Zac Simpson '09 - Pine Hills Nature Preserve is one of Wabash’s greatest neighboring examples of wilderness. The preserve founded by the Nature Conservancy in 1961 is the first preserve in Indiana and one of the most unusual natural areas in Indiana. Clifty and Indian Creek have carved out what we have come to know as Devil’s Backbone, a primordial land bridge that is only six feet wide at times. I set out on the hike with high hopes and a video camera to capture the entire experience.

Three or four families out enjoying the wild and one Wabash Alumnus who returned from southern Indiana to hike Shades and Pine Hills greeted me as I sauntered through the natural array of Pine Hills. Although their presence was pleasing it was the times that I was alone but not by myself that were most enticing. Upon Devil’s Backbone with video camera still in hand I was reminded of an excerpt from an article that Professor Marc Hudson had written entitled Out of Time in Sugar Creek.

Etchings on the backbone carved with chisels and penknives by people resonated my feelings of a transient life. “These men all shared the same urge to inscribe, to mark things, to make a notch in time and stake a claim on yielding stone, to say to eternity that one existed and had the will and strength once to use a chisel.”

By the leave no trace ideal I did not stake my claim, but I was assured by the sublimity that it was an inch of my life well spent.

A few days later I transitioned from the romantic timelessness of Pine Hills to a different kind of nature with a different purpose. I went to Lieber State Recreation Area, Cagles Mill Lake, to familiarize myself with work in a now civilized wilderness. Two college students my age, Daniel Hofmann and Emily Parks, were my windows into service at Lieber’s visitor center/nature center.

These students meet and greet visitors, fielding their inquiries, feed and maintain animals in the nature center, and most enjoyable entertain and educate young children. I was lucky enough to join them at the recreation area’s pool for “aquatic home run derby”, a nature talk about the American Toad, and later speak with them about Smokey the Bear. All in all, the doing what you love work environment, family-oriented activities, and spirit of a place that has been civilized to accompany people left me with mixed feelings.

I ventured to Lieber SRA for the community atmosphere of the park and it was great, but my time on the trails was ponderous. Aside from a Boy Scout group and a few wild companions, the trail was solemn. I know that it is good for the trail to not be down trodden too much, but it urged me evermore to promote the enjoyment of nature for nature’s sake.

At last, I ventured near home to Anderson to visit Mounds State Park. The reception from the staff in the nature center was superb and the wonderfully interactive center matched their character. On the trails and near the mysterious and ancient earthworks believed to be created by Indians inhabitants some 1500 years ago for tribal ceremonies, I was reminded of the history of our interactions with wilderness. Our pioneering, Manifest Destiny helped to define wilderness, as before inhabitants in North America coexisted with the greater life community.

SR 232 cuts near the Great Mound, giving a glimpse from civilized life into an existence long ago and foreign to most. The occasional runner scurried along the trails as squirrels do with ipod in ears. It was sad to me that so many people were deaf to the sounds of nature, but I too was deaf. Overhead planes and nearby trains and automobiles muted much of the sublime experience. Though it was encouraging to see a conquering of wilderness, a mask of civilization such as the Great Mound, which was created in harmony with the earth and remains a shining glimpse into history and mystery.