Discovery


On the path by the river I passed by a snowy egret, that had delicate white feathers, teaming in grace and beauty.

A few minutes later I came across a tall athletic looking walker. She smiled and I and was tempted to tell her about the bird she was about to enounter. I held back though, not wanted to lessen the pleasure she might have in discovering it herself.

On my nature walks I do the same with the groups of elementary school kids and their teachers. My job is to be a facilitator between them and the natural world, and while I may mention first what we should watch for, I then have the kids walk forward with eyes open and the meadow and woodland and lakeshore world before them, to make their own discoveries. Once they do, I might add something to it, perhaps with a quick story, which is when my teaching is most effective.

Ok, what does this have to do with backpacking? - that discovery adds spice and renewal to whatever journey we are on, and backpacking into an unknown area, the first time up an unfamiliar trail to a new forest, a new mountain range, is full of the magic of discovery.

Most everything is fresh and full of a certain aspect of adventure, the minute you embark from the trailhead: the nature of the forest, the layout and steepness of the trail, the views of the lowlands as you climb. Start early and take frequent rest, food, and water breaks, to maximize your enjoyment of exploration in this new encounter.

An example of this is a trip I took to the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana a few summers ago. After hiking in for a couple of days, and setting up a basecamp, I started out early in the morning to spend a day exploring a wide mountain valley, rimmed with tall peaks and mountain passes, dissected by a mountain stream, and containing large wide open meadows. I had barely gone an hour, before I came across some tracks in the trail that were so fresh you could see wrinkles from folded skin in the footpad.

It is certainly true to say that this added plenty of magic and adventure to my trip, wondering if I would come across the owner of those tracks the next time the woods closed in around the trail.

The copyright of the article Discovery in Backpacking is owned by James E. Ratzloff. Permission to republish Discovery in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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