Expect the UNEXPECTABLE

C

coote

Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
1,465
I haven't really got anything profound to say here. The word 'unexpectable' got discussed on the recent thread "Four Days Hiking Trip and No Knives Allowed", and I figured it was time to use it.

To be prepared to cope well in the wilderness we sometimes have to expect the unexpected. But isn't it taking things to a higher level when we actually start to anticipate the UNEXPECTABLE.... things that are virtually beyond what normal people might imagine?

The unexpected might be losing our food down a waterfall on a hiking trip, or having a bear tear our tent to shreds. But what incidents have people experienced that were virtually unexpectable...not really capable of being anticipated in normal circumstances?
 
One of those damn green faeries!
l_deee2c8cb44924545080864a7be53f11.jpg

BIT ME!!
l_7b2893a570994371d163c9d6aa54c658.jpg


HAhahahaha!
 
So are you LittleHairyApe. I smile even when I read your handle..... whoever would think up that sort of a name is the sort of person I like to joke around with.

They can turn nasty, those faeries.

Yep... the tornado in Brooklyn would be in the unexpectable group as far as normal human reasoning goes. I have to agree with Flnder that the word does mean unforseeable, but for the purpose of the survival exercise I want to stretch it a bit to mean something that would be well off the list of possibilities as far as our normal preparations are concerned. Being abducted by javelin-weilding cheerleaders for instance.

Dang....I've obviously got too much spare time on my hands.
 
i think there is a risk of misunderestimating the enormousism of the Fairy situationalness.......

:D
 
The closest I came to unexpectable although it obviously wasn't impossible was about 7 years ago some friends and I climbed Mt. Dix in the Adirondacks. We got to a point about a half hour from the top where you could either hike over the peak and down the other side or go kind of around and down the other side. My friends wanted to go around as it had been a long wet two days up and were beat. I in a moment of wisdomlapse chose to go over alone. So here I was going over the rocky top. and beginning to descend and marveling at the surreal view (i.e. none, it was as if walking through a cloud), and I notice how steep and challenging it was on this side. I was feeling good. Thinking how hard it would be to climb up this side. About an hour down the atmosphere cleared just as the trail was getting harder and harder to discern and a moment of magnarevelatoryaciousness stopped me in my tracks. The entire side of the mountain's trees were blown down. There was no more trail. For me it was the Unexpectable. I tried to pick my was for another ten or fifteen. When I realized that I was talking to myself trying to calm my panic I stopped again. I don't know whether I had read it or someone told me once but I habitually turn around when hiking to check out what the trail looks like in reverse. I thanked God when two hours later I got back to the summit. I was right it was harder climbing up this side. Another three hours got me to where my friends had camped. I was so friggin tired and hungry I downed two Ramen soups and fell asleep right next to the fire. The next morning I felt okay but I had some serious edema in my hands. The moral of the story is Ramen is very high in sodium. The End.
 
About 17 year ago i dicided to go backpacking for the first time. I had no one to give me an advice. So i packed everything i tought i would need for one week. It was about 85-90lb. I went on late july to the high sierra. I figured its summer time so i should be o.k. Well first off i did know how steep the trail would be. I had no idea i would get sick from the alttiude. When i got to the top and down the other side. I got treated to the best lightning show any one could see. Guess what it started to rain. I had NO rain gear what so ever. It never rain in july in CA. I lasted only two days before i walked back out. I were wet cold very cold and very wet. Lesson learned be prepared for any kind of weater at about 11,000ft. 85lb is too much to walk with if you want to cover 15miles in the mountains. Oh the 85lb didnt inclued the water and the camera with lenses and a tripod lol. I guess its good to be 27 and in top shape and ignorant. Oh yea you never learn anything from doing things right. You learn everything doing things wrong.

Sasha
 
coote said:
So are you LittleHairyApe. I smile even when I read your handle..... whoever would think up that sort of a name is the sort of person I like to joke around with.

They can turn nasty, those faeries.

Yep... the tornado in Brooklyn would be in the unexpectable group as far as normal human reasoning goes. I have to agree with Flnder that the word does mean unforseeable, but for the purpose of the survival exercise I want to stretch it a bit to mean something that would be well off the list of possibilities as far as our normal preparations are concerned. Being abducted by javelin-weilding cheerleaders for instance.

Dang....I've obviously got too much spare time on my hands.
Click to expand...

I am flattered and amused. You just never know when the littleseemingest thing can be a source of annoyingness or jubilocity way out of proportion to its expectability...like the mental pictures I shouldn't be having of cheerleaders and javelins. Bad me, bad me. - Harry:D
 
Ha! This thread made me laugh out loud! Granted, we all know what the original poster meant to say, but after thinking about the word, it can be pretty interesting and amusing.

Today, I shall begin to prepare for the unexpectable!

-Devise a plan to deal with an large meteor/comet/astroid collision (make egress map for home and have family regroup outside by the mailbox)

-Procure James Bond-style jet pack so that when the earth flips on it's axis I can propel myself high enough to obeserve where I am and where I should be heading, as GPS and compasses will have been rendered useless.

-Not be concerned about obtaining any firearms, magazines, or ammo in the near future, as the conservatives will come out on top in '08.

-Sharpen up them zombie killin' knives!

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top