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rachaeljessica
08-02-2010, 19:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V7WItOr4O8


I am so in love with this story and It so hard to find people that are as into the wilderness and nature at its best...i wish just once i could find a human that i can relate to when it comes to the outdoors... :rolleyes:

Mountain Wildman
08-02-2010, 19:48
I think most everyone on this site feels the same way, I grew up in a somewhat large city but for every long weekend and vacation I had, I spent them outdoors, usually camping and day hikes.

Luddite
08-02-2010, 19:55
Good ol' Alexander Supertramp.

I used to hitchhike and hop freight trains around the country. Miss those days. Someday I'll build my cabin in the wilderness...

rachaeljessica
08-02-2010, 19:56
that is so awesome! so you know what i mean then. :) there is something so amazing about being outside and free into the wild...someday i will do the same...

Llama Legs
08-02-2010, 20:09
Well you can drop your worries at the parking lot
Or way down in the city where the sun burns hot.
Although civilization is a nice place to visit,
I wouldn't want to live there.

– Tobasco Donkeys (a band of hikers)

johnnybgood
08-02-2010, 20:55
Your passion isn't lost here, but instead shared by like minded human beings with a zest for nature that satisfies the soul.



BTW ,The book was much better in my opinion.

scope
08-02-2010, 21:01
You may not realize what you're unleashing with this thread... then again, maybe if you did a search, you do indeed.

For the record, I think there is an embodiment of spirit in this story that is a worthwhile tale, and yes, it is something most of us strive for. Its just that a lot of the story really annoys the heck out of lot of people who feel like he went about things in the wrong way.

Lone Wolf
08-02-2010, 22:07
can't say i share your passion

Different Socks
08-03-2010, 00:05
that is so awesome! so you know what i mean then. :) there is something so amazing about being outside and free into the wild...someday i will do the same...


Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.......see, there is no Someday.

Different Socks
08-03-2010, 00:08
I know exactly how you feel. Each time I come back from 3--4 days off, or a week or more in the woods, it gets more and more difficult to adjust to work life again. There are times when I feel that I belong in the outdoors, that it is what I was born to do.

Anumber1
08-03-2010, 00:17
Do a little google search on a man named Richard 'Dick' Proenneke and I promise you wont be disappointed.

Alone in the Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey

Bucherm
08-03-2010, 00:45
Good ol' Alexander Supertramp.

I used to hitchhike and hop freight trains around the country. Miss those days. Someday I'll build my cabin in the wilderness...

I remember reading Into the Wild in High School and thinking that the kid was shelfish, unbalanced, could have done other things for adventure, could have donated that money he burned to charity, and not really that bright despite the ownership of a college degree. I also didn't care much for the author hemming and hawing and defending the guy's actions.


Today?

I feel much the same. I grant that as I sit here in the NOC that I work at, I wish I was out hiking, but I also am smart enough to know my limitations...or at least smart enough to tell people where to find me if I drop off the face of the planet

Old River Rat
08-03-2010, 06:06
I have a passion for freedom and self reliance. But I cannot understand why anyone would want to go to the extreme this young man went. I probably would have stayed in California with the young lady in Slab City. I also did not like what he did to his parents. Even though they may not have met up to his standards, the guy did not have to go through life a pauper.

Rocket Jones
08-03-2010, 06:15
A fool living by his ideals is still a fool.

Liv2Ride
08-03-2010, 07:40
I used to hitchhike and hop freight trains around the country. Miss those days....

No total disrespect Luddite but you're only 23 years old. Hopping freight trains around the county in this century doesn't even sound remotely real.

Graywolf
08-03-2010, 08:11
No total disrespect Luddite but you're only 23 years old. Hopping freight trains around the county in this century doesn't even sound remotely real.

Uh..Hobos still do it...I know. I live close ot a train yard..

Deerleg
08-03-2010, 08:11
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE By Aron Ralston is a great book about an incredible adventure gone wrong with a good ending...hope we all learn from those kind of mistakes, but there is something about the transformation he goes thru as a result of his blunder that enlightens and sharpens his reverence for the natural world.

DavidNH
08-03-2010, 09:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V7WItOr4O8


I am so in love with this story and It so hard to find people that are as into the wilderness and nature at its best...i wish just once i could find a human that i can relate to when it comes to the outdoors... :rolleyes:

I don't know if you could or would relate to me but I definitely share your wilderness passion. I suspect many here on whiteblaze do. That is why many of us are hikers.

Oddly there are a lot of hikers, particularly AT thru hikers who are more into the party scene than into the wilderness. Don't tell me it ain't so because I know from personal experience as a thru hiker that is IS so.

There is nothing like climbing a remote peak (say North Twin or Mount Bond) completely alone and staying up there for an hour alone and quiet, just looking, sensing, pondering. How few actually do it. It's up and down or they go in groups and keep talking. That his its place for sure but it's not the same.

I believe that to truly experience wilderness we need to slow down, cast schedules aside, leave communication devices at home, and just experience the solitude.

David

sly dog
08-03-2010, 09:53
I'm actually headin to the bus 142 in Alaska in two weeks ta spend a night there. One of my stops while in Alaska. Cant wait!!!

Fishbamboo
08-03-2010, 10:36
I have Proenneke's book and a dvd, love it. But can you really do anything like that these days?

Luddite
08-03-2010, 11:05
I have Proenneke's book and a dvd, love it. But can you really do anything like that these days?

Thats an awesome documentary. He was a great carpenter to be able to do that. It looks so easy but I'm sure it isn't.


No total disrespect Luddite but you're only 23 years old. Hopping freight trains around the county in this century doesn't even sound remotely real.

I did a documentary on street kids and train hoppers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWy2WgMz8co

Also check out the book "The last season" by Eirc Blehm. If you like Into the Wild you'll like that book too.

No Belay
08-03-2010, 11:41
No total disrespect Luddite but you're only 23 years old. Hopping freight trains around the county in this century doesn't even sound remotely real.

Riding the rails in "Cargo Class" is very much alive in America. There are still genuine " HoBos" every where and 65% of them are not destitute or aimless drifters. There are keyboard shadow groups that reffer to themselves as "hobos" but most of them also believe that it "doesn't even sound remotely real". Do some investigation and you'll be surprised what you discover.

Buzz_Lightfoot
08-03-2010, 11:52
I know exactly how you feel. Each time I come back from 3--4 days off, or a week or more in the woods, it gets more and more difficult to adjust to work life again. There are times when I feel that I belong in the outdoors, that it is what I was born to do.

Sounds like what I call the 3-3 rule.

It takes 3 days in the woods to shed the stress of work and society.

It takes 3 minutes of being back for it all to come crashing back.

I look forward to the day I can retire. I will spend a lot of time hiking then, as long as my health holds out. I don't even get to DAY hike as much as I would like to right now. When I do get to I feel so much better. It doesn't even have to be a long hike. Just being OUT there is enough.

Rachael, there are a lot of us who feel the same. Don't think you are the only one. :)

BL

Chaos_Being
08-03-2010, 12:00
Sounds like what I call the 3-3 rule.

It takes 3 days in the woods to shed the stress of work and society.

It takes 3 minutes of being back for it all to come crashing back.

I look forward to the day I can retire. I will spend a lot of time hiking then, as long as my health holds out. I don't even get to DAY hike as much as I would like to right now. When I do get to I feel so much better. It doesn't even have to be a long hike. Just being OUT there is enough.

Rachael, there are a lot of us who feel the same. Don't think you are the only one. :)

BL


Amen to that. I can't seem to find the time to even day hike lately either, and the weather hasn't exactly been cooperative lately (why are the weekends always the hottest part of the week? :( ) I'll be doing everything in my power to stay healthy enough in my older years so I can hike when I retire too.

I am looking forwards to my 4-day hike in September though. I'm sure it will be hard to return to work afterwards.

Dogwood
08-03-2010, 13:12
So many people, after having explained to them I'm a thru-hiker hiking thousands of miles at a time, have asked me, "have you seen Into the Wild?" For the 100th time, YES, I have seen the movie. It touched me deeply because I so very much relate with all the ideas presented in the picture.

What I got out of the movie was that he was in love with nature and wilderness, but Alexander Supertramp was also in love with being self sufficient, unattached, free spirited(drifting), anti-establishment, anti-culture, and living from moment to moment. Can work great until one day you mistake a poisonous plant for an edible one!

Going to the bus is a pilgrimmage beginning to get overdone, IMO.

Dogwood
08-03-2010, 13:28
One of the things I can relate to so much is when he goes into the city after having been emersed in nature and the wilderness for so long. He feels so detached from societal norms. He realizes what a different life he could be living. He flees the city to go back to nature where he now feels most at ease.

When I visit a town, after having been on the trail for so long, it feels as if I just walked into a bar, everyone seems drunk missing out on so much beauty that is at their doorstep, and I'm the only one sober in the bar. It puts a different perspective on "things." It sometimes feels hard to relate to so many who are stumbling through life in a blinded stupor because someone or something else has determined who they should be and how they should live and that they have bought into all that without even be aware of it! Nice to be aware that you are making your own life decisions not based on being entirely influenced by someone else's agenda.

onesocktwin
08-03-2010, 14:41
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V7WItOr4O8


I am so in love with this story and It so hard to find people that are as into the wilderness and nature at its best...i wish just once i could find a human that i can relate to when it comes to the outdoors... :rolleyes:
If you want to read a really good female perspective you should try "Woodswoman" by Anne LaBastille. I agree with you totally. It is especially hard trying to explain to my friends who happen to all be overweight unhealthy couch potatoes and my siblings, why at my age I'd rather be in the woods! I love hiking alone but prefer company at night; nice to have someone who understands why I do what I do.

Dogwood
08-03-2010, 16:38
It takes 3 days in the woods to shed the stress of work and society. - Buzz Lightfoot

Actually, I find a great many hikers, despite their initial attempts to decompress and de-stress by going to the outdoors and wilderness NOT being able to SLOW down their minds, bodies, and planned agendas when they hike. They backpack and hike VERY MUCH like they live and drive when off the trail. If you watch carefully how they hike(walk) and the routine they set for themselves you'll notice it.

Lone Wolf
08-03-2010, 17:02
Actually, I find a great many hikers, despite their initial attempts to decompress and de-stress by going to the outdoors and wilderness NOT being able to SLOW down their minds, bodies, and planned agendas when they hike. They backpack and hike VERY MUCH like they live and drive when off the trail. If you watch carefully how they hike(walk) and the routine they set for themselves you'll notice it.

so true. the destination is the journey for most. they don't live in the moment and they aren't spontaneous. everthing they do is planned out

Dogwood
08-03-2010, 17:39
Which is why I try to explain to those who I suspect are VERY control/organizational/ planning minded that are contemplating a hike, especially a long distance one, that spontaneous/unexpected/unprepared for events/experiences WILL happen on a hike. The longer the hike the more likely are those experieces to occur! I like seeing how these folks react to these events when they occur!!!

Thru-hiking means YOU are not totally in control in MANY ways!

I find it hilarious seeing hikers who have not yet realized this! You adapt or you go home!

nox
08-03-2010, 18:53
I just got back from a few weeks of backpacking and rafting in Alaska. I talked to a few people about Into The Wild and the guy who lived with the bears. Most of them do not have too high an opinion on either. I even saw bumperstickers mocking them. Living in nature is definitely possible but it takes a lot more than knowing how to camp to do it. I love hiking and camping and getting away from it all but I know that I could never live off the land alone. Kudos to those who can.

DapperD
08-03-2010, 20:39
Which is why I try to explain to those who I suspect are VERY control/organizational/ planning minded that are contemplating a hike, especially a long distance one, that spontaneous/unexpected/unprepared for events/experiences WILL happen on a hike. The longer the hike the more likely are those experieces to occur! I like seeing how these folks react to these events when they occur!!!

Thru-hiking means YOU are not totally in control in MANY ways!

I find it hilarious seeing hikers who have not yet realized this! You adapt or you go home!This is why many who set out on a thru-hike fail to complete it in one season. Some will give up due to it not being what they expected (maybe the majority who do give up) and never complete it. I can see your point of how unpredictable a thru-hike can be. You are out there a long time, and unknown and unforseen things can crop up, on the trail and at the homefront. But I think a lot of the "problems" that can crop up on the trail can be overcome, and a lot of the problems that arise don't end peoples hikes, THEY end their hikes. They are the ones, and their reactions to these problems are what cause their hikes to come to an end. Granted some problems are not easily going to be overcome, but in the long run, wether we chose to take a leisurely hike and take in everything along the way, or we decide to hike fast, and get our satisfaction from it's completion, it all boils down to hiking our own hike, in a way that allows us to complete it the way we ourselves decide to.

Different Socks
08-04-2010, 01:39
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE By Aron Ralston is a great book about an incredible adventure gone wrong with a good ending...hope we all learn from those kind of mistakes, but there is something about the transformation he goes thru as a result of his blunder that enlightens and sharpens his reverence for the natural world.

I'm sorry, but did you really read that book? The whole thing is about being trapped by that rock by an unfortunate event, but also the other parts of the book are about events he caused to happen to himself. I mean what kind of an idiot would willingly jump into a hydraulic whirlpool on the Colorado River?

Buzz_Lightfoot
08-04-2010, 13:14
If you want to read a really good female perspective you should try "Woodswoman" by Anne LaBastille. I agree with you totally. It is especially hard trying to explain to my friends who happen to all be overweight unhealthy couch potatoes and my siblings, why at my age I'd rather be in the woods! I love hiking alone but prefer company at night; nice to have someone who understands why I do what I do.


She wrote several books and I have to agree with the recommendation.


BL

Luddite
08-04-2010, 15:36
I'm sorry, but did you really read that book? The whole thing is about being trapped by that rock by an unfortunate event, but also the other parts of the book are about events he caused to happen to himself. I mean what kind of an idiot would willingly jump into a hydraulic whirlpool on the Colorado River?

Looks like the movie is coming out in November.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/

sbhikes
08-04-2010, 16:40
I didn't see the movie Into the Wild but I did read the book. I also haven't seen the video the original post linked to, so I'm not entirely certain what passion she is talking about.

I do know that while I was on my hike, which I did about a month ahead of most of the other thru-hikers last year and so mostly alone, that I became very comfortable alone in the wilderness. At least in a spiritual sense.

I was not comfortable with the mosquitoes or the rain. I hiked in summer so I didn't have to get comfortable in snow or super cold conditions. I carried food in my pack so I didn't have to get comfortable hunting and foraging. No matter what I did, I never really got comfortable with my feet hurting all the time, but I did get used to it. I followed a trail so I didn't have to work very hard to find my way.

I was very comfortable with the silence and the solitude. I was very comfortable with the pace of life and the self-sufficiency and the simplicity of having very little belongings. The birds were my friends. The flowers never bored me. I always rejoiced when I saw beautiful flowers. I was very comfortable with the constant physical movement of my body and of my position on the globe. I don't think I could have standed being in one place every day.

When I came home, I was not comfortable sleeping indoors. I did not like having a pillow or sleeping on a cushioned bed. I was uncomfortable with meeting someone and not stopping to talk to them. I was not comfortable with the noise and litter. I can't stand the air-conditioning and the perfumey stuff everyone slathers all over their bodies. I find it hard to sit all day at a job and multi-tasking is unbearable.

What I want to know is how can I bring home with me what I found out there? Is it really nature and being in nature that made me so happy or something else that I can reproduce here at home? Do I have to wait for retirement or the end of global industrial culture? I wish I knew, but I try a little bit. I mean, there were things I missed when I was out there and I realize now that they are part of having a well-rounded happy life. So there has to be some way to achieve balance or more happiness without having to outright escape to the wilderness. At least that's what I hope for.

Deerleg
08-04-2010, 23:15
I'm sorry, but did you really read that book?
Yes while camping and boulder hopping in Big Bend NP.

I think you can be a risk taker and still have reverence for, and be awed by our natural surroundings. For me that was the point...pushing the edge heightened his many mountain adventures and unfortunately for him it was a series of blunders that led to his biggest adventure of all that cost him his hand and almost his life, but it also took him to a place few of us will ever go.
He painted some beautiful pictures of the indifferent rhythms of the natural world during his entrapment.

Windcatcher
08-04-2010, 23:17
Like most of us, Alexander made good choices and bad choices. It's his spirit, love of freedom, and sense of adventure that reverberate within most of us to some degree. Keep the fires of your passion burning, don't let them fade, follow them when you can.

chiefduffy
08-05-2010, 14:12
...... So there has to be some way to achieve balance or more happiness without having to outright escape to the wilderness. At least that's what I hope for.


Well said. I agree completely with your whole post.

- Duffy