Venturing off the trail - for once

摘要

I often get the sense from hikers that the trail is the thing and that the forest around it is the backdrop, not to be trespassed or transgressed, as though "there be dragons out there" or something. With the arrival of warm summer weather and longerdays many of us welcome the opportunity to get outdoors, explore new places, hike trails both familiar and new. Fresh air, exercise and finding the forest among the trees are interests many of us share in our various ways. Trails are often the focus of our experience in the forest...finding them, following them, maintaining them or perhaps mapping them.