The Darkling Wilderness

Mount Rainier, the largest peak in Washington State, was named on May 8, 1792, by Captian George Vancouver. He called the peak "Mount Rainier" after his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. " ... The weather was serene and pleasant, and the country continued to exhibit, between us and the eastern snowy range, the same luxuriant appearance. At its northern extremity, mount Baker bore by compass N. 22 E.; the round snowy mountain, now forming its southern extremmy, and which, after my friend Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguished by the name of MOUNT RAINIER, bore N. [S.] 42 E. ... " [Captain George Vancouver, May 8, 1792] For the past several years, the Puyallup Tribe has been leading the effort to rename Mount Rainier and give it back its original name — Mount Tacoma, or Mount Tahoma. In the Native language Twulshootseed, the mountain is called "Taquoma", most tribes near Yakima pronounce the word “Tahoma.” Various Native American names for Mount Rainier inc...

According to the Washington Military Department - The legends of Bigfoot go back beyond recorded history and cover the world. In North America – and particularly the Northwest – you can hear tales of seven-foot-tall hairy men stalking the woods, occasionally scaring campers, lumberjacks, hikers and the like. Bigfoot is known by many titles with many different cultures although the name Bigfoot is generally attributed to the mountainous Western region of North America. The common name Sasquatch comes from the Salish Sasquits, while the Algonquin of the north-central region of the continent refer to a Witiko or Wendigo. Other nations tell of a large creature much like a man but imbued with special powers and characteristics. The Ojibway of the Northern Plains believed the Rugaru appeared in times of danger and other nations agreed that the hairy apparition was a messenger of warning, telling man to change his ways. North American settlers started reporting sightings during the late 1800s...

To develop skills for the backcountry, it is essential that you spend time in the forest, out on the ground, practicing and developing your fieldcraft. I encourage you to join the Mountaineers ( https://www.mountaineers.org/ ) or the Mazamas ( https://mazamas.org/ ) and to get out into the field and participate in their activities. Attend courses such as Mountaineering Oriented First Aid (MOFA), NOLS Wilderness First Aid / Wilderness First Responder, and in-person Wilderness Skills / Wilderness Survival courses such as those offered by the Alderleaf Wilderness College ( https://www.wildernesscollege.com/ ).   Before you can go practice your skills in the field you must gain some basic knowledge, which can be accomplished through reading, taking online courses, and watching videos that are designed to demonstrate basic outdoor skills. This online training serves as an introduction or supplement to in-person training and practice in the field, allows you to study at your own pace, an...

  The philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset, examines the nature of hunting and its impact on man the hunter. Ortega "anticipated with profound accuracy the direction and basic formulations of a discipline which does not yet exist, a true ecology of man." Although published in Lisbon in 1942, its insights into anthropology and ecology make it very timely, and its publication is a significant scientific and literary event. In addition to the Introduction by Dr. Shepard, which describes in detail Ortega's anticipation of the recent developments in bringing the social and natural sciences together, the book includes a Preface by the translator, Howard B. Wescott, who sketches Ortega's life and work, and a set of superb drawings made especially for this edition, depicting the drama of the hunt through the ages. ( https://amzn.to/3YTPrDG ) Now out-of-print and difficult to find, and expensive when you do, Meditations on Hunting is certainly worth reading. I first learned of t...

In 1928, the Canadian National Railways published a small booklet called Campcraft and Woodlore . The booklet contained, among other things, "29 Well-Tested Hints for the Outdoorsman" . 1. Do not sit or lie on bare ground; it is harmful and likely to cause sickness. It is better if caught out in the rain to sit on your hat and go bareheaded than to it on the ground. 2. Always carry two waterproof match boxes of the hard rubber kind that will float-one full of salt and one full of matches-and do not use them all the time, but keep in reserve in case of accident. This is cheap life insurance. 3· Drink sparingly of water in a strange country; it may cause dysentery or be very constipating until you get used to it. 4· If your horse won't drink water don't do it yourself; trust your horse, but don't trust your dog, for he will drink any filthy water. 5. Don't fail to take a good compass with a Jock needle, and become familiar with it before you start. Don't wai...

The Cascadia Bioregion encompasses all or portions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta. Bioregion is short for ‘bio-cultural region’ and are geographically based areas defined by a physical traits; land or soil composition, watershed, climate, flora, and fauna; as well as the cultural traits of the inhabitants that live within them, and act upon them. The Cascadia Bioregion includes the entire watershed of the Columbia River (as far as the Continental Divide), as well as the Cascade Range from Northern California well into Canada. The delineation of a bioregion is defined through watersheds and ecoregions, with the belief that political boundaries should match ecological and cultural boundaries, and that culture stems from place. Stretching along more than 2500 miles of Pacific coastline, Cascadia extends for as long and as far as the Salmon swim - from the glacial cold Copper River Watershed in South East Alaska to ...

Born in 1821, George Washington Sears is renowned for his writing for Forest and Stream magazine, as well as publishing the classic camping guide Woodcraft in 1884 and his poetry collection Forest Runes in 1887. Writing under the pen name “Nessmuk,” he helped popularize canoeing, camping, and wilderness conservation, notably in the Adirondacks. He worked with pioneering boat builder J. Henry Rushton to create one of the first lightweight and affordable canoes, succeeding to such a degree that his boat Sairy Gamp was a featured exhibition at the Smithsonian. Upon his death, both a lake and a mountain in Pennsylvania were named in his honor. Forest Life ( https://amzn.to/4fNGpOM ) collects George Washington Sears' timeless writing about the joys of exploring the wilderness, edited for a modern audience. In text both practical and inspirational, Sears' provides enduring wisdom about trips into the woods and lakes, including equipment, campfires, fishing, camp cooking, traveling l...

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) carried a unique air rifle, designed by Italian inventor Bartolomeo Girandoni circa 1779. This air gun, known as the Girandoni air rifle or Windbüchse, was part of Captain Meriwether Lewis’s arsenal. The Girardoni air rifle was chambered in fairly large calibers suited for hunting deer, boar, and other medium-sized game, with an effective lethal range of up to 150 yards. Though often more complex to produce, air guns were much quieter than their black powder contemporaries and didn't create obstructing smoke, didn't foul easily, were less affected by the elements, offered a more reliable "ignition" system, and in almost every case could be reloaded faster than conventional firearms, with some models offering the user the ability to load from a prone or sitting position rather than standing. Just as on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, there is a place for an air rifle on today's expeditions and wilderness adventures. Modern...

In 1915, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) was established to further the interests of amateur radio operators. Hiram Percy Maxim was the first president of the ARRL, and today ARRL remains the largest advocacy organization for Radio Amateurs in the United States. In 1927, Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), under the Department of Commerce. Licensing responsibility for Amateurs was transferred to the FRC. This later became the Federal Communications Commission, when in 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934. The first radios were introduced in the Intermountain Region and used by the Forest Service in about 1928 or 1929, and required a pack outfit to haul them in plus tools and equipment to set them up. They were a great aid to Forest Service men. The first two-way radios were used about 1937 or 1938 for communication between fire camps and the Supervisor's Office in Jackson, WY. Today, radio remains an import...

In 1916, Horace Kephart wrote “The man who goes afoot, prepared to camp anywhere and in any weather, is the most independent fellow on earth. He can follow his bent, obey the whim of the hour, do what he pleases whenever he pleases, without deference to anybody, or care for any beast of burden, or obedience to the course of any current. He is footloose and free. Where neither horse nor boat can go, he can go, seeing country that no other kind of traveler ever sees. And it is just these otherwise inaccessible places that have the strongest lure for anyone who delights in new discovery, in unspoiled nature, and in the charms of primitive society. The man with the knapsack is never lost. No matter whither he may stray, his food and shelter are right with him, and home is wherever he may choose to stop. There is no anxiety about the morrow, or the day after. Somewhere he will come out - and one place is as good as another. No panic-stricken horse, or wrecked canoe, can leave him naked in t...

The Darkling Wilderness is my Personal Blog. “It seems to be absolutely necessary for the morality, the stability and health of our nation, that our young people should have free access to the forest and field. A normal life is produced neither by the palace or the hovel – it needs the hot rays of the sun, the pelting of the storm, the bivouac in the wilderness, the climbing of mountains, shooting the wrath of the rapids, in order to build up the muscles, the mind and morals of a well-balanced manhood.” - (D.C. Beard, 1925) “We need the tonic of wildness–to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground…. We can never have enough of Nature.” - (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854) “Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society. It’s a ...