Where have you been (by yourself) where you were furthest away from anyone else?
For me, I’d have to say in Death Valley somewhere; either The Racetrack or Telescope Peak. Either place, I don’t think there was anyone within 10-15 miles.
Growing up here in the Intermountain West, there are several times I have probably been the only person around for many, many square miles.
Parts of Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Utah—all these places still have some extremely remote areas, and can provide complete solitude for those who are looking to get away from the rest of the world for a while…
Hiking through Horseshoe Canyon, Utah. I didn’t see anyone else in the entire canyon, all day.
I don’t think I’ve been many places completely alone, but I’ve been to some pretty remote places, where the travelers I was with were the only people around for some great distance.
Perhaps the most remote I’ve been would be on the train through the Cameroonian rainforest. It passes through places where there are no roads- much less villages, for dozens of miles. Once the train broke down and people had to walk 36 kilometers to the nearest village for water. This is a place where a 737 crashed and it took them three days to find the crash site.
That, or sleeping on the banks of the Niger River in Mali on the way to Timbuktu. Or some remote spot on the Tibetan plains.
By myself, out in the middle of Nevada somewhere… at least 10-15 miles from someone else.
In a small group of 4, out in the middle of Turkmenistan, maybe 20 miles from someone judging by the light traffic.
I know a few people who’ve made solo yacht crossings of the atlantic, which I presume would put them miles from anyone? Guess the same would apply to pilots flying solo across the sea / desert?
I went out into the Nevada desert a while ago to watch a meteor shower. I’m too much of a city boy I guess because being that isolated feels creepy to me - at least at night where everything is completely dark except for the moonlight.
I’ve driven through Death Valley alone, but there could be another car a mile ahead or behind, it’s hard to tell. The road in from the west seemed more isolated than within the park itself.
On my hike out of the Grand Canyon I didn’t see anyone for the last eight hours or so. As the crow flies, I was within two miles of the lodge, but in terms of accessibility, I was pretty well alone.
And I’ve been a thousand miles out into the Atlantic on a ship with fewer than 30 people on board. We stopped one afternoon and went swimming, and I’d wager that we are the only people who have ever been swimming at that particular spot.
I’ve been trekking in Tibet by myself where it was a couple days hike to the nearest nomad encampment and probably the closest person.
I’ve never been all that alone. I guess the closest would be when I was driving somewhere - and even that was usually along a well-traveled road.
So, I’d have to say that I’ve never been more than a couple hundred feet from other people, in my entire life.
Yukon / Charlie Wilderness north of where the Yukon comes into Alaska from Canada. It was 80 miles by helicopter from where even the dirt road ended, the tiny town of Eagle. I was further up in a truly desolate but beautiful place. All day I’d work by myself, then get choppered out. Couldn’t believe I was gettin’ paid, I’d have done it for free.
Funny, I don’t think I’ve ever been more than a couple thousand feet from anyone.
About 30 years ago I was in Utah, and the hotel I was staying in looked out at a mountain that my brother and his wife had climbed. I decided to take it on myself. When I got tired/bored I looked back at the hotel, and it was not even a half mile away.
Jeez I’m sheltered. Even in the remote woods of southeastern Missouri where Mrs. Homie’s side of the family lives, you’d be hard-pressed to find youself more than a mile (as the crow flies) from another living human.
Best I can come up with is from my time in Japan; one day I got a bug up my but to go hiking along abandonded railroad tracks (and through abandonded train tunnels: teh awesome!). At one point I was probably two miles (!) from civilization.
Right abooooooouuuuuuuut here 77°40’7.66"S, 163°17’27.71"E ; at a repeater station on the top of a mountain ridge overlooking Lake Vanda. When the helicopter landed, his tail stuck out over the abyss. They pushed out a survival bag and said “here ya go! We’ll be back in about 6 hours”
:dubious:
At least it wasn’t dark.
At least 3 miles. I used to love going to look at remote properties for sale. I got pretty isolated a few times in northern Minnesota and many times in eastern Maine. One place in eastern Maine was at least 3 miles, probably 4, from the nearest house on a horrible road. It was probably about that far from the nearest person.
Cool…I was hoping to get some way-out-there responses. When you think about it, most of our lives are spent within a stones throw of other human beings. Being really, physically so alone – miles away from anyone else – isn’t something many people seek out for themselves.
I remembered another one. When I was taking flying lessons I did a long solo from Stevens Point to Ashland in Wisconsin. There are some areas in between that look like there isn’t a soul in any direction. You get through them pretty quickly at 100 miles per hour.
wayyy the heck back in some caves…though rarely alone when there.
Distance wise only a few miles at most from another human being besides the person with me. Time wise though, often a solid day or two of extreme physical effort to get there. Add in the fact that some of these places had never had a human being there and probably havent had one visit again since “we” were there first and last…well, thats a certain kinda remote.
When I was living in The Pas, Manitoba I would drive out to one of the many lakes around the area and go for hikes. I had done this a couple of times when I realized that no one knew where I was, no one knew where I was going, there was no one around for miles (the town I came from would be the closest settlement - there was nothing but trees and lakes in all other directions), and if I got off the path and got lost or got hurt, I could die out there. It was an…interesting feeling. I didn’t stop going, but I did take better notice of where I left my car and where the paths went.
At this moment, I am a lefty pinko commie hippie democrat living with and among some of the most hard core right wing self righteous Republicans the machine ever cranked out. Intellectually at least I am totally isolated and I will have to remain so for the foreseeable future. I’ve never felt more alone in my life.