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David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 11:37
when I was on the tril for wo days alone, I would wince at every noise other than my own footfalls. If I had flushed grouse, goodness knows I would have had a heart attack and lan there on the trail for days. In the words of Bill Bryson: "So woods are spooky... there is something innately sinister about them, some inneffable thing that makes you sense an atmosphere of pregnant doom with every step... Though you tell yourself it's preposterous, you can't quite shake the feeling that you are being watched... Whatever mechanism within you is resposible adrenaline, it has never been so keenly polished to pump out a warming squirt of adrenal fluid. Even asleep, you are a coiled spring." Does anyone else get this and is it different when with a group?

Reid
02-26-2010, 11:49
Yea, I think you get use to it though. It's really just your senses being on high alert because your outside your comfort zone, in the dark, in some deep woods that often feel smothering. The human psyche's seems to want to innatly establish comfort but it needs conformation that safety is sustainable. It's natural. Only more time spent in the woods that will get your comfort zone balanced and even then you may still get spooked. I often do but I'll get out of the tent and walk into the woods and soak it in and I'll feel calm after that. Anyway, nothing to be afraid of in the woods really.

Many Walks
02-26-2010, 11:52
Be one with the woods, Grasshopper. Fear not, you are close to the top of the food chain.

mister krabs
02-26-2010, 11:54
I only get it when I sleep alone in the woods. I bring a small radio with a speaker and a sleep timer to dispel it.

Deadeye
02-26-2010, 12:00
I get jumpy when the coyotes are howling!

Gray Blazer
02-26-2010, 12:02
Take some Xanax.

cowpoke
02-26-2010, 12:02
I was cresting the trail just south of Fontana...walking along quietly...enjoying the solitude...and jumped a couple of turkeys...needless to say I was a couple of pounds lighter after I cleaned myself up!! My first night on the trail was alone at Stover Creek shelter...think I heard every branch that fell that night...it's all good. cheers.

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 12:03
Well, I wouldn't say that having that every time would keep me from backpacking altogether, but considering that in 2 1/2 years I anticipate spending 1 1/2 years in the woods, I was just wondering if it would just sort of faze out.

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 12:06
what would that be exactly?

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 12:06
(Xanax that is)

BobTheBuilder
02-26-2010, 12:22
I bet it phases out. It is all about your comfort zone, which develops over time. Turkeys and grouse, though, always seem to wait until you are almost stepping on them, then they explode in front of you in their own version of a panic. They will startle me until the day I die, which will probably be due to a heart attack caused by a damn turkey.

elmotoots
02-26-2010, 12:23
Self-preservation is behaviour that ensures the survival of an organism. It is universal among living organisms. In some vertebrates, pain (http://www.whiteblaze.net/wiki/Pain) and fear (http://www.whiteblaze.net/wiki/Fear) are parts of this mechanism. Pain causes discomfort so that the organism is inclined to stop the pain. Fear causes the organism to seek safety and may cause a release of adrenaline (http://www.whiteblaze.net/wiki/Adrenaline), which has the effect of increased strength and heightened senses such as hearing, smell, and sight. Self-preservation may also be interpreted figuratively; in regard to the coping mechanisms one needs to prevent emotional trauma from distorting the mind.

Lyle
02-26-2010, 12:30
Don't get that feeling much anymore. Way more often I feel very comfortable, even with the many sounds. Not saying I never had it. Several occasions when a sound has temporarily spooked me until I found out for sure what it was. It's a matter of allowing your imagination to run wild with you.

More frequent is the slight uneasiness felt when meeting some of the non-hiker characters that are occasionally at road crossings or easy walk-in shelters. Usually if you are in a group, it is much less likely that you will feel uncomfortable. On one recent trip, a large group of us were at a shelter, and one individual did spook the lot of us. Had something to do with his machete and somewhat bizarre ramblings that included his having run out of his meds, and his lack of "typical" hiker gear. There was a bit of tension in the air most of the evening, but absolutely no problems with the individual at all. Perhaps he was just "playing with us". This possibility was later discussed, but never resolved.

Also, not too long ago, things got a little spooky while hiking through a fairly severe electrical storm with heavy rain and very, very dark sky. Normally I love to be out in an electrical storm. At home, I like to sit on my porch to observe and feel the energy. I was in deep woods, with somewhat overgrown trail. I just got a very uneasy feeling that I was NOT on the AT. I even convinced myself that any blaze I saw was either an old blaze or some type of boundary marker (easy to confuse these here in Michigan). Got somewhat of a feeling of "impending doom" for no real reason. Eventually I came to the Wayah Bald tower (actually the pit toilets) and met up with friends. We were rightfully a bit concerned on top of the Bald in the electrical storm, so took refuge in the outhouses until the rest of the storm passed.

All this just to say, you will get much more comfortable and at home as you are out more. But certain circumstances can still trigger irrational (or rational) "fight or flight" responses - that general uneasy feeling. It's probably a good thing, and lets us know that we haven't become completely numb to the possibility of danger. Just don't let it panic you.

Gray Blazer
02-26-2010, 12:41
(Xanax that is)

For your nerves. You'd have to get a prescription (or know a really good street dealer (which I do not condone of course)).

Many Walks
02-26-2010, 12:44
David, here's something you might try to ease your fear of the woods at night. When you camp put a fish line trip wire in a 20' radius around your camp. Tie it to a tree 18" or so off the ground and string it in a circle back around to the tree where it is tied. Tie the loose end to a cook pot or other noisy object and wedge it in somewhere off the ground just enough that the line can pull it out and not the wind. At least with this you only have to be concerned with the noise of the pot falling and not every noise in the woods. Eventually the fear will pass as you become more comfortable with the woods and you train your mind to focus on reality and not on what might be out there. Good luck and enjoy your hikes!

LimpsAlong
02-26-2010, 12:59
My guess is it will diminish over time. You don't want it to all go away however. A little "quick reaction" is good in certain situations. I grew up tent camping and hunting so even though I have a "quick response" to certain stimuli I am comfortable on the trail night and day. Normal animal sounds at night get my attention but once identified by the sounds I relax and get back to sleep. Odd or heavy sounds require a little more analysis.
The two legged creatures give me more concern than do the four legged ones.

LimpsAlong
02-26-2010, 13:01
David, here's something you might try to ease your fear of the woods at night. When you camp put a fish line trip wire in a 20' radius around your camp. Tie it to a tree 18" or so off the ground and string it in a circle back around to the tree where it is tied. Tie the loose end to a cook pot or other noisy object and wedge it in somewhere off the ground just enough that the line can pull it out and not the wind. At least with this you only have to be concerned with the noise of the pot falling and not every noise in the woods. Eventually the fear will pass as you become more comfortable with the woods and you train your mind to focus on reality and not on what might be out there. Good luck and enjoy your hikes!

Neat idea. Never thought about using a trip wire for the animals.

Grinder
02-26-2010, 13:13
hey David,

This , too, shall pass.

When I was getting used to hammocking, I slept on my back porch for two months. It took me a week to get where I could sleep through the night because of all the neighborhood noises here in Winter Haven. There were air conditioners turning on and off, the traffic on Havendale Blvd. neighborhood cats. An ocasional possum or racoon. Once a great horned owl landed on my roof and hooted about 10 feet away. That one "set me free".

The same thing happens each time I move into a new/different house. New noises grab my attention and I squirt out a bit of adreneline. After a few days I begin to adjust and in a week the new noises are old background and invisible.

Disney
02-26-2010, 13:16
I always get that sleeping alone in a shelter. Never in a tent, but always in a shelter alone. I guess if I'm sleeping in a shelter with other folks, there's a part of my mind that just says "well if something bad happens those guys will wake me up."

Tipi Walter
02-26-2010, 13:19
Jumpiness out in nature I believe is a sort of newbie disease, easily cured with many days out. The hard one to shake is the jumpiness that comes from living "indoors", as in a house. Phew, I don't know how people do it for long. TV commercials alone can make you crazy and there's nothing like an outgassing doublewide to break your spirit. The longer you stay outside the harder it is to stay in. Just plan your next trip and carry about 40lbs of food so you don't have to come back in for 15 or 20 days. Stretch it out to 30 days if you can carry the weight. Assuming no resupply, please.

grayfox
02-26-2010, 13:54
Yeah Disney-- "I guess if I'm sleeping in a shelter with other folks, there's a part of my mind that just says "well if something bad happens those guys will wake me up."

I always laugh at myself when I think that because I'm looking at them and knowing they are thinking the same thing about me.

Nevermind
02-26-2010, 14:02
I used to get that feeling at night (terrified, wide awake listening to every noise), but after so many nights where you hear noises and nothing happens, it just becomes part of the background.

THAT BEING SAID... Last fall, in Stone Mountain State Park, NC, I was out for a one nighter with my friend. Our campsite was at the very end of a side trail. It had been dark for awhile and we were laying in our hammocks talking, getting ready to sleep. After a couple minutes of silence, a SNEEZE. We both heard it. It came from the woods side of the campsite (not the trail) and sounded human or large. No (good) reason for a human to be that way, so we were hoping it was just a bear (hah). We were both spooked for a good hour, but nothing happened and we eventually drifted off. Sounds at night can certainly be more alarming when alone though.

But hey, isn't that why we hike all day? So we pass out faster in the woods at night? :D

Mountain Wildman
02-26-2010, 14:03
I bet it phases out. It is all about your comfort zone, which develops over time. Turkeys and grouse, though, always seem to wait until you are almost stepping on them, then they explode in front of you in their own version of a panic. They will startle me until the day I die, which will probably be due to a heart attack caused by a damn turkey.


LOL. That's Funny!!!

Mountain Wildman
02-26-2010, 14:10
I agree, It will pass with experience. I used to worry about every little sound and sometimes couldn't get to sleep until the sun came up. After a few trips I resigned myself to the fact that there will be noises that I can't make out.
I basically figure if it isn't coming into my tent to get me, I could care less if there is a grizzly snooping around my camp, Go ahead, take that bag of cheetos I forgot to put away, just leave me alone!!

Saint Alfonzo
02-26-2010, 14:14
Hello,Young Person, I have to adjust on my first 2-3 days out. Not so much to the daytime, but at night. Ear plugs help alot and ,IN-A-GODA-DA-VEDA, also helps me fall off to sleep..You may be to young to know that song..
YOU take care,and good hiking...

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 14:20
Well, here we have some great responses. Now two things: 1. When did I ever say fear? I said jumpiness, just walking, hearing something and being poised to strike back... The qoute was just saying that at least someone else has experienced this. 2. Does anyone know if there are any snakes that climb trees in Alabama? the way that the branch-shoulder-ditch-leaf movement makes me think it was either a startled snake or an attack leaf that got bored and decided to freak out an unsuspecting hiker... whatever happened started behind me and ended to the side and slightly in front of me. Sitting here, it occurs to me that I could've had a mini shooting pain reminisce in a place that was deeply infected wen my adrenalinkicked in when a squirrel jumped to an altenate branch... that happens when I am really stessed...

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 14:22
Hello,Young Person, I have to adjust on my first 2-3 days out. Not so much to the daytime, but at night. Ear plugs help alot and ,IN-A-GODA-DA-VEDA, also helps me fall off to sleep..You may be to young to know that song..
YOU take care,and good hiking...
In the garden of eden?

Blissful
02-26-2010, 14:38
Take some Xanax.


You're advocated prescription drug use to a 15 yr old - ??


lovely

Saint Alfonzo
02-26-2010, 14:42
Hello Again,YOUNG PERSON, In Accordance with, my IRON BUTTERFLY album, of 1968, may I correct YOU.."IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA" and the song is 17:05 min.long..If only I could be YOUNG again ,and know it ALL..
YOU TAKE CARE YOUNG PERSON,, MIKE..

Blissful
02-26-2010, 14:43
2. Does anyone know if there are any snakes that climb trees in Alabama? the way that the branch-shoulder-ditch-leaf movement makes me think it was either a startled snake or an attack leaf that got bored and decided to freak out an unsuspecting hiker... whatever happened started behind me and ended to the side and slightly in front of me. Sitting here, it occurs to me that I could've had a mini shooting pain reminisce in a place that was deeply infected wen my adrenalinkicked in when a squirrel jumped to an altenate branch... that happens when I am really stessed...


I know snakes hang out in trees on the AT. Saw one in PA near Kirkridge shelter way up in a tree. Nice thing is, snakes near shelters mean no mice.

Nevermind
02-26-2010, 14:54
Hello Again,YOUNG PERSON, In Accordance with, my IRON BUTTERFLY album, of 1968, may I correct YOU.."IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA" and the song is 17:05 min.long..If only I could be YOUNG again ,and know it ALL..
YOU TAKE CARE YOUNG PERSON,, MIKE..

I always think of this when I hear in a gadda da vida:

http://www.ugoto.com/video_the_simpsons__in_a_gadda_da_vida.html

Also, I've had snakes in trees in my backyard when living in both North and South Carolina. So I'd say yes to Alabama. They're everywhere.

LimpsAlong
02-26-2010, 14:58
Hello Again,YOUNG PERSON, In Accordance with, my IRON BUTTERFLY album, of 1968, may I correct YOU.."IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA" and the song is 17:05 min.long..If only I could be YOUNG again ,and know it ALL..
YOU TAKE CARE YOUNG PERSON,, MIKE..
Saint, the kid may know something you don't. The song was originally "In the Garden of Eden". Check it out.
BTW, if you are listening to Iron Butterfly my guess is the herbal meds help you sleep? LOL
As Archie Bunker sang........Those were the days.

Gray Blazer
02-26-2010, 15:07
You're advocated prescription drug use to a 15 yr old - ??


lovely

Whoops, I forgot, young kids don't do drugs. Forgive me. (I'll try to notice the posted age from now on.) :o

Saint Alfonzo
02-26-2010, 15:25
Hello,LimpsAlong, how are YOU?? I have to agree with YOU on the songs original title. And as far as Herbal meds.. I have, NO COMMENT, Job security and all that stuff. At least thats what I use to say, before I retired..
YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF...AND GOOD HIKING....MIKE...

JustaTouron
02-26-2010, 15:32
Anything new causes jumpiness.

Spend 6 months on the trail and then spend a night in an apt in NYC and you get jumping everytime a drunk walks past your bedroom window.

Being alone certainly compounds the jumpiness. Being with a group of people you trust will certainly lessen it.

Give it time, you will get use to the woods.

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 16:00
Hello Again,YOUNG PERSON, In Accordance with, my IRON BUTTERFLY album, of 1968, may I correct YOU.."IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA" and the song is 17:05 min.long..If only I could be YOUNG again ,and know it ALL..
YOU TAKE CARE YOUNG PERSON,, MIKE..
Um, I realized that the song that you were reffering to was IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA, but I was asking if that meant in the garden of eden... Also, in reference to the rest, I wouldn't go out to get a prescription to keep me from looking around as a tree falls...

bus
02-26-2010, 16:25
I get more scared when all the noises stop.

bus
02-26-2010, 16:28
Um, I realized that the song that you were reffering to was IN-A-GODDA-DA-VIDA, but I was asking if that meant in the garden of eden... Also, in reference to the rest, I wouldn't go out to get a prescription to keep me from looking around as a tree falls...


There was a Simpsons episode where Bart switched the music and it was sung as 'In the Garden of Eden' to the tune of the aforementioned song.

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 16:53
There was a Simpsons episode where Bart switched the music and it was sung as 'In the Garden of Eden' to the tune of the aforementioned song.
you mean this one?

I always think of this when I hear in a gadda da vida:

http://www.ugoto.com/video_the_simpsons__in_a_gadda_da_vida.html

Also, I've had snakes in trees in my backyard when living in both North and South Carolina. So I'd say yes to Alabama. They're everywhere.

GGS2
02-26-2010, 18:50
... When you camp put a fish line trip wire in a 20' radius around your camp. Tie it to a tree 18" or so off the ground and string it in a circle back around to the tree where it is tied. Tie the loose end to a cook pot or other noisy object and wedge it in somewhere off the ground just enough that the line can pull it out and not the wind. At least with this you only have to be concerned with the noise of the pot falling and not every noise in the woods. ...
Nah, use flash-bangs. That way, when something trips, you only have to get up to clean your clothes and bag. And to reset the trip again, of course. Never know when something super stupid might stumble by.

For real, though, it's coyotes that get to me. They're such an eerie sound, and a small pack of them sounds like a big pack. And they don't let up: every fifteen minutes or so, they're at it again. One of them over there, a couple more down the other direction, and pretty soon they're all at it. Then when they've talked it out, they quiet down until the next time, only this time they're closer. Get the feeling they're talking about me, planning the attack.

But of course they're really out after dinner, which is critters much smaller than me. If they find me camped out, they'll scout me, of course, but I don't believe they'll do more than that unless they're really hard up. These new coyote crosses are a bit more concerning, but I've not heard of any attacks on camped hikers at night: just on dog walkers and the like in daytime or dusk.

The sounds of carnivores out hunting are certainly chilling, but hardly ever a real concern. They're just part of the sound track, it seems.

David@whiteblaze
02-26-2010, 19:28
A dog came through y camp that night... I didnt know till the morning...

YoungMoose
02-26-2010, 20:00
I get it when im by myself.

Skidsteer
02-26-2010, 21:56
"So woods are spooky... there is something innately sinister about them, some inneffable thing that makes you sense an atmosphere of pregnant doom with every step... Though you tell yourself it's preposterous, you can't quite shake the feeling that you are being watched... Whatever mechanism within you is resposible adrenaline, it has never been so keenly polished to pump out a warming squirt of adrenal fluid. Even asleep, you are a coiled spring."

Bill Bryson

That's how I feel when I walk into a convenience store.

Bronk
02-27-2010, 02:50
I'm usually pretty comfortable in the woods, but every once in awhile I get spooked...a few years ago I spent a couple months camping at a friend's place down by the river...I had heard from some of the locals that panthers had killed cattle in the area on occasion, and that the forest service vehemently denied that they existed in the area...until there was a roadkill...then they had to admit it.

So a few nights later I'm lying in my tent reading a book, about to drift off to sleep, when suddenly I hear a blood curdling scream, and pretty close to my tent too. Immediately afterwards I could hear dogs and coyotes and horses just going absolutely nuts. The horses were on a neighboring property about 1/4 mile away, and almost an hour went by before they settled down.

And of course every leaf crackle I heard made my heart pound. I didn't even have so much as a knife in my tent with me...I had a tarp rigged over a picnic table with all my gear on it about 25 feet away, but I was too scared to get out of the tent. So I just laid there with my heart pounding harder with every sound. It took a couple hours before I had calmed down enough to drift off to sleep.