Well, this past week I was looking down into the holler toward Webb’s Creek thinking about how “lack of preparation” sometimes works out best. Some of my fondest memories were born out of poor preparation. I’m not suggesting that the Boy Scouts change their motto to “Never Be Prepared” and certainly lack of preparation is not the solution to every problem. Consider the always well prepared chipmunk.
A few years ago a scientist captured a chipmunk scurrying about in the forest. The scientist counted the grass seeds in the cheeks of the little feller and they totaled 1,134. He had a giant mouthful of preparation. Chipmunks gather and then stash the seeds for those cold winter days when a helping of grass seeds is the only prescription for wintertime chipmunk blues. Survival mandates the chipmunk to prepare. As with the chipmunk, preparation is also a survival necessity for at least two of our major life activities; renewing your driver’s license and going fishing. Without proper documents or bait both of those adventures would fail. For everything else try winging it to liven things up and improve the results.
Last summer I was conducting research for a hiking book and went off trail to cut-off a few miles. I became a bit disoriented, sat down on a rock and unfolded my map. I scanned down to Ouzel Falls Trail in the Wild Basin. For those of you who don’t hike for a living, Wild Basin is in the Rocky Mountains and that map was useless (at least for map reading) in my current rock-based location in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was map-less, but on the way out of my mess I discovered an incredible pioneer homesite with an awesome standing chimney that I would never have seen had I been carrying a map for the correct mountain range. Lack of preparation once again really paid off.
Further proof for my argument is the time I mis-directed local mountain man Mark Clark. Following a friendly, but heated discussion with our hiking group he reluctantly agreed to follow my directions and hike back to get our car. I would lead the rest of our group to a nearby designated location and we would wait for our volunteer chauffeur. I pointed to a spot on the map where he could easily cut east 200 yards, reach the highway and then have an easy four mile paved trek to retrieve our vehicle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a topographical map and the 200 yards to the highway was pretty much vertical requiring ropes, rigging and rappelling—he had none of those items. It turned into a very long 100% heat and humidity adventure for him and for the rest of our hiking group provided a lifetime of hilarious memories. Over time I believe Mark will also come to appreciate the humor and he has already pretty much forgiven us.
If I were to plot a graph of the high points and exciting memories of my life they would directly correlate with a general lack of preparedness. There is always a predictable flat four-lane expressway available for you, but every once in a while grab the wrong map and hop on that winding and hilly dirt road with blind spots and surprises around every turn. Forget about those numbered miles to the next exit… just hang on for the ride. That is just how it looks from my log cabin.
John LaFevre is a local speaker and co-author of the interactive national park hiking book series, Scavenger Hike Adventures, Falcon Guides, Globe Pequot Press. Contact John at scavengerhike@aol.com or at his blog at Falcon.com. Artist G. Webb lives in Pittman Center, Tennessee. Gwebbgallery.com.
