A couple weeks ago we took a class to go on the Noland trail. This was quite an experience as I had never been on the Noland trail before. It was great having Dr Redick as our guide pointing things out along the way. We started off looking at things along the trail, deciding whether they were natural or caused by man. We came across two trees along the trail, one growing into the other. This was very cool to see as I have never seen anything like this before. I thought a lot about how the trees took this form, wondering whether man is responsible for the shape it has taken or if it was purely caused by nature.
We continued down the trail leaving the tree duo behind. As we kept going we were passes by several joggers. It seems that the trail is a very popular place to jog. The stopped as Dr Redick showed us a specific plant growing right off the trail. He said it was called the devil’s walking stick. This was a long cane type plant growing out of the ground. It had a flower on top just about ready to bloom. It got the ‘devil’ in its name because it is covered by very sharp thorns. I found this to be a very interesting plant. I thought about it as a metaphor for wilderness. Both wilderness and the devil’s walking stick can be very beautiful as well as very dangerous. If you know enough about each, you will be alright. But if you do not, and are not careful, you could be seriously injured. I learned through walking the Noland trail, the wilderness can be a very beautiful place, you just need to treat it with respect and be careful.
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