"Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation." .
Roderick Nash.
Wilderness has been companion to Americans since we landed on this continent and cleared the first trees to make a civilization. During that time it was something to be conquered. It had to be overtaken for the settlers to survive. It was a battle on a daily basis to live and the wilderness was the main obstacle. In Modern society most Americans live in large cities. Wilderness might as well be the park down the street with a few hundred trees. A common joke in today's society is that camping means making hotel reservations. In modern society wilderness is not viewed as a threat to daily life anymore. So why is wilderness the desired place for many Americans to escape to and perhaps risk their lives? .
The wilderness is secluded. Only a small percentage of Americans trek into the wilderness for their own reasons. The wilderness is also still so large in America it is possible to stay in one place for years and never see another person. This fact could be the greatest reason for a person to seek out a challenge in the wilderness. We are saturated with the thoughts, ideas, propaganda, gossip, and ugliness of everyday society; the wilderness is the most obvious place for a person to retreat if they really wish to escape these things. Another reason a person might wish to be secluded in the wilderness is to escape judgment. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless enters the Alaskan wilderness alone. It could be said that he chose to do this to escape the judgment of others who might ridicule his actions or sway him from doing something his way.