It is well known that Egypt’s pyramids are much more than just blocks of stone stacked in the middle of the desert. These ancient structures are the legacy of past civilizations, the result of a collective project of colossal scale. These constructions were erected to exist far beyond the duration of the life of the thousands of workers who once helped to build them.
Despite the mystery surrounding these constructions, they prove that working as a team can produce unique gems that following generations can contemplate and strive to understand.
Today, despite the immediacy of our era, all over the world, a new generation of builders is working with a similar philosophy: we are called trail builders. Every day, our large and too often invisible army works tirelessly to build and maintain trails.
Our motivations are multiple : connecting with nature, uniting together in a noble project, weaving our communities together, spending time away from screens, physical work without thinking about anything else, building something to later experience thrills or to reach a remote and mythical place in nature.
We are creative, working the earth with our bare hands, moving stones with various tools, sculpting the earth and perfecting these designs. These large-scale projects are complex choreographies, where every shovel stroke and every pickaxe swing contributes to the creation of a work far greater than ourselves.
At the heart of our shared passion lies a simple mantra, a leitmotif that is so easy to explain: “Strength in Numbers.” Building a trail is not an individual task: it is a collective human endeavor of great complexity, too often taken for granted by those who gains benefits from it.
Trails are artistic, collective, and complex works of art, social and cultural projects that shape our relationship with Mother Nature and show the importance we place on protecting the Great Outdoors and the benefits it provide us.
Through our actions, we protect these fragile ecosystems that are constantly threatened by industrialization and the commercialism of a money-driven civilisation. Through our efforts, we enable these great spaces to continue to exist.
In a sense, trails are to us today what the Great Pyramids were to the humans of that era. By extension, we are now the modern guardians of the great outdoors, wanting to do our part to ensure continued access for our children and future generations.
And, just as we experience towards the Pyramids that are still visible today, the people of tomorrow will find these remains and try to understand our motivations behind these constructions…
