View topic - Alone In The Wild

Right on Steve


Been alone since I was born and I learned to be comfortable by myself .

Over the years having had someone to share the experiences gives me today reason to bring back memories and chat about particular treks .

All the treks I did on my own I share by telling the stories and showing the pictures

I was alone even when I lived in the city ..... I used to go out and do things on my own in the 70's and 80's way before those things became trendy today


Got tired of the city (Toronto) and now I live in the wilderness not far from APP and Georgian Bay
My girlfriend lives in town nearby and will visit 4 out of 7 days a week .

I live alone but I'm not a loner and I'm definitely NOT lonely

Beautifull thing about living up here ... is that I don't have to plan any trips , the canoes at the end of my yard are ready to go on the river that passes through miles of lakes before it dumps in the bay .

Cheers ...... Vinny

That's just for Turkeys - I hate being outsmarted by something with a brain the size of a pea...... The rest of the time, I look most unthreatening - promise.

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In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.
Mark Twain

I am pretty lucky in that I can set napping and drinking tea or having a small fire as a goal to keep me happy. I do go fishing and exploring but I have no real need to fill my days with anything other than just being there. I might add that I spent a lot of time in the bush when I was younger and feel quite at home there.

Bears and other critters dont bother me much, especially when I have a shotgun with me. I dont always take one though. In fact I sold my winchester to buy a lawn tractor. I did like HOOP's suggestion on another thread about having a tarp setup to sit under instead of being in the tent all the time. I used to sleep under tarps in the Rockies, foolish as that now seems, and really enjoyed it.

Karin is picking a nice route, fairly short, to a lake that will most certainly have other campers. It also has pretty good fishing which is a bonus for her. She hoisted her canoe up the other day to make sure she can handle it on her own and I will have the barrel stocked up for her this week. And if she gets tired of it or has the willies, she can always pop smoke. We often come home early if the going gets to be a bit much. Sometimes getting the heck outta dodge is the wise option.

Alas for me, no solo nothing this summer. Not even just a paddle, although I am now cleared for at least that much as long as I take a friend. They said a short trip this fall would be ok. I will focus on that and some road trips to take up the slack for now. I have BIG plans for next year though....lol.

Christy

I am currently planning my first solo in 20 years. I have been stuck in the concrete jungle too long. 8 days in July in Manitoba. I guess I should stock up on skeet juice.

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-I do believe it is high time I get Backtothebush

Cool. Where are youi heading? There are lots of great trips here. Yes, do stock up on deet, I was thinking to try one of those area denial type repellants this year to see how the nasty bush type schwarzensquitoes react to them. I can hear them now..." You are funny, thats why I am going to eat you last ."

Take some sun screen and aloe along too...you never can tell here.


Christy

I watched the series canoeguitar posted in its entirety - good stuff. Unfortunately his only goal was to survive, and that eventually wore him down to his breaking point. Food deprivation over a long enough stretch would do that to anyone, I imagine.

In any case - solo tripping! While I do occasionally go camping with others, it's always my solo trips that I look forward to the most. Between setting ambitious travel days, and my love of reading and photography, boredom isn't a thing that I encounter often. If you've worked hard getting to your campsite, sitting doing nothing around a campfire isn't boring, it's a reward!

I'm primarily a shoulder season camper, but this year I have a 7-day Algonquin solo coming up in three weeks. Already eying my gear!

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http://www.kayakcamper.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/kayakcamper

I am looking forward to a 3 week solo in Ontario's Opasquia PP this summer. I enjoy traveling with others and just returned from 3 weeks in Woodland Caribou where I had different paddlers each week. All the trips are enjoyable but the freedom of a solo is the draw for me. I do not need much to be entertained and have never had a problem with being bored. I am actually looking forward to having very little on the agenda. A lot of unknowns in Opasquia and looking into some of them will give me just enough to do.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNorthwoodsman1

Hey Martin,

Looking forward to another report from Opasquia this year. Your video reports are a great resource.

Cheers,
MM

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www.mikemonaghan.ca

That sums up why I enjoy solo tripping. My mantra when alone has become “Slow Down. Pay attention”. Meaning that I need to relearn not to rush, and to pay attention to details.

I do have to remind myself of that mantra. Slow down, I’m not in a race. I don’t need to paddle at full steam without reason (beating an oncoming storm or darkness to camp or etc). I don’t need to rush setting up camp, hurry meals or packing gear.

Going slowly allows me to pay more attention to the details, and I’m less likely to screw up a paddling route, ruin a meal or set up tent or tarp in poor orientation. I’m more focused on the job at hand and, when there is no immediate task to be performed, I’m more attuned to my surrounding; the wind in the trees, the birdsong, the play of light on the water, the sounds or silence that surround me.

The latter leads me to spend more time in contemplation of the time and place in which I find myself, and think less about where I’ve been or where I’m going. And that be-there-now alleviates any loneliness or anxiety.

There's another show on right now called Alone. Similar concept except this is 10 guys trying to survive on an island in BC. It's shocking how fast some of them tap out, a lot of people just cannot handle being alone.

This could be as basic as one being an introvert or an extrovert. An introvert gets their energy while being alone and depletes their energy being with people (this happens to me). An extrovert gets their energy being with people and does not enjoy being alone.

An introvert may be better able to enjoy a solo trip?