By Sean Fagan

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In this blog post I'll be sharing with you 4 Summer Hazards of the Northern Woods - which will be split into two parts:

Part 1 covers the hazards of FOREST FIRE and HEAT STRESS.

Part 2 covers the hazards of NAVIGATIONAL ERROR and DANGEROUS ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS.

This post is based on my own, multi-month trips to the Northern woods - so it's based on experience, not theory. I Hope you enjoy reading it.

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An Introduction:

THE NORTHERN WOODS

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“Stretching across the northern world like a wide green necklace, the boreal woods covers much of interior Alaska, Canada, Russia and northern Europe".

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When considering some of the alternative names for the great coniferous woods of the Northern hemisphere...the Great North Woods, the Boreal Woods, The Snow Woods - one can get a sense of not only their vastness but also of the climate (cold & snowy).

The Northern woods are indeed vast and cold. Long, snowy winters envelop the Northern woods for 5-7 months of the year.

But what's often overlooked about the Northern woods are the short summers.

The First Nation tribes of North America that inhabited the Northern woods would often take to their canoes during summer. Gone was the ice and snow that hid the rivers and lakes. Now was the time of the canoe to get around.

But it's very easy to be lulled into a false sense of security during the warm, sunny summers of the Northern woods - but the hazards are very much there.

In this blog post I've listed four of the more common hazards of summer that I've experienced while wild camping, canoeing and hiking in the Northern woods.

I've compiled these tips from direct experience - mostly from a three month, camping trip in northern Maine, USA - and from a lot of outdoor experience in Ontario, Canada.

This blog post is targeted towards all people that want to explore the Northern woods whether they are campers, hikers or canoeists - whether they like to go out for a half-day, full day or camp out for days, even weeks.

Be warned though - this is not a comprehensive list of hazards when camping in the Northern woods - but they are certainly some of the more common hazards I've encountered in the Northern woods.

You may think I'm reluctant to encourage wild camping trips in the northern woods - nothing could be further from the truth.

The Northern woods canoeist, Bill Mason, sums up my attitude on this amazing wilderness..."It's a feeling of almost euphoria, I'm out here and I've got a canoe load of food and I don't have to be back by a set time....it's just the greatest feeling of freedom I know".

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By Sean Fagan

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"Get to Know the Essence of a Landscape" ~ Werner Herzog

 

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First off, a very happy new year to all. 

May you have many great and small outdoor adventures in 2020. 

 

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It's all about connection... 

 

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Last year, one of the first things I did when scouting around for a campsite in a dense, Portuguese wood was to cut down a long, straight branch to enable myself to bash a way through dense, thorny vegetation.

I was pleasantly surprised to have found a nearby willow tree with many straight branches - ideal for making a sturdy, bashing staff.

Willow trees also occur in my home country of Ireland.

It was nice to have a moment of connection with a familiar tree species in a foreign land.

And it's simple moments like these often make my day in wild places.

Plants and trees become far more than just plants and trees when you have to rely on them.

In a strange way, they become good friends – when you need them most, they are often there for you.

You might think that developing an emotional bond with plants and trees is sentimental - bordering on sloppy romanticism.

But remember, since time immemorial - human hunting and gathering societies across the globe developed a very special relationship with nature.

Personally, I think it's very normal to admire and respect nature.

I also think it's beneficial for bushcrafters...

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It's hard to describe the sense of vastness that confronts the senses when at the feet of the Scottish Highlands.

My first camping trip in the Scottish highlands was last October, 2018.

I also made a trip last March, 2019.

Those two trips were fantastic and I was blessed with mostly beautiful weather. However my last trip, a few weeks ago in late September, was exceptional.

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On my last trip I was mostly based around Loch Lomond - which is situated in the south-west of the Scottish Highlands.

Since I camped out during this trip I will also be touching upon different aspects of hiking and camping skills, but I'll also be delving into local history, nature, geography and old place-names - all of which I'm very much interested in.

It's one of the great things about having good hiking & camping skills - as they enable an individual to access more remote parts of a landscape - especially in a landscape as large, remote and layered as the Scottish Highlands.

But first, The Woods of Loch Lomond...

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By Sean Fagan

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Be flexible…

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Recently I went on a 4-day camping trip to the Scottish highlands.

It was my second time to Scotland and I was really looking forward to hiking some modest mountains in Loch Lomond & the Trossochs National Park (situated on the southerly end of the Scottish highlands).

My overall plan is to gradually become familiar with the Scottish highlands through repeated visits – starting in the south and gradually creeping northwards (a very doable, long-term plan as I’m only a cheap, 1 hour flight away to Glasgow).

However, when I arrived in Scotland I quickly realised that my plans would have to change, and change a lot...

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By Sean Fagan

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Above, one of my favourite John Muir photos.

Why?

Because he is well into his later years and still doing something he dearly loved doing - connecting with nature.

Even after a lifetime of engaging with nature he still found time to follow his own trails.

But how is this connected to bushcraft and adventure?

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By Sean Fagan

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Happy new year folks – I sincerely hope my blogs will motivate you to seek your own, quirky, fun-filled and challenging adventures in 2019. Get out there and have some fun.

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Expecting the Unexpected when on an Adventure

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The best and worst adventures I’ve ever had were muddled with unpredictably.

It’s not like I don’t do my research before a trip (I partly do this because of a fear of the unknown…ironic).

But there is a catch with researching a lot – it can put you off going on an adventure in the first place.

I strongly believe a huge part of what makes an adventure really enjoyable is surrendering to the unknown...

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By Sean Fagan

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"Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, land of the mountain and the flood"

Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist

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Until only recently - I've never been to Scotland before.

I've camped numerous times before in England and Wales and really enjoyed my visits there.

Considering that Scotland is very near to Ireland (only a 50 minute plane journey from Dublin to Glasgow) - and the Scottish countryside has a reputation as a wild and rugged place  - it seems odd that I've never been there before.

I've wanted to go for a long time but never got around to it.

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So how was my trip to Scotland?

Well, lets just say I know what all the fuss is about Scotland now. Scotland is a magnificent country.

It greatly helped that my 3-day camping trip was blessed with mostly glorious sunshine.

I'll be writing a lot more about my recent visit to Scotland in future posts (along with revisiting Scotland soon) - but for now I just want to leave you with a visual impression of my visit with some photographs.

I hope you enjoy them...

I've also included a brief tribute to a great man of Scotland - Tom Weir (which includes a video about Tom's favourite places to visit in the Scottish Highlands).

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