are my home and I shall and must return. The entrancing ambiance of her solitude manifest visions of familiarity in my mind. Without her I am only but a man; however, with the gifts of genuine life in which she bestows upon a man I can achieve the grand euphoria of an immortal. I hear the epic of her orchestra as they pound the true identity of my spirit with every note. I am listening.

These mountains whisper a truth that can only be understood by those who fully accept its message. A message of true beauty and enlightenment. There is no greater sensation then the gentle embrace of the wilderness as its spirit lifts the distracted soul into realms of nirvana. The Bitterroot Mountains will heal me and any other individual who seeks her salvation for her blessings are provided as forgiveness to the human soul who has forgotten the splendors of wilderness. Seek the sounds, the voice, and the song in which these towering mountains exhibit. Listen and you shall hear the symphony of divine nature. Embrace this music. Accept these hymns of the wilderness, and sing out loud the truth that only she can provide.

The Bitterroots are, in fact beckoning, and it is up to the individual to present themselves before the throne of all that is freedom, peace, truth, and love. Come now, she is waiting.

Freedom Found Through Wilderness, Through Wilderness A Happy Peaceful Soul.

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Photographic Showcase

I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of the MCC Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Immersion Crew during the 2013 field season. It was an amazing experience, so I took alot of pictures. Here is a showcase of my best shots from that season.

Blodgett Canyon view from first bridge

Blodgett Canyon

The Selway River along Selway Trail #4

Selway Falls in early June

Selway River

Small Creek craeting hidden gem along Selway #4

Selway River

Moose Creek Ranger Station Bunk Houses

Selway River at Moose Creek Confluence

Sunset From Bailey Mountain

Engleman Spruce 

Bailey Mountain trail junction

Selway River between Halfway Creek and Moose Creek

Selway at Shearer Guard Station

View of Bear Creek Cedars

Indian Paintbrush

Approaching the Bitterroot Crest at Bear Creek Pass

Approaching Wahoo Pass from Lost Horse Trail

Twin Lakes at Lost Horse Trail Head

Indian Lake

Rhoda Creek

I can't Remember

Selway In the morning Haze

Trees

Flowers

From Sixty-Two Ridge

Cross Cut: This saw's name was Master Hahn Master of Zen

Selway Crags from Blacktail Ridge

Sunset From Big Rock

Full Moon

Looking West from Fenn Mountain's Summit

Looking North From Fenn Mountain

Upper Three Links Lake

Middle Three Links Lake

Alyssa's Bunkhouse

The Selway Below Moose Creek

Looking SouthEast from Wiley's Peak

Bryan Harwood's Wilderness Redemption Music Video

Here is song that I wrote and recorded in 2013. The lyrics deal with the return to my natural habitat in the wild after an intense and heavy distraction in the form of a dead end relationship. Now my life is back on track because of Wilderness, and this song is about that resurgence to the wilderness.

Bryan Harwood- Wilderness Redemption

Bryan's Wilderness Experience Definition

All photos by Bryan Harwood

Wilderness recreation is not simply just a hobby of mine to distract me from the “real world” of work and responsibility; Wilderness IS my Real World, additionally my overall drive for living. Wilderness, as the whole entity that it is, provides me with a myriad of channels in which I need in order to keep my sanity, likewise my motivation and ambition. When entering wilderness in solitude, I gain personal growth and spiritual expansion through a multitude of experiences, whether conditional or mental. Through these “Wilderness Experiences,” I can find truth within myself including the purpose for existence and the all-embracing meaning of life.

            Over the last six years, I have spent more than 400 nights within a wilderness setting through countless personal backpacking trips, my 2010 season volunteering with NPS in Yosemite working backcountry patrols, and the 2011 season interning with SBF in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness working restoration projects and trails, and my 2013 MCC season as a member of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Immersion Crew. Within these nights, and the days in between, I have had a lot of time to explore my mind and actually think. From thinking my very own thoughts without any influence from any source or distraction, I have begun to formulate core ideas for an infinity of philosophies. I will now attempt to describe what these core ideas are.

            First, I will give you MY personal definition of Wilderness so that you have an understanding of where I stand on the subject, and so that you may understand the following bulk of this letter. I am quoting myself here…

“Wilderness is Not just a large tract of roadless land on a map legislatively designated for the exclusive purposes of providing recreation, science, history, and various ecosystem services (clean water, clean air, wildlife, etc..) Wilderness is much more valuable as a fundamental basis for a system of beliefs which holds the potential of being the foundation for personal exploration and spiritual salvation. The physical Wilderness in the form of the undeveloped landscape as seen through the eyes, is the gateway to the expanse of mental Wilderness as seen through the soul, the very core of our being. Wilderness is an extensive idea that wholly revolves around true freedom, the freedom to think without distractions of the mind that cloud the interaction to our soul. Wilderness provides the pure non-distracting element of true solitude in which one becomes unrestricted by the pressures and expectations of the modern world that ultimately provides the uninhibited and uninterrupted exploration of one’s very own mind. Wilderness is the rejection to the deceptive facades of society, and a refusal to fully participate in the preconceived mold and conformities of the modern world. Wilderness is contemporary anarchy in the form of a trend less counter-culture and the portal to find personal identity away from influencing factors and peer-pressured fashions. Wilderness is uncorrupt by the corrosive deceptions of money and power, untainted by the greedy and selfish nature of man, and it is judged not by a critical congregation of hypocritical socialites. Over all, Wilderness is the Divine Temple in which to discover the genuine power of one’s very own soul connection to a higher power, and finally it is the ageless masterpiece that holds the very throne room of GOD himself.”

           

  With all of my personal experience within the physical wilderness, I have come to conclude that this working definition of Wilderness is solid fact. I may not have tangible evidence to scientifically prove most of these defining characteristics of Wilderness, but what I do have are tried and proven experiences which have given me cause to define wilderness in such a manner. Wilderness has provided me with the tools to explore my mind and expand on personal philosophies on life, existence, and God. Now I will describe the process in which Wilderness bestows the gift of freedom and interaction with God himself.

            I have come to term the entire process in which I am about to explain to you as “The Wilderness Experience.” Over the years, the term “wilderness experience” has had many different meanings for me and will continue to evolve over the coming years of Wilderness exposure. Previously, my ideas did not own a cohesive continuity among each other, and for that I became overwhelmed, shelved my progress, and submitted myself to the human emotion of Love where I thought to be content. It was not until very recently when I finally confronted a perpetually haunting demon within the desert wilderness of Zion that I bridged a few daunting gaps within my Wilderness idea. Finally, after five years of trying to make sense out of the sensations that Wilderness ministers, I bring harmony to the previously vast unorganized philosophy of the Wilderness Experience. Although it will continue to change, this is where I am at right now with it.

          

  First and foremost, I must explain a very significant component to the entire process. Wilderness in its physical form presents a non-distracting forum for the mind. Distractions are the single factor that determines a true Wilderness Experience from a simple hiking trip. There are external distractions and internal distractions that we, as 21^st century humans, experience on a daily basis. External distractions are that of society’s strong influencing grip on our own individuality and personal identity, such as the ever-present pressure to conform with the ideal mold set on by an inescapable media that inflicts its subliminal propaganda to the human sheep. External distractions can also be entering Wilderness with one or more other individuals, due in fact that conversation will always lead to the façade world outside clouding the mind, thus the importance of solitude. Internal distractions are the most difficult to eliminate from the mind. Internal distractions are negative human emotion, memory, and self-doubt; I like to call these distractions “demons.” Basically, anything that remotely diverts the mind from being wholly present in the Wilderness is a distraction. Do not confuse these distractions with the natural human reactions to stimuli described in following paragraphs.

It is not possible to have a Wilderness Experience without obviously being physically present in a Wilderness setting, preferably and most successfully in solitude. This, I have come to term as the External State, for it deals with the body and mind’s physical exposure and reaction to a Wilderness setting. The Wilderness, as it stands in its physical state of untrammled, undeveloped, and natural landscape is the key to a doorway into a divine kingdom of overwhelming beauty and tranquility that floods the human senses beyond anything manufactured by the works of mortal man. The visual sensation that we acquire from being present within the Wilderness is the non-distracting element in its external form. There is no modern human influenced distraction within Wilderness, for it is the very natural habitat of the Homo sapien, therefore we can connect to our human instinct eliminating societal influences in our minds. This is very crucial in the initial stages of the Wilderness Experience process because when thoughts of the façade world outside cloud our mind, it is as if we were not immersed in the Wilderness at all.

            

When the Wilderness has lured the individual in with beauty and nature, the human instinct fills our being, obtaining feelings of physical strength and mental power. I have come to term this the Conditional Factor of the Wilderness Experience. After hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution, these instincts are easily resurfaced within our ancestral habitat. In general, the physical exertion of the body (heavy hiking, sore limbs and joints, climbing, dehydration,etc..) along with elemental conditions (heat, cold, wet, elevation,etc..) in which we subject ourselves to, trigger instinctive responses of the human body, which ultimately leads to a mind clear of internal distractions. When the mind is occupied with sustaining itself for survival during and after extreme conditions, it has vacated the need to dwell on internal distraction, thus the importance of pushing the body to its limits.

            However, it is important to eliminate internal distractions in order to gain full benefit from the experience, sometimes the very confrontation with your inner demons is, in its own, a type of Wilderness Experience. This is the Confrontation State of the process. These internal distractions are very real demonic forces that cloud our mind’s interaction with the soul. Subjecting yourself to complete solitude is a risky undertaking, not only for conditional purposes, but also for the internal battles in which we face with ourselves mentally. A man can drive himself to insanity by means of deep solitude, but it’s the will of our soul to defeat the demons in order to gain full access to a clear and uninterrupted mind. Confronting inner demons is emotionally and mentally straining because self doubt torments the mind. Once the mind is set in negativity, it is a challenge to reverse, but the will of the soul over powers the weakness of the mind when present in the Wilderness. When all distractions are eliminated, the true Wilderness Experience shall commence.

            Once the External State and all its conditional factors of the Wilderness have wiped the slate clean from the overactive preoccupied brain and victory over inner demons has been successful during the Confrontation State, our minds have a clear-cut path with interaction with the inner core of our being, the Soul. It is with this interaction with our soul that we find out who we truly are from a spiritual perspective, thus I have termed this the Exploratory Phase. The human Soul is the perpetual being that defines our unique individual characteristics, talents, passions, and overall existence. When the mind is no longer caught up in the influences and pressures from society, distractions, the Soul is liberated to interpret itself into the mind; therefore, the individual discovers thy true identity and self. When the uninhibited discovery of one’s true self is achieved, true freedom to exist is rewarded. Freedom with our own identity provides unconstrained realms of thought and philosophy over all existence because we are not restricted to predetermined ideas set by predecessors from long ago. The freedom found within Wilderness is not limited to physical freedom and will, but also the true freedom to think. With the liberty to think for ourselves, as well as the wisdom of who we are, we ultimately find peace.

            The mind and the soul have a definitive connection to one another that when left undisturbed are able to interpret one another. If the soul represents the fundamental core of who we are as individuals and the mind is the control system for the physical body as well as receptor to outside stimuli, than the mind ultimately interprets the soul. Some would call it a conscience that tells us right from wrong, or an inner voice that internally tells the mind what an individual should do. When a distraction interrupts the soul from getting through to the mind, the soul is then shut out from the conscious mind, thus the reason for so many human sheep with no personal identity. Once true freedom has been reached through all the previously mentioned phases and states, the soul itself is free to express the true identity of one’s self. This how ultimate truth is discovered during the Wilderness Experience. Peace, freedom, and truth are just initial phases of reaching the highest plateau of the Wilderness Experience. Once contentment is found through these forums within ourselves because of soul interaction, the mind finds unity with God.

            A good friend of mine told me that we, as individuals, we are but single waves that are part of the greater whole that is the ocean, as the soul is but single pieces of God. God is the center of all existence as well as main source of spiritual energy that flows through all living beings, therefore, the individual soul is directly unified with God. We are all a part of the same source of energy that holds everything in place, and God is that source. Through the Wilderness Experience, it is fully possible to have conference with the divine master that is God. The elimination of distraction that brings peace, truth, and freedom to the mind, finally allows the soul, which is the main line of communication with God, to be truly at the Divine State. This is the goal and ultimate achievement to the Wilderness Experience, and when God speaks to us directly through our souls and into our minds, it is finally up to the individual to listen and understand.

            I have experienced the full potential of the Wilderness Experience within my Wilderness travels, and I have truly heard the voice of God within my mind. There is nothing more genuine than the wisdom that I have acquired about myself and reality through the glorious power of the almighty God. I have only experienced this for myself within Wilderness, and that is why I write about it. God is very real to me, and the only place to discover it is through the very temple that is the Wilderness. I sit and write words that I could never write on my own, and I know that it is coming from the highest of high, the mightiest of mighty, and the most powerful of power, God. The Wilderness is a temple, and it is my church. There are no pews, altars, or preachers; however God is present. When the Wilderness speaks we must listen, for the voice is the very interaction with God.

            I am only yet beginning to understand this process, and I plan on continuing to understand it. With this general synopsis of the Wilderness Experience that I have shared with you, I hope you can now understand how and why Wilderness has touched my life so significantly. There are still endless amounts of information in my head about this subject, and that is why I am going to write a book about my philosophy. My plan is to go in depth on the process as well as write about my personal Wilderness Experiences in order to provide examples and credibility towards my ideas. Wilderness is a very real matter of subject in which I have taken upon myself as my life’s devotion and dedication to further explore and understand. I will expose the 21^st century benefits of Wilderness to a society that has forgotten its celestial powers through extensive personal analysis through a variety of Wilderness experiences. I shall continue to push my body past its physical capabilities, immerse myself in solitude, subject myself to extreme conditions, pray heavily, and thou shall be at the mercy of Wilderness in all its divine glory for the sake of redemption and salvation. There is no scientific method for my theories; however, I am just as human as the next individual, and I know that what shall bring peace, freedom, and God for me, will surely do the same for them.