Walk to Nature’s Rhythm

Karen Edmundson Bean is an award-winning producer/cinematographer of wildlife and backcountry productions. Her Walking Wild DVDs, available at http://CreateSpace.com, are one-hour journeys of discovery that travel trails in Whatcom County as well as the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington. More information about Karen and Walking Wild can be found at http://Walking-Wild.com.

It was a clear sunny day and I was lying alongside a trail capturing the “perfect” picture of a sulfur shelf fungus. A thumping started to be heard from down the trail. As it grew louder I sat up to see what was coming. The soft thumps became a pounding rhythm.

A dust cloud appeared; from it emerged a runner with a small backpack. A through “hiker” on the Pacific Crest Trail, enjoying the wilderness at 50 miles a day, so he informed me as he flew up the trail. I ambled along — in time I would complete my five-mile day, the usual amount of mileage I cover while videotaping images and sounds for my Walking Wild DVD series. (The DVDs are one-hour journeys of discovery that travel trails in Whatcom County as well as the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington. See http://Walking-Wild.com.)

The wonderful thing about the wilderness is that so many people can enjoy it in a variety of ways and at different speeds. Some methods of backcountry travel require training or extreme stamina. Slow walking and wilderness sitting are two pastimes that come naturally to nearly everyone, but sometimes we simply forget to slow down.

Our lives are hectic. We have meetings to attend, deadlines to meet, kids to get to soccer practice. We seem to rush about in a whirlwind that keeps blowing even when we take a break and head for the wilderness. The peak must be reached. The end of the trail achieved. The river needs to be forded.

But in our hurry to meet our wilderness goals we sometimes miss the wilderness. A gentle walk, even if it only a few feet from the trailhead, can reveal wonders which are missed by a foot-pounding trek up the trail. The journey often contains more adventure and beauty than the final destination.

We may never reach the peak, but those of us who linger may delight in the patterns of mist as it swirls along ridge tops and through trees in valleys below. The tumble and rainbowed spray of water can mesmerize and calm the soul without the river being crossed. A quiet stop beneath subalpine trees can offer late afternoon entertainment as marmots tumble on the slopes where deer browse while hawks ride the wind. All these things can be found by slow walkers.

The only technique needed to slow walk is to take your time and walk to your own pace. My pace is slow by choice and necessity. I am recording wilderness images and sounds, so I need to take my time, look and listen as I move through the backcountry. My camera and microphone travel inside my pack to keep them clean and functional.

Each time I shoot, I must remove my pack, get my gear out, and set up for the shot. Because of this, I capture the primary shot, and then pause to discover at least two more beautiful audio or visual subjects. Usually there are far more than two items to record. Beauty is everywhere in the wilderness.

With or without a camera, we can all indulge in the delightful pastime of discovering the wonders of our land each time we stop to admire a vista or just to rest. There are so many small beauties that are easy to overlook when we travel too fast through the wilderness. They are often at our feet, revealed when we stand or sit quietly and use all our senses.

Listen. As the swish and thud of human feet disappear, the song of birds can often be heard. An undertone to their music is the hum of insects. The drone of flies and zing of mosquitoes can add a cadence to the forest symphony, an incredible pleasure as long as we remember to put on repellent. Otherwise, some clapping and slapping quickly become a rhythmic counterpoint.

Touch. Feel the texture of the earth as fir and cedar needles turn to soft soil. Each rock or boulder has a unique texture that tells a tale of eons of upheaval below and above the soil, of fall rains and winters of ice that can crack the hardest granite. Stroke the bark of a tree that been alive for over a hundred years, or has just emerged from the soil. Caress the smooth bend of a flower that will be gone with the season’s dance.

Taste. Savor the delicious fruit that quivers on a thimbleberry bush or dots the whips of trailing blackberries. The berries are the simplest of pleasures in our wilderness because they are the most easily identifiable. Young fireweed makes an enjoyable snack that tastes like asparagus. Succulent miner’s lettuce leaves are refreshing to nibble. With some research we can all learn which of the fascinating fungus can be a taste-treat from chicken-of-the-woods to the morels that grow in our forests.

Smell. Breath deep, like you are tasting a fine wine. The scents are as diverse as our lands. Delight in the rich smell of the often-damp soil; the musty scent of a devil’s club leaf; the light aroma of air churned by a creek. Open your mouth a little, close your eyes and inhale. You might look a bit strange, but who cares. There are few people to watch, because most everyone else is pounding up the trail in double-time.

Look. Watch the dance of the branches swaying in the wind. Pull out your map and compass to learn the peaks, valleys and lakes that surround you. Enjoy the animals, great and small, that will often slowly emerge when the disturbance that our rapid human motions cease.

Animals disdain rapid movement. Move fast and birds will stop singing; deer and other mammals will hide. Wildlife can best be seen by sitting quietly. Especially in the hours surrounding sunrise and sunset. All types of animals are active at this time: browsing herbivores and carnivores. All are interesting, and caution needs to be taken with both types of wildlife.

A chipmunk is not going to leap from a tree onto you, and a marmot is not going to suddenly lunge for your ankle, but both will bite if cornered and provoked. Deer can be gentle until you go up against buck who wants you away from his females. Even the predators will usually stay away from people, except the human predators, who seem to be everywhere.

To best see wildlife, find a place where you’ve seen animal prints, spore, beds or burrows. Then, before sunrise or an hour and a half before sunset, blend into the environment. Sit next to a shrub or a boulder, or lay on the ground in open terrain. Get comfortable, because any movement will alert the animals and scare them away.

If you have a camera, binoculars, a night scope or any other gear that has shiny metal on it, cover it with something dark. Very few things in nature are shiny. Most animals equate a flashy object with humans, and humans mean danger. Black tape works well to cover metal, but a dark T-shirt will work in a pinch. Of course if it is your only T-shirt and you are bone white after a long winter, leave the T-shirt on.

When wildlife does emerge you may want to move to a new location to get a better look, or your legs just may be cramping. Slow motions are again the key. Move like you’re walking through water. Try not to move your arms away from your body.

Think about it, we apes are about the only terrestrial animals that have long, weird, projections that shoot out from our bodies all the time. A bear may stand erect or horse may rear, but usually they are four-on-the-floor. So anything upright, with arms akimbo or extended to the front, is either a threat or a very spooky thing to see. Imagine having a creature your size or larger suddenly extend a long tentacle in your directions. Not the stuff dreams are made of, unless you’ve been over-indulging in late night pizza.

Slow movements work. I have filmed a wide range of wildlife in my career, from grizzly bears and eagles to slugs and salamanders. Even the Walking Wild series has wildlife, although taping these DVDs is not the best way to record animals. I shoot primarily in daylight hours and I am on the move. However, I do move slowly stopping often to record the tapestry of nature. It may be water dripping from a piece of moss, grasses dancing in the wind or the magnificent vistas of glacier-sculpted mountains.

The wildlife I find during the Walking Wild shoots is usually a surprise to me and I am a surprise to them. I walk slowly and quietly as I work. I might amble around a bend and find a herd of deer, an owl or a bear. Bears are not a joyful encounter.

A surprised bear is dangerous. Most trekkers seldom see them, because the best way to avoid bears is to move around a lot and make noise. If you do this, most bears will leave the area before you encounter them. Slow walkers need to be a little cautious. If you see a bear do not turn your back on it. Do not look the bear in the eye. That is a challenge to the bear. Speak quietly and back away from the bear, slowly.

Slow backwards walking also is part of an encounter with a cougar. The rest of the technique is completely different. Look a cougar in the eye. Get big: raise your arms; bring your jacket above your head. You can even yell and throw things, but do not bend down to pick something up, unless it is your child. The main key to avoiding confrontations with predators is slow motions.

Slow movements and slow walking blend with nature. Animals seldom rush unless danger is present or they are hunting. Rivers and creeks spend most of their time in flowing smoothly in their beds, which makes waterfalls and white water amazing. Trees normally sway: crashing cedars and firs are usually the result of extreme weather.

When we slow down, stop often, remain quiet and use all of our senses we begin to move with nature. We can then experience the beauty of the wilderness on many different levels and leave behind the hurry and haste that too often dominates our lives. It is then that we can rediscover within ourselves the rhythms of nature. §