Trees creak overhead as their bows strain against the wind, a twig snaps close by in the woods as your eyes struggle to focus in the twilight, the distinct shape of a stranger appears on the trail ahead, moving swiftly in your direction. Are you afraid?
The use of the forest as a scary place in stories has been used for generations, from Hansel and Gretel, Snow White to Peter and the Wolf and many more. The beauty of these places belies a menace that is hidden around every corner, or so I’ve been told.
When I first moved to Squamish from Ireland in 2010, the stories I had read in school about the forests resurfaced. Unlike Canada, Ireland has very little land that could be considered wild, and there are no predatory animals left that people have to be worried about. Learning about the bears and cougars in the woods around Squamish made me initially apprehensive to go there.
However, the forest is a part of this town. Trails connect most parts of Squamish and if you are on foot and wish to take the shortest route from one place to another, you will likely enter the woods at some point.
Very quickly I became aware about how to be safe in the forest and how to respect and act around wildlife should I encounter it. Indeed within my first year in Squamish I encountered three black bears on the trails; I was glad I knew how to be bear smart.
As my wife and I ventured further into the forests to access far-off mountains and hidden lakes, we started to notice something else also, not just about the wildlife, but about the strangers we would meet and pass on the trails. Parables and tales tell of ne’er-do-wells inhabiting the forests but what we found proved to be the exact opposite.
We discovered that the further out into the wild we went, the more approachable people seemed to become. If we were in an especially remote location and passed a stranger, we’d usually stop to talk, share some snacks, talk about the weather and trail conditions we’d encountered and ask them for likewise information. There is a shared kinship between people in the mountains and forests that makes even a complete stranger become an instant friend, if only for a moment until we both continue on our ways.
I’ve thought long and hard about why this is. After I’ve been out in the mountains for a few days and shared stories with numerous strangers during that time and come back to towns and cities, I will sometimes forget how different it can be. I will smile at a stranger on the sidewalk and give them a nod and receive a look of confusion from them before I remember that this sort of interaction is only normal on the trails.
I can literally step off the street into the Smoke Bluffs or Coho Park in Squamish and the way people interact with each other changes. Rather than being an outlet for the sinister, as extolled in fables, I’ve found the forests allow us to see each other on a common ground with the shared interest of being out in nature.
In Japan they have what is called “shinrin-yoku” – translated as “forest bathing.” Walks in the woods are prescribed to people for their stress-relieving effects. In many ways I’ve experienced this myself. I’ve never spent time in the forests and felt that that time had been wasted. I always come back calmed, with a clearer mind.
The further out into the wild I’ve gone, the more apparent this effect on how individuals interact seems to become. The sheer scale of the mountains breeds humility. When isolated, away from cell reception and electricity, you get a sense of just how vast the world really is and how small you are in relation to it. Earning one’s place there through sweat and perseverance fills the spirit with a sense of accomplishment.
When I meet people out there who have done likewise, I can see the evidence of this kindred experience in their eyes. They value these untouched places as much as I do. The wild has a way of putting everything in life into perspective. It’s difficult to feel angry at that driver that cut us off in rush hour traffic when standing beneath a 700-year-old cedar and watching beams of sunlight stream down to the forest floor, or standing in the sub-alpine watching older mountain goats guide their kids along precipitous cliffs above.
Residents of Squamish who get to live with this important connection to nature are very fortunate. We can’t help but be reminded of the wild as the forest covered hills and peaks rise up around us in all directions. Our forests and mountains are not without dangers or hazards, but, like with learning to look both ways when crossing the road, a respect for the wild and a humility in how we approach it can allow all of us to safely go there without reservation.
So if you haven’t recently, plan to get out and into our forests. We have many amazing places right near town like Brohm Lake, Murrin Park, Alice Lake… the list goes on. At this time of year the air is crisp and the light is golden at dawn and dusk. Maybe I’ll pass you out there with a smile and a nod, but if I don’t, then happy trails!
