My Great Adventures in the Great Outdoors

Despite the fact that I started out in a concrete jungle, and still reside in one, removing myself from it whenever I can is very important. This is not because I'm anti-social and hate people. The reasons for desiring bush-time are many, chief among them an appreciation for all things that are wholesome and realistic. The bush is just that. It's real, never pretending to be something else, never giving illusions. Until you have experienced the bush, it is all too easy to develop illusions and delusions about the world, the bush, and the 'safety blanket' offered by the nearest coffee shop.

I have spent quite a bit of time in the Canadian bush, in the mountains of B.C., the plains of Alberta, and the Canadian Shield of Central Ontario.

Bug bites and wet nights are no stranger to me. Fortunately my skills and ability to be comfortable in the bush are improving. This is very important, because it allows me to enjoy the bush far more, learn more, and be more effective at what I'm doing. Believe you me, having a swarm of black flies and mosquitoes bombarding your head sure makes it hard to light that fire you need RIGHT NOW!

Fortunately for me, I have become the friend and student of someone who is bringing my skills in the bush to a level I would not attain left to my own devices. Even though I am still amazed from time to time that I have such an amazing connection, I understand a little more all the time why I have it. Respect must always be given where it is due, another lesson I have been taught by my teacher:

Allan "Bow" Beauchamp. He has spent over 30 years studying and learning from the bush, and possesses an enormous amount of knowledge in nature lore, bush craft, and survival skills that only a handful of people alive could match. In the relatively short time I have been training with him, I have seen and heard and done amazing things.

When I started, I looked and acted like an unlikely candidate for such exceptional training. To my disadvantage, I had read a survival book... before I met Bow. So what's wrong with that you ask?

Because of that, I had all sorts of 'ideas' about how I would go about "surviving". This led to a few hard lessons for me when I decided that the ideas I had (based on the pictures I'd seen in the book) would work better than what Bow had taught.

Oops.... and ouch. As far as the details of that experience, that's for another time. Now, the information in that book was great, but there was an important ingredient missing: experience, my experience. The information was valid, but without practical experience it is literally suicidal to feel secure with that information in a real survival situation.

Fortunately my first time out was controlled so that I probably wouldn't die. That's not to say that I didn't come close to it. Another day in my situation without a fire would have been the end of my story. After a much needed wake-up call and some in-the-field training from Bow, I made it through.

Now that you've heard a bit about my experiences, an important topic to consider is: what does the bush mean to most people?

To most, an outdoor adventure could involve hiking a trail, pitching a pup tent, and roasting marshmallows. Or for the less adventurous, there may be an RV involved... and not so much hiking. Whatever you choose, as long as your experience in the bush is enjoyable and non-destructive, it was a good experience. There are those that use the bush for selfish reasons. Wild parties, raping the land for money, and "running away from it all" are all destructive to the bush and yourself.

For me, I have to do more. I couldn't be content only knowing the bush from the safety of a neatly marked trail and high-speed pup-tent. I have ventured into the realm of what most people call "Bush Survival". I am by no means a "survival guru", nor will I ever claim that title. Best to let others play the guru game.

What I do is for real. There is no fantasy in the bush. If you go in the bush to play... bad things can happen. When I go in the bush, I enjoy myself, and do things the right way. I carry very little equipment, in comparison to what most outdoor enthusiasts pack.

To become reliant on equipment is very limiting. By learning to replace equipment with skills increases ones effectiveness in the bush greatly. No longer is it necessary to carry the tent, large quantities of food and water, and that super-expensive GPS. All that is great, but what are YOU going to do when it breaks, or you lose it?

Remember that I said I'm into "Bush Survival"? To be more specific, the term survival implies a short term period, during which circumstances are weighed against you, to the point that you are no longer able to function effectively. Fighting for your life is a bad position to be in. By definition, I could "survive" in the bush by sitting in the middle of the swamp all night. Yes, I survived, but learned nothing.

Therefore, I'm much more interested in "bushcraft". When you learn bushcraft, your survival skills improve, but you're not only learning how to deal with an emergency situation. You will learn how to learn from the bush, how to flow through it, and how to give back. This is an important part, because every time you go in the bush you are taking something from it in one way or another. Leaving some food or other supplies that an animal could make use of is a great way to give back.

Being in the bush can be great fun, and it should be. Read my journal entries for more specifics on my adventures. These do not exclusively feature bush-type training. Most will be from Canadian-based outtings, but if I end up somewheres else in the world and have something to share, it'll end up here too.

JOURNAL & GALLERY of ADVENTURE

ENTRY #1: Bush Initiation

ENTRY #2: The Brecon Beacons of Wales

ENTRY #3: Basic Training, Summer

ENTRY #4: Sustainable Building Workshop