Apeiron is a funny word. How do you even say it? Luckily it is taken from a dead language so your pronunciation won't offend any native speakers. I usually go with apa-ron. I believe Ape-ron is an apron with a photo of an ape on it. Awkward as the word is I couldn't think of a better name to describe our trips.
We take to the woods for the joy, the adventure, the beauty, or maybe the feeling of being a small part of something much larger. Whether in the woods or at home a part of being alive is to explore the world around us and the meanings it holds. The need to understand is nothing new. One of the first Greek philosophers, Anaximander, sought to understand the basis of the world around him. Not content to point to the type of things in the world he wanted to know the source of water, earth, air, and fire. Apeiron was his answer, the infinite or the boundless. He believed that apeiron was the source of opposites, such as water and earth.
Not much of Anaxaminder's writings are left. What we do have are mostly fragments quoted by Aristotle and other Greek thinkers. Still the idea of apeiron persisted in philosophy and physics. It has come to represent the totality of existence, as well as its source. I am reminded of apeiron when struck by the beauty and power of the natural world. In that moment of wonder feeling both within and seperate from nature, we catch a glimpse of the source of water and earth.
All that said, you don't have to spend too much time reading fragments to enjoy an expedition in a beautiful place.