I post this with some trepidation ...

Does anybody else have mystical experiences while soloing?

I've done a lot of two and three day solo's with no unusual experiences. However, for me, my two ten and eleven day solo's are memorable for their mystical experiences.

After the third day I start experiencing unusual (weird) thoughts that seem to lengthen as the trip progresses.

In one of his books (I cannot remember which one), Sigurd Olson describes such moments as "wholeness with the earth." For me, the word "clarity" seems to explain it ... as in, I clearly see that the entire world is beautiful and important. I am a very, very insignificant part of it. And, that's OK ... almost a relief. There is no concern for my physical self. I just do not matter in the grand scheme of things.

I cannot find words to fully explain these experiences. Anybody else have similar events while soloing? (It never happens on short trips or when I'm with a group)

That is the reason I, and I suppose a few others here, go to the BW. Not weird in any way, more primeval.

Yes, very similar. One of the advantages of soloing in the BW is the lack of distractions. It becomes like one long meditation. One old guy once told me that when all the internal chatter stops and your mind is quiet, then you can hear God.

Nice one Boonie. The trick for me is to just slow it all down. that's another reason why I will bring binoculars. I'm forced to just slow down and observe things.

As far as mystical - I don't know. I do know I lose a lot of anxiety feelings when I solo. I like to write in a journal too. It's cathartic.

I also do a lot of writing when I'm solo, TomT. Something I don't have much time for in the chaos of my day-to-day life.

I understand that feeling. Except I don't agree that we are insignificant. Rather, I think what we experience is the feeling of equality. And perhaps of belonging. And of course awe at the complete beauty of everything. That everything is connected and of equal value. Balance. For a species that inherently thinks of itself as having more value -this "lessening" or more accurately "evening" may be experienced by us as a feeling of being insignificant. But I think we are significant. We belong here. It's just that we have no greater meaning and value than anything else in this place.

Though I often like to think I do. And after all, what the hell do I know? I'm just the wee bairn of an eejit from the Falls Road in Belfast.

writing is a great release after traveling all day.

i get a mystical experience any time i am in a good canoe. that's why i canoe.

quote IBFLY: "I understand that feeling. Except I don't agree that we are insignificant. Rather, I think what we experience is the feeling of equality. And perhaps of belonging. And of course awe at the complete beauty of everything. That everything is connected and of equal value. Balance. For a species that inherently thinks of itself as having more value -this "lessening" or more accurately "evening" may be experienced by us as a feeling of being insignificant. But I think we are significant. We belong here. It's just that we have no greater meaning and value than anything else in this place.

Though I often like to think I do. And after all, what the hell do I know? I'm just the wee bairn of an eejit from the Falls Road in Belfast.
"

Very well said. You described my mystical experiences in a better manner than I can say it myself.

Good topic.

I don't know if they are mystical experiences for myself, more along the lines of clarity of thought, or clarity is the path to inner peace, to quote The Simpsons.

When I first started going to the BWCA, I was hoping for those mystical experiences. In retrospect, I realized that I was trying (to quote Sig Olson) to "search for places where the singing may be heard" and that I had "a restlessness within us, an impatience with things as they are, which modern life with its comforts and distractions does not seem to satisfy."

And so I would head to the BWCA, or the Superior Hiking Trail, or Colorado, or Alaska, or whererever I might go and camp, hoping to feel an expiernce that would transcend my daily life.

And I did find those moments. I have many memories of amazing sunsets, foggy sunrises, double rainbows, moose and bears 30 feet away from me, giant fish on my line, and flowers touched by dew and sparking with a thousand diamonds in the morning sun. Just a whole lot of beautiful, transcendent moments.

But all those moments are just "tears in rain" and they will be lost to time eventually. Its how we live our daily lives, and striving to find those mystical moments on a daily basis, that are the true tellers and eye openers.

And when I am missing that clarity of thought, of who I am and what I am doing, that's when I throw together a camping trip. Helps every time.

All I can really say, is that Sig Olson puts into words way better then I ever could. Read his "The Singing Wilderness."

quote boonie: "Yes, very similar. One of the advantages of soloing in the BW is the lack of distractions. It becomes like one long meditation. One old guy once told me that when all the internal chatter stops and your mind is quiet, then you can hear God. "

Very interesting notion. It seems that a lot of the thinking we do in everyday life involves language. When I am in the BW for a while, I experience times when the internal chatter quiets down and I just feel "there". It's a great way to truly experience God's handiwork.

on my two week BWCA solo in August i made the mistake of pushing all the way to Agnes.for a old guy all that unloading and reloading is just as bad as the carrys.so i get to Agnes sort of late in the day and all i want is a place to pitch a tent,any site no matter how beat up would do.i'm thinking of looking on the West side where my Wife and i camped some years ago but i can see smoke from that camp.
as i'm floating around two otters pop up just a canoe length away on the East side,i paddle over for a photos and they come up for a look a me at bit farther away to the East so i decide they are trying to tell me something and start for a camp to the East and find just the right one in a short time.
it gets better.a fine camp for a busy lake in wonderful shape with a clean fire place and a sunset view.i'm just settling in,no tent up or really unpacked and while i'm down in my camp chair relaxing and having a big drink of juice a otter,just one,swims by the camp,stops and looks right at me...no joke..and pops under water again.
i took that as a "over this way and ok he found the camp" otter experience.they have been around several times when i was making a hard choice,the first was on my first BW solo when i was about to cross La Croix in "iffy" water.i put my trust in the little guys and that seals the BW solo "experience" for me as in "odd" stuff happens.