I write to you tonight from the great state of Colorado. I'm in Granby (about 80 miles NW of Denver) getting my Wilderness First Responder Certification. This is day one. There are 30 people in my class, all but 2 under 30. 15 of us are currently crowded into the one room at a large and beautiful, secluded camp. You may be asking yourself why.
"They must be getting to know one another". "They must be playing cards or hearing about backcountry horror stories". I wish that were true. Let it be known that the 15 of us are "plugged in." We sit here, almost in the silence of a college library, each of us with our eyes glued to a screen and our fingers tip-tapping on keyboards. While I really have no room to talk as I am one of them, I am saddened by this. Is it really necessary for all of us to spend these fleeting moments we are allowed to leave behind our jobs, responsibilities, home problems etc to come to the mountains...and check FACEBOOK?! Is this how my generation will be remembered? The generation that couldn't let go of technology, even for vacation?
I am hopeful that this will change as the days go by. This is, after all, day one and most of us, spending 8-5 in class every day, didn't consider that we'd have our evenings free. I know that I would have packed more gear (bike, climbing gear, even snowshoes to take into the National Park) had I known that I'd have so many hours to devote to the wilderness.
My task for this next week and a half is not to encourage all of these people to unplug. Rather to spend the rest of my time on my computer tonight researching local adventures. I will then attempt to invite some of these like-minded outdoorsy individuals to leave the Macs and PCs and go TAKE A HIKE!
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