Camping: grab your sticks and pad and head to the woods!!

The most magical campsite I know is on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly (pron. 'Silly'), UK.
It's the last inhabited island in SW Britain and the campsite is right above the beach in the little bay you can see on the left side with the boats anchored.
In the evening, you look out at Bishop Rock lighthouse flickering in the distance- the last building in Britain - then nothing but thousands of miles of atlantic all the way to America.

that sound AWESOME!!!

there were many, many places in Ireland I would love to go back and camp in...reminds me of some of them
 
N

No scientist in the UK has recommended wearing a mask outdoors in fresh air. It's the safest place you can possibly be.

well, the campsite was packed, especially the beaches and public area...it was at the beginning of places starting to close, so that week was still full...the shower/bathroom area was also pretty packed untill after midnight.

at that point, I wanted to be as sure as I could be...I never caught the virus...so far, so good
 
Spent my whole life camping , fishing and hunting. As a kid growing up I spent a lot of time in the outdoors. Camped all over New York State and Pennsylvania. From my late teens to about 35 spent a lot of time camping and bow hunting and fishing out of lean-to’s all over NYS ( mostly the Catskills and Adirondack mountains.

At age 14i spent from 6pm( dark) to 11pm alone in the woods after getting lost while bow hunting .
That adventurous spirit
( still have it) to see what’s over the next ridg-top got the better of me . I hiked further than I thought and I lost track of time heading back to camp two miles away and it got dark fast. I tried to navigate with my compass and flashlight ( Boy Scouts) but compass was malfunctioning. So did what I was taught and got a fire going and shelter built and blew my whistle every so often until my father and the other men from camp along with state police heard and found me . Wasn’t sure if my father was gonna kick me in my ass or hug me . He hugged me the and kicked me in my ass the following day . To this day someone always knows where I’ll be hunting and I don’t deviate from my plans . I had been in the complete opposite direction of where I’d said I would be that day .

Soent a week each summer from 22 to about 32 driving all over NYS with a friend fishing by picking bodies of water off a Hagstrom map and sleeping on the open ground or in the truck if it rained. We never tented it because we’d hit multiple bodies of water a day and fished until and at night and never knew where em we’d wind up.

Heres a couple pics of my view of Mount Kahtahdin( sp?) Maine, from deer week in northern Maine
So many other outdoor stories and pictures but on my phone so have these for now .

Love, love , LOVE the outdoors. Excellent thread !!!
 

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Spent my whole life camping , fishing and hunting. As a kid growing up I spent a lot of time in the outdoors. Camped all over New York State and Pennsylvania. From my late teens to about 35 spent a lot of time camping and bow hunting and fishing out of lean-to’s all over NYS ( mostly the Catskills and Adirondack mountains.

At age 14i spent from 6pm( dark) to 11pm alone in the woods after getting lost while bow hunting .
That adventurous spirit
( still have it) to see what’s over the next ridg-top got the better of me . I hiked further than I thought and I lost track of time heading back to camp two miles away and it got dark fast. I tried to navigate with my compass and flashlight ( Boy Scouts) but compass was malfunctioning. So did what I was taught and got a fire going and shelter built and blew my whistle every so often until my father and the other men from camp along with state police heard and found me . Wasn’t sure if my father was gonna kick me in my ass or hug me . He hugged me the and kicked me in my ass the following day . To this day someone always knows where I’ll be hunting and I don’t deviate from my plans . I had been in the complete opposite direction of where I’d said I would be that day .

Soent a week each summer from 22 to about 32 driving all over NYS with a friend fishing by picking bodies of water off a Hagstrom map and sleeping on the open ground or in the truck if it rained. We never tented it because we’d hit multiple bodies of water a day and fished until and at night and never knew where em we’d wind up.

Heres a couple pics of my view of Mount Kahtahdin( sp?) Maine, from deer week in northern Maine
So many other outdoor stories and pictures but on my phone so have these for now .

Love, love , LOVE the outdoors. Excellent thread !!!

I never got lost in any of the Boy Scout things we did, but on a 25 mile hike one time, we ended up getting delayed by numerous injuries and equipment failures, and ended up having to sleep overnight as a group away from camp. Late fall. North Central Ohio We ducked into a stand of trees off the road. There was not much to make shelters, but it was not supposed to rain. For the most part we made leaf beds on the ground, but only had on the clothes and coats we had taken on the hike. We also had no food other than any snacks we had brought. It got into the upper 30's that night, but we had 3 small fires going (there were 12 of us on the hike) so it was manageable. To me, it was a freaking blast...most everybody else was not having fun.

Moral of that story? Use the proper equipment, and pack properly, and you won't have consistent small issues that add up to one big one. All of the little injuries were due to improper equipment fit or usage...lots of blisters; some cuts or rashes where backpack straps were digging into shoulders etc...2 twisted ankles becasue boots were not tied properly...just normal stupid kid stuff
 
Every year we plan multiple camping excursions. CO has so much in the way of outdoor activities, it's silly to not get out and experience them. I am a crippled old man so I don't fuxs with tents anymore, I have a travel trailer. It has a bed, heat and AC, and a bathroom. In 3 weeks we're headed to the Black Hills in SD for the first weekend trip of the year.
AR river headwaters.jpgRMNP.jpgturquiose lake.jpg
 
I moved to southeast Michigan in 1986, and had never experienced such vibrant greens of the spring and summer in the midwest. Nothing like "semi-arid" southern California. I was hot to camp, just to see new things in a new place, so about a week after Labor Day I took a solo vacation to the largest (by surface area) freshwater lake on this planet: Lake Superior. I randomly chose this campground on a map, and when I got there I discovered that 1) after Labor Day many midwest people go home and 2) there had been a couple nights below 32˚F and all the black gnats were dead. I had the campground to myself while the ranger kept an eye out for black bear.

What struck me the most about the lake is how it would change "character" so quickly. One day it's smooth and glassy, the next day choppy like a storm but with no wind. Beautiful coastline. Especially without other humans.

Mich_UP Lake Superior.jpg
 
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Camping is awesome. My favorite place for camping is in the Adirondacks of NY. I went to summer camp in the late 70's in the Northern Adirondacks and became hooked. When my son was old enough I would take him canoe camping with me on the Lower Saranac Lake. We'd rent a tent site on an island. What a blast. And being on an island, less chance of bears. I can't say I've brought my sticks with me though. The kid is older now so it's been a few years since we've been camping. Hoping to maybe get a trip in this summer before he heads off to college. The wife rolls her eyes whenever the subject comes up. Her comment is always the same. "Been there, done that."
 
Camping is awesome. My favorite place for camping is in the Adirondacks of NY. I went to summer camp in the late 70's in the Northern Adirondacks and became hooked. When my son was old enough I would take him canoe camping with me on the Lower Saranac Lake. We'd rent a tent site on an island. What a blast. And being on an island, less chance of bears. I can't say I've brought my sticks with me though. The kid is older now so it's been a few years since we've been camping. Hoping to maybe get a trip in this summer before he heads off to college. The wife rolls her eyes whenever the subject comes up. Her comment is always the same. "Been there, done that."

yep...Adirondacks are like heaven on Earth...we would retire there, but it is a bit too far away. We visited Lake Palcid about 7 years ago on a pilgrimage to The Miracle On Ice stadium, and the whole scene there. Being a hockey player - and wife was a professional figure skater - we HAD to make a trip to Lake Placid. Fell in love with the area instantly, black flies and all.

Luckily Michigan is closer with roughly the same kind of landscape, minus the huge mountains....
 
I moved to southeast Michigan in 1986, and had never experienced such vibrant greens of the spring and summer. Nothing like "semi-arid" southern California. I was hot to camp, just to see new things in a new place, so about a week after Labor Day I took a solo vacation to the largest (by surface area) freshwater lake on this planet: Lake Superior. I randomly chose this campground on a map, and when I got there I discovered that 1) after Labor Day many midwest people go home and 2) there had been a couple nights below 32˚F and all the black gnats were dead. I had the campground to myself while the ranger kept an eye out for black bear.

What struck me the most about the lake is how it would change "character" so quickly. One day it's smooth and glassy, the next day choppy like a storm but with no wind. Beautiful coastline. Especially without other humans.

View attachment 104189

yep...off season is the best, and that camp ground....I really don't think I could have left that...that scene is my "quiet place"...where I go when I need to unwind. I can even vividly imagine the sounds, smells, and temp of that pic
 
I'll never forget camping with old girlfriends. It was always a lot of fun. If she can't camp with me she's too high falootin for me anyways. I camped with a lot them in reflection. But there was only one "Teresa"- dang I wish I could tell some of the stories-it was always a wild adventure with that gal. Don't tell my wife. I actually kept a professional photographer photo of the two of us ,when we were a couple ,for a decade before guilt I threw it away. Course now she has to be close to 80 so no problem of me running off for one more camping trip ROFL.
 
yep...Adirondacks are like heaven on Earth...we would retire there, but it is a bit too far away. We visited Lake Palcid about 7 years ago on a pilgrimage to The Miracle On Ice stadium, and the whole scene there. Being a hockey player - and wife was a professional figure skater - we HAD to make a trip to Lake Placid. Fell in love with the area instantly, black flies and all.

Luckily Michigan is closer with roughly the same kind of landscape, minus the huge mountains....
Yep ! Adirondacks are beautiful and awesome ! Sooo much to do for the outdoor enthusiast. If you like it there you’ll love northern Maine and the Mount Katahden area, moose head lake, jackman, and the rangely lake area. Occasionally see Appalachian trail hikers in town in millinocket first and second week of November . Would’ve loved to do that whole hike but is a younger mans game and I’ve got too many injuries. Plus you’ve gotta plan and time it just right with the weather .
Also love spending time outdoors at my sisters house near grand junction Colorado. I’d wake up early at her house and in 5 minutes be up in the national monument drinking coffee as the sun comes up while big horn sheep walk by . Just amazing . Hiking through the Mesa there is unreal too. Just a beautiful place !!!
 
Yep ! Adirondacks are beautiful and awesome ! Sooo much to do for the outdoor enthusiast. If you like it there you’ll love northern Maine and the Mount Katahden area, moose head lake, jackman, and the rangely lake area. Occasionally see Appalachian trail hikers in town in millinocket first and second week of November . Would’ve loved to do that whole hike but is a younger mans game and I’ve got too many injuries. Plus you’ve gotta plan and time it just right with the weather .
Also love spending time outdoors at my sisters house near grand junction Colorado. I’d wake up early at her house and in 5 minutes be up in the national monument drinking coffee as the sun comes up while big horn sheep walk by . Just amazing . Hiking through the Mesa there is unreal too. Just a beautiful place !!!

my sister almost thru hiked back in the 90's...started in Georgia, and got to about 300miles of Katahden but hher feet were destroyed. I met hher in the Blue ridge Mountains that summer and did a week of the trail with her. I am not a big fan of hiking - would rather bikepack - but in hindsight, it was really fun....the hike is the necessary evil to get me to the destination

when I was in Scouts, we used to do a week long cross country ski and camp adventure up in Minnesota near International Falls. THAT has been some of my bet memories of being outdoors. Skiing with all the gear on, get to camp, chill for a few days, pack back up, head to the next site...probably where my love of cold weather was sealed....
 
less chance of bears.
A woman here was killed by a black bear about a week ago while walking her dogs. The really weird part is that when fish and wildlife caught and killed the bear, they found other human remains in it's digestive tract. Clearly, that bear got a taste for human and wanted some more.
That incident is extraordinarily rare.
 
Yeah I remember when gator attacks were a rare phenomena in Georgia and Florida-but now hundreds a year. The dang dinosaurs were almost driven to extinction by man which was bad but now we've the opposite extreme of not really controlling their populations-they are becoming a nuisance. I can't throw out a top water lure or water ski in some places without seeing dozens of gator heads making a bee line for ya. I can honestly say I've never been afraid of gators (had one for a pet for awhile) till now. Before I guess they knew we outnumbered them and always seemed skittish, but now they don't give a crap and have no fear-I think they want to eat me.
 
Black bears are apparently the more dangerous among black, brown and grizzly. They are less predictable and while attacks are rare, if a black bear does attack you don't want to play dead like with a grizzly. You need to fight for your life because a black bear will kill you and eat you. When I was a young man I would go backpacking by myself. One time an idiot in a lean to not far from me decided it would be a good idea to hang his food right in the tree that was growing next to his lean to. I mean he literally just hauled the pack of food up so it was high but right against the main trunk of the tree. I guess this guy didn't get the message that bears can climb trees. My food was strung BETWEEN two trees and about 15 or more feet off the ground because that was what I was taught at an early age. That night I hear the sound of something ripping at some bark. It was the sound of a bear climbing a tree. Then I hear someone banging pots and pans. Then I hear the sound of bark tearing again as the bear climbs back down from the tree. Then I hear the sound of a bear huffing and puffing as it runs through my tent site. I had a knife in one hand, a flashlight in another and a whistle in my mouth. And the only thing I could hear was the sound of my beating heart. The next morning I woke up to see the bear's footprints in the mud not more than 10 feet from my tent. That was the last time I went camping alone.
 
We camp semi-often, but always boat camping once a year at our "secret spot" on Lake Mead each fall. Been going for about 10 years now. Look forward to this little slice of heaven every year.
 

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A woman here was killed by a black bear about a week ago while walking her dogs. The really weird part is that when fish and wildlife caught and killed the bear, they found other human remains in it's digestive tract. Clearly, that bear got a taste for human and wanted some more.
That incident is extraordinarily rare.

I freaking HATE when they kill the animal after an attack...unless it is to stop the spread of a disease...but why else do that...it doesn't prevent more attacks from happening...

it is like punishing the animals even more for our intrusion into their living room. I think we forget that we don't "own" the wilderness. They are reacting the same way we would if someone intruded in our home....

just pisses me off that idiots trundle blindly and belligerently into their world ,and then are shocked when something bad happens
 
or humans could just stop going into where the animals live...

or could learn how to live along with the animals eco system and be a part of it (like we used to), instead of just smashing it....

I know that the above suggestions are utopian, especially now, 100's of years after humans first smashed into other ecosystems

and my dads relatives ran farms and slaughterhouses all across Central Illinois that I used to work on as a kid in the summer - mostly so I could learn about where our food actually comes from - but for other reasons as well (it was actually fun to have been a city kid learning about that world as a teen ager. I learned a lot about life), so I am not one of the anti-hunter types, though I never got into it myself. My complaint was not coming from that angle. I realize, and try NOT to be a part of the industrialized food train wreck as much as I can. Espeially in the past 15 years or so since I have had more controll over it in my life

I just feel like the animals existence has already been compromised by our belligerence, and then the most belligerent of us all go out and do dumb things like not being wilderness/situationally aware.

It is frustrating in general to see the overall ignorance of humans in ANY situation...not just environmental...the past year has really been a big show of that...

we have this discussion/argument a lot in the mountain biking forum I am in too...people out on bikes in the woods, not being situationally aware, and then doing damage to the wilderness and the activity by being ignorant....
 
I freaking HATE when they kill the animal after an attack...unless it is to stop the spread of a disease...but why else do that...it doesn't prevent more attacks from happening...

it is like punishing the animals even more for our intrusion into their living room. I think we forget that we don't "own" the wilderness. They are reacting the same way we would if someone intruded in our home....

just pisses me off that idiots trundle blindly and belligerently into their world ,and then are shocked when something bad happens
I completely understand where you’re coming from , but like @Ronzo I have to respectfully disagree.
Not all but many bear attacks ( although there aren’t a lot) are not necessarily a persons fault or the bears, but even when it is a persons fault , that bear needs to be put down . Before I get lit up for this by anyone reading this ,
1- if a person purposely screws with or harasses a bear they have what’s coming .
2- people make mistakes without intention and some may say well they deserve the attack or death by bear anyway. That’s debatable , but what’s not is now that a bear that’s attacked and or eaten an idiot or someone who screwed up, it has the taste of human blood and now poses a serious risk of death to others in or out of forested areas . Remember too that some attacks don’t take place in the woods or wilderness but in suburban backyards. We all can’t live or don’t live in cities either and yes it would be great to live in harmony with wildlife in and around wooded areas , but the woods , forests and land is out home and environment too. It’s , unfortunate and also very rare that a bear has to be put down but it’s sometimes a necessity.

Black bears are mostly predictable ( in general) in their behavior and will shy away or even run from humans, but sometimes they can be unpredictable and very individual in their behaviors.
The curious ones make me nervous! I had in bear that I saw from I high ridge following my exact path on the flat below that I just walked through ! It was a good distance off and eventually veered of my path but had followed me for at least a thousand yards . This was in northern main by the Canadian border.
I was false charged at about 40 yards in the Catskills by a female with Cubs , This could have gone bad , but I recognized what was happening and backed out slowly and she and the Cubs headed up the slope and away . Thank GOD !!!
While hunting in Massachusetts Berkshire mts. I had this bear come up the back of my tree. I should have just stood up and made noise and it probably ( most certainly) would have ran off but I thought it would walk by . Instead it went behind my tree , stood up , put its front paws on , and I could hear its claws dig in and in a matter of a second I was literally eyeball to eyeball 30 feet off the ground with the 300 pound animal with only the trunk between us ! It was left of the tree and I went right and yelled and in 3 secs hecwas gone . I got video of him but can’t figure how to post here but I’ll see if I can’t post some screen shots of the vid . Strange too, was it was almost middle December with temps in the low teens and snow on the ground . He should have been den’d up . Again bears and the outdoors CAN be unpredictable but as you’ve said and we were taught in scouts and learned with time on the planet. BE PREPARED!!! . Expect the unexpected because even when you do things can still go south , but it can be the difference between being injured and getting killed .

On a side note , if you drum or drum on a pad in the woods I can almost guarantee you’ll bit see a bear . In many places it’s rare to see them as their sense of smell is so great . The bears I’ve seen and those situations I’ve been in have all been in the last ten years. Before that , the only time I saw one in the wild in over 40 years in the outdoors was in 2005 on my first , only , and last bear hunt in New Brunswick Canada . I only kill what I eat and didn’t care for most of the cuts of meat ( unless stewed) so I swore I would not kill another , unless my life was in danger . And I’ll ( after those encounters) more than likely know when that is .
 

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When I was in Scouts we used to go on week long canoe trips in Algonquin Park in Ontario. The portaging kinda sucked but the canoeing, friendships and scenery made up for carrying all that stuff. Algonquin was awesome at night. You could see the Milky Way and satellites whizzing by overhead and the wolves howling away in the woods.

Now that I'll be 50 this year, I have turned soft. I can't sleep in a sleeping bag anymore, I need a real bed. My wife would never go anywhere that didn't have electricity and hot water. My son though is young and when I try to explain that Daddy is old and can't sleep in tents anymore, he gives me grief.

Maybe I should meet him half way and buy a trailer. I think I could sleep in one of those.
 
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