This was a title of a book written by Jon Krakauer in 1997. It came out as a movie in 2007. These renditions were based on the true story of Christopher Johnson McCandles. There was another book and a documentary that was titled Grizzlie Man which was based on a true story about Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend. Both of these men went into the wilderness with a goal set in their minds. Neither one lived through their misadventures and neither one was prepared to undertake what they chose to do.

Many people go into wilderness areas every year and the greatest majority return to happily tell of their experiences. This summer my wife and I took a three-week vacation and explored some of the wilderness areas of Montana and Oregon. We both had an enjoyable time and we came back refreshed and loaded down with lots of photos. I’m sure glad we now have a digital camera otherwise I would be in debt for film processing.

Everywhere that we went in Montana we were warned about grizzly bears and were advised to not hike without bear spray. In Oregon it was black widow spiders and rattlesnakes that we had to be careful of. Back in 2011 in Olympia National Park, a man was killed by a mountain goat while hiking with two women.

We know the dangers are out there, but we still choose to go. My wife and I went through John Day Fossil beds in Oregon and we had a memorable time and we did see two rattlesnakes. There was one spot in the Clarno unit of the John Day  fossil beds which is west of the town of Fossil, Oregon. We had hiked up the trail past the signs warning  us of ticks and rattlesnakes and we had one of the best times of our lives. It was late in the day and it was amazingly quiet. The only sound was the breeze sighing through the pines and the rock formations. The only other sounds were occasional crickets singing in the sparse grass. It was great, not one man made sound could be heard the whole time we were on the hike.

We went in spite of the known dangers, and we were prepared to face them. Because we went we learned many things and we came back refreshed and eagerly awaiting the next chance to go off into the wild. Every time I go into the wild I go to learn something, and when I go, I take with  me my knowledge and my awareness and a good supply of caution. I always come back refreshed, and with a greater awareness and store of new knowledge. Then I share the knowledge with whoever is willing to learn. This is why I teach survival and nature classes.

Why do you go into the wild?