By Russ Lawrence
Jon Turk knows a thing or two about magic. A lifetime of exploration, much of it solo, has led him to experiences that are inexplicable, except by invoking magic. When taken together, said Turk, the rarest of those experiences – the once-in-a-decade moments – can frame a wondrous outlook on life.
“All you have to do is spend a lot of time in the deep woods . . . and the magic will appear.”
The writer, explorer, and 2012 National Geographic “Top Ten Adventurers of the Year,” will talk about that philosophy, woven together out of a string of magical moments, when he presents “Crocodiles and Ice: A Journey Into Deep Wilderness,” on Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. at Hamilton’s Bitterroot River Inn. Admission is free.
Aware that Bitterroot Valley audiences have heard him speak before, his new talk will be a distillation and concentration of a half-century of exploration and introspection.
According to Turk, the talk and photo presentation will combine material taken from all three of his books, as well as from unpublished works, and from perilous voyages all over the world, from the tropics to the high arctic.
He intends to focus, in part, on his experiences in communication between humans and animals.
“We see animals all the time,” he explained, “but every once in a while, if you’re lucky it seems, a wild animal will be in proximity to you for longer than normal.” He’s had dolphins come and ride the surf beside his kayak, and a wolf once spent 15 hours bedded down beside his tent.
“The question is, when a polar bear rips a hole in your tent and pokes his head in, what restrained that polar bear from eating you,” he wondered.
That’s only one of the questions he’ll attempt to answer in his Hamilton talk.
He’ll also touch on the compulsion some humans feel to explore, the value of deep wilderness and its relation to the ecstatic state, and how magic is available to us all, without the intervention of a shaman or a guide.
In the end, Turk is searching for an antidote for a consumerist, corporatist outlook. Helping people gain access to joy and magic is part of that solution.
“I’m not ignorant of the problems,” he said, “but I think from the very beginning that the more hopeful, positive people there are out there, the better off we are.
“The basic message is that there are many paths to the ecstatic state; one of these ways is through deep wilderness. If you enter into a relationship with the ecstatic – whether through music, dance, or a hundred different things – it’s a positive step forward.”
People who have had such experiences become positive lights within our culture, he believes.
It’s a message that is particularly important to impart to young people, he said. “The only hope is that somehow positive energy will filter down to the children, who can change opinions and view the world with some kind of wonder.”
Turk, 69, is recently returned from an eventful voyage to Siberia, where he experienced tragedy, suspicion, deep peacefulness, and magic.
“I came back with a real, powerful feeling that I wanted to be back in the Bitterroot with Nina [Maclean, his wife] and my friends,” he said.
Now home, he is preparing his talk about what magic means to him, and about “what I will carry into the tottering, wizened reaches of old age, as I continue to slide, hopefully with some measure of grace and humor, along through this oil-soaked, internet crazed, corporate modern world.”
Turk’s free presentation is co-sponsored by the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club, the Bitterroot National Forest, Chapter One Book Store, Valley Bike and Ski, the Bitterroot Public Library, Friends of the Bitterroot, and the Bitterroot Chapter of the National Audubon Society.