Vienna, Va.

LAST week, seven miles from the nearest road, setting up camp on a hillside looking west toward the blue-gray peaks of the North Cascades in Washington State, I found myself thinking about government.

Not that there was much of it in sight. I was hiking with my brother, sons and nephews in the Pasayten Wilderness, 830 square miles of forest and gentle mountains near the Canadian border. Only a decade ago livestock grazed its lush grasses. There were no rangers to check our reservations, no posted rules telling us where and how to set up camp.

If anything, the Pasayten seemed to prove that we don’t need government, that humans can be self-regulating: per the unofficial rules of backpacking, most of our campsites had been reused repeatedly, to minimize damage to the environment, and litter was rare.

On reflection, however, this nursery of freedom spoke directly to the role of government in shaping our world. It was thanks to decades of effective lawmaking that we could enjoy four days in the open country, fixing meals, hiking and spending family time together.