What is it about the outdoors, the speed, the height, and the risk that taunts us over and over again until we give in against all better judgment? We leave our families, our jobs, and sometimes our way of life for the adventure. We risk losing everything we’ve been told since we were young is important. Is it in certain peoples genetics that causes adrenaline to trump logic? There are people who hike Mt Hood and never make it down. People who take the road less traveled and get stranded in the snow. There are people who leave the map in the car trusting their memory and end up wandering the trail until they can’t wander any further.
I read an article recently in the Eugene Weekly about Kenny Cox. A Eugene native who was an amazing wrestler (some say best in Oregon), friend and coach to many in our area. Kenny hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail all the way down to Mexico. He was robbed there and while this robbery would make most people turn right around and head home it liberated Kenny. Free from his possessions he took to the streets and made it all the way down to the Baja Archipelago. When he couldn’t go any further he went to the Kalalau valley. He lived off the land; eating what he could find, drinking from jungle streams and sleeping under the stars. Living how many people dream. He died August 14th of acute hemorrhagic pneumonia and sepsis (immune system failure). I didn’t know Kenny but I do feel like I understand why he did what he did and why he lived the way he lived.
Kenny’s story reminded me of the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. It’s the story of Christopher McCandless. His life and death caused controversy across the country. Chris aka Alexander Supertramp destroyed all of his possessions, donated his $20k college graduation fund to charity and took off to travel the United States on foot and eventually landed in the Alaskan wilderness; his final destination. He came from a middle class family and had just graduated college. He was on his way to a life that so many in this country strive for and yet he wanted nothing to do with it. Chris wanted not only to live but to survive on his own. He left his family without telling them where he was going or even goodbye. They never heard from him again. Some hikers found his body in the bus he had been living in for 16 weeks alone in the wilderness. Chris died 113 days after he’d entered the Alaskan wilderness but as his final photo taken suggests he was happy; smiling, holding his farewell note to the world towards the camera.
So I wonder again what it is about the lure of the outdoors? By climbing a rock wall I know I am increasing my odds of dying. It’s a fact. Yet I climb anyway while my husband and daughter watch; cheering me on from below. I ask myself and you all…are these risks based on selfish needs? Or are these acts of adventurism something that touches upon a bit of inspiration in us?
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