As far as I’m concerned, life NEEDS adventure. The healthiest, happiest people I know are the ones who get outdoors regularly, push themselves a little beyond their comfort zone and learn as they go.

For each of us, adventure starts at a different point, and it’s all good. For a lot of people, leaving behind four solid walls and a roof, sleeping in a roadside campground and having to use a flashlight to walk to the bathroom counts as adventure. They explore hiking trails during the day, return to their roadside camp at night. Good for them! It’s a great start on an Active Outdoors lifestyle.

The next logical step for many is a hut adventure with the AMC or the Maine Huts which gives you the security of a roof and indoor plumbing in remote and beautiful places far from roads.

For other folks, adventure starts when they leave the car behind, put home on their back and start walking a trail through the woods. The woods of the northeast are skeined with thousands of miles of perfectly marvelous hiking trails, many with campsites strung along their length like jewels on a necklace. Getting comfortable with backpacking opens a world of adventures.

I really enjoy seeing people break out of their comfort zone and start adventuring at whatever level is right for them. But, for me, the very best outings involve exploring the blank spaces on a map. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been a hunter all my life, but I’m really comfortable poking my nose into the unknown. When you put your home on your back and take off without a trail to follow, it’s called “bushwhacking,” and I highly recommend it as a goal for everyone.

There’s joy in exploring where you aren’t likely to see anyone else. The Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, and the vast Adirondack Park in New York are prime places to explore off trail.

I have to be honest here: trails are often there for a reason, and the places that don’t get visited often are, at best, very much like the places that you can find more easily on trails. Other times, they are much worse. Heading off into the untracked can put you into swamps, boulder fields, tangles of trees, brush and hobblebush that can be a nightmare to walk through. “Campsites” are often a sort-of-flat spot between trees and rocks, barely big enough to lay out a sleeping bag.

But there are also times when getting off trails can lead you to spots that are absolutely magic. Two places I love to camp, aren’t near any marked hiking trails. One is a pine-covered knob with a spring nearby. The other is just a flat spot by a little spring out in the woods where some long-ago woods wanderer built a fire ring. There are thousands of places like those. You just have to find them.

I wouldn’t have discovered either of those places if I hadn’t been willing to leave the trail and go exploring. Obviously, if you’ve never camped out, don’t start with a bushwhacking trek. But if you’ve already hiked and camped along the trails, a whole new world of adventure awaits you if you’re willing to explore. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!

Tips For Hiking Off Trail

First rule for hiking off trail: carry a map and a compass and know how to use them. You’ll need them to get home when the batteries on your GPS and your cell phone die or you can’t get a signal (it happens…).

Second rule: wear good boots. It’s easier to twist an ankle when you are hiking off the trail, and harder to get yourself back to your car. I like a fairly stout, mid-weight, above-the-ankle boot. I also strongly recommend using trekking poles when hiking with a pack, especially when you are off-trail.

Third rule: Think compact and lightweight. A big backpack that works perfectly for hiking on an open trail will be a major impediment when you are blazing your own path. Pick a compact, narrow backpack that won’t catch on everything. Personally, I like a pack that’s about 65 cubic liters (about 4,000 cu. in) like the Gregory Z-65 or the REI Flash 65. With less room in the pack, your tent, sleeping bag, pad and other gear should also be as compact and lightweight as possible. Because you don’t always find convenient, level openings in the thick forest, bivvy sacks and one-person tents are ideal. You can always find a little spot between trees to lay out a bivvy sack or pitch a tiny tent. That’s all you really need to enjoy a night in the woods, truly away from everything.

A Tale of Woe

I recently got what I think is probably the saddest email ever from a reader. She didn’t say where she was from and I’m not going to use her name, but, she asked if I knew anyone who might want her camping gear. “We camped all over the northeast and my husband was like your wife when we got married. I converted him and the kids. It was GREAT! I have given up camping as it a bit too strenuous now….(Tent up, tent down. Shlep here, shlep there.) Fond memories.”

My first thought was that there must be more to her story than she was telling: illness, injury, major loss. Turns out she and her husband were just “getting older.” How sad for her and her husband that they would give up something they loved just because they are “getting older.” I can’t imagine ever not wanting to build new memories no matter how old I get . . .

I think (I hope!) I’ve convinced her to try out some new, lighter camping gear and get back out sleeping under the stars. What about you? You’re “getting older” every day. What are you not doing that you would enjoy?