What do you get out of the backcountry?

So everyone is talking recently about what items they take with them to the backcountry. That leaves me wondering what everyone takes from the backcountry - not literally, like rocks, plants or animals. Every time I go out into the woods, it takes a couple of days for me to readjust to life at home. When I go out, it's like a little moment in time where I don't have to be somewhere, sometime, someone. I can just be. There's a certain sense of peace and contentment that comes to me in the woods. Just wondering if I'm alone in this or if anyone else out there has any feelings remotely similar. Plus I just finished reading "A Season on the Appalachian Trail" by Lynn Setzer and while I haven't thru-hiked the AT (yet), I definitely identify with what they got - spiritually, emotionally, all that jazz - from the long hike. Just wondering what everyone else gets from their treks into the wilderness...

man, i feel ya... in fact i remember about a year ago i was meeting with about 20 other folks from my church and we were talking about how people feel God differently. Some feel it through reading the Bible, some through music, some through nature. mine definitely is nature. its just so beautiful out there with no cell phones to ring, no invoices to mail, no bills to pay, no nagging bosses, etc.
it brings us (especially men) back to what most men love, the need and desire to be wild at heart and to act rugged. theres a reason why every man loves movies like Braveheart, and Gladiator, etc... its a natural desire to want to be the hero; want to sweep his lady off her feet. and i think a big desire is be in nature where things are, well, natural.

just my .02,
donald

I enjoy the solitude the most. When I am hiking my imagination just wanders off. I do not think about the pressures of my daily life. When I am on the trail I am worry free, financially independent, and hero in my own right, or is that mind?

I like the fact that my mind has a chance to slow down and empty itself of my worries. It is like the world has stopped an let me off even if just for a while.

In reality, however, I still enjoy the solitude, I enjoy the smells of nature and the view. I have found that when I am hiking if I do not come across a wonderful view, then I feel a bit disspaointed.

I also like the idea of loosing the extra pounds when hiking and getting into shape.

One other thing, perhaps not as important, but when I am work I enjoy hearing others tell me how crazy I am for heading up into the wild. My coworkers talk like I have traveled to some scarry foriegn land. Hmm, I guess that suit me just fine; less people in the hills with that way of thinking. :)

-John

I suppose I bring home a better attitude when I return from the woods. Even a day hike can take a weeks stress away (or so it would seem!). I enjoy the isolation and lack of news and the exertion of carrying all I need for a couple of weeks on my back. While my wanderings are mainly in the East, so I'm not in any true "wilderness", I try to avoid heavily used trails, like the AT, because after a couple days alone, having others nearby can almost be an intrusion.
This (desire for isolation) could probably explain my preference of heading to the woods in really lousy weather - because I know there's a far better chance of being alone when the woods are cold and wet!

Being forced to slow down (no microwave ovens, no cell phones, no computer terminals, no car) seems to work wonders, at the same time allowing me to better appreciate all the conveniences of the "real world" where I normally live (flush toilets, clean water, showers, warm bed).

Steve

I agree with most of what everyone else said. I go outside for the: solitude, peace, quiet, time for contemplation, simplicity, physical activity…

I take away: self-awareness, self-reliance, an appreciation for nature, stress relief, a clearer head, calmer mind and body, and better sense of priorities…

SureLockInc/Donald says he feels closer to God in nature and I can also identify with that sentiment.

He also says that nature “brings us (especially men) back to what most men love, the need and desire to be wild at heart and to act rugged.” I’m a woman, so I can’t say how men as individuals or a group feel about nature, but I think many women also would say they have a strong connection to wilderness and being active outdoors, but tend to express it in a different ways.

This raises the question of whether men and women, on the whole, identify differently with nature. Obviously individuals can and do. I think it depends on the individual more than gender though, but I could be wrong.

Alicia wrote ....
"This raises the question of whether men and women, on the whole, identify differently with nature. Obviously individuals can and do. I think it depends on the individual more than gender though, but I could be wrong."

I think our nurture has more to do with this than nature. I could very well be wrong (I often am), but it would seem logical that both genders are equally at home in the wild. Our ancestors, after all, lived under conditions that even the most hardened backpacker would find lacking in creature comforts.
I also find it interesting that Western civilization attributes hunting skills to men and "housework" to women - in historical studies of many smaller societies the reverse is true. While most of these societies were destroyed by well meaning missionaries and greed driven imperialists a century or more ago, women tended to provide most of the food while the men tended to be more "home bodies" within these cultures.
This current pattern of presumed male domination probably stems more from a fairly common base of beliefs (across Western cultures) than anything else.
Yes - I am trying to be careful about how I phrase things - the last thing I want to do is start an argument about different systems of beliefs!
I've written far more than I'd intended when I set out, so I'll close for now (before I get myself in trouble!)

Steve

SteveTheFolkie said: "Even a day hike can take a weeks stress away (or so it would seem!). I enjoy the isolation and lack of news and the exertion of carrying all I need for a couple of weeks on my back." I couldn't agree more. In addition to the peace and solitude which comes from being in the woods for awhile, away from your everyday, "normal" life, there is also (for me at least) a certain sense of pride in knowing that I can carry everything that I need to live for at least a little while on my back. There is a sense of comfort that comes from knowing that for a weekend, a week, or a month, I can live out of my backpack and survive, none the worse for wear. Although, as was also stated, I reenter my life with a better attitude than I left it with. To Alicia, Editor in Chief, to be honest, when it comes to nature, I don't know that there is really that much of a difference between genders. Of all the women that I know that backpack, they enjoy it for the same reasons as the men I know. They may even gain a little more pride, in that the "weaker sex" can carry what they need to survive on their backs as well. **disclaimer** I don't really buy into the whole weaker vs. stronger sex argument. I truly believe that women can do whatever they want, as long as they believe that they can.

Tripp and Steve, I agree.

I just reread my previous post and noticed that my line that “many women also would say they have a strong connection to wilderness and being active outdoors, but tend to express it in a different ways” could easily be taken differently than I intended. What I meant to say is that most women (at least all I know) probably wouldn’t express their connection with nature in the more “culturally masculine” terms like “to want to be the hero; want to sweep his lady off her feet.” But that their connection with nature is as deep and as passionate regardless of how they describe it. Sorry for any confusion.

I personally think an individual’s attitude toward nature and their connection to it is most heavily influenced by how well that connection has been nurtured, especially as a youngster.

What scares me is how few kids now have access to natural spots or the opportunity to enjoy them on a regular basis. There’s a growing disconnect between people and nature, which I think is unfortunate for everyone. We appreciate what we know and too few people have personal experiences and therefore connections with nature (this forum excluded).

I’m sure many of you have heard of Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods,” in which he talks about nature-deficit disorder and why all of us, including kids, truly need nature. The book is right up this thread’s alley. I just opened my copy and saw an appropriate quote in a chapter header.

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my sense put in tune once more.” –John Burroughs.

i'm going to comment on alicia's comment about the new book but i'm going to start a new thread since it isnt really about "what do you get out of the backcountry"

Tripp wrote:" I don't really buy into the whole weaker vs. stronger sex argument. I truly believe that women can do whatever they want, as long as they believe that they can."

I don't buy into women being weaker either - in fact - under most survival conditions women can outlast us "stronger" men. The "man as protector and bread-winner" concept is fairly new, in evolutionary terms, and is somewhat unique to man as a species, which would lead me to believe that it's an imposed rather than evolved behavioral trait.

You know, sometimes I wish I had slept through those anthropology classes ..... I'd be willing to bet that others feel the same way!

Steve

Couldn't agree more about wishing I had slept through Anthro classes... but then, since it's one of my majors, that probably wouldn't be a good idea...

I have to say that I like to remember what simple living is like; that computers and cars aren't necessary. I also really appreciate the fact that my life is on the line. I enjoy being 500 miles from civilization and relying on my brain and the stuff I shoved in a backpack. Every time I get home, it's like I went through a compressed-schedule class and just passed the final exam. It's reassuring that I know what I'm doing...