Re: [Paddlewise] Wilderness: Isolation or Adventure?

>From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
SNIP
>Anyway, this set me to wondering to what extent similar stuff happens to 
>others
>when they are out alone (or, in small groups) in wild areas.  I think I 
>change
>when I have been out either solo or with one or two others for a couple 
>weeks.
>I slow down.  I contemplate more.  I look at things around me with more 
>care.
>I listen better to others.  I become a nicer person, I think (he said,
>immodestly!).
>
>What about the rest of you?  I know many others on this list have spent 
>weeks
>as a twosome (the Dempseys, for instance) or a fewsome, anyway.  What 
>changes
>for you?
SNIP
>So, how does wilderness travel affect YOU?  I'm curious.
>
>--
>Dave Kruger
>Astoria, OR
I've done a fair amount of solo touring. On a multi-week trip a few years 
back, I remember being mellowed-out to the point where I spent hours one 
evening watching the drama in a tidal pool as the tide crept up the beach, 
and the crabs which had been hiding under the rocks remerged to forage.
At the end of that particular trip I was picked up at sea by the BC Ferries 
Discovery Passage ferry; the "culture shock" was incredible. From fresh air, 
breezes, only natural lights and sounds, to neon strip
lights, the tannoy hailing, the clang of the stern doors, the scents of fuel 
oil and other people; I knew what people who believe they've been abducted 
by alien spaceships must have felt like (in terms of bewilderment at least - 
fortunatly they don't "probe" you on BC Ferries:-).


Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'


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