Activity Report Explorer

Alaska Soles • Entered by Loren Karro on April 1, 2023

Mindfull hike to assess past actions

April 1, 2023

Key Issue: Multiple apply
Activity Type: Stewardship (monitoring, sampling, planting, etc.)

Measurable Outcomes

Outcome 1: plants not terrorized (9999999 plants)
Outcome 2: Wildlife monitored (0 butt plugged moose)

Short Description of Activity

Kathy and I met up for a hike to see if we could find any of the moose that had been plugged last year in an effort to decrease methane emissions. At the start of the hike we discussed the new findings about plants screaming when injured, picked etc.

Reflection/Evaluation

Well the paths are snow-covered, so it is impossible to see what is under your feet, i.e. plants just waiting for us to torture them? We were both wearing Kahtoola spikes (like smaller crampons for grip in icy conditions). We began to hear weird and totally inhuman noises that could only be something suffering to an indescribable degree. We remembered our mantra, Be Bold, Be Brave, Be a Broad! We put our hands over our ears and tried to run fast to get away but the horrible noise seemed to follow our every step! We stopped, out of breath, to asses the situation and the awful noises seemed to be beneath our very feet. Even our aged brains could finally put the clues together and we realized we were hearing the torturous screams of the plants being pressured and poked by our every step. We couldn’t avoid stepping on the plants as we couldn’t see where they were beneath the snow. We tried stepping gingerly, which only seemed to prolong the awful suffering. We tried running as lightly as we could (?? okay so that isn’t too light…) and from the high pitched squeals we could only surmise that we were hurting the plants even more. We finally plopped down in exhaustion, and as we lay back we realized that by spreading our weight over a great area we were apparently lessening the torture to the plants below. A short discussion brought us to the conclusion that we must roll back down the trail as gently as possible. This rolling action did result in a quieter degree of anguished noises, so we carefully and non too gracefully rolled our way back down the trail to our cars. The noise of the plants’ suffering apparently drove away all of the wildlife, and they in turn created more suffering by the pressure of their hard hooves, creating more noise, so we were not able to asses the conditions of any of last year’s butt plugged moose! We can only surmise that in our previous ignorance, we had chosen not to hear the suffering that our hiking created each time we stepped on any part of a plant, but our new found awareness caused us to be sensitive to the screams beneath our feet. Will we ever be able to hike again? Will we be relegated to the rocky high mountain reaches where scree slopes and rock faces prevail? Will they find that they lichen and moss also scream in anguish if we step on their delicate construction? Must the Broads now adopt a leave no trace/provoke no scream principal? Who is crueler, a vegan or a carnivore? The questions to be answered are numerous.

Photos/Uploads

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Photo Captions

What are those anguished screams? Be Brave, Be Bold, or Run?