Technology in the Backcountry?

Elemental Awareness Director Todd Larson checks his iPhone mid-program...

"Can I bring my cell phone?" If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked this question at the start of a backpacking trip... Well, I probably wouldn't need to run backpacking trips any more to pay the rent! This is a new issue in the field of outdoor education and a pretty difficult one to wrestle with. There are certain conveniences that might come with having mobile communication devices in the backcountry... and there are certainly safety advantages. But there are also huge losses incurred on the quality and type of experience one has when these items get tossed in to the pack as well.

One question I always ask my backpacking students is "why?". Why are you here? What do you hope to gain from this experience? You've chosen to walk away from civilization for a few days, away from the comfort and familiarity of your daily life and thrust yourself in to the arms of Mother Nature. Now I ask you, do you really want to bring that cell phone? Does it not just become a leash, tethering you back to your daily routine? I'll leave you with a quote to think about it:

Nature is, after all, the great reservoir of energy, of confidence, of endless hope, and of that joy not wholly subdued by the pale cast of thought...
- Joseph Wood Krutch