If you go down to the woods today....

Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods' is proving to be a very good read. There are whole passages I can identify with, even if my experience of hiking is very limited, and rambling in the 'peaks' of Dartmoor do not compare to hiking in those of the Smokey Mountains. When Bryson says 'the hardest part was coming to terms that there is always more hill. The thing about being on a hill, as opposed to standing back from it, is that you can almost never see exactly what is to come. Each time haul yourself up to what you think must surely be the crest, you find that there is still more hill beyond, sloped at an angle that had kept it from your view'. How well I know that feeling, not just from hiking but from life itself.

'A Walk in the Woods' is, as Bryson's work invariably is, informative, funny and thoughtful. It tells the story of his hike along the longest continuous footpath in the world, the Appalachian Trail which snakes from Georgia to Maine. The walk takes him through the Smokey Mountains and the Great North Woods of Maine, and these places are 'filled with bears, moose, bobcats, rattlesnakes, poisonous plants, disease-bearing ticks and the occasional chuckling murderer'

Even if I were fit enough to attempt such a walk the things that lurk among the trees would put me off. Dartmoor, with its inexplicable corpses of lambs dotted around, stripped of their fleece which lies scattered around the bare bones, is spooky enough but bears? Chuckling murderers? Ticks? What does attract me to such walks however is the sense of achievement, the awe and wonder one experiences when confronted with an amazing view and the isolation one can embrace. Not a lonely isolation but the feeling that you are but a small speck in a huge world and away from the manic toils of real life is this amazing calm. Such moments have a spirituality about them that is hard to find anywhere else. Bryson, an American living in England, was in the news this week:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/14/bryson-railway-litter-campaign
When interviewed on the news Bryson looked like a big ole bear himself.

The was a great programme on Channel 4 earlier this week 'Elephant Life After Death'.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8329216/The-Elephant-Life-After-Death-Channel-4-review.html
Admittedly gruesome viewing but pretty amazing. For instance did you know that female Hyenas, according to the documentary, give birth through a penis. In fact what looks like a penis is actually an elongated clitoris. This article, from the Japan Times, explains it in eye wateringly detail:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20020919rh.html


Back to Bears. If you ever get the urge to tackle the AT here's some advice:
If a Bear Charges…
•Remember that many bears charge as a bluff. They may run, then veer off or stop abruptly. Stand your ground until the bear stops, then slowly back away.

•Never run from a bear! They will chase you and bears can run faster than 30 mph.

•Don't run towards or climb a tree. Black bears and some grizzlies can climb trees, and many bear will be provoked to chase you if they see you climbing.

•If you have pepper spray, be sure that you have trained with it before using it during an attack.

Before you start thinking that the AT is the most dangerous place to hike let me draw your attention back to Dartmoor. Quite apart from the legendary Beast of Dartmoor there have been reports of sightings of the devil!
 Dartmoor abounds with myths and legends. It is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of 'spectral hounds', and a large black dog. During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, Dartmoor town of Widecombe-in-the-moor was even said to have been visited by the Devil. Many landmarks have ancient legends and ghost stories associated with them, such as Jay's Grave, the ancient burial site at Childe's Tomb, the rock pile called Bowerman's Nose, and the stone crosses that mark mediaeval routes across the moor. A few stories have emerged in recent decades, such as the 'hairy hands', that are said to attack travellers on the B3212 near Two Bridges; and the 'Beast of Dartmoor', a supposed large cat.
Hairy hands? Detached from a body hands? Give me a bear anyday.