honestly, do you like camping alone? (scary for me)

Hey Gaz,

As far as camping alone? I love it and live for the times when I can get a weekend or so to myself to head in to the mountains for some quality me and the woods time :thumbup:
As said before, I guess the more ya do it, the more you get used to it. I do promise that there is less to fear alone in the woods than alone in the city.

On a safe note though, always let someone know where your going and always take protection. thats just good sense.

Besides, with all the wildlife out there looking at ya as a snack, your never really alone now are ya? :D:D:D hahaha.. sorry, couldnt resist
 
macgregor22 said:
I am forced to camp alone, under a tarp, in the cold, and wet.

If the racoons are bad I yell.

If I get scared I just remember I am the biggest preditor in the woods.
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ROFL...:D. I laughed my a$$ off when I read the raccoon thing. Those are at night and the "mini-bears" are during the day (chipmunks).
 
For me going into the woods with people would defeat the purpose. I go into the woods to get away from people. I want to be alone with my thoughts in peace and quiet. I can't be alone with my thoughts with a bunch of people around me.
 
gazaati said:
OK, Last weekend I wanted to try camping alone for the weekend. I have always heard of people doing it. I went for it because no one wanted to go with me at the time.

Parked my car and walked for a good 3 hours in an isolated aria. Reached the place I wanted to amp at. During the day it was OK but at night , I couldn't sleep.

I got the creeps. There I was, no one could hear me, No civilization what so ever in a place where months pass by with out a soul passing by in that aria.

( AM I CRAZY)

I couldn't for the morning to come, I packed my stuff and headed home. It still gives me chills thinking about it.

Is it normal? Is it because I am a beginner and it will pass?

Or am I just not cut out for this and i will always need buddies to go camping.

Do you have similar experiences?

please admit if you get scared :D
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On the few times i get to some place like that I sleep like a baby:thumbup::D
only time I really sleep good, but most people consider me wierd I would not worry about it.some people need to be around people some don't it is just your personality
Roy
 
I've been sleeping alone way back in the woods in ths Smoky Mtns and the Cherokee and Pisgah national forests for over 30 years and still find I get "bearanoia" ,or just the plain ole fraidies every once in a while.There has even been a time or two when I was glad it got light so I could finally get some sleep.At the backcountry sites in the smoky mtns if there is another camper there i have never felt skeered even though the bear problem is bad because yogi thinks people=food because lots of people are pretty messy.But I rarely camp around other folks because my backpacking is not an end to itself,I am there for the brook trout,and you don't find many roads or campsites way up little creeks,and the distances to get to them means you either walk a lot and fish a little or you pack in and stay for a few days.Firearms are illegal,so I have drifted off many a night hugging a large sharp knife.Way back in the woods at night is one of the few places a healthy imagination might not be such a good thing,but unless acid rain and the thingys that are killing the hemlocks,and the hot dry weather the south has had for a while make pure southern appalachian brook trout disappear i will continue to sleep in the woods alone.(by the way it is apalatchun not apalayshun,I once called the Teton river in Driggs Idaho the Te'tun river and was told "thats Teton, accent on the second syllable"by a local who did not want me to butcher the name of his river)
 
Camping alone: I guess it all depends on where you were raised and how much positive camping exposure you have experienced. I was raised on a dairy farm that bordered a wilderness area, and we, as kids, routinely camped out alone on the 6000-acre farm (much of it heavily wooded). Never thought anything of it since most country kids did this sort of thing then. You just didn't camp on the bear trails that led around the backside of the farm since the bears made a nightly appearance. When I got older, I suppose my three years of membership in the Boy Scouts continued to reinforce my sense of independence.

When I didn't like camping out alone: One that immediately pops into my head is during a tour to the Vietnam jungles. Several nights, as a helicopter scout pilot, I had to camp out alone (forget the tent) in forward areas. Didn't sleep real well. Another, I was camping alone during a preseason scout for elk in the Blue's Mountains of Eastern Oregon. During the night, I was knocked out of my cot which was located next to the wall of my canvas tent. Handgun appeared in my hand, ears reaching for every little sound, a trip to the door of the tent revealed a deer as confused as I was. From what I could tell the next morning, the clumsy deer simply tripped over one of my large steel tent stakes and fell on to the tent. Just glad it wasn't a MUCH larger elk! And, there were a couple of nights alone in Alaska (solo hunting camp out of a base camp) when I had some grizzly visitors. One large grizzly hung around for hours which kept me up and listening.

I still do those mid-week preseason elk scouts by myself in the mountains...until my hunting partners (still work) arrive on Friday night. Too, when I need a break, I will head out to the backside of my own wooded property in the mountains here in Oregon and put up a tent, tarp or hammock. I seem to manage three or four short backpacking trips each year, by myself, into the wilderness area when my usual partners are busy.

Personally, I think some of the most rewarding experiences that I have had in the outdoors were by myself. Much to be said for a still and quiet camp if you like to observe nature, scribble in a journal, read a good book, or practice woodcraft techniques in silence. Striking up a balance between spending time with self, and others, seems to produce the most confident and capable individuals.
 
I like group trips or solo...learn the animals/insects in the area and the sounds they make and don't let your mind freak you out....it is a mental thing... you can get past it if you want to....Don't give up on the solo camping ,once you master your mind & calm your fears....you'll have a great time and enjoy the solo camping/treks.
 
batosai117 said:
ROFL...:D. I laughed my a$$ off when I read the raccoon thing. Those are at night and the "mini-bears" are during the day (chipmunks).
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lol
You should have seen me one time last year.
This was a place I dont normally go to.
The raccoons were so bad that I actually got up and chased them with my mini mag in my mouth around the campsite.

On another note, my uncle how is one of those ultra light backpackers will not go into the woods in the dark.
In a group hes like me, sleeps under a tarp in the open.
If he is alone he freaks out, I know because I ditched him one time.
My other uncles told me that when he was little my grandpa put him in a blind for hunting and he freaked and ran back to camp.
Aparently he was chased by someone or something all the way back.
 
just relax it's all new to you,urban living disassociates from the real world that most the World does day to day. Take the time 1 step at the time then you'll feel more in the comfort zone.
I should add this does not take into the account Combat Military another story:eek:
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When you are at ease with yourself and the real world, you will find that the AM hours when all are asleep and all human activities are abated and the Star’s are out and all you hear is the wind and the heat gathered from the sun on the stones and sand as it released during the night…you will know!
 
i've solo camped on and off since i was 17 and it never bothered me, of course i usually carry some type of gun with me and i find this comforting. that being said i've known a lot of people who just don't go in for the solo woods outing thing and that's fine. If you're more comfortable with a couple of friends then by all means go that route. I do find the quiet and isolation very relaxing but then i'm weird.
as mentioned above i also snore and fart and even when camping with someone else i'm alone. good luck.
hey pull my finger.
 
I don’t have much camping experience, but am trying to find the time to go more often. Recently I hammock camped about 100 yards from my friends in their comfy cabin just to test the hammock in the cold. Surrounded by crunchy leaves, something seemed to be scraping the tarp close to my head. I KNOW nothing could have gotten that close to me without making noise in the leaves. It was mildly annoying to me, and I’m sure it could have really disturbed a spooky person.

When taking my 11 year old son hammock camping in the same area, we witnessed something that I hope calmed his nerves about nightly noises. While standing near our hammocks in day light, we kept hearing leaves crunching loudly VERY close, but didn’t see anything. After a while we noticed the noise was a chipmunk. In the still evening, it seemed very loud. I told him to keep this in mind every time he heard something moving in the night.

G
 
Gurthang said:
I don’t have much camping experience, but am trying to find the time to go more often. Recently I hammock camped about 100 yards from my friends in their comfy cabin just to test the hammock in the cold. Surrounded by crunchy leaves, something seemed to be scraping the tarp close to my head. I KNOW nothing could have gotten that close to me without making noise in the leaves. It was mildly annoying to me, and I’m sure it could have really disturbed a spooky person.

When taking my 11 year old son hammock camping in the same area, we witnessed something that I hope calmed his nerves about nightly noises. While standing near our hammocks in day light, we kept hearing leaves crunching loudly VERY close, but didn’t see anything. After a while we noticed the noise was a chipmunk. In the still evening, it seemed very loud. I told him to keep this in mind every time he heard something moving in the night.

G
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Hey Gurthang - I admire you taking your kid out camping, we need more parents like you.

I noticed you are in PA. Did you see the camping/hiking trip thread going on for June 27-29?

Everything sounds like a Bear at night right? A squirrel walking on leaves sounds like Sasquatch. Not sure why it's like that, but you even know it's probably a squirrel and it still freaks me out at night.

I enjoy being by myself though.

This weekend it's just me and the dog, my wife went away for the weekend. It's nice to be alone in my own thoughts and not have to speak to anyone.

Everyone should enjoy a "me" camping trip, or at lease a hike to clear their mind. It works wonders.
 
Thanks. He seemed to have fun. On that first trip he got to do MANY things I never did with my father. (No shot at him, it just wasn’t what he was into) My son shot his first gun (.22 rifle), drove my full sized Silverado (on the private mountain road), hiked and saw deer, turkey feathers (but no turkeys), heard coyotes in the distance, had a night time campfire, etc. Very fun.

I DID notice the trip, but as usual, you ‘normal’ people scheduled it for a weekend, and I work weekends. I sent stickman (I think) a note about possible places to take my son camping. I prefer to ‘primitive’ camp in the woods, rather than go to a camp ground. Meeting with people as part of the plan is fine, but I also like the idea of going out with my son and seeing no one.

Nightly noises are what make it an adventure. I always hear people speaking of squirrels at night, but I’ve been on stand archery hunting pre-dawn MANY times, and have NEVER heard or seen a squirrel move in the dark. I’ve often heard them wake up in their nest, and heard their first trip down their tree.

Abstractly, I’d love to take my dog out, but in reality, she’d be a pain. I could NEVER trust her off leash. God knows where she’d wind up.

I’m very much in the market for places to primitive hammock camp, but there doesn’t seem to be many good ones nearby. Time to investigate is limited. All the mundane considerations like is my truck safe parked here? Am I allowed to make a small camp fire? Bear safety, etc. I WILL be getting him out more this year, I’d just like to find places closer to home than my friends place in Tioga County (about 3.5 hours away).

G
 
Camping alone is scary sometimes, thats normal. I like it. Once spent the night in an old cemetary. Dont think I slept thirty minutes that night.
 
I do not know what it means to feel fear be it camping or life.

Actually I get pretty scared in the woods after dark by myself, the dog helps and a gun does too, but I'm usually still pretty wired. I think though that that "rush" is ultimately part of the enjoyment of the experience--like watching a good horror movie or riding a rollercoaster.
 
I just did my first solo camp in a few years this last weekend. No worries at all. But then I don't have to worry about things like bears and mountain lions. Only things I need to watch out for are spiders and snakes which is why I'd never just sleep under a tarp. Fully enclosed swag, tent or bivy for me thanks very much.

I was woken by something rummaging around camp which worried me at first as I knew there were horses in the area and being in my little swag I was worried about being stepped on but as I came to more I realised it was scurrying about too quick to be a horse, probably just a possum or maybe a goanna so went back to sleep.
 
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