into the wild

i decided i needed to read jon krakauer's into the wild before i saw the movie (although i have to say the reason for wanting to see the movie in the first place was mostly for the scenery). because chris mccandless read a lot of natural philosophy and related literature the book (into the wild) has a number of quotes in it relating to wilderness and related themes by thoreau and others. one passage i was reading this morning particularly struck. it says "like not a few of those seduced by the wild, McCandless [the person who the book is about] seems to have been driven by a variety of lust that supplanted sexual desire. His yearning, in a sense, was too powerful to be quenched by human contact" (p. 66). i don't really date that much and have never really been particularly bothered by this, but whenever people ask me why, i ask if they'd like to see my calendar. since i can remember i've been searching after something, but i've never quite been able to put my finger on what (although i suppose you can never literally put your finger on an idea...). yet this passage, though not necessarily revealing the something, seemed to pinpoint the personality of individuals who are searching for that something to the exclusion of a lot of other things (though not necessarily in an unhealthy way). it left me with that 'ah yes, i am not alone' feeling. krakauer mentions that in addition to thoreau, john muir fell into this category of people. john muir founded the sierra club and had a hand in establishing national parks in the us. i am the ride director for the rockies route for texas 4000, the group with which i am riding to alaska this summer. on this route, my team and i will pass through many of the big (popular) national parks in the rockie mountains (tetons, yellowstone, glacier national park, banff national park (in canada), etc). as many of these were, i believe, the haunts of a naturalist/natural philosopher or two, i am thinking that over the next couple months i should be reading some of their work in preparation for my ride and what i may see along the way. if anyone has read any of muir's work and has recommendations, please let me know.