What draws you to the woods?

I like to go out because of the sense of alone-ness. I like to be alone and away from the people.
 
Outdoors is where I'm supposed to be. Everywhere else, a commercial break. I like being away from society. It's real freedom.

One of the reasons I live where I do, there is very little difference between the outside and the inside, drier and less creepy crawlies on the inside. But in Hawaii, there are plenty of unavoidable critters, no heat, no A/C. Basically like being outside, even inside, and it's why I freeze my butt off in the A/C at work! So I don't mind sharing my house with a few geckos, the big b-52 cockroaches get smushed though.
 
Fire, beer, fire, no man made noise, no white wash of the stars from city lights, fire, quiet, no alarm clock. My family and my friends family might go out together this summer, nothing like having kids running crazy, fresh pancakes and if I get lucky some skinny dipping with the wife.
 
I am drawn to nature. It is beautiful, serene, and full of endless variety. It inspires awe, respect, and fantastic memories.

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I find it very hard to disengage from work, most of the time. My home life is dominated by my work, as is my time at the office or in the classroom. I don't mind this, as my work is my passion, but it does mean that I look forward to those moments when I can truly disengage from the persistent web of ideas that characterizes my everyday life and truly experience the immediacy of a particular place and time. A surefire way for me to do this is to hit the trails or dip a paddle in a lake. Regardless of how hectic my life is, when I am in the woods, I am there. I love that, and I love sharing that with (certain) other people, too. There is something profoundly grounding about experiencing a natural setting. So I suppose there is a real element of escapism and clarity-seeking in my desire to head to the woods. It's not that I dislike society or other people - far from it. But, given the chance to spend a weekend in the city or a weekend hiking around a lake, I'll always take the hike.

I also enjoy the 'detailed simplicity' of time spent in the woods. You don't really appreciate the experience of making your morning coffee on the stove at home, but when you're out hiking or camping, there is time to focus on and appreciate the details of every step in the process, from starting a fire to filtering your roast. It's fun to enjoy these details. Same goes for setting up camp, fishing for dinner, etc.

Ultimately, when I spend time in the woods, I find that the distinctions between means and ends start to lose meaning, which makes the experience itself very fulfilling. It isn't about going somewhere. It's about going somewhere. The whole time I'm on the trail is like one bit exercise in stopping to smell the proverbial roses.

Great thread, Ken. All the best,

- Mike

PS - Also, I enjoy using nice cutlery to make large sticks into more and smaller sticks. Can't forget that, eh?
 
To start with, going to the woods meant beating the heat of the plains. The nearest woods were a couple thousand feet up in elevation, that plus the shade was always a welcome get away from the ranch. Still I like the wide open spaces as well and Maybe the best thing in my mind are the Hugh shelter belts that we have here in eastern ND Or my own small farm in the Chyenne river breaks of western SD, also at the foot of the Black Hills.
 
Good thread, I've wondered this alot. On survival outings I find myself asking why I'm doing what I'm doing. A couple of days with little to no food, sleeping on the ground or makeshift bed, scavenging, hunger and sleep deprevation... I can't say it's enjoyable at the time so I agree with Northern, for me this part is a test that I enjoy putting myself to. I suppose the element of danger attracts me on some level as well.

The other issue for me is I enjoy the hand to mouth living of being in the woods. I'm cold, I make a fire. I'm hungry, i catch or find food, build shelter. At home, I grind away the hours behind a computer to make a dollar so I can give it to the power company to pump heat into my house. It just seems so contrived and overcomplicated sometimes. A sense of accomplishment is often absent from my daily life. Dick Pronneke put it well "Too many men work on parts of things. Doing a job to completion satisfies me"

Also, it is an escape. The woods have always been that for me. When I was a kid, the forest was a place of adventure with no parents around just critters, stick fights, playing with fire, crayfish and snakes, tree forts and dirt. Nothings changed I guess.

Everyone's got to answer to someone or something to live....so if you have to answer to someone, wouldn't you rather it be nature?
 
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The smell of the pines when the sun heats them up. The sound of the wind in the pines. To me, nothing beats that. My wife and I went through Utah in 1995 and hit most of the National Parks. We camped in one that was almost closed due to construction projects, but got to a campground right before they closed it. Took a nap in the afternoon, nobody else around, lulled to sleep by the wind in the pines. Best nap I ever had.
 
For me it is when I violate my parole. I just get tired of being hassled by the man.













OK, just kidding.

I think it is the sound, the smell and the prescence of God in His creation.
 
How about the FACT that we are all predators and rovers beneath a thin veneer of civilization and still have those genes? You bet I like the woods, desert, anywhere in the outdoors where I'm away from lots of other humans and back in conditions similar to those our forebears contended with? IMO, it's nature calling us, all of us, no matter how 'perverted' modern civilization has made us.

I spent lots of years in military special ops all over the world. Thinking back, it amazes me how fast I 'naturally' adapted to totally primitive conditions and how little I missed the 'conveniences' of modern civilization and life. I some times spent many months in remote places such as east African deserts and jungles, southeast Asia, South America, India, etc.

At first, I was at a loss and even a bit ashamed when I actually felt some regret when finishing a mission and leaving such venues. 'Gee, I'm going home to my family, etc.' Yes, I wanted that badly, but there was also a 'gut wrench' that I was leaving the challenge, the weird joy, the 'rightness,' of living and surviving in primative conditions.

I can recall mid 1981 vividly. I was in western Sudan on the border with Chad and the mission was finished. I was going back to Khartoum, then on a plane to Athens, and on to home. Yes! I had a wife and kids I loved back in the US but I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE AFRICA! Somehow, I was home and it was right! I came close to saying to hell with the USA, the Army, and everything else, then just walking off into the bush. Obviously, I didn't. But, damn!, the desire was there.

Bottom line, if you like the woods and wild places, you're not alone.......!
 
sodak said:
The smell of the pines when the sun heats them up. The sound of the wind in the pines. To me, nothing beats that. My wife and I went through Utah in 1995 and hit most of the National Parks. We camped in one that was almost closed due to construction projects, but got to a campground right before they closed it. Took a nap in the afternoon, nobody else around, lulled to sleep by the wind in the pines. Best nap I ever had.
Click to expand...

That really resonates with me. It also reminds me of one of my favourite acoustical songs by the Tragically Hip, 'As I Wind Down the Pines'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JGIPmTb-4s

All the best,

- Mike
 
The first thing that came to mind was the smell, I can't think of any other place where the smell is fresh and the air is crisp-n-clean. It also gives me the feeling of going back in time when there was no citys and our home was the great outdoors. Its a place where your sences come alive and your sprit is free, its a place where primal instinct is reborn and where freedom actually has meaning.

Great thread BTW
 
I remember when i was 7 or 8 years old I'd get up at 4 or 5 AM and head out of the house and into the woods for a few hours. It drove my parents nuts !
Now I live in the absolute middle of nowhere in Central America.
I have no idea why.I have to be close to nature.$10000000 a week won't draw me to a city.
 
I find myself frequently drawn to the woods by my desire to locate my golf ball. :p :o :D
 
The smell of pine trees, sounds of nature, lack of people and the peace and quiet all have a draw on me.
 
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I feel the same way as every post so far , I remeber when it started , a uncle gave me a machette when I was 8 years old and I started going into the White Oak Bayou in Houston which ran right through my neighborhood and was just a wonderful place for flora and fauna discovery and adventure and now 51 years later I have not been to desert, mountians or deep woods that I haven't just marveled at it all and a place where a knife just fits in perfectly doesn't hurt either.
 
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To get the stink of civilization off of me. Nature Heals on Every Level.
 
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