I was saddened to read yesterday of the death of local actor T.J. Langely. He died while hiking solo in the Glacier Peak backcountry. I interviewed T.J. 10 years ago for my magazine, BEARS and Other Top Predators, after he had been severely injured by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. That was also while he was hiking solo. I identify with T.J.’s compulsion to go alone to such places. I’ve actually hiked solo myself in the area where he died.
For many of us, wilderness calls to mind more primal times when life choices and opportunities were bounded more by nature, less by the rules and requirements of social institutions. Wilderness visits help recharge our batteries for dealing with the latter. I am not in favor of dismantling the social institutions that make life so much easier now than in primitive times. But I would like to see some of our institutions dialed back a notch, to see modern living a degree or two closer to the hard freedom that our progenitors enjoyed.
My only interaction with T.J. was the one time in the hospital after his quintessential primitive encounter. Judging by his reaction to that difficulty, I would guess that he had many friends, and that he will be sorely missed.
I’ve posted more thoughts on T.J. Langely and information about the area where he died at my backcountry blog FindingWilderness.com.