Have you ever been in a forest?
I mean a real forest, one where you can get lost in, and probably shouldn’t wander into if you don’t know what you’re doing. Thick woods you can cross in two hours don’t count. Real, big ass forests. Or jungles.
What were you doing in there? How was it? Would you go back? Was it scary? Or not? Describe your experience.
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Not since the humans stole me from my wolf parents.
I have. I was geocaching. I was lost for 3 hours, and eventually made my way back out.
I wasn’t really very scared, and I’ve actually gone back a few times.
I did see two moose carcasses which was pretty freaking sweet. Alaska, yo.
No :( I don’t live close to any forest-y areas. I’ll have plenty of opportunities for nature expeditions once I move out of LA though. Part of me has always been envious of people who live closer to rural environments. I’m not one to romanticize Thoreau and Emerson, or anything, but goddamn, the woods seem so beautiful and peaceful.
Yes, I was in Germany trekking through the snow to an orphanage to get my niece. Given, it wasn’t that deep into the forest. But it was a bonafide, deep-ass Bavarian Forest. It felt strangely fairy tale-esque. Probably won’t go back. It wasn’t scary—but I was nervous.
@AshLeigh Geocaching. I so wanna do that. That sounds so fun, did you find something?
@muppetish Yeah, I love woods for that. (never been in an actual forest) The silence and how peaceful it is. It’s really different. I love big woods at night, although I admit it can be scary. But fun, too.
@fluthernutter Nice. What were you nervous of? Anything specific, or the forest made you feel that way as a whole? (I mean besides your reason for being in there)
@Symbeline, I did find the little box! It was my first time geocaching too, and I got lost xD
Well fuck man, you got lost AND found the box…personally I’d say that’s an excellent moment. And you found your way out!
Yes. Washington state. I’m not sure how “authentic” of a forest it would be, but it’d probably take you hours to wander out, assuming you don’t get lost in Canada. I’ve never had a fear of getting lost and have never had a feeling of being lost. I think I have very good natural direction and instincts. Even if I’ve been somewhere I’ve never been to before, I can usually find my way in 20 minutes or less. In a lush forest, there is no light pollution, so you can see the stars more clearly at night, and they will help you find your way much better than if you were in a city.
The only problem is, knowing your starting position. If you had no idea where you came from it wouldn’t do most people any good. If I was blindfolded and knocked out and awoken a good five miles in the middle of a forest that spans tens of miles in any direction, then I’d probably be somewhat lost, for the first time, especially not knowing which way was the right route back to civilization.
I am so surprised at the responses. I thought everybody had been in a forest, I guess. Neat question.
@GloPro Never been in one myself, but I’d like to.
@GloPro Same here. For some reason I assumed this was something everyone had experienced. I grew up in NJ so I’ve been in Wharton State Forest my whole life. I’ve also spent some time in the jungle. I feel much more at home there than I do in a city :P
Edit:
What were you doing in there?
Camping, hiking, offroading
How was it?
Awesome
Would you go back?
I do all the time
Was it scary? Or not?
Nope. Even when I get lost it’s still enjoyable.
I once took a wilderness survival class. The first day of class the professor had us all get in a van; along the ride he handed out compasses and maps. Randomly he would pull over, point to a couple kids, tell them where they were on the map, where they had to be, and to get out. We all got pretty lost that first day (we took on average about an hour longer than he wanted)but it was still a ton of fun. I learned a lot in that class and would have no problem surviving in the wilderness on my own now :)
Nope, and no thank you.
<< nature
me >>
I was living in one, long time ago. Every once in a while, abandoned children would stumble upon my house. That was always a great occasion, because children are quite delicious, you see?
But then came the loss of family values, and parents stopped abandoning their kids in the woods, and they started cutting down the forest.
So I had to get back to my spaceship’s cold, metal walls.
Where I live we’re surrounded by woodland, loads of foresty type land that you could certainly get lost in, but not the mahoosive jungle like stuff you speak of.
One story does stand out though, when you’re a kid it feels like a huge forest.
It was a fine summer morning, my mum took us into this wood for a ramble & a picnic, somehow….& I can’t for the life of me remember the circumstances, my younger brother & me got lost.
Being fairly young, around 8 & 10, we panicked slightly, but I became quite resourceful. I was carrying a bag, it had picnic stuff in & I pulled out this big roll of kitchen tissues, looks like toilet roll for a giant.
I began tearing sheets off & placed them on the ground a couple of metres apart, thinking that this trail would lead mama to us, I know, genius right?
So, it was windy & so…the tissues blew away of course they did, what else do tissues do in the wind? As I said, fucking genius :/
Anyway, we found her after only a few minutes, she assumed we’d wandered off on purpose for a little adventure, we went along with that :)
Yes. There is huge National Forest in my state I did get lost in. It was scary to be genuinely lost and darkness descending upon you.
Yes, but I never felt completely lost though. Upstate NY and New Hampshire and in Germany. I have been in what I call the deep woods several times. Some say the woods and the forest are the same. For me, the forest has evergreens and thick old trees. When I lived in TN I lived in the woods, but I never called it a forest. The trees were mostly tall and skinny, and even though in some areas it was very dense, it never felt like a forest to me.
All the time and whenever I can get back to it. Most summer weekends I am mountain biking, hiking or backpacking depending on how much time I have. My childhood house bordered miles of vacant forest in Western North Carolina. That was and still is my playground. When I die my ghost will reside there.
Many. Luckily they are a common occurrence in California. Been in the El Dorado National Forest near Lake Tahoe and the Stanislaus National Forest in Yosemite (both in the form of camping and hiking). Although ponderosa pine forests can sometimes be easier to navigate due to the lack of branches and leaves on the trees at the lower level, they are still dense and quite expansive. I’ve also been in the redwood forests of Humboldt County and of Big Basin State Park, both pretty dense and dark.
I wandered into the Mt Marcy wildlife area a few years ago, without a compass. 500 yards or so into it, I realized how wild it was. It’s part of the forever wild area of NY, so there is no man made impacts. But holy shit that was scary. I only go into there again with a compass.
Yes. The Olympic Peninsula, Vancouver island, and the sparsely populated coast of British Columbia. Huge virgin redwoods, mountains, a violent ocean against rocky 200-foot cliffs. Majestic and awesome in the truest sense of the word.
I forgot about BC. I’ve been up there too. Just beautiful. One of my favorite places is Vancouver and the surrounding areas.
I also somehow forgot about Alaska! I went horseback riding through the forest. I never felt lost because we were in a small group led by someone who knows the area, but the surroundings were engulfing, and then suddenly we came to a clearing surrounded by mountains and blue water at the base. Beautiful.
I’ve been in the rain forest in Hawaii, the Redwoods in California, and the Ozarks in Missouri. I stayed mostly on the periphery so getting lost wasn’t an issue, but I got the sense of it. Around here we have mostly what I call ‘woods’ rather than forest, and yet when I was young, there were times that I was lost for hours. I stayed calm, kept walking, and made it home for dinner.
Of the 3 forests I mentioned, all were magnificently beautiful. I’d love to see the Amazon.
When I was a kid I got lost on purpose just to see if i could find my way back. Used to scare the hell out of my parents when I came in late the few times I actually had difficulty finding my way home. Got spanked for that, but it was worth it.
@Espiritus_Corvus I used to go into the woods when I was hunting and spin myself around to see if I could find my way out. No compass, no map, just dead reckoning. I enjoyed that.
Yup, that is pretty much my job.
Yes, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. One of the most remote spots in the U.S. Home to a temperate rain forest.
I spend a couple of weeks a year in the Michigan Upper Peninsula (U.P).
A buddy has a cabin on a river, next to a waterfall. Wolves visit the property. Porcupines gnaw on the outside walls.
Before we cut trails through the woods, we would get lost. It takes A LOT of work to maintain the trails, the forest quickly eliminates them if you are lax.
The cabin has solar power with a propane generator backup, so while we are out in the wild, we do have hot showers, a fridge, oven and washer/dryer.
Not since I tried to find the Blair Witch.
Yes. In NYS Southern Tier. This was before the days of GPS and cell phones.
From a geological survey map I knew there was a stream on the other side of the mountain. I decided I would find the stream so I started walking, alone, without a compass because “the sky is clear and I can figure out where I need to go.” . I found the stream. However by then it got cloudy and I could not tell which way I was heading. I was lost for about 2 hours and by about 4 pm I started to get really worried about freezing in the cold or meeting an animal that might consider me food. I had my a small .380 with me and while walking ran through the merits and demerits of using my paltry 7 shots as a signal, or to scare something away, or to get food. I found the trail before I needed to do anything drastic.
Living in Colorado near the Rockies, there are literally dozens of forests within a couple-hour drive, so yes. One of my favorite experiences from the past was the Rainbow Gathering 1986, in the Alleghenny National Forest in Pennsylvania.
No, but man, I was once lost for hours in a huge stand of trees. Acres and acres of them. Never saw no forest, though.
Yes, several. Yosemite, Kings Canyon, the Redwoods, and, I tripped over a Bamboo Viper in the jungle of Taiwan….no incident, but I did drink some extra beer that night to celebrate my lucky non-strike. haha
Of course. We (California) have the best forests. Trees older than most living things
Caledonia, hiking for several hours
And a couple of short hikes in Alaskan wilderness areas.
@dappled_leaves I want your job.
@Espiritus_Corvus when caving we used to call that being momentarily confused (for a few hours).
One year in late December I got lost in a forest of Evergreens. I thought I might never get out until I heard something and followed the sounds of Christmas music to the trailer/office of the Christmas Tree lot in which I was lost.
Thanks for all the answers, it’s really cool seeing all the stories. Hey something I’m wondering…has anyone ever seen hollowed logs in forests? You always see hallowed logs in movies, cartoons and video games, but I’ve never seen that in real life. (but of course, never been in a forest, either) Ever seen one? And did you go inside? I would. :D
Whoa! Tree driving! I’d do that.
My dad drove us through a big redwood when I was a kid. Yosemite, I think. It was the rite of passage for every young Californian back then.
I’ve climbed up into a hollow tree in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Of my group, I was the only one to be childish/brave (?) enough – except for an eight-year-old :]
@longgone That had to be beautiful and breath taking. Good for you!
I love adventure. In 2006 I lay on the edge of about a 1000 foot cliff in Zion Park in Utah, in the snow, suspended about halfway over the edge. Freaking sublime moment, right up there with being up at about 5000 feet in a Hot Air Balloon. I fucking hate getting old now, my mind still wants adventure but my body is losing steam. haha
No more extreme white water rafting, endurance horses, water skiing, zip lines.
The lat few years I just lay in my hot tub remembering all my grand adventures. lol
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