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Mountain
The author's first real exposure to mountains came after his freshman year in college when he worked as a hiking instructor for a boys' summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina. The next year...view moreThe author's first real exposure to mountains came after his freshman year in college when he worked as a hiking instructor for a boys' summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina. The next year he spent ten weeks on the Appalachian Trail writing and studying botany “in the wild.” He was hooked.
The following year he dropped out of college and headed for the mountains. Catching a train cross-country to Montana, he hopped a bus southbound skirting the Rocky Mountains.
At one point he simply stepped off the bus and walked into the mountains with only a backpack, machete, and knife (no gun and no food!) to learn what the mountains offered to teach him - or die trying.
He spent the next few months eating little other than rattlesnakes, ants, mice, the occasional fish and bird, and whatever wild edible plants he could forage. He spent pitch-black nights dry-camped on mountainsides listening to the howls of coyotes and the shrill shrieks of rutting bull elk. He faced the perils of rivers, mountain trails, brutal weather, and wild animals (including bears and bull moose) utterly alone - and he grew strong. Other than the handful of items in his backpack, he had nothing beyond what he could make, forage, catch, or kill by his own hand.
After a few months on his own, he heard about an old mountain man still living on the “River of No Return” in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and sought him out as a mentor. Together they had many unforgettable experiences over the next two years.
Upon returning to "civilization," he completed his college degree - a B.S. in Philosophy - and forged a career as an air traffic controller.
Now retired, he lives in Florida and practices “laughter along the surf.”
The author's first real exposure to mountains came after his freshman year in college when he worked as a hiking instructor at a boy's summer camp in the mountains of North Carolina. The next year he spent ten weeks on the Appalachian Trail writing and studying botany “in the wild.” He was hooked
The following year he dropped out of college and headed for the mountains. Catching a train cross-country to Montana, he hopped a bus southbound skirting the Rocky Mountains.
At one point he simply stepped off the bus and walked into the mountains with only a backpack, machete, and knife (no gun and no food!) to learn what the mountains offered to teach him --or die trying.
He spent the next few months eating little other than rattlesnakes, ants, mice, the occasional fish and bird, and whatever wild edible plants he could forage. He spent pitch-black nights dry-camped on mountainsides listening to the howls of coyotes and the shrill shrieks of rutting bull elk. He faced the perils of rivers, mountain trails, brutal weather, and wild animals (including bears and bull moose) utterly alone --and he grew strong. Other than the handful of items in his backpack, he had nothing beyond what he could make, forage, catch, or kill by his own hand.
After a few months on his own, he discovered an old mountain man still living deep in the Rocky Mountains. Together they had many unforgettable experiences over the next two years.
Upon returning to "civilization," he completed his college degree --a B.S. in Philosophy --and forged a life within the context of “normal” society including marriage, money, mortgages and misfit mischief.
After a twenty-six-year career as an air traffic controller, he retired and published his first book --the reflecting pool: reflections of a mountain man.view less