Let me tell you about the magic of being on the river.
The magic of having 104 miles to float on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, before you see a road again.
The magic in waking up with the sun, making cowboy coffee, strapping camp back onto boats, and setting out for the day.
Floating past towering ponderosa pines, navigating splashy rapids, stopping to admire pictographs and waterfalls and bighorn sheep.
The feeling of arriving at a beach for the night and turning it into a home, making a camp kitchen and pitching tents to sleep in, and gathering around a fire.
Playing music under the late solstice sun, soaking in hot springs, and laughing like children.
This is the magic of wild places. They knit us to each other and to ourselves. They awaken our inner child and our deepest creativity. They are the soul of the world, and our soul, too.
It breaks my heart to come back from 6 days in the Frank Church Wilderness to find out that this land - and billions of acres of other wild places - are eligible to be sold in the Western United States. 63% of public land in Idaho could be sold, logged, mined, or developed.
It is not enough to simply love these places. It is a privilege to escape into them, to spend 6 days, like I did, deep in nature as others are actively working to capitalize on it. It is hard not to feel helpless, and small. But together, we are not helpless, or small - at all.
Call your senators. Here are the phone numbers for Idaho’s republican senators:Mike Crapo (208-334-1776) and Jim Risch (208-342-7985). Make their phone lines ring off the hook & tell them you believe wild places should be protected.
Organize, protest, make art, donate to local & national conservation non profits. Speak to your friends and family. Protecting our public lands should be a universal desire. And lastly, go outside. Foster your own connection to wild places, and let it feed your soul.
Lots of love,
Kika
Hi Kika! I love seeing your posts! I sent you a DM about my subscription -- could you take a look?