What draws you to the woods?

kgd

kgd

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Feb 28, 2007
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Now that Bladeforums has its own Hunting and fishing forum, and kudos to Spark and the mods for developing that as a subarea, I ask the question of what brings you to the woods apart from these old standards of the wild experience.

We still have a mighty large hiking contingent as evidenced by the 'knives needed in the woods thread'. We have the wild edibles, a topic to which Pitdog regularly informs us on as well as DocCanada and now Northern. We have a few of the usual firebugs who can't get enough of rubbing sticks. We have more than a few closet nature photographers....

The question is what draws you out there? Why do you keep going back for more?

Is it the solitude of the campfire at night?
Is it the thrill of seeing the landscape as it pops into view over a tough climb up the hillside?
Is it the romance that perhaps your footstep right here has gone where no human footstep has gone before?
Do you thrill at finding primitive artifacts?

When you pack your bag for a day hike or a weekend trip what is going through your mind on the 'I cant wait to get out there and do .......'?

I started contemplating this and couldn't really come up why I get out there on my daily hikes. Sometimes I come up with an almost thermodynamic reason - I'm societalphobic, or I need a break from civiliation. Am I really attracted to the woods as much as driven to them?

Other times, when I'm sitting on a rock or a stump, the sun is on my face, I smell the smell of spring, I think this is why I come here. It doesn't have a real purpose, although I have various excuses from taking pictures to making yet another bowdrill kit to trying to embellish my lunch with edibles. Its those times when the only sound you hear are your own footsteps. You can forget about all your cares. Truly this is a dream state of anti-stress. I used to get involved in martial arts to relieve stress. In the woods, there is none. You look upon the same tree that you've looked upon before but its new, because its now and you love it for its wild independence.

Why do the woods draw you in time and time again? That is what this thread is about!
 
- the woods is one big general store, with many many aisles for me to wander and harvest stuff from. like timber, firewood, fatwood, game, fish, placer minerals, aggregates etc etc.

- it is a place for me to light fires, relax, drink beer and grill game or fish

- it is a place for me to explore with my truck or ATV, further than i can on foot.

- its a place for me to play with my toys, be they knives, axes, firearms, trucks, motorbikes, ATV`s etc

when i pack for the woods, the first thing that i cannot wait to do is start chopping trees to test blades, harvest fatwood and have a big ol fire.

- its a place for me to camp for free, away from the sheeple, where i can do what i want when i want and how i want.

- its a place to vanish out of sight from the sheeple and the rest of of the world.
 
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Lack of people, interesting walks, the many shades of green, and the occasional denizen I get to see.
 
peace, tranquility, the quiet...ahhhh...I like this thread! :)

Work is crazy and the woods are sanity!
 
I grew up in the suburbs, but my neighborhood was a forest. The yard is full of 100'+ poplar trees. No sidewalks, no streetlights. It's full of whitetails. It's less than a five minute walk to the local put and take trout stream. The seasons (and we get great periods of all four) are all very beautiful in their own way. Except when it comes to raking leaves or shoveling snow. I've also been incredibly fortunate to get to CO almost every year for the last twenty five for some skiing. There is nothing like being ten or eleven thousand feet in the air surrounded by deep blue skys, snow covered evergreens, and crystal clear streams. I've been to NYC a few times and seen the skyscrapers and the masses of people. If it came down to a choice between concrete, asphalt, automobiles, and dirty alleys or mountains and trees and clean air then it would be absolutely no contest. Natural beauty the way God intended it.
 
Lots of things but the one I enjoy most is the smell. Nothing quite like the smell of an old growth forest.
 
Funny enough, before i read the post, and had only seen the threads name, the idea of NOT being drawn to the woods but being DRIVEN from everything else crossed my mind as a clever answer haha, you beat me to it.
the truth of the matter for me, is that life has always been about testing myself, and the woods are the only way to do that, that have come up over and over.
sure i've tested myself in a million different ways, but they all come and go once i "master" them, but the true backwoods, the true wild country that's still out there is something that tests me and tests me no matter how hard i dedicate myself to it.
being alone, and having no one but myself to rely on, that's the test. and i haven't passed it yet. i learn new things here all the time.... and lord knows i'm rarely in the bush without a new book on the subject...
ps. i'm a little proud of my shout out, it is much appreciated.
 
I think for me it's all about discovery. Everytime I go into the woods things have changed, different flowers are in bloom, berries are starting to appear or die off, new trees are sprouting up or existing ones getting blown down.There are deer tracks where I last saw some left by a raccoon.
Each season also brings about new challenges when it comes to firemaking etc.
I just wish I had ten sets of eyes as I wander around because there must must be tons of stuff I miss.
 
It's home.

I grew up in the woods - going horseback riding, hiking, shooting, etc. by myself from a young age. There's nowhere else that I feel as comfortable.
 
For me, its quality time with my daughter and wife when she goes. Its about slowing things down, no phones ringing, no knocks on the door, run here, do that.
Slowing things down, teaching my little girl about nature, stewardship, what to watch out for, what to do if this happens. Its about getting out, taking a big breath of fresh air ( especially in the fall ) in very scenic places, exposing her to all the wonderful animals.
Gives me a reason to bring my knife and all the gear I feel I have to have, don't know if I do, but I have it.
I love hiking, camping, fishing, being out in general and its the perfect opportunity to introduce her to the real world, not Hanna Montana. Thats why I look forward to all our adventures.
 
Peace and quiet, freedom from electronics, fresh air and water, smells of the forest, seeing wildlife and wild birds, always something to look at like a stump that might have fatwood or a young sapling that might make an excellent walking staff. I could go on.

I find that 2 days of camping totally de-stresses me.
 
for the 'shrooms! :eek:

- seriously, i'm surrounded with computers all the time so going out there is a huge contrast. the peace and quiet helps lower stress. it's also a good reminder how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things.

- a 5 hr hike with a 30 lb pack is a good exercise but it's a lot more fun than running on the threadmill.

- fire!!! 'nough said :D
 
blackhills, i just noticed this sig:

sigpic182743_5.gif


that's awesome! in my humble opinion software is our most advanced tool (well, not if you go by that sig, lol)...so going out in the woods i get to play with knives & fire which are man's most primitive tools. i get to enjoy both ends of the spectrum.
 
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