Before I even begin to tell of my first experience in the woods of White Clay, I must preface this by saying I put this outing off until the very last minute. The thought of venturing somewhere I am not familiar with by myself, for any period of time, is anxiety inducing. However, I used this experience to my advantage by breaking out my hiking boots that I have not used since the summer. I have never even used these shoes within the US border, as I have used them while volunteering abroad for the past two summers. Just putting them on I noticed the irony of how I yearn to travel the world but I have barely explored the country I call home. Nonetheless, the second I stepped out of my car onto the trail, I was immersed in a beauty that I didn’t even realize was there. I had maybe driven past White Clay a handful of times and I never gave it a second glance. I had no idea what was right in front of me.

Knowing me, I would get lost so sticking to a trail was my first instinct; an instinct I proceeded to stray from within the first ten minutes of my journey. I noticed a sign for Cattail Pond and I couldn’t help to walk over, off of the trail, and take a look. I looked to my left and noticed a large area full of plants. I saw a flash of bright red through the dull brown and beige of the plants and it proceeded to land on one of the nearby trees. The cardinal wasn’t alone; as I looked closer, I noticed up to thirty little birds dancing around in the air above the bush filling the space with their songs. I heard the sound of what I assumed was a smaller woodpecker species and I walked closer to the tree it came from. What popped up from a branch was a small, black and white bird with a red cap on its head, which I later identified as a Downy Woodpecker (thank you Merlin).

I proceeded to the pond and stood for a bit taking everything in when I noticed a sign that more or less said to not leave any trash behind. Then I started to think. White Clay, along with any other state or national park, does not tolerate waste being left on the grounds. I couldn’t help but realize that, while White Clay, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Tetons are all protected for their immense beauty, why are we not acting like this for the rest of the land that we actually live in? On my drive up to the park, all I could see was piles of garbage left on the sides of roads on the edges of forest. We are forced to live in these conditions every day and little is being done to help keep those areas clean and safe for us to use. National and State Parks are one thing, but we are forced to leave those virtually pristine conditions and go back to the thousands of acres of unprotected lands that are suffering because of the lack of proper enforcement and regulations. We are living in these conditions and no one seems to bat an eye when someone chucks a candy wrapper into a wide open natural area.

I kept this thought in my mind as I departed from the pond and went further into the woods. I followed a secondary path, something I was hesitant about but I figured I would find my way out somehow. I then proceeded to get lost. In the midst of my mini panic attack, I stumbled upon what objectively looked like a sad sight. A curve in the trail constructed by large pines that were stripped to just their branches. It was mesmerizing to look at as the branches seemed to abruptly grow out from the trunk of the tree and lacked any needles or cones. I figured that, since they are evergreen, they were declining in health. Then, I looked up. The trees towered over me, but that wasn’t what I was fascinated about. The top halves of the trees were full of needles and pine cones. This became my favorite part of my journey. It gave me a glimmer of hope in a way. The tree was still living a prosperous life, producing cones that could one day grow into pines as large as those, despite appearing to be on the brink of deterioration. All you have to do is look closer to see the beauty and strength that is right in front of you.