Escape, Songlines

Visions of the Rewilding Renaissance
#1

So if civilization collapses and things get messy in the whole Grandfather sky turns red and you have one year to hide in the wilderness fashion where are people going to go? Are you gonna stay at home? Close to home? Or do you have a place picked out in the Canadian Rockies? Personally I will try to stay here in Pennsylvania. It’s not very remote, you are never more than 5 miles from a dirt road, but on the other hand it’s not very developed. You can travel for 100s of miles without leaving tree cover and the biggest advantage is I know where everything is. I know where all the plants are and when to find them, and the animals, the rockshelters. Nick already has caches of guns and bullets throughout the woods (so he tells me, I’m not allowed to know where they are) and I plan on starting to put food caches in any day now. It started snowing again :’( They won’t exclusively be for emergencies. I want to be able to travel and camp freely this summer and not have to carry shit, but not have to go hungry if my skills suck either.

So what about songlines? Well I was learning about the north star which brought me to this link about a song to direct escaped slaves to freedom: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk/gourd2.html. And I’ve also heard Jon Young speak about how songlines direct the Aborigines on their walkabout. So I was thinking it would be cool if there were secret directions to the places people like us were (probably) going to be so other people could travel to join our tribe or exchange information. Of course it would depend on what direction you started from…But for example for someone coming from the West to where I live might start the directions when the land gets really hilly. That means you are almost out of Ohio. Then they might continue until they hit the first big river which would be either the Ohio or Allegheny. Then you might follow the river North to the reservoir…perhaps empty. Then you might start counting streams or bays or look for a hill with a funny shape. Then you might walk up that hill until you encounter some rocks…and in a secret enclosed space in the middle of four boulders, lo and behold there’s Penny Scout in a buckskin skirt roasting a trout next to her sweet bark shelter.

It would be cool to have bioregional meeting centers but I don’t know if you can really plan on that sort of thing. Anyhow I volunteer “my” forest to be a meeting center. If anyone’s interested I’ll write you a real songline on how to get to my basecamp! After I put you through an elaborate test of loyalty and swear you to secrecy of course.

#2

We can take a very leisurely 5-day bike ride and be in the foothills of Appalachia. We have family there and know the area pretty well. Lots of rolling hills, streams and trees = lots of places to hide (and forage/hunt!).

The songline idea is brilliant! It’s got my head spinning!

#3

I recently figured out that from where I am livin right now I can take my canoe down some canals and slow rivers to get to back bay/albermarle sound or the great dismal swamp. I dont know that either area would be good for the long term, but it is comforting to know that I have a couple city-escape routes that avoid cars and roads completely.

#4

Man, that’s awesome! Don’t know why canoeing out never occurred to me! Guess it really is about imagination, no…?

#5

My local “wilderness” consists of barren chalk downland, peppered with coniferous treefarm plantations and the occasional patch of natural forest. Handily enough it’s all to the north of me, so I too would follow the North Star to get there.

You can travel for 100s of miles without leaving tree cover

:o

You lucky little expletive! No such luck for me. Most of where I am has been under cultivation for centuries. Movement would consist of “island hopping” between patches of woodland. Probably at night…

#6

[quote=“jhereg, post:4, topic:156”][quote author=scavenger link=topic=138.msg2428#msg2428 date=1182137427]
I recently figured out that from where I am livin right now I can take my canoe down some canals and slow rivers to get to back bay/palmico sound or the great dismal swamp. I dont know that either area would be good for the long term, but it is comforting to know that I have a couple city-escape routes that avoid cars and roads completely.
[/quote]

Man, that’s awesome! Don’t know why canoeing out never occurred to me! Guess it really is about imagination, no…?[/quote]

jhereg

Hey, incase you haven’t seen it, in the recent new release, Children Of Men, they totally canoe out!

#7

Well I’ve got my “bug out bag” packed. I keep my minimalist gear on me all the time. So I’m ready to go if I have to.

But I’m not sure that’s what I’m meant to do. My entire life I have wanted to climb the buildings, to wander the broken neighborhoods. I think my job is to bring the wild back to the places that have been paved over, to as Ran Prieur has put it, be the weed that cracks the pavement. I love that phrase, it resonates with me. Unless it’s really really bad, I’m going to stay here. If it’s really bad, I’ll find my way elsewhere. If there’s any single most valuable skill I’ve cultivated, it’s how to walk somewhere.

#8

I was looking at the trackerschool.com website today to see what was new. I noticed that Tom is going to be teaching an intensive class on the 3rd Prophecy.

http://trackerschool.com/news_current.asp#40

I had heard of the four prophecies but only knew what the first two were so I googled to find more info.

I read the following site and another one like it.

http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/redskies.html

It makes me regretful that I missed the Advanced Scout class this summer. I don’t really have a set plan because I don’t know where I will be when it all goes down. I’ll be in the Mojave starting in October for 8 months so that seems like a good place to get away from people as long as I can learn to survive there.

My biggest worry really is for my family and friends. Once I’m in Cali, my immediate family will be pretty spread out. I hope my brother who is aware of the prophecies will get out of D.C. soon. I can’t think of a worse place to be other than L.A.

Anyway the third prophecy can’t be too far off and there’s never been a better time to rewild and learn scout skills:

"The fourth and final sign will appear through the next ten winters following the night that the stars will bleed. During this time, the Earth will heal itself and man will die. For those ten years, the children of the Earth must remain hidden in the wild places, make no permanent camps, and wander to avoid contact with the last remaining forces of man. They must remain hidden, like the ancient scouts, and fight the urge to go back to the destruction of man. Curiosity could kill many."
#9

Rome. 3000 years of continual human habitation has done hell to that city.

#10

The city is fine as a city, with all it’s resources imported, but the land base is destroyed from constant human inhabitation.

#11

the idea of songs to locate things is fantastic…melody is one of the most deeply penetrating ways to fix words to memory

songs about following large geographies on foot may not be of much usage beyond emotional comfort though (every bit of land has been disected and geographically lumped by now, in the gps or a map book)…but, if we lose those archives (through destruction or abandonment), then oral localizing techniques will be of use

if ‘society’ falls apart, there are 3 things a person would need (not in any particular order):

1-food
2-shelter
3 health (psychological/physical)

it would seem to me that being in a physical evironment where you are comfortable and have a command of knowledge would be the best recipe for having these 3 things. Therefore, travelling long distances to regions you do not know would probably be a bad idea unless you had a guide, or unless the impoetus for travel was some great reward (to accomplish one of those 3 things). If someone were going all the way across the country to be with someone they loved, that very well could be paramount to anything. If you were travelling far to get to a huge cache of food and supplies, that might be worth it.

But you would need to have some form of existence (specialist or generalist) you were going to embrace, and act according to that skillset…

Like playing dungeon and dragons (yes! I was able to weave D&D into my post! yes!): Thief, Fighter, Druid, Paladin, whatever… if you aren’t outfitted to be a Fighter, don’t put yourself in arenas where physical combat is going to be common (i.e. leave the city, leave large scale urban environments)…if you don’t have good foraging and hunting skills (Druid), you would be best in an urban environment perhaps acting as a Thief.

lots of questions to answer:

-are you going to build a fortress or base and protect it?
-are you doing to be migratory and let elusion serve as your camoflauge and protection?
-will you share resources with others and try and establish community in your region?
-will you just hide out secluded and not form alliances with those around you?
-what will your philosophy be regarding violence?
-what will be the most valuable things to prepare with (this may sound whacked, but, if you are planning on trading, stock up on booze and tabaccoo…once the main supplies of those things run out, you will in effect have gold bouillon…but do you want to pass that energy through your hands?)

that list can go on forever…

There are some extreme visions of the future in Courmac Mccarthy’s ‘The Road’ (Blood Meridian might be a more apt reality if you transposed it on the future) or the occasionally interesting TV show ‘Jericho’…my thinking is it won’t be that bad (though it could be)

Personally, I have guns, supplies, fishing and camping gear, and a coastal loction I will go to and squat in a cabin with whomever is my partner at that time. The coast has the most abundant food supply where I live. And the least amount of people.

Just find people who share your values and loyalty. Be trained in the skills necessary. If you are more prepared than others, you will insure your value.

Humans are incredibly adaptable (and destructive). The greatest challenge likely will be making sure we honor the world in ways our wreckless ancestors did not.