So
you're going to a place like Yosemite and you're not going to go on the, uh,
the, the tourist path.
You're going to go off into the wilderness and you haven't been there before,
you know, what do you bring and what do you do when you get there? And, and,
uh, what's the process like? You don't, you don't,
you're not going where there's going to be any other people.
So one of the things Jesse is that when I was in high school,
I did do that a lot with other students and we would go to places we'd
never been to because it sounded cool. And then, uh, I learned to ask,
"Will there be water?" I mean, today there's,
today I wouldn't think of going to a place that I've never been to.
I wouldn't choose to do that without doing a lot of research. Nevertheless,
you know, what would I bring if I'm off the beaten path?
I need water so I'd want to bring a water supply or a way to purify water,
some kind of minimal shelter, even though I can make a shelter. I,
even though I, like, I know in Yosemite you get up into the metals,
wild onions are like prolific. There's a lot of food up there,
even though most of the food by the native people would be at lower elevations.
I know I could eat up there, but I would bring a fire-starter,
even though I can make a fire with wood. So there's,
there's a handful of things that I always recommend people carry with them,
like a knife, a fire-starter, uh, uh,
cordage of some sort for tying things together. Maybe tying shelter together.
I teach people how to make Cordage,
but it's easier to have it other than to have to make it on the spot. Uh,
suitable clothing, of course, you know, plastic bags, perhaps,
because you can use those for shelter, or for rain protection. And, um,
I mean,
I think there are a lot of things that I would bring beyond those basics,
but it kind of depends on how long I think I'm going to be there. Uh,
like I would like to bring generally cooking ware, uh, maybe a flashlight,
although I'm not big on flashlights. Uh, I, you know, with me,
I'm bringing a camera. I have, I have,
I take thousands of photos every year of all sorts of things, plants mostly,
but in my, in my classes, especially these days, I'm doing them on zoom.
I,
I'm drawing upon all these images that I've taken all these years to illustrate
things where I would normally just show it in person.
Are you a tracker?
I know how to do tracking, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't claim to be a tracker,
like, like a really good, uh,
person who can like figure out exactly what it was and where it was going. Um,
but I, I watch the tracks all the time. I'm, I'm, um, I'm big on that.
So I assume you've been out there thousands of times, yeah?
Not thousands, but I certainly have been up to Yosemite a lot. Yeah.
Um, what do you find when you're out there and you get past your car and
everything's out there and it's quiet and you're just hearing the sounds of your
feet, walking through the brush and the sounds of animals. What do you,
what do you find out there that's, that's so important that you keep going back?
Well, I would have to say that's a,
that's a really thoughtful question because in the early days I really did go
out on my own because I felt very, um, um,
what's the word?
I felt like being in society in the city was very restricting somehow,
mentally, somehow on a spiritual sense. I couldn't find myself.
I think today I can do it anywhere, but I can remember in my teens,
I would just go be alone, be quiet.
I'd go up to the mountains for a week at a time, by myself.
And when it got really boring, I'd come back home. But just to think about what,
what, who am I, what's my purpose in life. Why am I here?
Why do I do these things that I do?
Must I do all the things that people in society say I should do?
My father says I need to get a, need to get a job, I need to get a degree.
I need to do this. These people said...
So I would just sit and think sometimes and process it through and
sometimes have conclusions, sometimes not. So there was, there was that.
I would bring more gear than I needed, you know,
and often just sit quietly by the stream and listen to the stream and think
about the meaning of life. Um, uh, but, but,
but actually these days I like being with other people. I like the interaction.
And when I get beyond the car, for me, if it's a place I haven't been to,
I like to have an open mind. I don't know what I'm going to see there.
Even if I have been there a thousand times, this time is different.
It's a different month. It's a different year. What am I going to see?
I like to, I like to see it. Oh, there are ferns. Oh, that tree is dead. Oh,
look at that, mushrooms growing there. I like to sit and observe,
look at the tracks, see what, who's been, what people,
what animals have been by there. So for me,
I think it's important to not, uh, uh,
not go into an area with a preconception.
Just be open to what is there and try to read the terrain.
Have you had moments when you're in nature, which are, um,
you know, just like a,
an animal or a moment that is so serene and peaceful,
is there like in a, you know,
a static moment that always brings you back to something when you're out there?
There have probably been many. Um, I, and I haven't done the,
the overnights where we sleep and take no food and no shelter and we sleep in
little shelters, little lean-tos that we make. But I remember I had,
I have some really good memories. After 24 hours,
I've kind of forgotten the city. You know it takes me maybe, maybe 12 hours,
but then I'm in the woods. And I, I,
what I really like is the sun comes up and the smoke is
rising and just watching the rays of light through the
trees and just sitting there and saying, "Wow, that's awesome.".
That's awesome.
[inaudible].