One of the main reasons I started this website was to
share my wilderness experiences good or bad and in an honest manner with anyone who may
be interested in the ways I live and travel when I'm in the woods.
It would certainly be easy for me to fabricate my trips and write about how I never missed a shot at game, and that I was always able to light a fire on the first try. I could also stretch the truth by claiming the shelters I built kept me warm all night and that a particular brand of knife is God's gift to cutlery. The problem with the above is that aside from providing a colorful story, it wouldn't do anyone, including myself, a bit of good in regards to learning.
On this trip (if you want to call it that) I learned once again that it's usually best to listen to ones
inner feelings.
There's not much to report here, only that after driving several hours to the trail-head, hiking in the rain for an hour and
attempting to set up a shelter, for some reason I decided that I didn't want to be there.
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| Gloomy weather
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| Working with wire
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| Suspending wire from branch
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| What now?
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| Having second thoughts
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I wasn't sure why I was feeling a bit down. Perhaps it was the fact that I was a little tired from working sixteen, twelve hour days in a row (what a guy will do to get into the woods!). Or maybe it was the fact that I didn't have any type of plan in place as to where I wanted to go. Of course being away from family for several months doesn't help. Sleeping on a sagging cot next to a train track listening to an old air conditioner growling all night could have something to do with it too!
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| Carving away at the options
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| ....tossing some aside
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| ....trying to reach a decision
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I may never know the reason behind my having cut this trip so short. Who knows, perhaps my
tired state would have caused me to slip on a rain-slick rock or log causing injury....or worse.
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| Asking questions....
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| ....receiving answers
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So I guess I'm sharing this with you, the reader, to show that it's not all fun and games when I'm out
there in the mountains. Not only is traveling without the latest tent, sleeping bag, and other modern
camping gear challenging from a physical standpoint, but it can be and usually is a challenge
from a mental standpoint as well.
Be safe and listen to your instincts.
Eric
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Copyright © 2001 by Eric Stoskopf. Last updated 08/14/04
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