The Horrors of the Outdoors
 

I understand the weather for you guys up North is becoming really pleasant, while ours is quickly on its way to becoming intolerable. Just before our beautiful nights give way to a muggy, mosquito-laden hell, I decided to give outdoor camping a try this past weekend.

Yeah, I had never been camping before. Seems odd, but my family never had an interest in it. Working in an office, dealing with computers day in and out, and having a pager practically sugically implanted into my body quickly changes those feelings and I had been day dreaming of pitching a tent in getting in touch with nature for some time. This past weekend had perfect weather, so the quick decision was made to rough it.

Despite the subject line, I have to say it was one of the best times I've ever had! The wildlife witnessed was amazing, from the family of raccoons that swept through the camp while we sat around the fire to going to the lake in the dark with a flashlight to see all the blinking pairs of eyes floating in the water (alligators). The sounds at night were so stereotypical that I thought I might have entered a bad Yogi Bear cartoon: an owl hooting at 3am loud enough to wake everyone, the rumbling of the gators somewhere near the water, and foxes playing in the distance as dawn approached.

The reason for the subject line: when does camping go wrong? What experiences have made camping hell for you? My experience this weekend was ideal, but I know it won't always be like that. What might I expect for future outtings and what precautions should I take?

I went to the Philmont Scout Ranch for a week and a half, and somehow (I still don't know how) I forgot a long sleeve shirt. All I had was a thin windbreaker which did almost nothing when wet. And it was frequently wet.

Of course, the experience as a whole was awesome.

Precautions: Bring appropriate clothing.

I've never had a bad camping experience, though admittedly it's been years since I've gone. I have a bunch of practially new camping gear I'm looking forward to finally using now that my son is old enough to really enjoy it. Problem with living in Colorado is that we have a very narrow window at the beginning and end of the season where camping is a pleasant experience. It seems like the entire country converges upon us during the Summer months, making it really hard to find a nice quiet camping spot. If I ever tried to camp during those prime months, I imagine I would have my first "bad" experience. :)

Just a note: I too have done Philmont. The year was 1990.

what can go wrong camping? Let's see:

Camp in a depression "to avoid the wind"... and realize that "depression=bowl" when the wind turned into rain.

Go camping planning to use a 3 sided tent (basically just a tarp) and have a cold front come in and dump snow across the feet of all in the tent, which promptly melted, making wet bottomed sleeping bags.

Wake up with an unexpected weight on your chest. Open your eyes to find yourself face to face with a skunk.

Be in the same tent as the skunk-finder when they sit up with a start, begin yelling and throwing shoes and anything else handy at the skunk.

Go camping with a someone who hates going camping and has no qualms to tell you how much they hate it.

Be in the same tent as the skunk-finder when they sit up with a start, begin yelling and throwing shoes and anything else handy at the skunk.

Holy hell, how did a skunk get inside the tent?

I'm a little concerned about bad weather, as I know the tent will be able to handle it, but keeping dry just seems very difficult to do. Even starting a fire in the rain seems an impossible trick.

I'm curious to know if anyone has slept under the stars, before. How can you possibly sleep outside with the insects that exist out there? In Florida it would be like a bad movie -- you'd wake up a swollen mass of bites wrapped in webbing.

Re: The Horrors of the Outdoors
 

usually when you have to poop.

having spent 3 months camping/traveling at one time
(tour thread) , and many other trips, I'd say that is the one thing that bothered me. Rain sucks, too. Especially if it lasts for 3 or more days. Proper gear can offset the soggy depression that can result from haviing all of your gear soaked, but even if you are able to keep dry through proper camp planning and equipment, three days of non stop rain can make you go crazy.

This was the same run as the "three sided tent" above, but before the snow started falling... so there was no problem for the skunk.

Oh, and another one:

Go camping with 3000+ people (Pennsic Wars ) where there are plenty of fixed and temporary toilets.. but only 3 shower stalls for each gender.

This was back in.. oh.. '84 or '85 so they've probably upgraded the facilites since then.

I have been going camping since I was about 2 months old. My dad is real big on camping and fishing, so there are at least 6 camping trips a year and at least 12 day trips for fishing. Half the time my dad loads the camper on the truck and the other half the time it is just a tent. Yes the camper is still considered camping, that camper was my grandfathers and doesn't have a bunch of the stuff new campers have. We still have to go to the bathroom out side, and there is no shower. The only thing the camper does is allow for a slightly softer bed. Having been camping so often, I cant remember a time when things went terribly wrong, there have been times where something major went wrong, but it always worked out OK in the end.

On one trip our horse trailer broke it's axle, and we were about 4 hours from any type of civilization. My dad always plans for stuff to go wrong, so he had a tool box and he was able to temporarily fix the axle till we got home.

I remember going for a ride on my dads motorcycle, with my dad, younger sister, and me all on the bike. We got stuck in some quick sand like stuff. We were stuck bad with the wheels buried half way in this sand/gravel mud. We were several miles away from our camp site (and my step mom who was waiting at the camp site). We knew at some point my step mom would get worried but she wouldn't know where to look for us. After a few hours we heard some bikes coming our way and flagged them down. It took 8 guys to pull that bike out of the mud, but we made it back to the camp site just fine.

Kitsune, your talking of an owl reminded me of a camping trip when I was about 8. Sometime in the middle of the night two owls decided to start hooting at each other. The were on opposite sides of our camp ground. So it would be Hoot from the front of the tent, and then 30 seconds later hoot from the back of the tent. This went on for it seemed like an hour. Finally I had had enough of the stupid owls and yelled "Shut Up!!!" My mom started laughing but my grandma decided to lecture me on not yelling in the middle of the night as it might wake up the other campers near by. Right, like the other campers are fast asleep with the stupid hooting owls going on right above everyone. I like owls but not in the middle of the night.

I have slept under the stars a number of times. Yes bugs are a problem. Sometimes if you lay a tarp down under your sleeping bag it helps to keep a lot of the bugs at bay. Otherwise just try not to think about what might crawl into your sleeping bag with you and when you wake up in the morning get out very slowly just in case.

ometimes if you lay a tarp down under your sleeping bag it helps to keep a lot of the bugs at bay.

I was a little more concerned with the flying ones than the crawly ones, but it does sound like a tarp would assist.

Interesting note: the dominant species of mosquito in South/Central Florida does not cause a bump or an itch after they've bitten you. Nice, but they're also the little bastards that spread all the fun diseases, such as encephalitis.

So it would be Hoot from the front of the tent, and then 30 seconds later hoot from the back of the tent. This went on for it seemed like an hour.

Hilarious! I swear they must so it on purpose.

I'll admit that having a camper/RV is not really "camping", but come this summer that will be the only way I'll be out there. My friend drove his RV in and slept in it as he'd been wanting to try it out for months. Must be nice: air conditioning, bathroom, shower, kitchen, etc. It was nice to know it was there in case everything went horribly wrong, but it turned out there was no need for it. I was surprised that in a mixed-site of both RVs and tents that we didn't notice anything from the vehicles -- no generators running (there were hookups) and no exhaust. Besides the amplified owl, I'd say it was a hell of a lot more peaceful than the suburbs. That, and the "community feel" of the campground was very impressive -- everyone was very kind to their neighbors, there were people playing music, and even community pot-luck style dinners.

usually when you have to poop.

Next time I'll be a man and try one of the primitive sites in the middle of the woods and then I'm sure this will be of concern. Right now, some of my equipment is not friendly to hiking (the sleeping bag is way too huge when rolled up).

When I have slept under the stars it has only been in the western states, so I cant say what the Florida bugs will be like. You might be able to erect some sort of net tent, using PVC pipe as a frame or something like that. Maybe a rectangle like frame with the netting over it. Not sure as most the bugs I had to deal with while sleeping under the stars were mosquitoes, and as long as you take a multi B vitamin for a few weeks before you camp, the mosquitoes will leave you alone.

Yeah, pooping outside is no fun. I'd rather not get real graphic, so I'll leave it at that.

On extended trips my dad erects a little tarp like stall using a cluster of trees and rope. We then dig a nice deep hole and then he places this toilet like seat on legs over the hole. The tarps allow for privacy while the toilet seat allows for you to not have to squat. At the end of the trip we fill the hole in and and everything is good to go. I love going camping with my dad, all the years he has been doing it, he has gotten it down to a science.