Hello from Colorado

[Catfish]

Evenin' all,
Just found this site today and have spent a happy couple of hours browsing through some of the old threads. Plenty more to read so it looks like my winter evenings just got booked solid.

I suppose you'll be wondering who I am, soooooooo....

Born in Scotland, grew up in the north of England. It was a small, rural town and I spent most of my childhood outdoors but even so, wilderness it wasn't. Even then, it was difficult to find yourself more than a couple of hours walk away from civilization. I was in the Scouts and the leaders did a fair job of trying to instill some basic survival skills in me, but the problem was, at that age I really wasn't very interested. It wasn't until I was in my mid-twenties that I discovered the big ol' world out there, and began to go exploring.

I rattled around the world for a while with my net worth in a backpack and after a few years in Arizona, I ultimately wound up in an odd little house in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. I've been here for almost 6 years now and love, love, love getting outside and exploring the place.

But even so, my outdoor experience is still limited to multi-day hikes and campouts. I've never really come close to getting off the grid. Never caught my own food, never been in a life-threatening situation, never even gone more than a few days without bottled beer, (I mean there are limits to what I'm willing to put myself through ). So, here I find myself sliding kicking and screaming into middle age, with a nagging feeling that if I should find myself in a real survival situation, I'm going to be fairly helpless.

Therefore, I plan to set out into the wilderness for a month with nothing but the clothes on my back and a knife and...

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

No, I come here to learn from those wiser than I. And when things warm up just a bit, to head out and put some of that learning into practice. I still have to work for a living so multi-week trips aren't an option. But a few nights here and there should be manageable.

So...let the learning begin.

[nell67]

Welcome to the Wolf Pack Catfish! There is an awesome bunch of people who can teach you everything you want to know,gotta question? Dont be afraid to ask,for the most part,we are a friendly bunch.

[Rick]

Welcome home. TonyUK is from Scotland and Sarge47 is a scout par excellence! So you'll feel right at home. Not having a survival situation is a good thing and middle age is, too. Just remember, it's better to be over the hill than under it.

You're sense of humor will be much appreciated and I'm sure we can learn from you, too.

[corndog-44]

Welcome to the Wilderness Survival Forums.

[Elkchsr]

Welcome Catfish

Glad to see your finally standing up and trying a dream

It's never to late to learn the skills of survival and it is a great, clean way to get out and away

Your in a great part of the country to test and learn

You have a little of every thing to give you the tests

Good luck...

[Jay]

Welcome to the forum Catfish!

[wildWoman]

Welcome Catfish! Have you done any hiking in the Yorshire Dales? I did quite some years ago and really loved the area.

[Catfish]

Welcome Catfish! Have you done any hiking in the Yorshire Dales? I did quite some years ago and really loved the area.

Indeed I have wildWoman. I grew up in Kendal, which is on the edge of the Lake District, itself a beautiful hiking area. But the Dales were only an hour or so away and I did a lot of hiking a cycling there too.

In the late 80's a friend and I hiked the Coast to Coast trail from St. Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire - about 200 miles. My favorite part of the whole trip was the portion through the Dales.

[Tony uk]

Welcome !!!!!!!

[Sarge47]

Glad to have you aboard. I lived in Colorado for about 8 years and it's beautiful out there! If you had to leave Scotland "Ya found a bonny place ta live lad"!