I happened across this article about getting way, way of the trail and it made me wonder how many people cave to the urge to bushwack.

The signs in the parks always say “Please stay on the trail” and I tend to go along with them. The problem with sticking to the trail is that you’ll never see anything beyond the range of your eyesight. The mountain ranges and rock formations visible over the next hill off the trail invariably are cooler than the ones on the trail you’re on now.

And just as you can never see anything from the highway — you have to get off the main routes and check out the back roads to find the cool stuff — you’ll never experience all the wilderness has to offer by staying on the trail.

Some might say “well, you’re hurting the environment if you get off trail.” This is true only if a hundred people come along behind you, and a hundred after them. The average person traveling alone or in a small group won’t do any damage that can’t heal itself (assuming they don’t start any wildfires), and the wilderness usually is so big that no two people will take the same route off-trail.

To me, though, staying on trail is a matter of survival. If you’re three miles from the trail, you’re even farther from help if you fall and break your leg. If you really, truly know how to take care of yourself, to find your way back when lost, to cut off your arm with a pocketknife if need be, then fine, head out there. Just don’t be surprised when nobody finds you.