by Joseph Yannuzzi Jr.

Created on: April 20, 2009

The natural world provides us with an unlimited amount of beauty, solitude, and excitement. However, navigating the wonders of nature safely takes knowledge and a refined awareness that enables us to enjoy it thoroughly.

It can be very gratifying to explore nature and the wilderness, but even more beneficial is the ability to become acutely aware of your surroundings. This can be done by studying the particular area you plan to explore. Become familiar with the wildlife, the terrain, your access routes and of course several exit routes to compensate for becoming lost or disoriented. And above all utilizing some of the god given factors we are blessed with.

The ability to stoke our awareness physically and mentally, enables one to fine tune their outdoor experience. We cannot predict what misfortune may await us if we do not thoroughly prepare for it. This helps us plan a safer trip and face unplanned dangers or emergencies with preparedness. The wilderness may provide us with a sense of beauty and excitement, but it can also be deadly and unforgiving.

A sense of awareness helps us to detect adverse conditions that may require one to be familiar with edible plants, food and water sources we may need along the way. Water also provides fish and other aquatic animals as a means of survival. In the event of severe cold weather, camping or building shelters on south facing slopes, exposes hikers and campers to direct sunshine and greater warmth. This increases your chance of survival during periods of inclement weather. Awareness is survival when confronting the wilderness and the broad consequences it can have on our experience.

The ability to become acquainted with the habits of wildlife native to the area, can also help one find food and water. The things animals need to survive are basically the same for humans...food, water and shelter. Animals, through their own acute awareness can sometimes help us predict the onset of bad weather and allow us sufficient time to find safety or shelter. It is our own sense of awareness that can help us interpret these signals from the animals, and eventually act on them.

Some people are gifted and can exhibit a certain physical awareness that helps them become one with their environment. They find themselves moving freely among wildlife in a non threatening manner, allowing them to feel more of a spiritual connection with the wilderness and its inhabitants. To be able to stare silently into the eyes of a deer or red fox at close range without causing alarm to the animal, is a moment that can be savored forever. The ability to photograph that experience in those fleeting moments is monumental.

We must not forget to relish our awareness by utilizing the five senses. Touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. To be able to touch the chilly waters of a pristine stream or smell the sweet fragrance of alpine wildflowers heightens our general awareness. Our sense of hearing may enable us to enjoy the melodic song of the wolf or coyote, or maybe the song of a loon floating on a northern lake under a moonlit sky. We may spend a day fishing for trout or bass and then relish the taste of the days catch with friends we encountered while afield. We can utilize our sense of sight to photograph wildlife or maybe sketch or paint a landscape or group of animals. All of these innate factors contribute to an awareness that can form memories that last a lifetime.

Remember, each and every trip afield should encourage us to use our natural senses and awareness, which in turn, will heighten our experience and provide us with memories of nature that can never be forgotten.

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