AdventuresNW
My father swings the truck around another corner up a dirt road in Southwest Colorado. We’ve been traversing the state with our fly rods for the last few days, and as we climb into the San Juan Mountains, ranch land gives way to National Forest. As we crest another hill, our first view of the Uncompahgre Wilderness fills the windshield. My jaw drops. I spent a decade wandering the Colorado high country, and I’ve never seen anything quite as beautiful as the landscape before us.
I’ve never been able to sit still for very long. Once I become familiar with a place, I tend to move on in search of the next inspiring landscape. Because of my restlessness, I’ve had the good fortune of experiencing some of the most incredible places on planet Earth. I’ve stumbled upon beauty I couldn’t have imagined in a month of Sundays. We’re talking landscapes that would’ve made Bob Ross cry and give up painting. And just when I think nothing more could impress me, planet Earth rolls up its sleeves, looks me right in the eye, and says, “Buckle up, boy, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
But let’s be honest: Earth hasn’t been in the best of health lately, and there’s a growing constituency of people who think we need to pack up and start looking for plan B. Mr. Musk and SpaceX would have you believe that we need to colonize Mars as a backup plan, or a “life raft,” so to speak, for when we blow it here on Earth.
I hate to break it to you, but if we blow it here on Earth, there is no plan or planet B. There are no backup options or life rafts. Mars is a frozen, toxic, irradiated wasteland with a sorry excuse of an atmosphere. It makes even the most horrendous, barren, lifeless places on Earth look like gardens of Eden.
Nope. I’m happy right here, and I’m not willing to let escapism justify bad behavior. This unimaginably beautiful planet is our home and our only option. Earth is an ark, adrift in the dark, and I’ll fight like hell for her if I have to.
You should, too.
John Minier is the owner and lead guide at Baker Mountain Guides. Originally from Alaska, he has a deep appreciation for wild and mountainous places. Since 2004, he has worked across the western U.S. as a rock guide, alpine guide, ski guide, and avalanche instructor.
