Neature

           “I could do this everyday”, my father would always call out as we were tossing a line in the water at our small camp located in the North East Kingdom of Vermont.  As a young kid who was naïve to the upcoming pressures of work, bills, and other details of life, this statement hardly resonated with me at the time.  Lately however, under the pressure of getting good grades in school and setting myself on a career path I have found myself thinking of the simpler times and how one could achieve a life of that nature. 

            Noah John Rondeau sought out this lifestyle and saw it through to fruition.  Fed up with the pressures and authority figures of civilization he decided to escape to the wilderness of the Adirondack Park.  Rondeau resided alone in the wilderness for almost 40 years from 1913 to 1950.  His humble abode consisted of two rickety shacks alongside the Cold River, a 14-mile trek away from any civilization.  Despite his modest dwellings, Rondeau squatted on a plot fit with a view that would sell for a fortune.  It was in this setting that Noah found true happiness, feeling at one with nature.  He gained the nickname “Mayor of Cold River” as recreationists frequently visited him to fish his waters and learn about his interesting lifestyle (noahjohnrondeau.com).

            The increased effectiveness of enforcement within wilderness areas seems to have made it impossible for those who wish to disappear from society today.  However, a hermit of a different type of self-sufficiency has recently been discovered in the wilderness of Maine.  Christopher Thomas Knight abandoned society at the age of 20 and lived in the Maine wilderness alone for 27 years.  Before being caught, Knight’s only human contact since entering the woods was an exchange of “Hi” with a passing hiker.  A phantom in the woods, and in burglary, Knight maintained subsistence through breaking in to surrounding homes and stealing food and supplies (firsttoknow.com).  Chris Knight’s means of survival deviated from Noah Rondeau’s; living on a supply of stolen junk food versus relying on the resources of the wilderness. However both of their intentions for disappearing were the same.

          “Solitude did increase my perception. But here’s the tricky thing—when I applied my increased perception to myself, I lost my identity. With no audience, no one to perform for, I was just there. There was no need to define myself; I became irrelevant. The moon was the minute hand, the seasons the hour hand. I didn’t even have a name. I never felt lonely. To put it romantically: I was completely free.” – Chris Knight on living in complete solitude (firsttoknow.com)

            While reading Cloudsplitter in the beginning of the semester many were able to relate to Owen Brown’s envy for the simple life of the fur trappers.  While some may not desire to go to the extremes reached by the hermits, the pressures of society leave many longing for an escape.  This may serve as an example as a necessity for accessible park wilderness areas where people can explore to recover and nurture their mental and physical health.

           

Sources:

http://firsttoknow.com/north-pond-hermit/

http://noahjohnrondeau.com