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| Ben Whitlock |
Each semester, we McConnell Scholars retreat to state parks; however, we never fully immerse ourselves in the wild. To remedy this, the Scholar Adventure Team has traditionally camped with the illustrious Dr. Kleber or Mr. Cox… For whatever reason, this too has slowed to a near-stop. Along with Senior McConnell Scholar, Adam Dahmer, a few Scholars – the truly adventurous – I have decided to retreat to the forested wilds of the Commonwealth.
On Friday March 29, a small, but hardy, group of Scholars gathered to discuss the finer points of rustic, traditional, low-impact camping. We discussed the 7 principles of Leave No Trace, a program supported by the Center for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, CO.
The 7 Principles are:
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What you Find
5. Respect Wildlife
6. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
7. Minimize Campfire Impacts
During the seminar, we “Planned Ahead and Prepared” . . . The other six will be implemented during a camping trip to beautiful Green County, Kentucky. (where only the brightest, most hardy scholars come from) There we will camp, canoe, eat home-cooked food, and experience a much-needed reprieve from the hustle and bustle of life in the McConnell Center and the University of Louisville. After all, that is the most basic purpose of camping – to slow down and relax; to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life; and to get “away from it all.”
To that, I offer a rally cry – “Slow Down.” As Wendell Berry once said (and I’m paraphrasing) to be in the woods requires that we slow from the speed of the highway and our daily hustle. Simplicity in nature – like camping – is only one way to relax. I propose that we all find some way to slow and get “away from it all.”
Ben Whitlock, of Green County, Ky., is a sophomore McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying history and political science.