It
Is All About Attitude
by
Lance H. Hegland
When my friends talked of their outdoor adventures, I listened with
envy. I imagined what it must be like to actually co-exist for a
night, or a week, with the diverse creatures throughout nature's
paradise. Viewing beautiful cliff walls while canoeing the St. Croix.
Hearing distant wolves sing campers to sleep. Waking to the call
of loons. But, I dismissed the idea as too difficult because I rely
upon a wheelchair for mobility. However, a local wilderness organization's
activities have proved me wrong.
Wilderness Inquiry (WI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1978,
provides opportunities that integrate people of all ages, backgrounds,
and abilities through outdoor education and experiences. From the
beginning, they have designed adventures to inspire personal growth
and instill confidence. They have served over 80,000 people of all
abilities on trips throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, and
Africa. As part of their cooperative outdoor adventures, participants
canoe, sea-kayak, backpack, horsepack and dogsled, often with equipment
specially adapted by WI staff.
The organization
operates on four fronts. First, they lead participants on integrated
outdoor adventures and day events. Next, they offer training for
outdoor recreation service providers regarding how to make their
programs more accessible. One of their tools is the http://www.accessoutdoors.org website,
a clearinghouse for accessible outdoor recreation resources. Third,
they coordinate environmental learning experiences. And finally,
they survey parks, trails and outdoor park facilities for accessibility
features. As a result of their many-pronged approach, WI has become
an international leader in the development and implementation of
universally-designed outdoor adventure programs.
"WI helped break down my belief that I will be sitting in my
chair, watching others do what I no longer can do,” said Nancy,
a 50-year-old woman experiencing paraplegia. She continued, "I
was afraid before the trip that I was going to be the 'disabled'
needing lots of help. No one on this trip ever made me feel anything
like that."
WI realizes that “disability” is a very relative term.
In fact, thousands of people with a wide variety of challenges have
traveled with them. Each individual’s attitude and willingness
to get out and explore is what matters most. If a participant has
that, WI does whatever it takes to make trips accessible.
The organization provides adapted equipment as needed, including
but not limited to canoe and kayak seating, mobility aids, and accessible
bathroom facilities. The gear helps people of all abilities participate,
but it is not what makes WI so accessible. Rather, the organization's
attitude that everyone is equal, therefore can and should experience
adventure, makes the difference. They team with participants to help
figure out what needs to be done to maximize full participation in
a straightforward, non-condescending manner. Actually, probably the
most challenging hurdle for participants is figuring out where to
go!
Camp and
canoe along the historic St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Or, venture a little further from home to canoe and camp the
headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi in Minnesota's Itasca State
Park, Minnesota's border country in Voyageurs National Park, or
Yellowstone National Park. These trips’ 24-foot “Voyageur” canoes
offer a unique way for participants to familiarize themselves with
canoeing. Each boat carries six to eight people and offers enough
stability and space for young children to play in the center!
Perhaps the Boundary
Waters? Canoe the area’s pristine lakes
and rivers in lightweight Kevlar canoes. What about kayaking the
Apostle Islands? Paddle the sea kayakers’ paradise on the south
shore of Lake Superior using fast and stable Eddyline sea kayaks.
WI offers three or five day trips in this locale to explore wave-sculpted
sea caves, sandy beaches, historic lighthouses, and sunken shipwrecks
on the world's largest freshwater lake.
If canoeing and
kayaking are not your thing, perhaps explore Mexico's Copper Canyon
wilderness via the world renowned Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad. The
area is comprised of a series of six massive canyons four times
larger than our own Grand Canyon. Take a series of day hikes and
investigate the fascinating culture of the indigenous Raramuri
people, and see the effects of missionaries, industrialists, and
revolutionaries on the area.
Possibly a safari
through East Africa's Kenya Wilderness or South Africa's Kruger
National Park is more your style. Experience a world others have
only seen in pictures: grassy steppes, tall mountains, beautiful
people, lions, giraffes, rhinos. At Kruger National Park, the largest
wild game park in the world, view animals from foot and four-wheel
drive vehicles, watch the sun set over the plains, and camp out
under the stars while making friends.
These are only a few opportunities. Wilderness Inquiry operates
around the globe year-round, from winter canoeing in the Florida
Everglades or lodge-to-lodge dogsled adventures in the Boundary
Waters, virtually unlimited canoeing and kayaking throughout the
summer, Hawaiian hikes in the spring, and New Zealand in the fall.
The variety is mind-blowing!
For
more information, check out their web site at www.wildernessinquiry.org.
The site lists upcoming trip dates, descriptions, and itineraries.
If you've got questions about trips –equipment needs, disability
issues in the outdoors, the kind of food you'll be eating, the
weather to expect, or the kind of wildlife you'll see– the
site offers a form that can be completed and submitted to "Ask
Janet.” Ms.
Janet Peterson has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, and has been
on over 30 trips since 1978, from kayaking in the Apostle Islands
to horsepacking in the Colorado Rockies. Or, feel free to give
them a call locally at 612-676-940.
