By Sean Fagan
Winter is often a great time for tracking. Snowshoe hare tracks, Ontario, Canada (Photo: Cian Fagan).
.
Winter
A season with attitude
.
With winter there is a natural tendency to spend less time outdoors – to avoid inclement weather.
To even postpone camping trips - until the following spring.
.
I urge you to do the opposite.
.
Personally, I love winter.
I love the challenge of practising bushcraft during challenging winter conditions.
Fire-skills and shelter-making in particular are two skill sets that are well-tested by the rigours of winter.
But it’s not all hard work and perseverance - for winter has its own charm.
The dark nights lend themselves well to enjoyable activities like night-navigation and astronomy.
To my mind, there are few natural wonders that surpass the splendor and vastness of the cosmos on a clear, cloudless night during winter.
In addition, the often snowy conditions of winter make for exceptionally good tracking.
.
If you have the time, and are sitting on the fence about doing a bit of winter camping.
Go anyway.
.
A stark, still morning - everything frozen in a white frosting as the dawn sun rises.
The haunting wails of a vixen in December.
The strange calls of rutting deer drifting through a woodland shrouded in the darkness of night.
.
This is just a small sample of what is happening in winter.
.
Winter is not just about dormancy.
It can be so much more…
.
Leave yourself open to the unexpected pleasures of winter.
It will do you good.
.
.
Related articles on this website:
Recent Comments