The Wild Calling
Dawn. The last morning wild camping alone, high up on a hill in North Devon. In the distance, a howl. Perhaps a dog. More mouths howling. Wolves. Wolves, here?
The pack yowled louder. Followed by a roar.
The unmistakeable sound of a lion’s roar.
It didn’t surprise me too much. Anything is possible in this life. Then, it made sense: there’s a wildlife park in Combe Martin, the animals’ voices were drifting upwards from the valley below.
The wild calling out from captivity: one of the reasons I’d gone on this hike.
For five days I walked the South West Coast Path, dipping in & out around the stretch between Minehead & Ilfracombe.
It’s hard to put the experience into words. I know shared stories nourish us & inspire us our own unique paths. That which we consciously embody & bring back from a journey benefits our communities.
The idea of wild camping alone, as a woman, both called to me & evoked fear. I knew, in this, there was healing, growth & expansion to be embodied.
I walked to welcome in new energies & leave behind the old.
I moved alone to cultivate a deeper trust in myself & in life.
To feel my belonging. My instincts. To listen to nature, to silence.
The wild in me was calling. I wanted to better know myself beyond the confines of self-made & social structures, beliefs, conditioning & expectations. To feel my naturalness, my nature, in nature.
Do any of these longings resonate with you?
Things went ‘wrong’, yet all was perfect: I woke up in a wet tent after my first night wild camping at Porlock. My 19kg pack was far too heavy (I realised this after much sweat, a few tears & 6 hours of hiking rugged terrain). Adaptability was needed. I revised my plans. I went to a campsite, dried out my tent & enjoyed invigorating day hikes in & around Lynton & Lynmouth.
I went back out to wild camp, my pack now 11kg. It was an uncomfortable process searching for a spot, pitching up at dusk, but not later as it would be too dark.
I felt the land & the unseen holding me through it all, as I held myself.
I slept well. I awoke, feeling strong, to the sound of the wild, both outside & inside.
Back home, the journeying continues…
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