When I first started hiking, I knew the names of only a few wild denizens of the forest: ponderosa pine, gray jay, Colorado columbine. Over the years, as I learned to identify more trees, birds, and wildflowers, I also began to see more. As I hiked down a trail, greeting familiar plants like old friends, I realized they grew among a leafy ground cover whose name I did not know. I became more attuned to small movements that drew my attention to an insect, bird, or mammal.

I noticed the way vegetation varied as the trail curved around different faces of a hillside, climbed higher or lower in altitude, and moved closer to or farther away from a stream. I also began to recognize patterns – the way certain species tend to grow together in communities, that different geologic substrates support particular types of vegetation, the way the timing of a flower's bloom coincides with an influx of its pollinators – that suggest natural processes and ecological systems.

Hikers head to the wilds for many reasons, from a love of nature to a desire to challenge themselves physically or mentally to a need to escape civilization. But I believe, whatever a hiker's reason for hitting the trail, the experience can be enhanced by greater understanding of the natural world. Natural history knowledge takes your mind off your aches and pains while you hike, will impress your friends and hiking companions, and can be used to help protect and preserve the places you love to visit. Knowing when and where to expect natural phenomena to take place will also get you out on the trail more than you might otherwise, as you head out to see the first pink lady's slipper bloom or make a nighttime trek to a vernal pool to witness salamanders migrating. Below are a few tips to help you get started down the path to becoming a naturalist.

Start with What You Know

Naturalists are by definition generalists – they know a little or a lot about many different aspects of the natural world. Rather than be overwhelmed by the vast range of knowledge to be had, focus on one area about which you already know something. If you love gardening, learn local wildflowers. If you kept a rock collection as a kid, geology might be your starting point. If you took an ornithology class in college, dust off your binoculars and see what's flying around the neighborhood.

Begin Here and Now

You have a trek planned for Arizona next winter, but it's March in Vermont. By all means, study field guides to the Sonoran Desert, but also get outside and learn to identify New England deciduous trees by their bark and twigs or practice tracking mammals through the mud and residual snow. Learning about nature in your local area will sharpen your observation skills, help you become more adept at using field guides and keys, and introduce you to the specialized vocabularies of different areas of nature study.

Even if you don't carry them on the trail, the right field guide is valuable to have to have on hand once you get back home.

Choose the Right Field Guide

Field guides come in many styles and formats. Some are arranged by taxonomy, others by color, shape, or habitat. Some use photographs or drawings to aid identification, others employ a dichotomous key, which asks a series of yes/no questions. In general, select a guide that has the narrowest possible geographic range to rule out species that don't frequent your area. Some guides designed for beginners are helpful in sorting out families, others are too general to be of much use. Packable field guides, in the form of pocket-sized books or laminated cards, range from useless to excellent.

Many types of field guides are available as phone apps. Try borrowing a variety of guides from the library or friends before making a purchase and read the introductory chapters, which will explain how to use the guide, define terms, and provide diagrams of field marks you should look for. The Peterson Field Guides are a long-time favorite. Many guidebooks are available and can get state-specific, like the Adventure Publications guidebooks.

Read Natural History Narratives

While field guides are essential to identifying species and provide some information about habitat and life cycle, narrative natural history essays and books make that information come alive. For instance, after reading in Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, Gathering Moss, about the tendency of yellow birch seeds to sprout on rotting stumps, I noticed that yellow birch trees almost always perch on a framework of exposed roots that echoes the shape of the stump they had grown around, which had since rotted away. If I read that fact in a field guide, it didn't stick to my memory the way Kimmerer's description and storytelling did. Among the many writers whose words enliven natural history facts, look for books by Bernd Heinrich, whose stomping ground includes Vermont and Maine and Ann Haymond Zwinger, who wrote about the Rockies and desert southwest.

Just like the Northwoods are vastly different from the red rocks of the southwest, each ecosystem holds a vastly different variety of wildlife.

Don't stop with ID

Once you figure out who a plant, bird, or animal is, take some time to observe it. Ask yourself what it is doing (behavior, life cycle phase, reproductive status), when it is doing it (season, time of day, frequency), where it is (geographical location, habitat, micro-habitat). Why or how (why does the prairie dog sit on its haunches? How does the bumble bee know where to find flowers?) are harder to answer and often require research – either through reading books and articles or by setting up experiments and making additional observations.

Make Notes

It's no coincidence that great naturalists have also been great journalers. Taking field notes and drawing sketches while you observe nature not only creates a record and helps you remember what you saw and compare from year to year, it helps you see more and, as you sketch the outlines of a maple leaf, note the comings and goings of a dragonfly, or scribble a poem about the return of blackbirds in spring, you are developing a relationship with that aspect of the natural world.

Taking careful notes and/or making a detailed sketch can also help you identify a species later, when you have field guides at hand. I was able to identify a bird I saw on a hike twenty years earlier because I had taken detailed notes in my journal. Check out one of the many useful guides to nature journaling, such as Clare Walker Leslie's Keeping a Nature Journal, as well as The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir Laws, or Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and Bernd Heinrich's The Naturalist's Notebook.

Take a Class

Naturalists throughout history have tended to be a self-taught bunch, each traveling in whatever direction his or her fancy leads. While it's still possible to learn much through direct observation, reading, and research, it's often faster and less frustrating to have a seasoned expert point out that white eye ring, pointed bract, or fungal veil that provides the key to identifying a species. Classes also provide opportunities to meet other nature-lovers who share your interests.

Look for workshops and guided walks at land trusts, nature centers, National Parks, botanic gardens, and education programs. Join your local bird club, botanical society, or entomological association and take advantage of their offerings. Many states have master naturalist programs, in which students partake in a long and concentrated course of study that covers many aspects of the natural world.

Utilizing a variety of academic resources can help refine and expand ones knowledge of the natural world the trail passes through.

Teach Others

Once you have learned the common birds, ferns, or frogs in your area, share your newfound knowledge with others. Offer your services to lead nature hikes, teach workshops, or assist with field trips at the organizations where you first took nature classes, local nature areas that don't already offer educational programs because of a lack of resources or volunteers, or your children's or grandchildren's schools.

Become a Citizen Scientist

Habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and other pressures are having a profound impact on our natural world. Many organizations offer opportunities for citizens to pool their observations and add to the scientific understanding of where certain species appear and how their populations and behavior might be changing. Contributing to this effort can be as simple as uploading your bird-watching lists to eBird, while other programs require training and/or for data to be collected using certain parameters. To find citizen science opportunities in your area, check with your local bird clubs, nature organizations, and universities.

Naturalize on the Trail

On my first long-distance backpacking trip, my husband carried a pair of compact binoculars, which I don't remember us ever using, and I brought a small stack of pocket-sized field guides – trees, wildflowers, alpine flowers, butterflies, fungus, birds. I didn't have enough background knowledge to use any of the books effectively or enough time to plop down on the side of the trail and key out a plant. The guides and binoculars ended up being dead weight in already too heavy packs. On my next long hike, I brought two brochure-style laminated field guides (birds and trees/flowers), a slim journal and a selection of tiny colored pencils. The field guides helped me identify several unfamiliar species (and I found them relaxing reading in the tent). For other species I took photographs or made sketches and notes that helped me identify the flowers and birds when I returned home from the trail.

Before you head out on a hike, learn as much as you can about the ecosystems you'll be visiting and the species you might be expected to see. Take along only the field guides and equipment you know you'll use. For a dedicated birder, that might mean carrying binoculars and a good bird app on your phone. A botanist may choose to take a hand lens and a comprehensive flora guide for the region. A lightweight purist may want to carry only the naturalist's most important tool – curiosity – which weighs nothing but will help you notice and wonder about whatever aspects of nature present themselves as you make your way down the trail.

Editor's Note: This article by contributor Andrea Lani originally appeared in Issue 38 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.