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No, trekking has nothing to do with Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Jean-Luc
Picard, Chikotay, or the Ferengi. It's all about re-enactment away from
of the public eye (where it usually happens—at public "events" and
"battles" at the historic forts) and taken into the wilderness. To go
trekking is to don your 18th century garb, pack a minimum amount of gear
(enough for a super-small pack), and spend time as close to the wilderness
as one can get in modern America, to eat, sleep, hunt, fish, drink, and
even think as one would have done more than 200-300 years ago.
Many people who re-enact battles are also deeply devoted to trekking,
but there are probably far more trekkers who are not interested in the
public events. Trekking is very special to them as unique experiences,
and I believe they tend to bring the lifestyle home more than typical
re-enactors. This puts the truest "living" into Living History. One of
the gods of trekking, and indeed re-living the 18th century experience,
is Mark Baker. Mark is the man who trained Daniel Day-Lewis to reload
a musket while on the run for The Last of the Mohicans and more
recently taught Mel Gibson all about shooting and muzzleloading for The
Patriot! The Mohican Press website has an
article by Mark Baker about his experience of coaching the LOTM actors,
written exclusively for Mohican Press. A smaller article is also available
through Muzzleloader Magazine.
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I've a few treks, including a one with my trekking friend Angus
McClure, and another in early spring with the NY Chapter of
the Coalition of Historical Trekkers (COHT). To the right is a look
at our camp, where my spare wool socks are hanging out to dry. It
was very wet that weekend from melting snow.
To the right is a picture of my trek tarp (the light one in the
front). It was custom-designed and is fabulous. Many people have
asked me about this tarp, so if you are interested, click
here to find out more.
Below are (left) me at the fire trying to make some tea (it was
also cold!), and two co-trekkers.
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Some great places to read more about trekking and this aspect of living
history include:
- HistoricalTrekking.com
- Coalition
for Historical Trekkers
- On
the Trail Magazine (and enjoy the music!)
- Ellis
Delahoy, historical trekker and expert hemp weaver. Ellis has a
number of useful links on his site, as well.
- My
trekking buddy, Angus McClure
- The
Annual Linville Gorge Trek: Each year, serious trekkers make
their way through the Linville Gorge in North Carolina. If you
have seen the movie Last of the Mohicans, you have seen the Linville
area, as much of the movie was filmed in that area and the the closing
scene is filmed overlooking Linville Gorge in the distance. Linville
Gorge is beautiful and tricky, and people come every year to trek there.
Here are three accounts trekking in Linville Gorge:
Along the same lines is the longhunter. I'm not entirely sure of the
difference between longhunters and trekkers, but here's a good piece of
information provided by Angus McClure
as a way of an introduction to the
longhunter.
Also visit the website of Lee
"Walks in Shadows" Custer, an historical Interpreter and the New England
representative for the COHT.
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