Turtles in particular have a special place in the history of North America. Native creation stories, like those of Haudenosaunee/Iroquois and Anishinaabe nations, posit that the world was created on top of a turtle’s shell.

So often, discussions of the continental United States’s impeccable natural beauty center around the mountains, plains, deserts, and forests of the American West, leaving our region painted simply as one large patch of urban sprawl. I think that this phenomenon is at least partially rooted in the Western United States’s centrality to modern American myth making.

Like any craft, trail-building requires attention to detail and a consciousness of the factors that make the final product successful. A good trail should stand the test of time and weather, as well as be enjoyable and accessible to various user groups.

… local parks are not some evil forests waiting to test you like trials for a mythological hero. They simply exist as spaces in which humans are visitors. In short, because our society draws this binary between humans and nature, the woods is effectively somebody else’s home, and respect is as indispensable as caution when you are a guest.

Now, stone-smashing also serves another purpose: stress relief. In fact, it acts as a sort of natural rage room. As a rising high school senior, a clinically anxious person with a perpetually ruminating mind, and human living in the world, I am often left to contend with unpleasant events and the emotions that they catalyze - as most people are.

The environmental and ecological impacts of the trail are heavily considered before we even begin building. This is especially the case on Redback South, which is built in close proximity to Spruce Swamp, an area designated officially as “freshwater wetlands” by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

It amazes me that these people can look at the woods and say “Hey! I think we should cut our trail here. This path  will be the most sustainable and durable option for decades to come. Anybody want a sandwich?”