"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home . . . "
-Gary Snyder
so calling an overnight hike into the woods of PA a "jaunt into the wild" may not be entirely accurate. however, when the moonless sky becomes black as black and you can't hear anything but your own breathing, and your only source of heat is your own body on a cold night in November (below freezing) - it begins to feel like the wild. this is what happens when you plan a backpacking trip for a group of friends and you decide reluctantly to cancel the trip at the last minute because of bad weather - but you also can't stand the idea of staying at home when just minutes before you were anticipating stomping around in the woods, making a fire and seeking a bit of solitude.
I've only been out in the woods for a solo overnight adventure once before - and that was under entirely different circumstances probably 16 years ago. I never really thought much about wanting to try something of this nature alone - but the opportunity arose like a Walleye jumping out of the water and I grabbed it.
I barely made it to a campsite with water before dark, and hastily set up my tent before deciding to first cook my soup on a gas stove before searching for fuel for the fire. I only spilled my soup once time, which forced me to pump more water and start the boiling process all over again so it was very cold and dark before I got around to the fire part of the evening. I learned that it takes alot longer to set up camp when by oneself. there is no division of labor. also, it is a little more scary when you lose the trail and imagine yourself wandering around lost by yourself. but I encountered nothing that a little persistence and a compass couldn't handle.
Such a journey in solitude resembles a search for the self, an emptying and filling of conscious desire, awareness and the flickering embers of aliveness that heats your bones at night. it requires a certain familiarity with aloneness, it demands that we make a sort of peace with ourselves, it clarifies our actions and our movement. Sometimes, it is good for man to be alone.
