i have not tired of the wilderness; rather i enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life i lead, more keenly all the time. i prefer the saddle to the streetcar and the star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unkown, to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities. do you blame me then for staying here, where i feel that i belong and am at one with the world around me? it is true that i miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom i can share the things that mean so much to me that i have learnt to contain myself. it is enough that i am surrounded with beauty...

everett ruess, writing from utah