The difficulty in planning a trip

How do you balance discovering new vistas and going back to further explore favorite haunts? I love the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota, having visited 9 times, finding wonder each trip. Yet when I visit somewhere other than the Boundary Waters, I am awed by new experiences, new beauty, providing me with a greater understanding of the world. Is it better to intimately know and understand a place than have a broad view of many things? A walleye only knows its lake. I guess the same could be said of humans, as we only know our little corner of the earth.

Deeply knowing an area creates a feeling of home, of belonging. Some of our “homes” range from an entire state, a forest, a mountain range or even the park next door. Understanding an area like the back of your hand gives you an opportunity to spread that love to others. How can you persuade others to tackle the same wilderness as yourself if you only possess a cursory knowledge?

Do we have an obligation to better understand our world? What’s the harm in, say, visiting all the lakes, rivers, and streams in the Boundary Waters but never straying far from its border? Intimacy creates passion.

Winter camping in the Boundary Waters is a joy - even at -35

Knowing the backwaters and coves provides a deeper understanding that only occurs from years and years of careful observation and study. How would you know where the moose shelter in the winter or where the walleye congregate in the summer if you only visit once or twice in your life? The subtle changes that affect a landscape are oblivious to the random tourist, but enlightening to the resident.

My appreciation for the Boundary Waters began from repeated visits, but strengthened from my trips afar. Traveling revealed the need to treasure nature’s gift close to home. Development is ever encroaching, but Wilderness is forever. I want visitors to the Boundary Water to experience the same feelings I did while hiking in the Cloud Peak or Indian Peak Wilderness for the first time - wonderment, awe, joyfulness that places like this exist.

The Indian Peak Wilderness is pretty nice too.

Truth be told, we need both kinds of people – the visitor and the devotee. The visitor pieces together the big picture, seeing the interlocking whole and able to advocate from a broader view. The devotee can campaign for their backyard, protecting and enhancing the stays for the visitors. The most rewarding conversations on a road trip happen with locals, those who have seen the best and worst a place has to offer, yet know those secret spots, hidden to the casual tourist. But in the end, broad support is needed to fully preserve an area.

Take those trips to revisit a favorite spot, but try and view it from new eyes, searching for an unfamiliar lake or vista. I’m heading up to the Boundary Waters this winter along with finding time to take a trip to an area I’ve never visited - that’s the best of both worlds.