Snushine

Snushine t1_j84vjop wrote

As a therapist who has been here for 50 years, I applaud your efforts. Spend all damn day in the woods, if you like. Walk and hike for miles and miles. There is no danger if you just do this one thing:

My suggestion, and not just for your MH, is to stay on the trails! Holy shit please stay on the damn trails! Trails are not going to lead you over a cliff. Trails are not going to be full of brambles and grass seed and shit that gets stuck in your fur. Trails are where the wild animals don't hang out.

But, here's my biggest cringe about going off trail: Wildlife protection. Small animals and necessary bugs make their homes off trail. Mushroom colonies, slime molds, small groundcover plants, and all that stuff is damaged when you get off the trail. This flora and fauna are adapted to make their homes away from the trails where deer and bear and other animals also commute. Every footstep off trail kills something else that isn't on the trail.

Go be in the forest. But please, for the health of the forest and to prevent broken bones, stop going off trails.

2