Glory of Nature's Wilderness

I was born and raised in Idaho; 

this is the state they mention in movies and books if they want to be sure that no one is really all that familiar with it.  What they frequently don't mention.....

... is that Idaho has the 2nd most wilderness of any of the United States after Alaska.  

Now through my Jr. High and High School years, this meant that I was forced into mandatory extreme outdoor sports (picture winter camping, 20 below zero f., having to build your own snow cave, and trying to telemark ski with a 60 lb backpack).  And I have to say I got a little turned off to the whole thing. 

Even so, I never lost sight of the importance of undeveloped land and true wilderness.  

I just got to go to a family reunion, each of us returning to our Idahome, and togetherness of long lost tribe members from Oregon, California, Peru and elsewhere.  

Here you can see a span of four generations (my grandpa on the SUP, my mom and son in the canoe, and myself behind the lens).  

On this trip to Petit Lake in the Sawtooth Mountain Wilderness, I found that the surroundings were even more beautiful than I had ever experienced them.  I don't know if this was my adult perspective changing in appreciation, or the contrast between city experience, or if Mother Nature has truly matured in her awesome beauty.  

Partially I think it is the joy of sharing this wonder and nature with my Cub.  And that experience really brings home what I already know to be true about the utmost import of preserving wild spaces, natural undeveloped land, and the cycles of nature.  
I am an Earth Steward, and I look forward to growing more and more into this role and sharing it with my cub and other community members.  That is something I very much hope to grow and network here on the #steemit community.  

Thank you!