Women -- caching alone?

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

I spent so much time in the woods as a kid that I don't mind going it alone if I have to. But on the other hand I don't really like going by myself. I would rather share it with someone and luckily my one of my kids will go with me since they all like caching as much as I do. My hubby likes it but can't walk as well anymore due to a disability. He doesn't mind me going by myself but also knows that I would rather take someone with me. I want to share the fun time with someone if I can. Even one of the grandkids will go with me and they are just 5 and 3. They love their "treasure hunting".

 

I really think this is the key. There are people in the world who truly don't like being alone and it has nothing to do with fear. My mother won't walk from the living room to her bedroom without talking to someone either on the phone or in person. (At one point I suggested meditation as a form of stress relief to her but it was a resounding flop given her need for constant conversation. She finds life without chatter depressing.) For these people being alone is not a form of pleasure, it is a kind of isolating torture, a mental solitary confinement.

 

There are other people who would like to be alone but are afraid to be. Being alone is not mental solitary confinement but a dangerous freedom. Their lives are diminished because their fear robs them of something they would enjoy. Since I was once one of these people, I feel sad whenever I hear of this and I hope that these people can find the balance point between caution and pleasure where bliss resides.

 

Carolyn

 

Update: Apparently this is the hundredth reply to this thread. I assume that there is some prize for getting the hundredth reply. Can someone please forward me the coordinates to my prize.

Edited July 18, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[+HedgeMage]

I do most of my caching with my 6yo son -- which is one step beyond caching alone, as I have both myself and a small defenseless person to worry about. I don't think that being a woman makes me any more vulnerable than a man. There's certainly a perception issue there (a pudgy mommy type looks like an easy target to most), but I can use that to my advantage too.

 

When it is legal to do so, I always travel armed. I've trained with various weapons, and make a point of regularly practicing not just the mechanics of their use, but making good tactical decisions in various situations. (When to fight, when to run, where to position one you must protect, etc.)

 

When I am in an area with cell reception, I have a friend who can securely log into and view the GPS location data broadcast by my cell phone. When I am in an area without cell reception, I bring a ham radio transceiver -- it has much better range than the useless little FRS radios so many carry, and not only to hams generally look after one another, but in the US it is a federal crime to ignore a mayday broadcast.

 

I carry a first-aid kit adequate to the area and distance we will be traveling, and I my son and I both know how to use it.

 

I am aware of my surroundings, and I don't mean simply that I would notice someone tromping after me in an obvious manner. I keep track of any people around, catalog obstacles, avenues of attack, and escape routes everywhere I go -- this level of awareness is all too rare in our world of oblivious saps running around with their iPods turned up and their eyes only on what they are doing.

 

My son also carries a piercing safety whistle, and knows what I expect of him in an emergency so that we can both be safe. He's taking martial arts classes, and will soon be learning to use firearms, so that as he gets older he will be as competent in self-defense as I am, if not more so.

 

Be prepared, and go have fun. The myth that you are necessarily safer with a man around is a dangerous one, because it encourages women not to be prepared for and capable of responding to emergencies. Frankly, most women I know who believe that hang out with men who are completely useless in a first aid or self-defense scenario!

 

--Susan

[+Team MacKenzie]

And here all I worry about are the wolves (saw footprints today on the trail) and black bears. I don't worry about the deer, the moose and the rabbits.

 

Oh and a grouse breaking cover beside the trail will definitely send my pulse racing and make me jump about a mile high...those little suckers come out of nowhere!!!

 

Since I can't whistle and don't even sing to myself in the shower, I definitely prefer taking someone with me when I head a mile into the bush, like today on an overgrown logging trail. I'm never sure on my own if I'm making 'enough' noise and it's sure nice to share the scenery with others.

 

I'm sure glad I don't live where I have to worry about humans too!

[aniyn]

 

Since I can't whistle and don't even sing to myself in the shower, I definitely prefer taking someone with me when I head a mile into the bush, like today on an overgrown logging trail. I'm never sure on my own if I'm making 'enough' noise and it's sure nice to share the scenery with others.

 

Do you use a bear bell?

[+flask]

i don't use a bear bell.

 

i do whistle while i walk, though.

 

it comes in handy when approaching nude sunbathers or when there are hunters in the woods.

 

i am an excellent whistler and alternate between dvorak's humoresque and sousa's manhattan beach.

 

edit to add: i would not think of whistling greig's in the hall of the mountain king. that'd just be creepy.

Edited July 19, 2009 by flask

[+Arrow42]

Do you use a bear bell?

 

I've been thinking about getting a few. How do you get the bears to wear them?

Edited July 19, 2009 by Arrow42

[Mag Magician]

 

Since I can't whistle and don't even sing to myself in the shower, I definitely prefer taking someone with me when I head a mile into the bush, like today on an overgrown logging trail. I'm never sure on my own if I'm making 'enough' noise and it's sure nice to share the scenery with others.

 

Do you use a bear bell?

 

I tried to talk Beth into getting bear bells, but she insisted that the bears were reluctant to let her place them around their necks, she gave up the idea. On a serious note, however, the large 600 lb. bear sow that used to frequent the trail to 3 of my cache hides has passed on to another world, and only some of her offspring weighing about 2 to 300 lbs now reside in the vicinity. I have made every attempt to convince them that bells are in vogue and they should wear the symbol with pride, but so far no takers. She was correct about the wolf prints on the trail today. Judging from the track, it was a large timber wolf I have seen in the area, and although the thought is scary, wolves are just as afraid of hikers as the bears are.

 

In all seriousness, a woman alone on a bush trail is no more likely to be attacked by wildlife than a lone male. In some of your urban area south of 49, I would be absolutely petrified walking alone.

[+bittsen]

In Alaska's National Forests, a tour guide was giving a talk to a group of tourists about hiking in grizzly bear territory: "Most bear encounters occur when hikers, being extra quiet along the trails in hopes of viewing wildlife, accidentally stumble into bears. The resulting suprise can be catastrophic."

 

To avoid this, he suggested that each hiker wear tiny bells on their clothing to warn the bears of their presence. "Also," he said further, "be especially cautious when you see signs of bears in the area, especially when you see bear droppings."

 

One tourist asked, "How do you identify bear droppings?"

 

"Oh that's easy," the guide explained, "its the ones with all the tiny bells in them!"

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

This bear bell discussion is giving me the impression that the safest way to hike through bear country is dressed as a bellydancer with bells and coins sewn to one's clothes and moving while shimmying. It is an odd visual.

 

Carolyn

Edited July 19, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[+Team MacKenzie]

Thanks for the visual Carolyn!

 

It immediately conjured up something that scares me more than the wildlife...(me dressed that way... )

[+briansnat]

This bear bell discussion is giving me the impression that the safest way to hike through bear country is dressed as a bellydancer with bells and coins sewn to one's clothes and moving while shimmying. It is an odd visual.

 

Carolyn

 

I live and cache in bear country and never bothered with bells or anything of the sort. If I'm out with someone else our conversation is usually enough to warn them of our presence. Sometimes though if we are approaching from down wind and the breeze is enough to drown out the conversation, we can surprise them and will sometimes see them before they see us. At that point we'll loudly make our presence known.

 

When I'm alone I sometimes move quietly to increase my chances of seeing one, but most of the time the sound of me walking and my trekking poles clicking on rocks give plenty of warning.

 

My wife looks forward to seeing them if she is hiking with me, but bought a bear bell for when she hikes alone.

Edited July 19, 2009 by briansnat

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

 

I live and cache in bear country and never bothered with bells or anything of the sort. If I'm out with someone else our conversation is usually enough to warn them of our presence. Sometimes though if we are approaching from down wind and the breeze is enough to drown out the conversation, we can surprise them and will sometimes see them before they see us. At that point we'll loudly make our presence known.

 

When I'm alone I sometimes move quietly to increase my chances of seeing one, but most of the time the sound of me walking and my trekking poles clicking on rocks give plenty of warning.

 

My wife looks forward to seeing them if she is hiking with me, but bought a bear bell for when she hikes alone.

 

Thank you. It is good to know that I needn't dress as a bellydancer in the New Jersey woods. I couldn't figure out how to keep the filmy skirts out of the brambles or how to protect one's midsection from ticks while wearing bellydance garb. Of course, if cartoons are anything to go by, merely dressing as a bellydancer, playing a drum, and doing hip circles is enough to get bears dancing along.

 

Seriously, though, I doubt that I walk quietly enough to need bear bells. I probably scare wildlife for miles away. Like your wife, I would love to see bears, though I doubt that they are as tame and people-loving as the bears we saw in Yellowstone when I was a child.

 

Carolyn