While there are some things you can reasonably expect to see as you go for a walk in nature like wild animals, grass, dirt, and trees, there may be some surprises that pop up along the way. Sometimes, the best part of a nature walk is running into something that seems out of place in the area where you’re walking. A surprising occurrence like viewing a structure that’s been abandoned from afar or even accidentally stumbling upon drug paraphernalia can turn a boring nature walk into an entertaining story that you’ll be able to tell at weddings, bars, and events for years to come.
Are All Nature Walks the Same?
If you rarely wander around in nature, you may be under the impression that every time you walk in nature will produce the same scenes or experiences. For those who are more experienced in walking through a range of natural settings, this will seem absurd. After all, every time you walk through a natural space, you have an opportunity to see something different. You could walk through the same forest or the same patch of a beach a hundred times and still notice something new every time you go there.
Sometimes, the unpredictability of a nature walk can make it so that you don’t want to go for a walk in a certain area. If you know a place like the back of your hand, it can be comforting to indulge yourself in a familiar experience. Although you may be tempted to go through the motions and go to the same nature setting repeatedly, it’s a good idea to mix it up every once in a while and try a new nature setting for your walks.
If you don’t like to go for a nature walk somewhere, that’s all the more reason to give it a try. Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that you’ve seen everything there is to see in a certain area. Once you realize that there could be new plants, animals, objects left by humans, and structures in a place, it makes it seem all the more enticing to explore for the first time or the four-hundredth time!
1. Abandoned Structures
While taking a peaceful walk in nature, there are many different things you may see that are made by man. As you’ll notice after a few nature walks in areas that have been populated by humans for decades with constructed buildings, you may come across any number of abandoned buildings. Houses, factories, and all sorts of other structures are just sitting around waiting to be found that have otherwise been lost to time. Entering these types of abandoned structures is known as Urban Exploration and this activity has grown quite the following over the years on the Internet.
But as mysterious as the thought of exploring these abandoned buildings may be, it can also be incredibly dangerous. The longer a structure has been around for, the more likely it is to have damage that could cause harm to anyone that decides to do some exploring. Injuries can occur that rival some OSHA cases, but the difference is there may not be anyone around to help you get to a hospital. As fun as it is to explore a new location that hasn’t been touched by civilization in many years, proceed with extreme caution.
2. Cave Systems
Depending on where you do your walk in nature, you can find any number of cave systems that have been forming throughout millions and millions of years. Vast networks of caves that have never seen natural sunlight can go on for miles. Some, like Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, are easily accessible to the public and tall enough for you to walk in. Others, like the dreaded Krubera Cave in the country of Georgia, have passages so small that most humans can’t even crawl through them.
The desire to go exploring a network of caves is a very common hobby, known as spelunking. But there are dangers and injury can occur. If an injury occurs while exploring a system of caves, especially to your back, consider visiting a chiropractor. Exploring systems of caves can be one of the most interesting experiences of your life, but be sure to never go alone and always let someone know where you are in case something should happen.
3. Paved Trails
For those who use mobility devices that make it so that the uneven ground of a walk in nature can be uncomfortable or impossible to navigate, paved pathways in nature can make it more accessible. Sometimes, folks without mobility issues may also want to travel on a path that’s been marked clearly so that they don’t get lost or trip on loose stones and other debris along the way. If you have a place you like to go on your property for a nature walk, you can contact asphalt companies to create a paved path if you don’t have one there already.
Before you decide to pave nature, you should think about whether there are some benefits to leaving a trail unpaved. For example, when you have never paved a trail, it’ll keep all of its original beauty and rustic charm. It also may be cheaper to not pave a path even though it can also be less convenient to walk through the woods on a path that’s never been paved.
Ultimately, only you can decide whether it’s a good idea to pave a path in your yard or property. You can always visit other places that have paved paths in the middle of a natural setting to see if you like paved paths better than unpaved ones before you commit to spending all of your time and money on home improvement projects on paving a trail. Even if you like a paved path, it doesn’t mean you need to pave the area in your yard or property where you like to take a walk through the natural beauty.
4. Private Property
One of the best ways to regularly get out into nature is by taking advantage of private property that has large areas for you to enjoy nature landscaped for you. Whether you are going for a nature walk on your private property where you live on a full-time or part-time basis, or you’re going for a walk through nature on a friend or relative’s private property, you’ll want to ensure that your privacy is protected during your walk in nature. You can protect your privacy on private property lines by calling an aluminum fence installer to install an aluminum fence.
If you’ve investigated all of your potential fences, and you don’t like the look or feel of them, you don’t necessarily need a fence. Unless you have a dog or another pet who may escape your home and go on their own “nature walk” to the road or other places, you might be able to get away with avoiding putting up a fence for a while. Of course, if your HOA or other organization associated with maintaining your private property requires you to get a fence, you’ll want to listen to their suggestions, so you don’t rack up fines and other unwanted consequences as a result of your ignorance.
5. Abandoned Vehicles
For car lovers who can’t resist an opportunity to finish up some much-needed auto repairs, cars that have been abandoned by their previous owners in nature will be a sight to behold. When you go for a walk in nature, you may not expect to see vehicles of any kind until you return to civilization where the parking lot or other area where cars congregate would be after your walk. As anyone who’s stumbled upon a vehicle that the owner left in the woods or nature will tell you, abandoned cars are a cool thing to find when you’re walking out in nature.
When you see a car that doesn’t seem to have an owner, you may think you can take the car and drive off into the sunset without consequences. Unfortunately, even if you don’t know who owns the car and don’t see an owner anywhere, you still shouldn’t take the car unless you want to risk auto theft charges and other consequences. While you may not intend to steal a car when you remove it from where it was on a nature walk, local law enforcement officials may not see your side of the story in the way that you would hope when you tell them about how you found the car.
6. Peaceful Creeks
While some folks who are used to walking in nature may work in stormwater management, not all bodies of water are chaotic. When you come across a still creek, it’s a sight to behold. What’s more, it’s something you’ll commonly see during your walks in nature if you end up walking near a creek on a calm day.
7. Drug Paraphernalia
One of the saddest sights to see during a walk in nature is paraphernalia related to substance use. Although it seems like you wouldn’t see evidence of substance use in a beautiful natural setting, those who struggle with addiction may use substances anywhere they can. If you get caught with items associated with substance use in nature, you should contact a drug possession attorney even if you’re not guilty. He or she will be able to give you guidance on how you should proceed.
8. Parasitic Bugs
Sometimes, people may need to call pest control for pests that are hard to see. On your walk in nature, you’ll probably see plenty of bugs. If there’s an epidemic of parasitic bugs like ticks in your area, you may need to get help with eradicating them on your property before you go on a walk through nature.
9. Old Grave Sites
Though modern cemeteries have some of the most well-maintained lands in the country, older grave sites can sometimes be forgotten. Old towns disappear, but the cemeteries on their outskirts remain, the headstones resting just above the ground to slowly erode until they are barely legible anymore. Finding these old grave sites during your walk with nature can simultaneously be one of the most fascinating and spooky experiences possible. These old markers of the past are sometimes the only thing that remains of those who came before us and it can be extremely somber to stumble across these locations if you happen to be in the right place to find them.
10. Hunting Shelters
The wilderness is vast and depending on where you go, it may be unlikely that you come across other people during your walk in nature. That doesn’t mean the area you are traveling through has been completely ignored by humanity, though. Hunters have traveled deep into the woods to search for game since we developed tools.
Hunting sheds are one of the tools that hunters have employed to make their activity less strenuous on the body. These shelters can be anything from a lone treestand to a blind that is the size of a shed. Some hunters leave their equipment up for the whole season so it may be unlikely there is anyone inside, but it’s always best to make yourself noticeable when walking through an area that a hunter may be operating. Bright orange clothing is the universal color that all hunters keep a lookout for when they are working and can save your life if you travel into the game lands or private property.
When you’re wandering through nature, you’ll want to keep your wits about you. Some of the things you could encounter during a nature walk could be unsafe or even scary at the moment. Other things may make you laugh or bring a sense of levity to your walk that you may not have had before you encountered them. Regardless of what you encounter during a nature walk, you should bring a camera, a notebook, a writing utensil like a pen or pencil, and plenty of water so you can document and enjoy your nature walk for as long as possible before it’s time to go home to tell everyone in your household about your wild adventure.
