Does anyone go camping on their own?

[woodspirits]

Some places feel more eerie than others so I've sometimes pushed on a bit further to find a new camp. I do like the occasional solo trip but the first couple can be a bit edgy if you convince yourself that there's some dodgy stuff out there. I think we usually say about this point that we're the most scary things out there being armed to the teeth with axes and knives, anyone or thing that comes visiting in the night is in for a shock.

tend to agree with shewie here, although there has been at least one time i was seriously deterred from stopping over;
my work takes me into lots of rural areas which, if far enough away i will either hammock or tarp for the duration. there was one location near braunstone, daventry. i had picked out a cracking little stand of scots pine to hammock under, got all my bits in the motor and looking forward to the solitude but i couldnt shed a very uneasy feeling of dread and negativity.

upon speaking to the local farmer of my stopover he wasnt quite so jovial, 'my lads really dont like working this area'. i found out through means i wont go into here, there was someone murdered in that very spot where once stood an old cottage in the 19th c. but it wasnt just that i was to later discover that on the edge of that very field virtually a whole village called Wolfenscote had been wiped out by the black death, you can just make out the grassy humps of the houses, i never did camp there!

steve

 

[BarryG]

I've stayed on my own, but only in woods that are affiliated to a camp-site. I haven't yet had the minerals to sleep in a public forest, solo. But that's mainly because I'm too close to civilisation, and also because I have yet to get in with a private landowner who would allow me to use his land in that way.

The fears are rational for me. I don't believe in the boogie man, but lets face there are some nutters out there; and even though I'd be tooled up, i would hate to have to use them in anger...... And then there's the old bill, I've invested a lot of money in my sharps and don't want to lose them. It just seems that there is a inherent risk there, even though its small, it would keep me awake 1/2 the night.

Saying that though, I'm getting closer to doing it all the time...Always looking for that perfect spot when I'm out & about.

 

[Hetzen]

Always go on my own. It's often the reason I do this. Get away from routine.

 

[silentpaddler]

Well I ran a trap line for a few years which was pretty much me alone in the bush all the time. The only major fright I ever remember getting happened in broad daylight, though...I was
walking across a series of ridges and just over the top of one knoll a good sized whitetail buck decided to stay motionless hoping I wouldn't see him, but at the last second I guess he lost
his nerve and took flight. Let me tell you, a 200 pound deer bursting out of the leaf litter 5 feet in front of you really gets your attention... I thought I was sent for right then....
me trundling along daydreaming and not being alert...I guess I was asking for it!

 

[Bushwhacker]

Howler monkeys sound like Satan his very self. Don't get many of them in UK though.

 

[SouthernCross]

After several decades of Bush camping by myself, I'm starting to think about taking someone else.

As I'm getting older & lazier, I'm thinking about taking a younger & fitter "apprentice" who I can use as a pack horse in exchange for learning the trade

What do they say about age & wisdom



Kind regards
Mick

 

[vizsla]

younger, fitter, female, apprentice

 

[vizsla]

id surgest if ur worried about camping on your own,go camping with a mate or meet up with someone off the forum and see how you like it, rather than going on ur own the first time and not enjoing it and even worse putting you off going out again.
allso pick a spot ur familiar with ie is there badger sets fox dens and even rooks nests above,rather than finding out when its dark.
one thing i find that makes all the diference is having a fire going, it keeps u busy and makes a dark place feel alot more homely, iv never camped in the woods without a fire going but definately wouldnt enjoy it as much.
its surprising how homley it feels once uv got ur tarp up sleeping area laid out a few pans and bits hung up on trees and a fire on the go.
you could even fence ur area off a little with loose branches etc so u are a little more hidden and u dont get woken by a badger trying to get in ur sleeping bag with u.
just a few ideas hope it helps
cheers

 

[Firelite]

just to get the maximum effect, my mate and I went looking for Dracula's castle. Found it OK and had a look round, then camped in the woods in the fagaras mountains. we were in hammocks and had been settled down about half an hour when I heard footsteps - heavy ones, coming through the leaf litter. All of a sudden, with my mental radar doing overtime trying to work out where whatever it was, was, there was a tremendous roar, followed by more really heavy footsteps running away. It turned out mate had already fallen asleep, so the first he knew was the roaring. I asked him if he'd sh*t himself, and started laughing. That might sound confident, but we'd taken a portable electric fence with us, Romania having a healthy bear population. Next morning we found where a bear had hit the fence and damaged the wire and fixings before legging it.
i regularly camp out alone in the UK, and I would support what people have already said - Humans are the only thing to worry about, so get as far away from them as you can and enjoy!

 

[sccadmin]

I go solo more often than with others. I tend to head up to Scotland, usually in the Galloway Forest Park. I actually feel safer there than at home in bed! Whats the chances of someone bumping into your camp in the middle of the night when your off the beaten trail? Loads more nutters in the cities. I did however wild camp recently close to Newcastle city, I could here the police cars and ambulances all night and that freaked me out a bit.

 

[Tengu]

No one will come with me

 

[ged]

No one will come with me

I will, as long as you promise not to talk too much.

 

[treadlightly]

Most of the time I'm on my own, apart from the dog that is, who always comes with me. I prefer it that way although once in a while its good to have company.

 

[Nalaheyw]

I do a lot of wild camp on my own, love it as i get to chill and relax and also done normaly camping on my own, When with friends its a mare always trying to sort out were to go and what to do

So easy just you . ., found a few nice places out the way and nice

Enjoy its fun
Alan

 

[silentpaddler]

As i mentioned in a previous post, I've spent a lot of time alone in
the bush trapping and hunting, but I find that being out on a trip
with friends is the way to go...also the more people, the fewer
camp chores per person...
Six of us went on a nice 7 day canoe trip to Killarney park in August; got into some really remote country, great scenery.
My favourite camp was this beautiful little island about 2 days
from civilization...

One of the portage trails...

 

[wildjim]

I can honestly say at the age of 31, i don't know if i could do it. Ridiculous i know, but the first snap of a twig i heard, i'd be off running like some clumsy Blair Witch homage.
I'd also feel bad in advance for the poor camper who stumbled across me in the failing light, clutching my Mora, talking to myself about snails crawling along the edge of a straight razor.....you get the slightly over exaggerated and plagiarised picture.
If anyone does, have you ever had one of those 'what the bloody hell was that noise' moments?

I hike the Appalachian Trail and camp around and smack in the middle of Burkittsville Maryland (Blair Witch Project) frequently and its peaceful in the woods around there no witches I've seen or heard yet ; )

Now the Inner Harbor tourist area in Baltimore City you could be murdered easily being at the wrong time and place!

 

[LennyMac]

I hiked the South West Coast Path solo over 4 stages from Minehead in Somerset to Clovelly in Devon on my own. While hiking, solitude isn't so bad. However, if the weather turns sour (and at one stage, it was about 5C with horizontal rain, hail and a gale whipping off the sea), it is a little more difficult and I find myself cursing loved ones and my job and life in general. At this point, being alone fills my mind with thoughts of giving up, but I am not sure it would be the case if I was travelling with someone else.

At night, with a small bottle or whiskey, cigarettes and an AM radio, things aren't so bad- the woods and the paths aren't that fearsome.

The biggest problem with hiking alone is that when you experience something cool or strange or arduous, there is no-one to share it with- no-one for whom the adversity is a shared experience.

and of course, when you walk into a tiny hamlet with a single, small pub, you have to buy your own drinks.

 

[Allseasons]

If your comfortable in your own skin, like solitude dont worry about going solo. I just make a rule of settling down an hour or so before sunset. That way I can get to know the area i am in, collect firewood and get a brew on before dark. sorted.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

had my first solo after reading this last week,,,

did ok ,...got my self in order quite early and went on a lil scout about,...

misjudged the sunset,,and ended up lighting the fire in light of the headtorch,....

it was cool tho,,so i can say i,ve done it, but i doo prefer to share the experience and have a nice chat with likeminded folk over the hipflask..

 

[Shingsowa]

I quite like the solitude sometimes, then again some of the best nights i've had in the woods have been around a fire with several mates.

I still get freaked out though, and there are some places i don't like going to at night.

There are some FC blocks/plantations to the west of me that i have slept in many times. They stretch for about 10 miles or so, and have a couple of reservoirs in the middle. An ex-girlfriend was really into geo-caching, mountain biking and riding at night (don't ask) so we often combined all three.
Whilst looking for one geocache in the FC block i was poking along an old fenceline at the edge of the forest/lakeshore, completely engrossed in the beam of my own headtorch when i looked up to see a huge sodding ruin of a farmhouse, old walls and enclosures etc, all set in a patch of beech woodland, surrounded by the conifers of the FC forest. It scared the bejeesus out of me, it just looked like it had materialised out of the ether. I sodded off back to the bikes pretty quickly!

I've been back in the daylight since and it's an interesting place but seems to have an 'air' about it. I don't know if this is something i've projected onto it because of how i discovered it, or something else. I'll keep an open mind. Somebody obviously doesn't mind the atmosphere though, as there is the remains of a substantial tarp/leafmould shelter at the back and even a latrine spade etc.

The whole area used to support several farming communities, and the old farmland is now underwater in the reservoirs or has been taken over by the trees. I've been back several times on missing person searches and the place is a nightmare to search!

It certainly has a history (not for the squeamish):

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/...d=16155529&page=1&siteid=50061-name_page.html