Off Trail Travel

“I never did much off trail rambling. I was always happy hiking along the trails all day and making camp and just chillin’ out. When I first began I also suffered from the neurosis that miles really do matter.

Last winter though my buddy was having a hard day on the trail and we stopped at about 1 PM and made camp. I sat down and was looking at the topo map and noticed the hollow we were camped at had some major relief lines at the head of it. I decided to do some bushwhacking and go see what I could find. I found two huge overhanging caves that had 20-30 ice columns hanging from the over hangs. They were deep blue and nearly 5’ around. The dirt in the caves was that very fine powdery dirt and there were no footprints anywhere. No one had been here in a very, very long time. I felt as though I had found a secret jewel or something.

The last trip I took was on a trail that was destroyed by blow downs and we had to do a lot of cross country nav. My usual experience with a compass has been finding north compared to the direction of the trail to know where I am on the map. I was very pleased and surprised that I was able to keep my location and bearings nearly the whole time. It was ball busting work but I loved it.

Now when I look at a topo map I like to really look and see what’s in some of the out of the way places. I’m really looking forward to taking time to explore more than the next 2’ of the trail I’m on.”

“Your last experience gets me thinking.

Having done cross-country backpacking over mountain terrain, snowpack, and the desert, there's a certain affinity one gets for desert crosscounty work. Especially at dusk when the light changes and the breeze picks up. There's a mystique to it.

It's kind of like slogging across the desert floor. Like you would see in an old B&W movie. Through the washes and angling around sandpits. Among the cactuses. Among the lizards and old shot-up and rusted out Folgers cans. Miles out and you're still no where near the truck. Or a trail. It's just you and the desert floor, it seems. There's just something about it.

Of course, tomorrow my preference will change.”

“Man...if those ice formations were in Hocking Hills you gotta take me to them next winter.”

“Bushwacking is great. Most only lean towards it when they've done ALL the trails in their area more than once. I LOVE bushwacking. An altimeter helps with the map & compass work, but a GPS will reassure your head. Enjoy”

“...I felt as though I had found a secret jewel or something.
Nigal
11:45:54 PM
07/31/03

You are now a much *richer* man!”

“"Man...if those ice formations were in Hocking Hills you gotta take me to them next winter."

No. It's further south. I'm not sayin' the name here but you might have seen it on your last trip had you not been babysitting a newbie. [wink wink]”

“True dat Budder! I'm hoping to snoop around Zeleski more this winter and find some cool stuff.”

“When I am in places like that I sometimes think about Billy in Family Circus when they have those scenes with ghost of all the people who have been there. For all you know it's been: Mohican, Mohican, Trapper, Surveyor, Ranger Ranger.

Different areas offer different off-trail experiences. Here in Florida it often means cattails, or sawgrass or palmettos - and the destination is more often than not - at least in my case - some body of water - be it a stream or a pond that may or may not have dried up. That is where I have seen the most wildlife - gators, deer and snakes mostly. It is also where I have seen the most chiggers and ticks!

I do try to balance my impact on the area. I try to minimize even my footprints.”

“Some of the best hiking I've done has been off-trail... w/ Buddur in the lead!”

“Just make sure you have on heavy pants! My last offtrail dayhike -- which was looking for a geocache in a remote location in a state park -- went through tons of stinging nettles. As in, you had no choice but to go through the stinging nettles.

I like to think I'm mentally tough, as in, "You bastard nettles are not gonna get me going." (I can do that for a small amount, anyway.) But this day each leaf was like a papercut. I was a whimpering blob (mental toughness - big fat zero this day)

Make sure you're dressed right for the offtrail trek to improve the memories.”

“We go to a lot of lakes above timberline here, where there really is no trail. You often have to have a GPS unit or a good compass and map and hopefully some cairns to guide you. Since there isn't much vegetation and you're on a plateau at 10,000' with few landmarks, things look disproportional and it's really easy to get disoriented. But it's way better than plodding a long a trail at times.”

“Dayhiker has an "off trail" expedition planned for Sipsey in February. It is listed on the trip page.

I think it will give us a new perspective on the area.”

“Off trail involves many challenges, but the rewards are greater. Requires keeping your head at times. It's not so much toughness as it is mental processes, thinking your way through obstacles. Map, compass, terrain features, forest growth ... all come into play when navigating your way through a bushwack. And when you can't find your way around or through an obstacle, you have to simply accept defeat and try something else.

And yes, there are some nice rewards in the way of waterfalls and such, where you feel a sense of discovery that lifts the soul and acts as a narcotic.”

“On that geocache expedition, the GPS wasn't picking up good, consistant signals because of the trees. We came out of the woods 1 mile and in a totally different area from where we went in. It was scary to see how fast that could happen. And we could see the sun, too, so had an idea of directions.

We came out of head-height trees looking dead to a water pump. I wanted water to wash off my legs. Some mom and kids were there washing off flip-flips. They, of course, were taking their sweet time while my legs itched and itched. GEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ! I almost had... let's see it's not road rage...could it be "I am dying from nettle stings, could you maybe give up the shoes and water for a freakin' minute??!?" rage. lol”

“lisz, birch and Sass taught me how to take care nettles. You find a burdock (SP?) plant, it looks a lot like wild rubarb. Crush up the leaves and rub them on your legs. Instant cure.”

“Isn't that the stuff that the stems taste like liquorice?”

“I don't know. I've never eatten it. It can be found just about anywhere...except of course right beside nettles as birch tells me. LOL!”

“I think it might be. I remember the stems were kind of square-shaped in cross section, and when you chew them it has a liquorish flavor.”

“No. It's further south. I'm not sayin' the name here but you might have seen it on your last trip had you not been babysitting a newbie. [wink wink]

Ahhh hmmmmmmm.....damn newbs.”

“Nettle itches like crazy for about 10 minutes or so and then it stops. Thank God it stops. It could drive you totally crazy if it lasted any longer. Water doesn't really seem to help much, but that is what the mind tells you to do.”

“Nig - I thought Burdock always grew right near the Stinging Nettle.”

“I did alot of nettle research when I first started hiking my old stomping ground, the CVNP in OH, cause there's TONS of it growing along stream floodplains. After getting wapped with it's acids, I needed to find a cure for the pain FAST.

Dock, the large plant with the orange snapdragon-like flowers and the grees seed pod that pops open when enlarged and touched, grows nearby and rubbing the leaves on the affected area is supposed to soothe the sting. Rosemary, sage and mint leaves are also supposed to do the trick. Because the sting is from an acid, I'd carry baking soda and with a little spit makes a paste that counteracts the acid and soothes the sting if applied immediatly.

Nettle is actually an herb and has a long history. There's lots of info about it out there. You can even eat it...

From a culinary point of view the Nettle has an old reputation. It is one of the few wild plants still gathered each spring by country-folk as a pot-herb. It makes a healthy vegetable, easy of digestion.

The young tops should be gathered when 6 to 8 inches high. Gloves should be worn to protect the hands when picking them. They should be washed in running water with a stick and then put into a saucepan, dripping, without any added water, and cooked with the lid on for about 20 minutes. Then chopped, rubbed through a hair-sieve and either served plain, or warmed up in the pan again, with a little salt, pepper and butter, or a little gravy, and served with or without poached eggs. They thus form a refreshing dish of spring greens, which is slightly laxative. In autumn, however, Nettles are hurtful, the leaves being gritty from the abundance of crystals (cystoliths) they contain.

There's even a recipe for Nettle Beer in that link.”

“Stinging nettle grows here. Dock varieties do not.”

“When I started hiking as a kid all I did was bushwhacking. There were no trails that I knew of in our area, only animal traces. It used to just drive my parents crazy. Heeheehee. They were convinced I was going to get lost or killed by some wild animal or something. Some kids sneak out of the house to go to parties. I snuck out of the house to go hiking, lol. (Yes, I know I'm a freak and I'm OK with that.)

As an adult I started using established trails and parks, etc. However, I still really love doing the cross-country hiking the best. I just don't get to do it very often anymore.

You know it's funny, I used to know that burdock trick for nettles when I was a kid. Somebody else reminded me of it last summer when I mentioned on here that I'd had a problem with stinging nettles. I wonder what other little nuggets I've lost because I mostly stick to the trails now?”

“Out bushwhacking in a state park today. I thought this was interesting. The head ranger said the nettles have some type of stuff on their underside that gets on your skin. Almost like it pokes the skin and gets into it. He said washing it helps remove the stuff.”

“Back out to a section of the Explore America Trail. 6 miles.(Both my wife and I gotta work tomorrow.)

Saw a very tiny deer--must have just been born. Head couldn't have been more than waist/maybe chest high. Heard it first then saw it standing less than 20 ft away. It just stood there staring at us (sans mother) with the big ears that looked too large for its head, then loped away.

Also saw a heron, an egrit (both in flight and wading, a Red-headed woodpecker, an some sort of raptor(two far away to identify--if was white in color.) The funny thing to see was that when the rapter alit on a tree where three very small birds where perched, one of the small birds took a nose dive into the rapter and a few seconds later the three birds in the tree were chasing the rapter away. Obviously the smaller birds didn't like the rapter's presence, but each one could have been a small snack for the rapter.

Only heard a few turtles "plop" into the water. Last time, you might remember there were tons of turtles.

Saw a fair amount of tree damage from a storm that passed through the day before. Tried to help two DNR folks as they were clearing a tree and it's attached vines that had fallen across the trail. They informed us that there was poison ivy in the mess. Never saw poison ivy vines...so we asked about it. They aasured us it was poison ivy. We were doubtful and thought well, it might be poison oak. When we got home we got out the plant book. Sure enough, poison oak is also known as 'poison ivy.' Go figure. (But no rashes 7 hours later.

Great day to hike, not too warm, sunny and a nice breeze.

Ended the trip with a drive to a nearby town for lunch. Couldn't decide where so stopped at this 'hole-in-the-wall' place. GREAT sandwiches and iced tea.”

“I'll give you all the deer you want. I probably have a dozen in my yard & they keep coming back. Devastating my mountain laurel (which they're not supposed to eat) tiger lilies & every other plant. There's a bunch of bald eagles here too. (around NYC resovoirs)

If you're going to bushwhack FOLLOW the animal trails for as long as you can before they peter out, then find another. They will show you the best route especially thru difficult terrain. These routes usually can't be seen on topo maps.”

“I don't suppose it can be called bushwacking in the desert. We go on many hikes on routes--someone has been there before and says it goes so we try to find out how they did it. Did any of that make sense? Not a trail but a known way to go. In the canyon getting to water is so important I don't have the ability to carry enough to make any big mistakes.”

“I've seen lots of deer, just not one that young, and so close. Few eagles around the city of Chicago.

Hey, if you're a hunter, you can get plenty of venison! And if it's out of season you can tell the warden, I was just defending my property! :-)”

“I stopped hunting a long time ago. Came home from work a couple hours before sunrise & decided to go hunting on my own property. Had my pick until a group coming up the backside saw them & opened up with auto rifles. Only problem was that the herd was between us & they nearly shot me. I came VERY close to defending myself. I sold all my rifles/shotguns & never hunted again. I did end up buying another 12ga (15 yrs later)when a black bear was bothering me in my own back yard. I've watched them rip doors off before. Think one of my neighbors ate him :-)”

“that happened to me too cats....

i love going off trail. just today i went to walmart for some ice cream and i went through the menswear to get there! i know , i know.... it was risky, being alone and all , but the explorer in me just takes over sometimes.....”

“Dang, no compass or map? I hope you did not get hung up by the ties.”

“not even my gps. i almost lost my nerve in the underwear section, but i just kept my bearing and came out in housewares.....my instincts got me through the ordeal...it's the rush that i'm after”