>Dave Kruger asked: > >So, how does wilderness travel affect YOU? I'm curious. I spent 6 weeks doing archaeology in Northern Kenya with a small group of people- vast open landscapes, only other human contact a few nomadic goat herders that didn't speak english...Getting back to civilization was a complete shock...I wanted to turn around and head right back into the sahel. I ended up thinking many horrible thoughts about the human species. But I am natually anti-social and don't generally enjoy being around lots of people--I experience the same kind of culture shock even after being gone for a few days in the back country. But its also the same reason I keep going out again and again... Allison *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>Dave Kruger asked: > >So, how does wilderness travel affect YOU? I'm curious. I notice other effects. I telecommute and already live a fairly hermit existence, so for me its more wanting to escape technology than people. I certainly enjoy escaping the technology. Changing the pace of the day. Typically in the first day or so, if I'm solo I actually wish my wife or another close friend was there to share some of the beauty I see. When I'm not solo, sometimes I wish I was, for the solitude and being able to set my own pace. I guess I'm just not content no matter what... In general, I think of wilderness as an opportunity for smaller, intimate social setting. Sharing the beauty and experience of the location and camping with a close friend, without the distractions of technology or other people. Historically, so many early pioneers suffered a bit too much isolation, and relished the thought of going to market, church social, rendezvous, etc. (I do living history camping a lot). Now, most of us are so overwhelmed with contact with other people, that we strive to escape the constant press of other people. dave *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>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' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Something Philip Torrens said reminded me of an experience my daughter and I had coming off a two week trip on the Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers a few summers back. After getting back to Juneau for an overnight layover prior to heading home, we were walking down a sidewalk in that wonderful megalopolis --- it may have actually been paved, and there were no large pieces of falling ice in the immediate area, as I recall --- and we noticed, at about the same time, the smell of cologne and perfume and aftershave lotion on the tourist just disgorged by a large tour ship. We had cleaned up quite a bit --- my eighteen year old daughter used up three hotel soap bars and almost a full bottle of shampoo --- so we were probably okay (although we had found earlier that an early check-in is more readily obtained if you decide to sit on the floor of the tiny lobby of the hotel and wait, rather than taking the walkabout that had been suggested by the staff). But the smell of non-river folk can be quite overwhelming! Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I don't see a lot of gregarious, ebullient types in those few instances when I'm around a lot of sea-kayakers. Fortunately there are enough that clubs get started and trips get planned. I tried to learn to golf and couldn't deal with the social requirements. Do you suppose that sea-kayaking is particularly attractive to one sort of person while golf, bowling or softball leagues is to another? Gregarious or not? Me: not Bob Who just loaded up the boat, checked the tide-table and is off for a quiet solo paddle. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allison Corning" <acorning_at_hotmail.com> To: <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>; <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 7:55 AM Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Wilderness: Isolation or Adventure? I am natually anti-social and don't generally enjoy being around lots of > people-- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 09:02 AM 4/19/00 -0700, BaysideBob wrote: >I don't see a lot of gregarious, ebullient types in those few instances when >I'm around a lot of sea-kayakers. Fortunately there are enough that clubs >get started and trips get planned. I tried to learn to golf and couldn't >deal with the social requirements. Do you suppose that sea-kayaking is >particularly attractive to one sort of person while golf, bowling or >softball leagues is to another? Based on what I've seen at sea kayaking symposiums, no. There seems to be a fairly wide range of people at the ones that I've attended. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
BaysideBob wrote: > > I don't see a lot of gregarious, ebullient types in those few instances when > I'm around a lot of sea-kayakers. Fortunately there are enough that clubs > get started and trips get planned. I tried to learn to golf and couldn't > deal with the social requirements. Do you suppose that sea-kayaking is > particularly attractive to one sort of person while golf, bowling or > softball leagues is to another? > > Gregarious or not? Very gregarious, but jealous of who I am gregarious with, and how, he said, curmudgeonly. Sometimes totally burned out from stressful interpersonal components at work. Paddling washes it all away. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> I don't see a lot of gregarious, ebullient types in those few instances when > I'm around a lot of sea-kayakers. Me: not. But that's just my nature. I see all types out there but I like the freedom of going solo just so I can go where I want and where I want, when I want. There is also the issue of group dynamics. I find that people's personalities change dramatically when out of their normal setting and I got tired of dealing with that. I realize that when your only social intercourse is restricted to the people in your group ( i.e. you are trapped with them for better or worse) then tensions will develop. I remember going kayak camping once with a good friend and he got so annoyed with me that I didn't cook using the backcountry techniques that he was taught and my constant sniffling drove him up the wall! It wasn't a fun trip for either of us (his personal idiosyncracies annoyed me too). Once back home, we were fine again (sniffles then not an issue at all). Group dynamics in the wilderness is a very fascinating issue and one which the late Calvin Rustrum wrote about in his many books. My preference is solo though I rue a magical moment of nature that I might have shared with someone. -Nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I'll probably be meeting some friends for a trip leaving Zeballos on the west coast of Vancouver Is. (or is that West Coast??) in July. I'm driving, but they don't have the time to drive up from San Francisco. As I recall it cost only about $150CDN to fly from Vancouver airport to Campbell River; is there any scheduled air service to Zeballos? I think I've seen float planes that went from Gold River to Kyuquot, which is nearby; but does anyone know of flights into Zeballos itself, and prices? I realize it's pretty easy, and maybe more cost effective, to meet them in Campbell River, but they may need the option of departing sooner than I want to leave (I love that area). Thanks, Rob Gendreau *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:12 PDT