Sense of awe / thorough enjoyment

What experiences have you had outdoors which spark a feeling of heightened satisfaction or a sense of awe?

For me I love the sound of the patter of rain when I'm underneath shelter or inside something. I recently found a giant redwood (sequoiadendron giganteum) in my local park which is a relatively rare sight in England.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,672
McBride, BC
Finding an adult Lynx pair supervising the play of their 3 kittens in long grass. 25 yards at most.
We sat and watched for 10 minutes by the clock. I think that they did that for us.
 

cheapeats

Forager
Feb 20, 2008
125
0
New England
Too many things to name them all seeing a bald eagle snatch a fish whiling canoeing, watching to buck (stag) whitetail deer fight over a doe, a family of otters frolicking on ice, climbing a fog covered mountain to come out above the clouds and watch the fog disappear and early morning sunlight through a dew covered spider web.
 

Rabid

Nomad
Dec 15, 2014
419
69
Sleaford Lincolnshire
Laying in a hammock in Belize watching butterflies the size of dinnerplates fly around my head.
Laying in my basha smelling the air after rain. Life is simple.
 

JaspP

Member
Mar 9, 2017
10
0
London
Too many to count... but some highlights for me have been sitting at the viewpoint on Koh Phi Phi and watching the sunset and observing (and becoming the unwilling climbing posts) for wild monkeys on a hidden beach... or even closer to home, sitting on a deserted beach in England... those are definitely ones which stick out in my mind.
 

BushBob

Tenderfoot
Nov 24, 2013
85
5
East Mids
Watching an otter eating crayfish while fishing on the River Suir in Ireland and watching a herd of Fallow deer swim across an arm of Wimbleball Reservoir, again while fishing (from a boat)
 

punkrockcaveman

Full Member
Jan 28, 2017
1,457
1,516
yorks
Otters for me too, whilst out fishing the water of Leith in Edinburgh, two otters play fighting around my feet!

Also watching several Roe walk up towards us at sunset in a local wood, they got ten yards away before the game was up.
 

Antonymous

Tenderfoot
Mar 18, 2012
54
4
Yorkshire
Making eye contact with a wolf.

Watching sunset from a clifftop after a perfect days climbing.

5 minutes of perfect flowing singletrack.

Sunrise on a summit.

Rain on the tarp while drinking "Kelly Kettle" Bovril with my grandsons.
 

Barney Rubble

Settler
Sep 16, 2013
569
310
Rochester, Kent
youtube.com
This can come in many forms but a recent experience which put a big smile on my face was seeing a Barn Owl quartering a field as it hunts for prey at dusk. The sunlight was perfect and I was able to get some nice photographs of it (check them out on my blog!!). It was also very satisfying the first time I saw a Kingfisher, they're amazing little birds.

Following a similar wildlife theme, I think it's also very special listening to the owls calling out in the night. Perhaps even more so when you're on a solo camping trip as the wildlife really draws in closer to you.

In terms of camping. I agree with the sentiments of listening to the pitter patter of rain on tarp. In particular I always enjoy having "breakfast from the hammock" (you might recognise that line from a certain you-tuber!), perhaps even more so when the rain is pitter-pattering on the tarp and I'm not in a rush to pack up.

When all's said and done though, I just get a great satisfaction from getting out there and enjoying the outdoors regardless of whether it's camping, observing nature or walking. It's almost like a therapy which cleanses you of any worries or stress.
 

KenThis

Settler
Jun 14, 2016
825
122
Cardiff
Maybe not relevant exactly but.

Sat in my car with my first girlfriend, wrapped up in the middle of winter, in the carpark in Saundersfoot harbour.
I must have been about 18/19 at the time.
It was high tide and stormy.
We sat watching the waves crashing over the promenade for what felt like hours.
It was kind of trance like, we counted the waves and every big one she squeezed my hand.
I'll never forget the sense of power of the sea and the elements.
Realising how big nature is and how tiny we are.
It was an amazing feeling.
I remember the sea spray as we ran to get fish and chips.
It was a very good day.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
Just getting out into unspoiled nature has me close to tears emotionally, i even accidentally caught the overflow of this once on camera and somehow never edited it out of my final cut

[video=youtube;tCTn_PClaRA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCTn_PClaRA[/video]
 

ValeTudoGuy

Nomad
Mar 8, 2017
325
0
Preston, England
Walking through a thicket and finding this was a pretty special moment. (I hope the picture shows, not posted one before)

Edit: Nope

Edit: 2nd try
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Sometimes alone when out hunting I lay awake looking to the night sky.

It is black and full of stars, so many you cannot count them all.

They are the spirits of ancestors who once trod our land.

I wonder when i look at them all the things they have seen, the civilisations, tribes and once great people who have ever been since they were put in the sky by wisake-kachack and th'Kisemanito.

Our stars have stories, names and history like your stars. Your stories of the stars taught to you in school and are stories from Greece I think and Rome, far off places.

Our stories were taught to us by our elders when we' were out in the forest or bush at night, sitting by the camp fire.

Our stories will one time vanish and no longer be heard or known.

But I look into the sky, and think at all the things I hear go on in our planet and I try to understand how small we are by comparison.

Compared to the night sky and all the stars in it we live on just a tiny little speck of dust that if we were thrown into the sky you could not see and no one would notice.

This maybe why we should take more care of the little bit of dust and all who share it with us.

Looking at the sky at night gives me great joy, as it reminds me of countless nights under the sky when I was younger, stories told by their light, hard days on the trail and those whove gone before. For me it is like a story book. No one can take it away from us.

It is bigger than us.
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Sometimes alone when out hunting I lay awake looking to the night sky.

It is black and full of stars, so many you cannot count them all.

They are the spirits of ancestors who once trod our land.

I wonder when i look at them all the things they have seen, the civilisations, tribes and once great people who have ever been since they were put in the sky by wisake-kachack and th'Kisemanito.

Our stars have stories, names and history like your stars. Your stories of the stars taught to you in school and are stories from Greece I think and Rome, far off places.

Our stories were taught to us by our elders when we' were out in the forest or bush at night, sitting by the camp fire.

Our stories will one time vanish and no longer be heard or known.

But I look into the sky, and think at all the things I hear go on in our planet and I try to understand how small we are by comparison.

Compared to the night sky and all the stars in it we live on just a tiny little speck of dust that if we were thrown into the sky you could not see and no one would notice.

This maybe why we should take more care of the little bit of dust and all who share it with us.

Looking at the sky at night gives me great joy, as it reminds me of countless nights under the sky when I was younger, stories told by their light, hard days on the trail and those whove gone before. For me it is like a story book. No one can take it away from us.

It is bigger than us.


👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍



Tansi Joe !

Thank you
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
For me ,the sound of the rain tapping on the tarp above my head and the fizzle of the same rain of the fire....

The smell of fresh rain is also a lovely reminder of the beauty within everything ...Even sodden delights.


Favourite is probably the sound of the Tawny owl, replying to my attempts to mimic their call...

That is really satisfying, especially when i cant see them but their replies get closer and closer as i call ....

I love owls... and it appears now they love me too.....

😄
 
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Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,672
McBride, BC
Hindsight is one thing. Joe tahkahikew has given me great ambition:
To go to where there is only starlight. Not even glow from cities or villages or camp fires.
Night time village power failures put that as close as the other side of my front door.
It has never occured to me to step outside and experience that.
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
13,033
1,642
51
Wiltshire
Joe, your going to have to be like my Greek and Roman friends and write your stories down?

Anyhow, when I was young the stars were like the sun, but so far away. Nowadays we know better and understand that the stars are not alone; they have families too.

Closer to home; The marvel of going out into the true ocean, and seeing a gannetery. If you ever lose faith in life; go see a gannetery. One big mass of smell and noise and huge seabird action. They will come out and look at your boat too.
 

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