Darius Nabors, national park artist in residence, talked about the lessons he learned in his project to visit all 59 national parks in 59 weeks to an absorbed Morning Forum of Los Altos audience May 20.
President Abraham Lincoln laid the foundation for what would become the National Park Service when he set aside Yosemite Valley in 1864 “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” Nabors said during the discussion.
The parks service expanded when naturalist John Muir met with then-president Theodore Roosevelt during a later trip to Yosemite.
While national parks previously received unquestioned federal support, budget cutbacks on the park system are “scary,” he said, when asked about the state of the parks during his talk. “My friends and I are planning to seek out other federal lands to ease the burden on the remaining staff of the parks.”
While some wealthy sponsors may be able to raise funds for maintenance of parks and special projects as many parks have a nonprofit conservancy, it’s not sustainable.
“The parks need reliable funding,” he said.
The park system today attracts more than 331 million visitors annually – more than the combined totals of attendees at Disney’s Parks, all major-league baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer games, and college sports, Nabors said.
When Nabors was a child, his father took him and his family on national parks vacations; his father had been inspired by family vacations led by Nabors’ grandfather. When teaching at a Native American reservation in South Dakota, Nabors realized that the only way he could help his students truly understand the grandeur of the national parks was through photographs and virtual-reality goggles.
He decided he would be the one to take on the project of visiting and photographing all the parks. He said he built a spreadsheet outlining the best times to visit each park, and soon he learned the first of his life lessons: “Haters are gonna hate. There’s always going to be people who tell you why your dream is a bad idea.”
But he decided to “channel his inner Theodore Roosevelt,” quit his job, borrowed a truck from his family and set out after convincing his friend Trevor Kemp to come along. Halfway through his journey he discovered that his entry in Kellogg’s Bare Naked granola contest had won him a $10,000 prize, so his trip was nicely funded.
During his visit to Glacier National Park in Montana, Nabors decided to hike to the summit of a glacial peak but quit before reaching the top because of his fear of heights. When his friend returned and told him of the marvelous views, Nabors learned his second life lesson: “Life is scary. Learn how to deal with it.” He had only been 100 yards from the top, and he said he resolved to somehow lick his fear of heights.
Nabors and Kemp befriended the driver of the bus that plied the road on the way to the Denali National Park Preserve headquarters every day. Bus driver John Allen was a fountain of information about the local area and wildlife, Nabors said, and he made an observation that Nabors said he treasures: “Trying to record Denali in photographs is like going to a party through a keyhole.” Nabors also learned a third life lesson: “Make friends with the locals. They will be better informed and more useful than any map or guidebook.”
The fourth lesson, “I have worse ideas than you,” came when Nabors won an argument with Kemp over whether they should drive the trans-Alaskan highway to visit national parks in Washington and Oregon. Nabors said he learned – albeit too late – to listen to reason rather than sticking stubbornly to his first idea.
While at Yosemite National Park, Nabors gave up envying the climbers and BASE jumpers on El Capitan and learned a fifth lesson: “Stop competing with others. Live your life.”
A Christmas stopover with his family brought the sixth lesson. Nabors’ father gave him a diary which he had begun writing when he was diagnosed with a fatal cancer. At the time, Nabors’ father was expected to live only a few months. Nabors said he was moved to tears as he read his father’s entries about family camping and hiking expeditions that had taken place 25 years earlier. He resolved to “keep a journal” of memories that would stay fresh for decades.
Along the way, Nabors found that “be yourself” was an important seventh lesson as he allowed his sense of humor to lighten his trip and ease contact with new people. As friends occasionally joined him on his travels, he discovered that their appreciation and wonder at the natural beauty of the parks enhanced his own experience. Lesson eight: “Bring friends along.”
Near the end of his odyssey, Nabors was descending from a hike on Cadillac Mountain, the place where the sun first hits the eastern coast in Acadia National Park, Maine, when he said a weary hiker on his way up asked Nabors, “Is it worth it?” Nabors was almost speechless. He wanted to ask the passer, “What’s your alternative? Would you rather be home sitting in traffic?” The lesson: “Stop asking ‘Is it worth it?’ Once you’ve done it, it will be.”
The final lesson Nabors learned was “It’s not about you.” He encouraged the audience to share the love of nature with friends, children and grandchildren. Now that Nabors’ father is not able to lead hikes anymore, it has fallen to Nabors to lead his younger brother and sister into the outdoors.
Morning Forum of Los Altos is a membership lecture series held Tuesdays at the Los Altos United Methodist Church. For more information, visit morningforum.org.
