BOOK
Just By Accident: Adventures of a Modern Vagabond
Ben Benson’s memoirs of wandering America’s trails — $15
In a time when Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill are remembered only by those with grandchildren, Ben Benson steps forward to be counted among outdoorsmen. He's Backcountry Ben and he's not a myth. These are his memoirs, a testament to the blisters he earned while wandering America's trails. It's fortunate for those of us who open this book that the bears Backcountry Ben has come face-to-face with decided they'd met their match. Just By Accident: Adventures of a Modern Vagabond provides an entertaining and unique look into the life of a modern wilderness vagabond. It is filled with true wilderness adventures encountered by "Backcountry Ben" and allows many of us to catch a glimpse of what lies beyond where most of us will ever go. While Just By Accident: Adventures of a Modern Vagabond is autobiographical in nature, it is more than just the story of one man's life of travel and adventures in the backcountry. It is also about interpersonal relationships that were formed and fostered by Ben's odyssey in the wilderness. It is about the fish and game people who protect our wildlife from potential poachers; who improve habitat; conduct biological surveys; and collect data, not just on endangered species, but on the myriad of other creatures which inhabit our forests and wildlands.
Backcountry Ben (1929 - 2011)
Understanding
I would not interfere
With any creed of yours
Or want it to appear
That I have all the cures
There is so much to know
So many things are true
The way that I must go
May not be the best for you
And so I give this promise
Of what is light to me
To guide you through the night
Not tell you what to see
Excerpt: 'A glacier really isn't a very safe place to be .... I had put on one crampon and was reaching for the second when disaster struck. Standing up to get it, my foot suddenly slipped violently, sending me staggering into a sickening lurch. ... Down I went and the force of the fall drove my ice axe right into my back!
For a few minutes I just lay there in shock and pain. I didn't lose consciousness — not actually — but I did gray out a little. The sky spun and points of light shot through my vision like fireworks. Bing [my dog] was whining and licking my face.
When I was able to collect myself, I thought of what I had done and how far away I was from help. Finally, I slowly sat up and reached my arm around my back. I could feel the handle of the axe sticking out. It was slick and wet with my blood.
Of course, I had been trained in first aid and remembered that training now. After considering the situation in which I found myself, I decided not to try removing it. Even if I was successful, I would be unable to reach the wound to stanch the flow of blood that would undoubtedly ensue and therefore I quite likely would bleed to death. Since it was embedded close to my spine, there was also the distinct possibility that I would wind up doing my hiking from a wheelchair.'
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