When I started An Outdoor Experience, I wanted it to be a place to share practical outdoor advice (i.e. 4 Simple Fire Starters That Actually Work) but I wanted to keep wilderness philosophy paramount!

Although helpful, outdoor advice is a dime a dozen but stories, however, are worth their weight in gold. You’ve heard my story and some of my philosophy already so instead, today, my Dad is stepping in to share some thoughts with you.

If you’ve been following along this winter, you’ll know my dad.

If you’re new, I’d like you to meet my dad, Dan. Around Camp he is known as “Uncle Dan”.

This spring, he went on an epic solo adventure to walk 520 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain!

After walking all that way, he has brought back some thoughts and stories for us – the first story being about trees and what they have taught him about life!

Enjoy,

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What Trees Have Taught Me About Living Life by Dan Bredemus

Thoreau wrote;  “I went to the woods because I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” 

These words resonate with me in a profound way. All of my life, trees and forests have been my sanctuary, my church, my happy place.

As the miles ticked by on my walk across northern Spain, I encountered many forests – forests of Beech trees, Pines, Eucalyptus, Olive, and many others.

As I now walk through the forest of the Canadian Shield, the temporary nature of the forest is evident. One only needs to look off into the distance to see the burned snags that still pierce the skyline – a reminder that the current forest is always in jeopardy of the next forest fire.

It’s been pointed out that forest fires have burned from Lake Superior across the border country all the way to the western prairie, more than once in the past few hundred years. It’s only the past 100 years or so that modern man has made an effort to “control” Mother Nature. She has managed just fine for millions of years.

In fact, the trees have adapted quite well. The Jack Pine is a prime example. Many Sapiens consider the Jack Pine a weed or an undesirable tree. They tend to be a bit scraggly and they don’t make great saw logs.

If looks determined the value of everything there might be a lot of us that would be considered undesirable.

The notion that monetary value determines “real” value is nonsense. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

After a forest fire, there are a couple of trees that tend to dominate some geographic areas. The Jack has very tight cones. The cone is where it keeps its seeds. During very hot periods in July and August, some of the cones open and spread their seeds. The majority of cones only open during the inferno of a forest fire. The Jack Pine seeds are some of the few that get a head start after a fire.

The trembling Aspen is another tree that gets a head start. The Aspen, sometimes referred to as a “Popple”, is really good at reproduction. They are the rabbits of the tree world. The Aspen sends out shoots from their roots and up pops a new Aspen. If you could lift a forest of Aspen trees above the ground, you would find that they are all connected. The roots of one tree are the veins of another and another.

So, the Aspen reproduces through the roots that are often saved from a fire. If that isn’t good enough, the Aspen also sends out its seeds by air in the form of cotton. The Cotten can blow long distance. The cotton carries Aspen seed. These are some of the reasons that these two trees seem to come back soon after a fire.

An interesting study was conducted searching the extent of tree connectivity among trees of the same species. The hypothesis read something like; Aspen trees in a common forest are connected together, spruce are all connected, and so on. But, the results showed that trees from other species also are connected. Not physically between actual roots in the same way as the Aspen, but connected none-the-less.

The life-giving energy from one tree can be used by other trees.

Perhaps similar to how a family of beaver can completely restore an area. There is a place out west where the wetlands had all but disappeared, most all the wildlife gone. A family of beaver was relocated there rather than be destroyed. Some people are less fond of these magnificent creatures. The beaver did what beavers do, they built a dam and a lodge.

Surely it was not the beavers intent to provide habitat for all the other animals and creatures that returned to the area. But that’s how wonderful Mother Earth is.

There is a saying on the Camino Santiago, “the Camino provides.”

Mother Nature also provides. The forests and ecosystems of earth have been around for millions of years, Humans are but a speck in time. When we humans become impatient and big headed, we only need to look to the trees for inspiration.

They stand tall in all weather, they all work together to survive, they provide life-sustaining oxygen, they provide building materials and shelter to man and beast.

For example, I know a tree that has stood for over 50 years on only rock and moss.

The spring of 1969, the water level on the Seagull River ran high, the bugs were healthy, Helmer, Steve, Dad and I came up to the point property to build the first cabin at Gunflint Wilderness Camp. That cabin is now my home. Just a short paddle up the river is a rock about the size of a really big moose.

On that rock, along with the moss and lichen, grows a small spruce tree. It’s about as tall as a Raven. What fascinates me is that the tree was on that rock in 1969 and it still survives.

Think about that! For more than 50 years, -40F, covered in snow, +100F searing sun, wind, rain, threat of fire, diseases and the list of hardships go on…that little tree soldiers on. I love that tree! 

We should all strive to have the patience of a tree. Go for a walk in the woods as soon as possible and live your life deliberately. 

Happy Trails,

Dan Bredemus