Places you thought were really wild but were not.

In my province we have the settled part and the unsettled part. The only difficulty is that when you live in the settled part it can be really hard to get to the unsettled part. I relish the fact that there are still massive tracts of crown (non-private, non-owned) land that can be accessed with some effort. However, finding the gem places isn't easy as the areas with easy access are usually already riddled with ATV tracks. Its not that I dislike ATVs and snowmobiles. I've ridden my share in the past, but it saddens me that so many healthy bodied men view a long day in the bush as sitting on their butts driving the two track. Well established ATV trails also get littered with refuse simply because it is so easy for folks to truck it in. Crushed up beer cans seem to be the norm style of marker tape along most bush ATV trails.

But I digress, the one positive above is that where there is a 2-track, there is also that space that is non-two track, if you are hardy enough and willing to explore it.
 
There are some great places to take a 4x4 here in Ontario, you just have to know where to find them.....
 
There have been times when I knew no other humans where closer then a days hike. Nevada is covered in old 4x4 trails and you can see for miles for lack of trees so I have never really be anyplace that I wasn't reminded of previous human habitation.

This year I plan on exploring one of the most remote places in the lower 48. The Jarbidge wilderness area in north central Nevada close to the Idaho border. It has no major highway access and is one of the only spots in the lower 48 to have class 1 airshed.
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
I've never really had a problem with that (tourist trap campsites). One good thing about being Southeastern Kentuckian: the fear that a lot of city dwelling idiots have of us. Not to mention the mountains keep out the riff-raff. It takes work to move in here (most places are generational homes), so it's not like a yuppie influx comes any further south than Lexington. We have a few places that are kind of urban like: Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and Paintsville. But, for the most part, we're all still pretty separated.

Downside? The economy blows. You're either a nurse, lawyer (ambulance chaser type), state police, coal miner, truck driver or school teacher. Mom and pop shops don't do to well, especially if they're too much higher than Walmart (The national talking heads tell us we're poor...I haven't seen it yet). We do have a prescription pill problem in some areas, but it's not like everybody is pilled slick outta their mind and heavily armed.

Want yourself a wild, quiet place to sleep in the dirt and eat bugs? Come here, park your car on the side of the road; pick a direction and start walking. Within three hours you won't hear anything but birds.

As a matter of fact, I plan on spending a couple days in the hills next week if the weather allows.
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QFT: My family is in Martin County KY and I have run around that whole area (Paintsville, Pikeville, Prestonsburg they are still relativley small towns compared to some places) and I hunt/camp etc in set of hills where u can easily get turned around and partially lost for a while if your not careful. I shoot rifles and pretty much do what I want as my family owns the back of the holler and the hills around it. There are still places that are pretty wild, but if everyone went there because its so wild it wouldnt be anymore...
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
I've never really had a problem with that (tourist trap campsites). One good thing about being Southeastern Kentuckian: the fear that a lot of city dwelling idiots have of us. Not to mention the mountains keep out the riff-raff. It takes work to move in here (most places are generational homes), so it's not like a yuppie influx comes any further south than Lexington. We have a few places that are kind of urban like: Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and Paintsville. But, for the most part, we're all still pretty separated.
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I resemble that remark :mad: :D . Actually there are still places to get away in the northern parts of the state, but the geography is somewhat limited (and certainly not mountainous). Good farm country and rolling hills, but little in the way of "wilderness" areas. Still, it works out well for those who need to live reasonably near a city center and be within an hour of solitude. And yes, you are absolutely right, people who don't live in Eastern Kentucky are afraid to go to DBNF or other wilderness areas there.
 
Point Reyes, Ca

I had hiked there area twice before but only to a limited extent. Both times with a group of people. I had heard the area was prime mountain lion country. Books emphasized the abundance of deer and elk.

I decided to hike some of the trails by myself. Packed up my self reliance kit and went out. I was hiking for about 1.5 hours when here comes a trail runner zoom past me. Wearing really short running sorts with just a 16 oz water bottle in hand. As I hiked further there were whole families hiking leisurely along many of the trails. Later I discovered Point Reyes is popular with trail runners.

I came to the realization the area really is not that big. There are signs at every trail intersection. Almost impossible to trail blaze due to the thick foliage so you end up having to stay on the trails. Hard to get lost. There are deer but people do not frighten them.

I drove to Tomales Point. The area where the Tule Elk roam. So many books emphasize how wonderful this place is with the standard picture of the Tule Elk. On the drive there I discovered the majority of the land leading up to the Tomales Point trailhead is farmland. Lots of cattle, cattle gates, barns, homes, etc..

Once I arrived at the trailhead and about 20 min into the hike there were dozens of people along the trail. Many were trying to photograph the elk. The elk were accustomed to people. Even though the elk did not walk close to you they did not run when they saw you. Reminded me of grazing cattle. When I got to Tomales Point the area had some specks of garbage (similiart to confetti) scattered throughout. Footprints everywhere. Great view though.

All in all Point Reyes is a beautiful place. Wild? No.

When I see guys in short shorts running around, families wearing urban clothing (jeans, sandals, tennis shoes), wildlife accustomed to humans, cattle farms along the way, homes with sight of trails, and women with purses all on the trails I cannot feel like I am out in the wild.
 
barrabas74 said:
QFT: My family is in Martin County KY and I have run around that whole area (Paintsville, Pikeville, Prestonsburg they are still relativley small towns compared to some places) and I hunt/camp etc in set of hills where u can easily get turned around and partially lost for a while if your not careful. I shoot rifles and pretty much do what I want as my family owns the back of the holler and the hills around it.
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Love Martin County.
I got turned around once when I was a kid and it nearly scared me to death. Them woods, they close in on you and come alive when you're lost. And that ain't just me talkin'. I was so thankful when I got back home that I didn't go out again for a year. I still get the heebie jeebies sometimes when I'm camping by myself and the sun goes to bed. Especially if I don't have a fire (which is pretty much the entire Fall. Too easy to set the hills on fire).
That's the other good thing about SEKY: guns. We likes 'em. As long as you aren't shooting right beside somebody's house we don't care. It's not unusual to drive by an abandoned strip mine and hear shots racked off.
Most of my camping time anymore is spent on land up behind my uncle's house where I have free run and an ample water source.:thumbup:
God, I love this state.

There are still places that are pretty wild, but if everyone went there because its so wild it wouldnt be anymore.
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That actually worries me sometimes. The governor is trying to promote that whole "Natural Beauty" thing we have going on, to get tourist business. I'm a little afraid we'll start seeing too many day hikers and tree hippies and I won't be able to just bounce out, build me an a-frame, and hide from the world for a day or two.
 
Kemsat: i have gotten turned around in the summer and its no fun, speaking of setting the hills on fire. Few years back you remember that huge forest fire in the area....talk about living in the smoke the whole area was smoldering for what felt like forever. I feel ya on the heebie jeebies too, I camped out on a hilcrest in a cave many times but I always felt like I was being watched (probably was pot dealers been busted more than once in those hills and I have come accross a still or two throughout the years).

Promoting the beauty and ruggedness of the area kind of has that double edge affect. On the one hand revenue is brought in by tourists and what not, on the other it puts more bodies in the woods when there used to be just you. We heavily promote going out to nature in this part of the forums...and we should. But I know many of us like going out and not seeing another soul for as far as the eye can see. Just something I think on, am I killing the thing I love (slowly) by hoping more people will love it too?
 
I can shoot guns in my yard!

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Before I got experienced at planning wilderness trips in the Great North, I made one or two trips by floatplane to remote headwaters lakes and discovered a luxury lodge or a really nice cabin there. Not a big problem since the two weeks on the actual rivers were very wild. One time, it even came in handy when a crappy operator called Willow Air (in AK) left us with an incorrect raft frame and we had to radio-telephone them. They brought in another frame that was at least as worthless as the first but at least it fit the raft we had (which was also the wrong unit).

DancesWithKnives
 
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