Loneliness and fear of being alone in the bush

ilbruche said:
Damn right! Ookla the Mok baby!!!
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That is so funny...what an obscure, early 80's reference...I just found all of the Thundarr episodes and tried to show them to the kids. They thought I was crazy. My overanalytical son was like, "Isn't the sun sword just a copy of a light saber and isn't a Mok just a Wookee?"
 
GEC you got someone right here that knows exactly what you mean. I knew what tree my pup would stop at, when he would get tired or hungry. When we went packpacking some of the time he would follow me and other times i would follow him. I would go on trail he would make me follow some deer trail. I had seem more places and animals cause of him. In the evening after a very long and hard hike he would lay next to me in the grass and we would nap for a few hours. Not a word would be said. One time we went to the high sierra there was a very bad lightning storm but no rain. I set down on the grass enjoying the show. He came behind me set down and rested his head on my shoulder looking at the lightning too. When i think of him its one of the mental pics i got of... I never had one like him before. Even the vet said that he acts diffrent them most other dogs. His name was Amour = Love. My dad named him. He died 12 years ago in my hands from a heart attack. He waited for me to come down stairs so he could lay next to me before he died. The only time i cryed Unless you count me being a 7 year old.

GEC i bet the two of them and many of the other good pups are all togher now rolling in the grass and sleeping in big hipps on top of one another.

Sasha out
 
I guess sometime the only person that will listen to reason is yourself. BUT, if you start answering yourself please seek professional help.:D
 
Bob W said:
Part of a college desert survival program was a three-day or four-day solo. The program was challenging, but the solo was a piece of cake. The professor told me later he was concerned that I would wander off to live alone in the desert forever... I admit it did cross my mind.

-Bob
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This pretty much sums up my feelings. The longer I'm out in the middle of some beautiful forest valley the harder it gets thinking about having to head back to civilization.

I know it would be different in a pure survival situation but I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of being totally isolated and independent.
I'm not some moody loner either, :( About the only thing I enjoy as much as wandering about in the wilderness is hanging out with my mates.
 
Hey darken Rahl, shouldnt you be in the underworld??????????????
great books, i need to pick up the last one. Wonder why did you pick up his name???

Sasha
 
In Ron Hoods SOLO survival dvd, he talks about this. The line I can remember is "don't feel bad if you find yourself talking with nobody." He said something like its good for your mental health.

Talking to God on my little trips truly lets me feel at peace when I am out there. It is very comforting to me.

Later,
Scottman
 
Originally Posted byScottman...
I talk to God on my little trips.
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I am just now getting in to extended stays in the deep woods by myself, but I am an avid technical diver and I regularly dive solo. I do very little recreational diving, most all of my diving is done in overhead environments such as caves, shipwrecks or any other dive requiring lengthy decompression obligation. I choose to dive solo at great risk to myself, but it also gives me great rewards and an inner peace. I also find myself talking to God on my dives very often, usually thanking him for this beautiful world we live and the skills he has blessed me with to be able to see places that VERY few will ever be able to see.
As far as being alone goes and the mental state you must be in to handle the situation, I have had experiences that I think have tested me fully. While I have never been truly been lost in the woods, I have twice lost guidelines in caves and on one of those dives also had a scooter failure and rebreather failure. Let me tell you brother, on that dive in total pitch black darkness
2400' back in a cave I had to stop and and take control of the situation quickly. To you non divers I don't really know how to explain the severity of that situation buts it's about as bad as it can get when you are alone. I made it out alive and only had to taken to a recompression chamber but have no lasting injuries. Because of that I know how I will react in a SHTF situation and that is of some comfort to me. I am trying to approach my deep woods adventures in much the same way I do my dives, by making a plan and a contingency plan and following them.
 
Its very true, I mean for thouse who have loved ones, think of the first time you were separated for a long period of time. I can't Imagin the feeling on a long term bassis. For me, the longest Ive been out was about a week, but lonlyness wasn't a big deal, yes I was alone and the things that went bump in the night made me a bit leary, but I knew I was going home, so it really isnt the same feeling you would have of complete solitude.
 
sasha said:
Hey darken Rahl, shouldnt you be in the underworld??????????????
great books, i need to pick up the last one. Wonder why did you pick up his name???

Sasha
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It's been my online handle since I was a wee nerdy teenager playing Quake2... I really enjoyed the first couple of books until it got far to Mills & Boonish to read without needing a sick bag. :)


Tolly said:
I have twice lost guidelines in caves and on one of those dives also had a scooter failure and rebreather failure. Let me tell you brother, on that dive in total pitch black darkness
2400' back in a cave I had to stop and and take control of the situation quickly.
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I SCUBA dive regularly and it's an interest where you really need to know your limits. I would feel quite vulnerable diving alone with my current experience. I can't imagine the potential panic involved with your rebreather failing on you not to mention the added claustrophobia off having solid rock above you...

What is your back up when using a rebreather?
 
Perhaps one of the factors can be the will to survive. I took a few psychology classes (mandatory but interesting) and one was based on instinctual behavior. The Prof insisted the most powerful was the will to survive. I countered with the will to prevail- such as in the saying "he died trying". Many have calculated then freely risked their life to a cause, a friend, or an attempt to achieve when success was very uncertain (certain explorers come to mind). It seems to me one should remember to want to prevail over the circumstances and refuse to submit. It's one way to control emotions of surprise, despair and doubt. Maybe I'm getting too heavy:yawn: , but it seems to be a factor in survival stories I've read. :) ss.
 
sasha said:
I have always went packpacking alone i guess im more of a loner type and i dont want to ask anyone how they feel about doing this or that.. So here im agreeing with Coote. When i still had my pup we would go to the high sierra and i swear i didnt say more then 2-4 words to the pup the all time. I love being alone and if i seen any people i would try and get off trail so i dont have to talk to them.... What i realy find funny is when i come back.

Sasha
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Me too- I got started camping by doing field biology work with a large group of biologists and I was more comfortable on my own, plus all the crap of dealing with other people when setting up the trip- I much rather be by myself and I go out of my way not to interact with others.

I've never felt lonely, although I have been scared shitless many times and told myself that I was giving up backpacking a bunch of times. A friend of mine (biologist, rock climber) never goes out by himself and once told me that he thought I should be having religous experiences or something, but I never have.

I feel like you truly fit in better when you are not making a ton of noise- you start interacting with animals more. I can't even count the number of times that I have woken up in a bivy sack to see a deer or cow looking at me (BLM land)- and sleeping out as opposed to a tent is an entirely different experience as well.

I'm always careful but I blew out my knee circumnavigating a mountain, of course on the side opposite from my jeep, so I had 10 miles of walking on a bum knee, going crossway across gullies, that was a whole lot of fun. I once decided to sleep on the side of a mountain specifically because it was going to snow- it didn't but it got very, very cold and I was in a bivy sack and I was getting to be badly hypothermic. It took me almost 3 hours to get out of my sack (really fun trying to undo zippers when your hands are shaking that badly) move my sack like 10 feet to a more sheltered area, put all my clothes on, and get my stove going to get some warm fluids in me, but I did it and now I know I can do that. I've run into illegals and had to warn them away with a rifle, I've run into drug runners, I've had a Customs Blackhawk almost land on my tent, I've had someone track me (which believe me will scare the crap out of you), discovered very neat stone tools, and generally had a lot of fun.

If you go by yourself, you just tune in better, you get a feel for what is going on, and you just can't do that in a group. Sure, it is dangerous but so is driving everyday. I tend to look at it like some of the rougher military training, once you have been in bad situations and you know that you can handle it, everything else is easy.
 
GEC said:
You guys got me thinking about my old GS... I know this might sound crazy to some, but she always seem to listen and understand.
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Nope, that's not crazy, at all. My family had a Basset hound who everyone, even family friends, agreed could understand at least 70% of the conversations around her. It was amazing. She was brilliant in her rebelliously loving, hound way :D We all miss Freckles.
 
This may not be entirely on topic, but I found it interesting, reading today about Marco Polo, the 13th century explorer:

"When a man is riding through this desert by night and for some reason -falling asleep or anything else -he gets separated from his companions and wants to rejoin them, he hears spirit voices talking to him as if they were his companions, sometimes even calling him by name. Often these voices lure him away from the path and he never finds it again, and many travelers have got lost and died because of this. Sometimes in the night travelers hear a noise like the clatter of a great company of riders away from the road; if they believe that these are some of their own company and head for the noise, they find themselves in deep trouble when daylight comes and they realize their mistake. There were some who, in crossing the desert, have heard a host of men coming towards them and, suspecting that they were robbers, returning, they have gone hopelessly astray....Even by daylight men hear these spirit voices, and often you fancy you are listening to the strains of many instruments, especially drums, and the clash of arms. For this reason bands of travelers make a point of keeping very close together. Before they go to sleep they set up a sign pointing in the direction in which they have to travel, and round the necks of all their beasts they fasten little bells, so that by listening to the sound they may prevent them from straying off the path."

Marco Polo, Travels
 
knifeman65 said:
I believe being lost and in a survival situation is totally different than taking a solo camping trip. Being lost in the bush has a whole lot more emotions involved. There is the fear of starving to death or never making your way out, or never being found, etc... There have been situations where the lost hiker/camper was so paranoid, that he was actually hiding from his rescuers. His emotions and imagination got the better of him. It took the rescuers longer to find him because he was aware of them, and kept staying just out of reach. I think not being lost, having food and water with you, and that you WILL see people/civilization at the time of your choosing is a totally different scenario. I have only been on a two day solo hike/campout, but I have never been realy lost (a bit disoriented in fog a couple of times though). I usually try to go on hikes with my son or my father, but sometimes I go alone. I haven't been on an overnighter in quite some time. This is just my opinnion guys.
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Knifeman65, i think you on the target, good call. Your friend at the post, Donald S.
 
I am perfectly calm and comfortable in the woods and spend a LOT of time there, I just got back from taking my platoon on a river canoeing trip today, one of my soldiers took lots of pics and I will post them when I get a copy, BUT being lost is a totally different animal than a planned, controlled solo trip. Chris
 
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