Paddler feels at home in nature

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Department of Natural Resources ecologist John Pearson, the leadoff speaker at last weekend's Paddle Fest at the Indian Creek Nature Center, said he tries to follow the advice of 19th century nature philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who wrote:

“Rise free from care before the dawn and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes and the night overtake thee everywhere at home.”

Feeling at home in nature comes naturally when people develop the physical skills to safely enjoy the outdoors and the intellectual ability to appreciate their surroundings, Pearson told more than 100 attendees of the annual event.

Pearson, who has paddled his kayak on some of the world's most remote and scenic waters, said he did not really establish his desired comfort level until he learned navigation skills and taught himself to do the 360-degree roll.

Pearson's presentation covered Isle Royale and the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, the Buffalo River and Bull Shoals Lake in the Ozarks, the Okefenokee Swamp on the Georgia-Florida border and the Laguna Madre along the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Paddling in and out of Apostle Island sea caves and “the sheer beauty of all that clear water” surrounding Isle Royale were among highlights of his Superior voyages, Pearson said.

He described his chance encounter on Isle Royale with Rolf Peterson, a biologist famous for his classic study of the relationship between wolves and moose on Lake Superior's largest island, as like “meeting Neil Armstrong on the moon.”

As much as Pearson enjoys paddling and camping in exotic places, he said he would never limit his travels to designated wilderness areas.

Speaking of Bull Shoals, an artificial lake on the Arkansas-Missouri border, he said, “There is still a lot of beauty left to be appreciated and saved in such places. I don't want to write them off.”

Two of his favorite Iowa destinations – Lake Red Rock, a Des Moines River impoundment in south-central Iowa, and the Upper Mississippi River, with its locks, dams and other Corps of Engineers modifications – still provide natural beauty and seclusion, he said.

“You don't need to go far away,” Pearson said, recalling another quote from one of his favorite naturalists, Sierra Club founder John Muir:

“All the wide world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go… the spot where we chance to be is always the best.”

For photos and written accounts of Pearson's adventures, see www.outaboutiowa.blogspot.com