Published: August 20, 2009 10:07 pm      

Adventure – its cost and value received

A pesky question has been surfacing in my thoughts and I am inclined to try to find at least a partial answer. Are today’s amateur adventurers going soft? By amateur I am excluding those who are paid to study exotic species, ancient ruins, jungle dwellers etc. and the uniquely driven persons who climb mountains that kill a certain percentage of climbers.

My curiosity concerns typical hunters, for example, many hikers, campers; those who go regularly into the wilds. These are certain persons we see every day, except when elk are bugling in western mountains or when the trails of our vast forests are bathed in falling hardwood or aspen leaves or snows that bring harsh winters of white grandeur.

Simply put, I have been observing many who seek the easy places to bag a moose or a camping spot where comfort and often social interactions seem to be more important than a quality outdoor experience involving nature itself. I am not calling attention to beginners, for they will choose their “adventure quotient” after they have tested the waters, so to speak. And of course there are those who have physical limitations that dictate their goings forth.

But for the typical hunter of bears, cougars, elk, moose, mule deer and wild sheep and goats, it seems to me there is more adventure out there in big country than most experience on a typical hunt. I hasten to note that many hunters may be completely satisfied with an elk camp of three or four buddies who do a lot of socializing along with their hunting. They go back every year and do the same things and their friendships are strengthened and they have fun without seeking much adventure and all is well.



Preparation, preparation, preparation



However, the guy or gal who prepares to survive any adversity that nature can offer, and who straps on a backpack of provisions and hikes into the wilderness where others can’t or won’t go, even on horseback, will almost always have to face down some natural onslaughts. And if done with success, the adventurer will come out of the experience with a different, and often better view of herself/himself.

Rocky McElveen discusses this in his currently popular book, “Wild Men, Wild Alaska.” This Alaskan hunting guide says, “Our culture as a whole, in my opinion, doesn’t prepare young men to even want to seek their essence as a man, to test themselves with real adventure.”

He continues, “Deep inside every person, in spite of upbringing, is a yearning to live on the edge, to experience the thrill of real adventure, and to find out who they are in the process. I think, in this culture of ambitions, we forget to pursue who we were made to be…I believe that every person that allows their mettle to be tested in the wilderness learns secrets within that may not be revealed any other way.”

It could be that this hardy Alaskan guide, tested over and over again and scarred from many battles with nature’s hazards, has overstated man’s inner yearnings a bit. I would temper his statement that all of us yearn, by suggesting that this need for adventure varies widely from person to person. The guys in the elk camp may get all the adventure they want within a mile of camp.

Adventure will sometimes seek you out. Look carefully at the experience Tre Freeman of Meridian lived right out of his 2008 elk camp. He became disoriented when unable to locate an area he was searching for and had to spend the night in the San Juan Mountains where bears, cougars and vocal coyotes were plentiful. He did the right things except that next time he will have more food in his pack.

His adventure cost him a bit of discomfort overnight and unpleasant hunger, but he learned he could handle that situation again if need be and he learned how to do it more comfortably next time. His mettle was tested and he passed. Today he knows himself a little better and I’m sure he likes what he knows.

And a lot of my own most treasured outdoor experiences are those where I met the most challenging circumstances and stood the test. Many of them were nights spent alone in the wilderness, some intentional and some unintentional. Not once did I experience anxiety. Some of us are blessed by being more at home alone in the outback than at any other place. I once wrote a book I called “Here Where We Belong” to honor that ultimate outdoor truth.



Defeatism



You hear people say, “Oh I could never (or would never) do that,” when confronted with a week in 20 below zero temperatures and 120 inches of snow. That says to me that they will never try and they will never discover, as I and others have, that they really can survive and actually enjoy the experience. My very first elk hunt came with exactly those conditions.

I left the hot temperatures of Central Texas and entered the December ice box of northern New Mexico. I had prepared so many years for that chance that I did things right; layered clothes that replaced cotton with goose down, mittens instead of gloves, leggings that shed the deep snow and a wool face mask. I borrowed some snowshoes, scaled a high mountain and bagged a fine elk. Those who hunted the edges bagged none.

And I never got as cold there as I do in Mississippi on a wet January deer stand. In blinding snowstorms and temperatures that never rose to 32 degrees all week, I felt so comfortable it surprised me. The word is preparation; and that includes research and listening. The other required behaviors are desire, confidence and patience, which is the opposite of panic.

Since that first self testing, I have been blessed with many more in which some acquaintances can see only the danger and miss the point; adventure. Danger is often a necessary element of adventure. I don’t recommend spontaneous dashes into ominous winter storms, or challenging nature with limited resources just to prove you are tough. No! Unaccommodated by protective gear, one is no match for nature’s worst. The reward is in knowing you have prepared to face any adversity and then calmly responding at crunch time.

Are there fewer of us these days who relish a challenge against nature’s harshest threats? I don’t know. Just wondering.