Michael Tweed - Mmm, Wilderness

Another time I ventured out into the wilderness this semester was during spring break. I had nothing to do, so I ventured off into the woods off of Denbigh BLVD. by myself. I walked probably about 1.5 hours into the woods; observing deer, different ecosystems, hunting/maintenance roads, and different densities of forest. I stopped when I got to a spot where someone had leveled an acre of forest for no apparent reason, so I turned around and went a different way back. On the way back I hit some dense forest and as I was walking I got the crap scared out of me when I came up on around 10 deer who were all staring at me. I knew then that I was out there, in the wildest part of this forest. I felt naked because I was alone and had no weapon, and I knew that a buck would take me down easily on his own turf. Luckily, they all ran away from me; but from that point on I carried a big stick like a gun hoping they would recognize it. After the deer incident, I walked another 30 minutes into the woods, accepting the fear and exhilaration of being in the wilderness with no one around and not even a trail to follow. But then, abruptly, a park ranger SUV rolled down an invisible rocky road 30 feet in front of me. This also scared the crap out of me; it was a slap in the face from civilization and a kick in the balls by the police. I did not know if I was trespassing, and that was a bad time to deal with the cops. So I froze in place and stood like a tree. He drove right past me; thank god. Even though there was another ten minute walk after that, that was the end of my journey and wilderness experience; a big slap in the face from civilization.