Many of us go hiking or spend time "in nature" so we can "unplug" or whatever you want to call the act of getting away from the normal hustle and bustle of the world.
Of course, that hustle and bustle is normally loud, so we might tend to tune people out while we think about the hundred other things we need to be doing while talking to someone.
Nearly every communications skills and soft-skills leadership class will tell you that "active listening" is key to good interpersonal communications. Instead of thinking of our own comeback and what we'll say when the other person quits talking, we should be actually listening to what that person is saying! Crazy talk, right?!
I'm here to tell you that "active listening" is a great activity for the backcountry. The soft-skill leadership books are right; if you want to truly understand what you're listening to, you have to really listen. Sit down. Shut-up. Just listen. Hear what nature is saying. It's kind of like the old saying "stop and smell the roses," but you're stopping to listen to the land. But what does that really mean? How do you do that?
My favorite way to just sit and listen is to find a nice meadow or woodsy area in the backcountry that is only a short walk from the tent. A short walk is normally no more than a couple minutes, but it could be up to ten minutes.
Anyway, when you find that spot, start thinking of when you want to visit. Dawn and dusk are great and have the best opportunity to see animals like bears or wolves if you are in Yellowstone National Park. The heat of the mid-afternoon will be a fairly dull time to sit and listen, but on a cool fall day mid-day could provide a great nap-time, too.
Sitting and listening with a hot cup of coffee in the cool morning or a nice warm dessert of some sort or a hot tea at dusk is very soothing. My favorite time to sit and listen is in the middle of the night, and I'll add some specific moments about that at the end of this in hopes it will entice you appropriately to get out of bed at night.
So how do you "sit and listen" and what's this all about? This is as simple as it sounds....you just sit and listen. Get comfy leaning up against a tree or something. You can take some minor distractions like a cup of coffee, binoculars, or pen and paper. You really should take a camera if you like backcountry photography. That's about it for distractions.
Don't take your cigarettes or Copenhagen because the smell really does travel a lot and might keep some of the animals away (once you get away from the smells for a week or so, you'll notice they really are that strong). A lot of people are hooked on their portable music, but I recommend you leave that in the tent, too, so that you have all five sense available to you for safety if no other reason.
Pretty soon, something will catch one of your senses. A deer walks through your meadow. A wolf pack trots through. A grizzly turns over stumps looking for breakfast. A sandhill crane sounds-off with its morning call. On a cool, October morning in the Rocky Mountains, a bull elk bugles for his girls. Fish start jumping. Geese honk as they fly overhead. A bald eagle cruises above the river looking for food. As the sun rises, the dew disappears from the ground cover.
As the sun sets, the colors of the alpine-glow shift to deep oranges and then fade to black before the full moon returns to provide a contrasting white glow.
Plan anywhere from 10-15 minutes to maybe an hour of "sit and listen" time. Get comfortable. Use the binoculars to zoom in on a particular bird fluttering in a nearby tree or to see if that big bird flying over the lake is an eagle or an osprey. I think you'll find at least a few memorable things each time you sit and listen.
One thing that you might not think of but is actually really cool is to go to that spot in the middle of the night, especially if it's a full moon or new moon. The full moon in the mountains gives an incredible amount of light, and you'll be amazed at how everything looks and feels at night under the full moon. Hint, check the lunar schedule to know what night the full moon is and when during the night it is at its peak.
You probably won't see any animals in the middle of the night, but it will indeed be a memorable evening if a wolf starts howling, an owl starts hooting, or some animal starts making noises and you don't know what that animal is...or where he is! Sound travels incredibly well during the calm nights.
A new moon is star searching time. If you haven't been out of the city-lights aura in quite some time, you really should schedule this during your trip to any national park or other nature area. The stars are amazing. If you don't want to set an alarm clock to get up, drink a lot of water before going to sleep. At 2:00am, you'll need to get up and pee, which is perfect!
You're already up and out of your tent, so spend a few extra minutes star-gazing. A word of warning....dress warm if you are in the northern mountains or make sure you have some bug protection on if you are in the humid south.
I've seen a lot of stars in the backcountry, but there are three times that really stick out in my mind. I hope you get a chance to see something like these.
While at the Granite Park Chalet in Glacier National Park on a summer hike, my wife got up in the middle of the night and then decided I needed to get up, too. I had just barely got to sleep because of the very thin walls and noisy beds and mattresses in the bunk rooms, but I got up even though she hadn't told me why. Right after stepping out of the bunk room, I knew immediately why she got me up.
The most impressive star show was on full display! The view was directly out of the textbooks, with so many stars I had never seen before, even with the many nights in the backcountry. I'm pretty sure I could see the swirls of the Milky Way Galaxy.
At Charlotte Lake in the Southern Sierra Mountains in King's Canyon National Park, the moon was full and the stars were bright. Two nights in a row, I woke up in the middle of the night, complaining that somebody was flashing a light in our tent.
My wife was kind enough to put me at ease by simply reminding me that the light was the full moon that was strong enough to wake me up! After the moon woke me up the second night, I got my wife to step out of the tent for a bit to do the "sit and listen" bit.
We sat on a rock by the lake and enjoyed the moment. Then we noticed that the stars were no-kidding twinkling on the water of the lake. I thought that was just in the songs and poetry, but there it was for real. All I had to do to see it was to be out of my tent late at night and then "sit and listen" quietly and notice what was going on around me.
Finally, while staying near Hellroaring Creek in northeastern Yellowstone National Park, I lay awake one night listening to an owl hoot so loudly I swore he was in the tree above me. "This is so cool. He's right above me!" I thought. When I told my fishing buddy, Roy, about it the next day, he was certain that same owl was above his tent all night, too. In any case, the hooting was loud and went on forever.
