@chienfou@DVDBZN@jst1ofknd CRAP is what I thought when they told me I needed one. But I actually tend to sleep through the night with it, so there’s that in its favor.
And I’ve got small “nasal pillow” mask, so it feels a lot less like this than I thought it would.
@melliott I’d agree with that. Got Lyme with neurologic symptoms as well last summer. I was in credibly lucky that I saw the engorged tick on me and put two and two together when I then got sick.
@OldCatLady Hey @katbyter did not bring up snakes. It could be rabbits. I took a group of women backpacking and we came back from looking at a meteor shower to find a small rabbit nestled on one of the women’s sleeping bag (under a tarp, not in a tent).
@moonhat@katbyter@OldCatLady It was a very young, small rabbit and it was nestled on the fluffy sleeping bag sound asleep (it was dark and cold out - late October in the midwest). We crouched around watching it and talking softly and trying to figure out how to put sleeping bags together so the rabbit could stay put (all women’s trip). Unfortunately that woke it up. It was startled, scared and bolted away. I felt bad for it as it was very late at night and clearly it thought it had found the best, most wonderful, cosy place to spend the night. Instead now it had to find somewhere else in the cold and dark, when it was tired.
True…I’m doing it gosh darned proper! My kids have mad survival skills. My wee 'un can dial up room-service quicker than your first tummy growl. Proud I am; brings a tear to me eye it does.
No! Campsite should have a nice restroom with a loo, sink and at the very least a soaking size tub/shower combo, although a whirlpool tub is preferable. Optimally 1 rest room per site occupent.
I used to take people camping for a living. Moose in rut are pretty dangerous (and more so than bears or alligators, poisonous snakes, etc. of which I have encountered all of them more than once). Drunks in the woods are too. Lightening storms above the tree line are pretty scary (been there done that too). Backpacking during hunting season can be scary at times. Avalanches are not good either. Overall though it is more dangerous to DRIVE to the place you will go camping than actually more dangerous than any camping or outdoor adventure activity except going scuba diving in a cave. I am not fond of skunks either.
Or rather, I was; I grew up in the Berkshires at the base of a [very small] mountain. (I don’t know what qualifies as a mountain, but I certainly didn’t think that did. The grownups called it a “mountain,” and who was I to argue?)
On the other side of the mountain was a community of Shakers. Despite sneaking in and looking in their windows, I never in eighteen years of growing up ever laid eyes on one. The kitchen and dining room chairs were moved around now and then, though, and their crops were tended, so I assume they were there.
I loved being in the woods, and liked sleeping there, but because my parents weren’t crazy about that idea, they’d tell me that hippies roamed the woods and would rape me. While I found that quite unsettling, I never came across a hippie in my mushroom hunting, so they didn’t genuinely worry me.
One time I did come across a (not very friendly, scowly) lady in an apron, and told my folks about it. They said, “Oh! That must’ve been one of the Shakers!”
In the woods?! In the woods where I went for lady slippers and mushrooms?! Maybe my folks were mistaken: it wasn’t hippies in the woods, but rather Shakers! That’s who’d rape me while I slept!
That did the trick: worry about Shakers grabbing me in my sleep.
From then on, I slept on the lawn near the barn where my parents could help me when I started screaming because a Shaker had grabbed me and was trying to drag me away to … uh, turn me into a Shaker, I guess.
These days, “camping” consists of staying at friends’ vacation homes. That’s after I ask about the Shaker situation there.
@blaineg@PocketBrain Hmm… I have camped in those temperatures and worse (eg 104 and around 99% humidity). Not as bad if you let yourself get acclimated to the heat (which takes about 3 weeks and a resolve to not crank the A/C; then even 78 degrees seems freezing).
@blaineg@PocketBrain Oh, hell yeah you’re spoiled. I would LOVE to live or camp up in the Rockies. I loved camping when I lived in New England. Down here in Bama…forget it. Heat, humidity, bugs, snakes and a LOT of thorny underbrush in the woods.
@cbraman16 Once in NW Ontario I was north of all the roads kayaking (alone) in the Canadian equivalent of the boundary waters (with respect to a zillion lakes, about a 2 or 3 week paddle from Quetico ). I camped for the night on an island and in the middle of the night heard noises of something rustling in the bushes. Because moose were in rut (they are incredibly dangerous then) I was more than a bit concerned. While it could have been a bear, I was more worried about moose. As I lay in the dark with the sleeping bag over my face (it was cold there in late September - frost on the boat in the morning) I was trying to get up the nerve to go look. Then I finally realized the noise I was hearing was my eyelashes brushing my sleeping bag!!!
@cbraman16 If you go north of Lake Nipigon it is really lovely up there (road ends though so that limits your put in spots). And there are several places you will see pictographs made with some sort of red “paint” including a couple of places where you can see the painter(s) were standing likely in a boat (based on where the pictures were) and using a hand to steady themselves (hand prints on the sides of the picture). Another trip that is cool the Albany River to James Bay (but there are occasional polar bears near and at the end of the trip).
@ManBehindPlan One of the things I enjoy most about riding a motorcycle is you’re out in the world. There’s a whole world of sights, smells and sensations that are completely filtered out by a car, even a car with the windows down. Things like the brief temperature drop when you cross a stream.
@ManBehindPlan@rtjhnstn It is lovely up there. Much like the part of Canada I worked/paddled in.
I have done more than one portage with a 100 pound pack and 90 pound canoe (17’ grumman aluminum - is yours kevlar?) although more typically it was a 40ish pound pack + canoe - still more than I weighed . That is more than I weigh. Of course I’d stop on occasion to set the bow of the canoe in a Y in tree branches to rest my knees and shoulders. There is no way I could do that now. Working for outward bound we were shadowing a group of 14-16 year olds once on their final expedition (so they were making the decisions, we were there for safety reasons only) and they were SITTING IN THE PORTAGE TRAIL NO LESS AND COULDN’T FIND IT!!! (with aluminum, green and red scrapes on all over the rocks) so decided to portage 7+ miles along a gravel road. OMG it was all we could do to keep our mouths shut about that.
@Kidsandliz@rtjhnstn Yes, that’s a kevlar canoe - we rent from Piragis every time we go to Ely. They turn over the boats and bags every year, so the equipment is fresh. They also supply those 30oz kevlar paddles too.
Of course, all the lightweight gear in the world doesn’t help the fact that I brought too much stuff
I promise - next time I will be thoroughly evaluating the gear I bring.
I want to bring a Scout troop up to Northern Tier sometime, so I can enjoy one of those leading experiences too.
Speaking of finding the portage trail - my buddy who had been on the beach before said they spent 30 mins trying to find the portage to no avail. It goes through a little field before climbing into the woods, so it was likely overgrown. I put a couple of cairns to help the next explorers.
@ManBehindPlan Solution for back sleepers only.
I’m a stomach sleeper. Even if I could sleep on my back (I have nightmares when I do), my back wouldn’t accept that option either.
@ManBehindPlan@moondrake For stomach sleeping you need a bridge hammock. I haven’t slept on the ground in the last 30+ nights of camping i’d guess…hammocks are the way to go. Hung at the correct “hangle” and you can lay as flat as you like.
bathrooms. i need my bathroom. i used to go camping with my ex’s family who would go every year and every day i would drive an hour+ back to my house to shower and use the bathroom and then i would drive back to the campsite.
@tightwad because rather than bitch and moan i handled my issue without bothering anyone and got to enjoy all the things i liked about camping and didn’t have to endure the things i hated? no, that had literally nothing to do with why we broke up it was high school, it wasn’t that serious lol.
I’m not scared of it. I just hate it.
I want my bed and CPAP.
@jst1ofknd
Just letting you know, in the Cyrillic alphabet, the “Р” makes an “R” sound. This confuses me everytime I read CPAP.
@DVDBZN @jst1ofknd “CRAR” ???
@chienfou @jst1ofknd
The weird part is that it only effects the first “P”.
@chienfou @DVDBZN @jst1ofknd CRAP is what I thought when they told me I needed one. But I actually tend to sleep through the night with it, so there’s that in its favor.
And I’ve got small “nasal pillow” mask, so it feels a lot less like this than I thought it would.
Ticks, the most dangerous animal in the woods.
@melliott I’d agree with that. Got Lyme with neurologic symptoms as well last summer. I was in credibly lucky that I saw the engorged tick on me and put two and two together when I then got sick.
Other campers.
@Mothersnakes exactly!
Something other than me in the sleeping bag
@katbyter Snakes. Why did you bring up snakes?
@OldCatLady Hey @katbyter did not bring up snakes. It could be rabbits. I took a group of women backpacking and we came back from looking at a meteor shower to find a small rabbit nestled on one of the women’s sleeping bag (under a tarp, not in a tent).
@katbyter @Kidsandliz @OldCatLady Awe, how sweet would that be?! Did the bun stay for a while or hop away?
@Kidsandliz Behind the rabbit?
@moonhat @katbyter @OldCatLady It was a very young, small rabbit and it was nestled on the fluffy sleeping bag sound asleep (it was dark and cold out - late October in the midwest). We crouched around watching it and talking softly and trying to figure out how to put sleeping bags together so the rabbit could stay put (all women’s trip). Unfortunately that woke it up. It was startled, scared and bolted away. I felt bad for it as it was very late at night and clearly it thought it had found the best, most wonderful, cosy place to spend the night. Instead now it had to find somewhere else in the cold and dark, when it was tired.
Weird insects, no hair dryer, no proper restroom.
@heartny i agree completely. #indoors4lyfe.
Camping is one of my happy places!
Having to shit in the woods.
@Dweezle I think bears do that, too.
@Dweezle You know what’s brown and sits on a log?
Winnie’s poo.
products and fresh towels.
@surfeit you’re not doing camping right.
@RedOak
True…I’m doing it gosh darned proper! My kids have mad survival skills. My wee 'un can dial up room-service quicker than your first tummy growl. Proud I am; brings a tear to me eye it does.
@surfeit Shower?
@blaineg
No! Campsite should have a nice restroom with a loo, sink and at the very least a soaking size tub/shower combo, although a whirlpool tub is preferable. Optimally 1 rest room per site occupent.
@surfeit
You from the UK?
@surfeit Breakfast is the best thing about camping. Smelling all that food cooking outside…mmm.
I used to take people camping for a living. Moose in rut are pretty dangerous (and more so than bears or alligators, poisonous snakes, etc. of which I have encountered all of them more than once). Drunks in the woods are too. Lightening storms above the tree line are pretty scary (been there done that too). Backpacking during hunting season can be scary at times. Avalanches are not good either. Overall though it is more dangerous to DRIVE to the place you will go camping than actually more dangerous than any camping or outdoor adventure activity except going scuba diving in a cave. I am not fond of skunks either.
Bitey bugs
Depending on location:
The rest is manageable.
bad wifi/internet
/image scaredy squirrel camping
I’m scared of Shakers in the woods.
Or rather, I was; I grew up in the Berkshires at the base of a [very small] mountain. (I don’t know what qualifies as a mountain, but I certainly didn’t think that did. The grownups called it a “mountain,” and who was I to argue?)
On the other side of the mountain was a community of Shakers. Despite sneaking in and looking in their windows, I never in eighteen years of growing up ever laid eyes on one. The kitchen and dining room chairs were moved around now and then, though, and their crops were tended, so I assume they were there.
I loved being in the woods, and liked sleeping there, but because my parents weren’t crazy about that idea, they’d tell me that hippies roamed the woods and would rape me. While I found that quite unsettling, I never came across a hippie in my mushroom hunting, so they didn’t genuinely worry me.
One time I did come across a (not very friendly, scowly) lady in an apron, and told my folks about it. They said, “Oh! That must’ve been one of the Shakers!”
In the woods?! In the woods where I went for lady slippers and mushrooms?! Maybe my folks were mistaken: it wasn’t hippies in the woods, but rather Shakers! That’s who’d rape me while I slept!
That did the trick: worry about Shakers grabbing me in my sleep.
From then on, I slept on the lawn near the barn where my parents could help me when I started screaming because a Shaker had grabbed me and was trying to drag me away to … uh, turn me into a Shaker, I guess.
These days, “camping” consists of staying at friends’ vacation homes. That’s after I ask about the Shaker situation there.
(blowing a kiss to any Shakers reading this.
)
@BinkyMelnik Yep, that’s how Shakers add to their numbers. They don’t breed, so they have to recruit.
@BinkyMelnik what us a Shaker? All I can think of is a mover and a shaker lol
@BinkyMelnik @tinamarie1974 Shakers were a very strict religious sect.
@BinkyMelnik @tinamarie1974 @tngrannyd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers
Pretty interesting actually.
@BinkyMelnik @Targaryen @tngrannyd I had no idea. Thank you!
The heat. My God, the heat.
@PocketBrain That can be fixed with sufficient altitude.
@blaineg @PocketBrain Yeah. On average 3 degrees less for every 1000 feet.
@blaineg @PocketBrain Not in Alabama. Unless one can lay out a sleeping bag on a cloud.
@blaineg @Kidsandliz 3 degrees per 1000 feet, multiplied by an elevation of about 60 feet above sea level, from 97°F…
@lseeber @PocketBrain I guess I’m spoiled by living in the Rockies. Ground level is about 4500’ and there are 9-10,000’ peaks above town.
@blaineg @PocketBrain Hmm… I have camped in those temperatures and worse (eg 104 and around 99% humidity). Not as bad if you let yourself get acclimated to the heat (which takes about 3 weeks and a resolve to not crank the A/C; then even 78 degrees seems freezing).
@blaineg @lseeber I might have to visit the Rockies.
@blaineg @PocketBrain Oh, hell yeah you’re spoiled. I would LOVE to live or camp up in the Rockies. I loved camping when I lived in New England. Down here in Bama…forget it. Heat, humidity, bugs, snakes and a LOT of thorny underbrush in the woods.
@blaineg @Kidsandliz @PocketBrain I’ve been here since '76… still not acclimated to the heat and humidity.
Slenderman…
But seriously nothing i love it
@joebuddah
/giphy Slenderman
I camp by myself a lot to get away from it all. I worry about some crazy person coming to my campsite and killing me in my sleep.
@cbraman16 Dog and Gun
@cbraman16 Once in NW Ontario I was north of all the roads kayaking (alone) in the Canadian equivalent of the boundary waters (with respect to a zillion lakes, about a 2 or 3 week paddle from Quetico ). I camped for the night on an island and in the middle of the night heard noises of something rustling in the bushes. Because moose were in rut (they are incredibly dangerous then) I was more than a bit concerned. While it could have been a bear, I was more worried about moose. As I lay in the dark with the sleeping bag over my face (it was cold there in late September - frost on the boat in the morning) I was trying to get up the nerve to go look. Then I finally realized the noise I was hearing was my eyelashes brushing my sleeping bag!!!
@Kidsandliz Hahahaha. That is great. I’d love to go camping and kayaking in Canada some day.
@cbraman16 If you go north of Lake Nipigon it is really lovely up there (road ends though so that limits your put in spots). And there are several places you will see pictographs made with some sort of red “paint” including a couple of places where you can see the painter(s) were standing likely in a boat (based on where the pictures were) and using a hand to steady themselves (hand prints on the sides of the picture). Another trip that is cool the Albany River to James Bay (but there are occasional polar bears near and at the end of the trip).
Without heating/cooling, electricity, and internet, I am always going to say no.
SNAKES !!! They don’t have to be big or poisonous to kill me. You are just as dead from a heart attack as you are from venom.
@tngrannyd Snakes are cute and cuddly. And rattlesnakes are kind enough to tell you “stay your distance, and we’ll both have a better day”.
@blaineg @tngrannyd They were cute and cuddly when I lived in Ct… not so much in Bama. Too many non cuddlies.
You don’t get to see everything from a car window!
@ManBehindPlan One of the things I enjoy most about riding a motorcycle is you’re out in the world. There’s a whole world of sights, smells and sensations that are completely filtered out by a car, even a car with the windows down. Things like the brief temperature drop when you cross a stream.
@ManBehindPlan That looks like an awesome lake! I trust you took this photo.
@ManBehindPlan Is that the northwoods somewhere?
@rtjhnstn @Kidsandliz That is a beach on Loon Lake, just on the back end of a 260 rod portage from Heritage Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
It’s spitting distance from Canada.
And yes, I was pretty tired after this walk. My portage pack was probably 100lbs, and I did most of it with that canoe on my head (another 40lbs).
For those not in the know, a rod is 16 feet, so my calculator calls it .81 miles.
Linky to Google Maps
@ManBehindPlan @rtjhnstn It is lovely up there. Much like the part of Canada I worked/paddled in.
I have done more than one portage with a 100 pound pack and 90 pound canoe (17’ grumman aluminum - is yours kevlar?) although more typically it was a 40ish pound pack + canoe - still more than I weighed . That is more than I weigh. Of course I’d stop on occasion to set the bow of the canoe in a Y in tree branches to rest my knees and shoulders. There is no way I could do that now. Working for outward bound we were shadowing a group of 14-16 year olds once on their final expedition (so they were making the decisions, we were there for safety reasons only) and they were SITTING IN THE PORTAGE TRAIL NO LESS AND COULDN’T FIND IT!!! (with aluminum, green and red scrapes on all over the rocks) so decided to portage 7+ miles along a gravel road. OMG it was all we could do to keep our mouths shut about that.
@Kidsandliz @rtjhnstn Yes, that’s a kevlar canoe - we rent from Piragis every time we go to Ely. They turn over the boats and bags every year, so the equipment is fresh. They also supply those 30oz kevlar paddles too.
Of course, all the lightweight gear in the world doesn’t help the fact that I brought too much stuff
I promise - next time I will be thoroughly evaluating the gear I bring.
I want to bring a Scout troop up to Northern Tier sometime, so I can enjoy one of those leading experiences too.
Speaking of finding the portage trail - my buddy who had been on the beach before said they spent 30 mins trying to find the portage to no avail. It goes through a little field before climbing into the woods, so it was likely overgrown. I put a couple of cairns to help the next explorers.
And, you don’t need to sleep on the ground (Look ma, it’s a camping hammock!
If you have difficulty conceptualizing a hammock under there, here’s a picture of my buddy’s rig
@ManBehindPlan Solution for back sleepers only.
I’m a stomach sleeper. Even if I could sleep on my back (I have nightmares when I do), my back wouldn’t accept that option either.
@ManBehindPlan @moondrake For stomach sleeping you need a bridge hammock. I haven’t slept on the ground in the last 30+ nights of camping i’d guess…hammocks are the way to go. Hung at the correct “hangle” and you can lay as flat as you like.
@ManBehindPlan @moondrake @tightwad “bridge hammock” looks uncomfortable for a stomach sleeper still. To me at least.
@moondrake @tightwad I am a side sleeper too, and do it in a Hennessy Hammock.
However, there are plenty of other designs out there. One was the bridge hammock that @therealjrn mentioned.
Shug has been touting the Amok Draumr for awhile:
/youtube AMOK DRAUMR 3.0 Camping Hammock Detailed Overview
Screw that. Roughing it is the Holiday Inn Express.
@cinoclav No, roughing it is Motel 6
@cinoclav @Fuzzalini “We’ll leave the lice on fer ya”
@cinoclav Roughing it is any hotel with basic cable. I don’t do the outdoors.
@dptalia Roughing it is a hotel with ANY kind of TV reception at all. I’m trying to get away from that box.
@Fuzzalini Maybe to you.
bathrooms. i need my bathroom. i used to go camping with my ex’s family who would go every year and every day i would drive an hour+ back to my house to shower and use the bathroom and then i would drive back to the campsite.
@jerk_nugget I think I know why it’s your “ex” now…
@tightwad because rather than bitch and moan i handled my issue without bothering anyone and got to enjoy all the things i liked about camping and didn’t have to endure the things i hated? no, that had literally nothing to do with why we broke up
it was high school, it wasn’t that serious lol.
One of my Scouts getting hurt, and having to get him medical attention and talk to his parents.
No room service.
running out of Jiffypop.