Research Before Walking

[TerraMer]

Not the usual research like maps, weather, etc, but learning a bit about the landscape, ecology, human history, geology, that kind of stuff.
Does anyone look into these things before they visit an area?
Do you choose a place to visit because it has been part of your research for something else?
Does that knowledge change the way you use the area, eg, a significant aboriginal site being respected?
Do you feel you have a greater appreciation of where you are walking?
Where do you do your research?
Do you ever see or experience things that prompt you to research the area after you have walked there?

I like to visit the public library and look through the reference section for local history. Often the books I take with me on a hike will be relevant to the area. I find park rangers who have been with one park for a while are a wealth of knowledge to be tapped before heading out. Learning the aboriginal heritage is always a priority before hiking because I respect the dreamtime and ancestors. I don't do peaks simply because these were often sacred or significant places. I will often sit on the verandah of a hut with chapters and diagrams running through my head and imagine what it was like as a stockman up there in late Autumn trying to find all the mothers and calves before the first snow or a naturalist finding new and exciting plants and animals and recording them for a scientific society. Just picturing the geological processes involved in creating the marvellous places I walk is mind blowing. A little knowledge turns a walk into real adventure.

[Son of a Beach]

See this closely related topic: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10193

PS. (Instead of adding an off-topic reply). I wasn't sure if the two topics were similar enough to warrant merging or not, so thanks for clarifying (below). I mostly posted the above link as a pointer to potentially related information that may be of interest to people who read this topic.

[TerraMer]

Thanks Son of a Beach, I was following that topic but here I'm more interested in other hikers research of other things, not the planning side of it. I could have asked several questions worded differently like who takes an interest in the ecology of the areas they hike in or does heritage play a part in where you choose to walk or how many of you hike for field research related to your studies, etc, but decided to put it all in one general research question.
If you think it is too closely related, too boring, then feel free to lock it.

[wayno]

in NZ the Maori's once declared a lot of mountains to be "tapu" (sacred) and not to be climbed..... and we're talking about some of the major ones like the tongariro park peaks, taranaki and who knows how many others.... if I obeyed maori tapu theres a lot of places i'd never get to visit, i've never come across a tramper who ever said they paid attention to a Maori tapu...
given maori's have been given back various mountainous areas and declared them out of bounds or only let paying clients go up the mountain (Tarawera, Kaimanawa Ranges) I'm not going to hold off climbing anything in case the maoris get authority over it and issue an outright ban on it.

there are a few tapu sites on the tongariro crossing, blue lake is one, its not supposed to be approached and it's a no no to eat near it.. although its about lunchtime when people walk past it on the crossing so what do they do? eat, probably because few people have read the official information on the crossing.and there arent any signs next to blue lake.......

i certainly wouldnt go out of my way to desecrate a sacred maori site. but i think it's just taking the *&^%$#! when maori's clip the ticket because they can for crossing wilderness land that the govt have all of a sudden given back to them. anyway thats another argument...

[sim1oz]

Hi TerraMer,

We've done some enjoyable walks in old gold mining areas- there are lots in Victoria - and I usually read up on the local history before we go. It makes interpreting what we see that much more interesting. When something catches my eye, I take a photo so we can research it when we get home, eg. Understanding mining techniques, identifying plants, animals.

Sounds like I'd better get to NZ soon if I have any aspirations to climb their mountains!

Cheers

[madmacca]

Absolutely - it helps me to understand and appreciate more the area I am walking through.

The National Parks website for the particular park/forest is often a good starting point for this - it often has a brief history of the area, and of significant flora and fauna. This stuff may be brief, but it does help you in knowing what to spend more time researching.