Back from the woods

[JayFarrar]

Been to to the woods for three days on my semi-annual camping trip.
Three of my friends have been going since high school, for me, I picked it up more recently.
This trip was around 38 or 39 for them, I have been on the last eight.
They are all married and for them, it is their twice a year break from wives and kids. For me, it is just a glorious thing to disappear into the woods for three days.
No cellphones. Not that it mattered. No cellphone reception in the mountains anyway.
Our nod to being carnivores was that we packed 16 pounds of meat for five meals.
We went into town for some football on Saturday afternoon, so it wasn't a completely technology free. But it was still pretty awesome.
We didn't put the fly cover on the tent and being able to look up at the stars on a perfectly clear night in national forest service style darkness was a remarkable thing.
I almost feel alive again.
My great wonder, after each of these trips, is why I don't camp more?
I live within just a couple of hours of some of the best country that America has to offer and I just don't.
Anyway, who here camps?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Haven't been in a long time. But I love being out in the wilderness away from everybody.

 

[crazedchipmunk]

I haven't camped in years. My family used to go all the time. I loved going, especially in tents. That was awesome. If I could just get some people to go with me, I would do it more often.

 

[BYH]

Did the virgin go?

 

[JR]

I used to.

Best trip was a five day canoe trip in Algonquin Park, a wilderness park about three hours north of Toronto. Covers about 8,000 square kilometres and has about 2000 kilometres of canoe routes.

Long before the days of cell phones.

Middle of the wilderness. Paddled a total of about 100 miles, camped on small islands, had some brutal portages. All the food had to be hoisted up trees in order to keep the bears away from the tent.

 

[Rosie]

I live in the woods.

Wouldn't live anywhere else.

 

[User 1019]

Me and some flight school buddies went recently (well, before flight school started, anyway), and we've begun planning the "mid-tour" trip. I'll be the last one to finish the first half of flight school, so they're waiting on me for a month.

We rent canoes from the recreation place on post, drop them in the river and go for three days, camping on the sandbars.

The last one was in late spring, and this one will be just before Thanksgiving.

Absolutely love it.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Did the virgin go?

Outing alert: Jay's girlfriend is named Connie Swale.

 

[pseudo]

I used to.

Best trip was a five day canoe trip in Algonquin Park, a wilderness park about three hours north of Toronto. Covers about 8,000 square kilometres and has about 2000 kilometres of canoe routes.

Long before the days of cell phones.

Middle of the wilderness. Paddled a total of about 100 miles, camped on small islands, had some brutal portages. All the food had to be hoisted up trees in order to keep the bears away from the tent.

Used to have some relatives up that way (some in Bancroft, others in Minden). I've only been up there once, but would love to go back.

I live in the woods.

Wouldn't live anywhere else.

Amen. I live roughly half an hour from a "dark skies" state park, and could never imagine moving to any place where I can't see the stars at night.

 

[KG]

I camp and love it. I have different tents that I use, depending on how rough I'm roughing it and how much crap I take along for the trip. I also recently got (for free!) one of those little two or three person tents that I'll take along for storing gear and a cooler. That way it won't be taking up room in my tent.

I'm going camping with a friend in a couple of weeks, but we are just camping at a campground. It's kind of cheating when you can go up the hill a ways and take a shower in a real shower, but I've taken enough showers from a bag of water to be cool with that.

Depending on how cold it is, I may cheat even more and get a site with electricity and take a space heater along so I won't have to take the really big sleeping bags. Yes, I know, that would be a total sell-out.

 

[WildBillyCrazyCat]

Best campground I've ever stayed at:

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/recreation/campgrounds/highway_128/goose_island.html

It's just across the river from the southern border of Arches National Park. And a fantastic place to set up shop for a base of operations while off-roading, hiking and biking through Moab.

 

[JR]

Depending on how cold it is, I may cheat even more and get a site with electricity and take a space heater along so I won't have to take the really big sleeping bags. Yes, I know, that would be a total sell-out.

Electrcity? Space Heater? Showers?

That's not camping.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

There's nothing like getting out in the woods. Cabin or tent, either one, is fine by me.

Jay, here's my question ... how far from the cars did you camp? Right next to them? Or did you hike in for a bit?

 

[KG]

Depending on how cold it is, I may cheat even more and get a site with electricity and take a space heater along so I won't have to take the really big sleeping bags. Yes, I know, that would be a total sell-out.

Electrcity? Space Heater? Showers?

That's not camping.

LOL Like I said, I've had enough showers from a bag of water that has to heat in the sun all day to be cool with this quick trip being at a campground with showers. Plus, it's just a decision we made yesterday as something to do on my days off that week, and the people I'm camping with aren't campers.

At least I'm taking the canoe and going out in it. AND, I'm going hiking so I can play with my new camera.

Also, my friend's son has been having trouble with his Marfan Syndrome, especially with his mitral valve prolapse and collapsed lung. Having a few cozy comforts should help keep him more relaxed.

The heater is still a big IF. LOL No other electronics will be allowed.

 

[JayFarrar]

To answer Inky's question, it was national forest service, so the trucks were close.
The forest service has the tent pads that are right by the fire ring and close to the parking.
Now we talked about, setting up in another spot. Near a washed out bridge that would have caused us to bring the gear in. It was maybe half a mile or so, but that got overruled.

As cheap as camping is, I don't know why more people don't do it. You could outfit two people for a little more than a hundred bucks.
That's all one-time expense of buying a tent, a tarp and a couple of sleeping bags. Go a little fancier with a camp stove, lantern and some other gear and you are still well under two hundred bucks.
Once you got past gear expense, a weekend trip would food, gas and the camp fee. At the place we went it was $7 a night for hot showers and toilets.
A bear may poop in the woods, I don't, at least not this past weekend.

 

[Football_Bat]

Give me a lake, a Jet Ski and beer and I'm good to go.

 

[txsportsscribe]

Electrcity? Space Heater? Showers?

That's not camping.

that's what my nephew tried to tell me on a previous cqamping trip as we sat under the stars and watched a movie on a portable tv/vcr before hitting the hay on 26-inch tall air mattress in a tent with a homemade air conditioner. i told him he could take his happy ass outside that night if he needed to "camp out." shoot, i've got every "luxury" camping item there is and if i'm still spending the day/night in a tent, it's camping. it really pains me that premature breakdown of my body has prevented any camping since summer 2006 trip to the rocky mountains in colorado. thought about buying a travel trailer or popup but think i'll just go with a cabin when the next urge to "rough it" comes along.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

To answer Inky's question, it was national forest service, so the trucks were close.
The forest service has the tent pads that are right by the fire ring and close to the parking.
Now we talked about, setting up in another spot. Near a washed out bridge that would have caused us to bring the gear in. It was maybe half a mile or so, but that got overruled.

As cheap as camping is, I don't know why more people don't do it. You could outfit two people for a little more than a hundred bucks.
That's all one-time expense of buying a tent, a tarp and a couple of sleeping bags. Go a little fancier with a camp stove, lantern and some other gear and you are still well under two hundred bucks.
Once you got past gear expense, a weekend trip would food, gas and the camp fee. At the place we went it was $7 a night for hot showers and toilets.
A bear may poop in the woods, I don't, at least not this past weekend.

With 15 pounds of meat, it's probably best y'all stuck close to the car. Tough to pack a cooler very far ... or to keep critters from being attracted to it.

 

[SixToe]

Electrcity? Space Heater? Showers?

You might as well be in a Motel 6 with bugs, noisy neighbors and moonlight showing through curtains that won't close all the way.

The next morning you can have a stale muffin and lukewarm milk, too.

;D

 

[KG]

;D You can all kiss my ass. I'm not in the mood at the moment for roughing it. My annual roughing it trip is in the spring.