Copyright 2002
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
All rights reserved Closer to the Earth
Steve Beyer Before You Leave Home You have probably already made certain preparations for your wilderness trip. If one of your aims on your trip is to get closer to nature, then there may be additional things you can do before you leave for the wilderness. Here are some suggestions.  Read a good book on ecology. There are lots of these, at all levels of complexity. Two books I think are particularly good for our purposes are Alan Beeby & Anne-Maria Brennan, First Ecology (London, UK: Chapman & Hall, 1997), ISBN 0-412-63060-5; and Frank B. Golley, A Primer of Environmental Literacy (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998), ISBN 0-300-07049-7.
Read about the area where you will be going. Find out about the animals and plants you will encounter there. Read about the terrain, the weather, and the ecosystem. Determine whether there are any potential risks, such as venomous reptiles, as well as things you will particularly want to do or see while you are there. Find out what gear or preparation you will need for a safe and healthy stay in that environment.
Prepare a gift for the wilderness. This, of course, should be something that will not burden the ecology, but rather will enter the recycling processes of the particular ecosystem you will be in. One example of such a gift is tobacco or kinnick-kinnick – tobacco mixed with other herbs – which you can carry in a small pouch. It is even better if you are able to make the pouch yourself. It is consistent with the traditions of many Native North American peoples to offer a pinch of tobacco to the earth in gratitude for a gift – for example, in the place where you have harvested a medicinal plant. The idea is to begin developing a sense of humility and gratitude toward the earth even before you set forth into the wilderness. < Previous Next > | 
