Blog Entry #6: Wilderness and Me

Here is another post about the Alaskan wilderness and how I interact with it.  Sad to say, as much as I admire the wilderness here, I do not have much to do with it.  My husband and I live in Fairbanks, a town of about 30,000 people, and it's completely possible to live here without having much interaction with the wilderness if this is how someone chooses to live.  As much as I admire the wilderness and find it beautiful, I am just not very rugged or outdoorsy.  We do like to roam around during the summer and pick blueberries, but that's pretty much it.  When I was a kid, I loved to go camping, and wanted to go as an adult, but then I started reading about bear maulings and chickened out!  I don't even really go hiking over uneven terrain because I'm so clumsy that I end up watching where I'm walking instead of looking at the lovely scenery!

All in all, it's definitely true that I don't interact much with Alaska's wilderness.  However, that does not mean I don't value it or have no interest in it.  I love to read books about Alaska from the warmth and safety of my living room, and am very much in favor of protecting the wilderness and wildlife here.  It seems to me that a lot of people romanticize and underestimate the power of natural Alaska, which is something I do not believe that I am guilty of.  While I find it amazing and beautiful, I know that it is very difficult to eke out an existence in secluded areas and that it can be very dangerous, even for people that do have a great deal of experience with the outdoors.

The fact that I've lived in Alaska for 7 years now probably makes my lack of experience with Alaska's wilderness rather surprising.  There are probably a lot of tourists who have only spent a week or so here that have experienced more than I have!  I chalk it up to: 1) I grew up in a family that greatly valued the indoors.  We moved around a lot, but always lived comfortably in suburbia.  Hiking trips and fishing and hunting were never, ever part of our lives, though I did go camping every year with aunts and uncles until I was about 10.  2) My aforementioned clumsiness and appreciation for comfort.  3)  My husband, who has lived in Alaska his entire life, has just about as much to do with the outdoors as me.  He certainly doesn't dislike it by any means and feels pretty much the same way about it as me, he just hasn't had much experience! 

So, there you have it.  I am basically an indoor creature, but with an appreciation for the outdoors.

 

The place that I mostly view Alaska's wilderness from- the inside of a cozy cabin!  Picture from Trip Advisor and taken by user ctimm1202.