Is There Many Other Loners Here?

[bushart]

Yes Skip----Warm...Quiet...Peaceful summer days

[mercman]

Thats one of my favorite paintings Bush Speaks volumes in it's serenity.

[Moosebunk]

Had heard somewhere that in only 4% of the world can a man be on land and find himself 100 miles or more from a human settlement of sorts.

 

Anyways... kinda get where you're coming from Art. It's been hugely important and something I've looked forward to in past years especially, to plan and then get off the grid into the bush. It's experiences like that, being alone, which have always felt therapeutic, defining, deeper and inspiring. When those purposeful escapes are encroached upon by others, oftentimes there can be a sense of loss for that moment.

 

There's plenty time in our lives given to others during work, play and home-life. But personally, without alone time (and especially that alone time when getting way out there away from people) I don't feel inspired or tested in the same kind of ways.

[bigugli]

Solitude is , more than anything else, a state of mind. Some of us need to cut ourselves off entirely from the civil world to achieve that state of peace. It can be exhilarating, I must admit. Like going out for that dawn paddle/row knowing you only share the lake with the loon. Not disturbing the serenity with the sputter and whine of an outboard motor.

I may not always be able to find places in Niagara without that background noise of civilization, but I do find isolated niches where I am the only soul around. Free to focus my thoughts or empty my mind and drink in my surroundings.

[limeyangler]

I need to get away from people so i can have a proper conversation with myself without interuptions!

[bushart]

When I'm way off away from people in the bush----it does give the opportunity to collect your thoughts and plans without distractions

 

Any hunter will tell you---the woods are fairly quiet for the most part when you 1`st walk in---but sit quiet for only a few minutes and it all comes to life again---but for the most part---short of being treed by a bear---they mind their own biz and carry on

 

Maybe it's the wonder of just watching it all that we enjoy---nature conducting itself as it has always done.

 

One of my best memories---years ago when I was in a lot better shape---up in the north----I was hunting all morning---walked for hours on a cool fall morn with my pack on my back---remember finding a perfect log pile and eating my lunch----miles and miles away from anyone---just sitting in the sun--it was perfect---and I would recommend this on anyone's bucket list.

 

And now of course I sometimes think----If I broke my leg--alone back there---how that might have turned out---no cell phones then---not that they'd work there----but I did'nt and it's a perfect memory.

 

Yep

[COUNTRYBOY]

Call me lucky , i grew up with dead silence in the country where we lived . Funny i took a girlfriend there i was dating from Toronto who had never been out of the city , thought it would be a great thing for her to expeirance , we arrived and shut the car off and i aked her to step out and listen , i then could'nt get out of the car fast enough to find out what all the screaming was about , there she was with both hands over her ears screaming like mad saying it hurt , can you belive that , silence hurt her ears . I was'nt long getting rid of her i'll tell ya .......... lol . Silence is golden in my books and getting harder to find in this world , but like you say , if you look you can still find small pockets of it here and there . I did a test one time to see just how much noise we live with every day , at the time i live out in the country with dead silence but there was some thting that buzzed in my ears and i wanted to see if i could make it stop and hear complete silence , i got it when i shut the main breaker of in the house and cut all the power off , its surprizing how much noise our houses make . The wife and i vacation every year as many times as we can in the mountains of Quebec just to injoy the silence . Think we're nuts , come with us some time and you be the judge .

 

 

I THINK BEING A FISHING NUT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FISH. IT HAS TO DO WITH THE SOLITUDE....AMEN

[bushart]

Yes CB--wether it's hearing the river run across the rocks or waves lapping on shore---we all need this to nourish our souls

[mike rousseau]

Carp fishing is probably my biggest get away... Not far from civilization... But I have a few spots where nobody would find me... Nice ... Quiet... Only noise I hear is carp splashing and the wind blowing... Lots of afternoons in April and may spent napping in my luxury carp chair with the sounds of birds chirping and fish splashing...

 

Can't wait for April...

[Skipper D]

I know what inland out there that you would be hidding behind . Its ok , i would never disturb you .... just watch out for the red,white and blue Bayliner ..... lol .

[camillj]

Me .. I thinks ... its not how far away you get physically ... but how far you get away mentally ... had some pretty good solo times right under the QEW on one of my happy places ... with bows, browns, salmon .. and deer ... and not a soul in sight

[Toad Hunter]

wow, I'm only coming up on 30 and feel the same way,

I actually just finished reading "One mans wilderness-the dick preonneke story" and it almost was enough to bring a tear to my eye by the time I finished his journal entries and his reflections.. i recommend this for anyone who hasn't read it (or heard of it)

[Dabluz]

I hear you on that one. Small creek within a half hour drive of Kitchener produced a 17 & 16" speckle trout for me in "the good old days". In fact one creek even closer than that would consistently give up 12" specks with the odd nice resident rainbow.

 

That must be a pretty big creek. More like a small river? To me a creek is something that you can almost straddle and has about 1 to 4 feet of water.

[Dabluz]

I'm lucky in the fact that I only have to go about 30 km north of Chicoutimi where I live and there are no more cities, towns or villages.....all the way to James Bay. Yes, if I go north east or north west, I will either end up in Fermont or Chibougamau-Chapais but north of Chicoutimi, there is nothing. After about 60 km, cottages are rare and there are a few lumber camps and outfitters but there is mostly free land. I like wilderness camping a lot and I don't have to go very far to be alone for a weekend.

 

Using my GPS, there are thousands of lakes near the lumber roads and there are no trails to these lakes. During April and May, I can snowmobile to these lakes and do a bit of ice fishing for brook trout. I am always alone on these outings because no one I know wants to go. The fishing is usually fantastic. During the summer, these lakes are hard to reach because of the rough terrain, fallen trees, heavy bush. Fishing from shore is impossible because of the trees and brush over-hang the shoreline. The forest is too dense to portage a canoe.

 

I like fishing alone. I even prefer fishing alone. Next best thing is fishing with my wife.

 

Yes, a person alone could get into bad trouble when he or she is far in the bush but what better way to die.

[bushart]

That's what my cousin used to tell me Dabluz---"At least you'll die happy"