NationStates Jolt Archive

So, I am taking my roomies on what is surely their first 'real' camping trip. They are from Northern Illinois, ie cornfields. I am taking them back home, to good ol' S.Illinois, where loads of fun waits for us. We are going down for about 4-5 days, and just are completely going wilderness style camping in an area where lots of danger can exist. Anyways, I love to camp and I hope it is a good time.

So NSG, do you all go camping? Ever been? Do you want to ever go? Any good stories to share? Or maybe some good tips for any newbies?

Squeal little piggy

I love to camp.

but I find it better with more than just me. :(

Squeal little piggy

Pardon me?

The main thing I dislike about camping is the lack of plumbing. If I could find a way to connect my wilderness tent to the local water grid, I'd do it a lot more. As it is I enjoy at least dayhiking away from all signs of civilization, and cooking outside is neat.

Squeal little piggy

Looks like we got us a sow here instead of a boar.

I was homeless, does that count?

sad that no one got the deliverence reference of "Sgueal little piggy" great movie about city boys who go camping and meet disaster including getting raped by hill billies.

sad that no one got the deliverence reference of "Sgueal little piggy" great movie about city boys who go camping and meet disaster including getting raped by hill billies.

Hey, I did.

sad that no one got the deliverence reference of "Sgueal little piggy" great movie about city boys who go camping and meet disaster including getting raped by hill billies.

oh... I got it. I just didn't want to admit that I got it.
*starts playing 'dueling banjos'*

sad that no one got the deliverence reference of "Sgueal little piggy" great movie about city boys who go camping and meet disaster including getting raped by hill billies.

It's just the kind of thing you don't want to admit getting, not even on the interwebs

The main thing I dislike about camping is the lack of plumbing. If I could find a way to connect my wilderness tent to the local water grid, I'd do it a lot more. As it is I enjoy at least dayhiking away from all signs of civilization, and cooking outside is neat.

there are 'camp sites' where you stay in a cabin... with plumbing facilities and basic Electricity... just no stove... but a grilling area.

It's in tents!

there are 'camp sites' where you stay in a cabin... with plumbing facilities and basic Electricity... just no stove... but a grilling area.

there are 'camp sites' with all that and stoves too. Its disgusting. I like camping in cabins, and out on a trail in a tent, but having electricity and plumbing seems to defeat the purpose.

I used to be in the Boy Scouts, so we went camping all the time.

there are 'camp sites' with all that and stoves too. Its disgusting. I like camping in cabins, and out on a trail in a tent, but having electricity and plumbing seems to defeat the purpose.

well... Roughing it is relative. for some, being without the TV and Internet is as "rough" as they can stand... Lord forbid they're out of cell coverage!!! :D

there are 'camp sites' where you stay in a cabin... with plumbing facilities and basic Electricity... just no stove... but a grilling area.

yeah, but camping is kind of pointless if you're not lying out in the middle of the woods, staring up at the endless sky with only the stars for light, with all your food in a metal garbage can hung twenty feet over the ground, when from way over to the right you hear someone banging repeatedly on a pot and the crashing of a huge animal through the undergrowth towards your campsite, and as you look around frantically you realize that you put all the pots and pans in the can, so you start yelling aloud, yelling quotes from your favourite movie at the grizzly and hoping it hears you and decides to head for safer woods, and then the next day when you're hiking out across a nameless ridge untrammeled by path or footprints, and yesterday's campsite is just barely visible if you climb up on the huge rocks, while tonight's is going to be down by a hundred-foot waterfall that requires a seven hour climb down sheer boulders and scree, and the nearest road is thirty miles away and it's an overgrown gated dirt road that the national park service closed two decades ago because nobody ever drove that far in? that's why you go camping. Not to sit in some cabin aghast at the lack of cell phone service.

1) Use an air mattress under your sleeping bag, no matter how much the people you go with laugh. You'll be up off the rocks they don't discover until they realize there's one in the small of their back. Also, if your tentmates insist on pitching on a slope in a rainstorm, then piling stuff against the walls ruining their "waterproof" nature, you'll float above while the stream soaks them. At least, that's what happened to me.

I'll add more in a bit

1) Use an air mattress under your sleeping bag, no matter how much the people you go with laugh.

just get a thermarest. no laughing, and actually worthwhile as a sleeping pad. full-on air mattresses suck.

yeah, but camping is kind of pointless if you're not lying out in the middle of the woods, staring up at the endless sky with only the stars for light, with all your food in a metal garbage can hung twenty feet over the ground, when from way over to the right you hear someone banging repeatedly on a pot and the crashing of a huge animal through the undergrowth towards your campsite, and as you look around frantically you realize that you put all the pots and pans in the can, so you start yelling aloud, yelling quotes from your favourite movie at the grizzly and hoping it hears you and decides to head for safer woods, and then the next day when you're hiking out across a nameless ridge untrammeled by path or footprints, and yesterday's campsite is just barely visible if you climb up on the huge rocks, while tonight's is going to be down by a hundred-foot waterfall that requires a seven hour climb down sheer boulders and scree, and the nearest road is thirty miles away and it's an overgrown gated dirt road that the national park service closed two decades ago because nobody ever drove that far in? that's why you go camping. Not to sit in some cabin aghast at the lack of cell phone service.

again, for some, RVing is 'camping'. others, cooking on an open flame while your kids are sitting in the electricity lit cabin is camping. for others, using a tent is camping. and for some, taking nothing more than a hunting tool and your clothes on your back is camping.

Heck, Kat is suggesting an AIR MATRESS!!! for some, that's not camping!!! [/fake rant]

1) Use an air mattress under your sleeping bag, no matter how much the people you go with laugh. You'll be up off the rocks they don't discover until they realize there's one in the small of their back. Also, if your tentmates insist on pitching on a slope in a rainstorm, then piling stuff against the walls ruining their "waterproof" nature, you'll float above while the stream soaks them. At least, that's what happened to me.


I put a sort of foam pad (can't remember the name) under the sleeping bag. It works, most of the time, and requires a lot less setup than an air mattress (you just take it out of your pack and unroll it). Sometimes a large piece of plastic or tarp to go under pad and sleeping bag, when it's an issue.

JuNii, clarify: that's why I go camping. Others can do what they like. In fact, I'd even prefer it if they stuck to their well-lit developed campsites; half the reason I go out there is to avoid the human contact.

So, I am taking my roomies on what is surely their first 'real' camping trip. They are from Northern Illinois, ie cornfields. I am taking them back home, to good ol' S.Illinois, where loads of fun waits for us.
Pounds Hollow?

In my experience, the Shawnee NF staff (not just at Pounds Hollow, but all over the forest) kind of ignores the water pumps (yes, they are all hand pumps) this time of year, so you might want to bring plenty of water yourselves. Of course, if you're planning on backcountry camping rather than using one of the campsites you were planning on doing this anyway.

Also, if you ever get a chance, the River-to-River Trail is absolutely beautiful backpacking.

A few friends and I are looking into forming a corporation to purchase land (or at least rights-of-way) to build a trail that runs across Southern Indiana (where we all live) and are trying to hook it into the Illinois R2R by building a spur from Cave-In-Rock to Mt. Carmel and purchasing an old railroad bridge that's there to bring it into Indiana.

Obviously, we've got a long ways to go.

This was my last camping trip, over the mountains from the city, a stunning isolated beach reachable by boat,

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb281/Barringtonia_bucket/DSC04300.jpg

Great fun, I had s'mores for the very first time, heard about them, read the name in books, never knew what they were,

I'm a bit weird, I think. I'm a country girl, and I hate camping. If I'm going on a vacation, I want it to be nicer than my home. I want a lovely hotel room with big fluffy pillows and cable TV. I do NOT want to go for days without showering, get eaten alive by mosquitoes, and have to shit in a hole in the ground.

i did 4 days in Dartmoor, beating the ice off the tent each morning. it was bloody good fun, thinking back on it. would love to do it again (somewhere easier and without a backpack weighing half as much as i do)... maybe this summer, actually. all glitzi and i need is a tent :fluffle:

I was homeless, does that count?

was it in the woods? cos urban camping is so passé ;)

I'm a bit weird, I think. I'm a country girl, and I hate camping. If I'm going on a vacation, I want it to be nicer than my home. I want a lovely hotel room with big fluffy pillows and cable TV. I do NOT want to go for days without showering, get eaten alive by mosquitoes, and have to shit in a hole in the ground.

Well, obviously, since you live in the country.

I live in the city in conditions of, compared to the rest of the world, abject luxury (real beds, electricity, running water, air conditioning, plenty of food, entertainment, and everything I might possibly need within a few blocks). Naturally, I therefore enjoy spending time out in the middle of nowhere without any of the above. Those who live in tiny, economically depressed towns in the heart of the Adirondacks probably love coming down to NYC for their vacations. Same idea.

Confuscious he say 'man who take woman on camping trip have one in tent'.

And aye I love going camping with my pals.

Well, obviously, since you live in the country.

I live in the city in conditions of, compared to the rest of the world, abject luxury (real beds, electricity, running water, air conditioning, plenty of food, entertainment, and everything I might possibly need within a few blocks). Naturally, I therefore enjoy spending time out in the middle of nowhere without any of the above. Those who live in tiny, economically depressed towns in the heart of the Adirondacks probably love coming down to NYC for their vacations. Same idea.

Yeah, I have no doubt that's a big part of it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I quite like the outdoors, but...my parents' backyard adjoins an actual forest, so I don't exactly get all thrilled by the idea of spending time in the woods. Woods are ordinary! :p

1) Use an air mattress under your sleeping bag, no matter how much the people you go with laugh. You'll be up off the rocks they don't discover until they realize there's one in the small of their back. Also, if your tentmates insist on pitching on a slope in a rainstorm, then piling stuff against the walls ruining their "waterproof" nature, you'll float above while the stream soaks them. At least, that's what happened to me.

I'll add more in a bit


I advocate a swag. Waterproof anyway so even if your mates get soaked, you stay beautifully dry. And they come with a nice thick mattress that rolls away with the canvass.

I hate camping. God damn n00bs in Halo use that tactic all the t...

Oh, you mean actual camping. Yes, quite enjoyable.

Admittedly, when I lived in the suburbs as a kid there were forests in the area, and I'd often go walking in them with whatever family members could be impressed into going, but it was still a fifteen minute drive from a mid-size town, so camping trips out in the mountains were still an unusual experience. Presumably the forests down near sea level and up at 3000-4000 feet were different in terms of climate and tree types or something.

That or I just like spending time outdoors anyway. *shrug*

Pounds Hollow?

In my experience, the Shawnee NF staff (not just at Pounds Hollow, but all over the forest) kind of ignores the water pumps (yes, they are all hand pumps) this time of year, so you might want to bring plenty of water yourselves. Of course, if you're planning on backcountry camping rather than using one of the campsites you were planning on doing this anyway.

Also, if you ever get a chance, the River-to-River Trail is absolutely beautiful backpacking.

A few friends and I are looking into forming a corporation to purchase land (or at least rights-of-way) to build a trail that runs across Southern Indiana (where we all live) and are trying to hook it into the Illinois R2R by building a spur from Cave-In-Rock to Mt. Carmel and purchasing an old railroad bridge that's there to bring it into Indiana.

Obviously, we've got a long ways to go.

Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking? Anyways, I am a native of S. Illinois, and I am thinking about GoG or Lusk Creek. I don't think I've been to Pounds Hollow.

Southwest Indiana.

Anything more specific and I'll TG you.

And yeah, Garden of the Gods is a nice place too. Especially when you get off of the main trail that everyone goes on and head onto one of the side trails--there's one that takes you to a bluff that overlooks this absolutely picturesque, pastoral little town. Gave me the most beautiful scenic photograph I've ever taken.

The campsite there is wonderful, too...when my girlfriend and I go we always try to take, I think it's the third one on the right, that's really close to the bluffs and we face our tent opening to it so we can wake up to it.

I've only camped properly once, and that was on a beach a kilometres walk from what could be described as a hamlet. We basically hung around for a few days eating, drinking, smoking legal tobacco-subsitute material, and getting firewood. Sleeping on the sand was fun, for the first night. When I woke up and it was compacted, not quite so.;)

Planning on doing it again sometime.

Also, go "camping" every year for five days over New Years at a music festival, with the folks, but there's toilets, food being sold, music being played in a marquee. Lacks the feeling of camping properly, but fun nonetheless.

just get a thermarest. no laughing, and actually worthwhile as a sleeping pad. full-on air mattresses suck.
Not when you're floating about Lake Tent and your buddies are sleeping in a stream. ;)

aHeck, Kat is suggesting an AIR MATRESS!!! for some, that's not camping!!! [/fake rant]
I had to pump it up! With a foot pump! That sounded like someone was sodomizing a goose!

Also, trick my friend taught me (he was a scout leader): pack everything in plastic bags inside your pack. Undies in ziplocks, clothes in black plastic contractor bags....

because when it started raining and our tent flooded, I was the only one with dry clothes. Which is why my 6' 4" male friend ended up wearing my pink Hello Kitty sweats.

I used to go camping every summer, multiple times over the summer as well. I'm hoping that this year my son will be old enough to enjoy some car camping.

Hmm... best camp story: One year I went on a geology field trip with my geology 101 class. We went up around the Mono Lake area and into Yosemite looking at the various geological formations, IDing rocks, and all that fun stuff. We overnighted at the base of Tioga Pass, not too far from Lee Vining. The day had been great until we had gotten to our campsite when it started to snow, I mean dumping snow. The Sierra thought it would be funny to bury us in an October blizzard. It got so cold and so white that we all had massive problems getting the tends up and none of us could get the fire going. We also couldn't get the stoves working well enough to cook dinners. Our professors loaded us back into our SUVs and took us all up to June Lake looking for ANY place that was open so we could buy hot food to eat. The only place we found was a nice steakhouse. That's been the only camping trip I've been on where I have dined on prime rib. We also got to watch the grad students steal firewood, but that's another story.

That night we about froze to death and when we woke up, we found about a half an inch of ice caked onto our rainflys. Folding the tents was a matter of doing two minutes worth of work, then running over the fire and trying to stick your hands into it to de-thaw.

God, it was a great trip!

I hate camping. My idea of roughing it is no room service. Seriously, the ground is hard unless you have an air mattress (and blowing one of those up is just so much fun), and even the best of those starts deflating in the night. There are bugs (strangely, I don't mind snakes and lizards, just bugs). There's dirt. And, generally, you're washing up in a small dish of cold water instead of a hot shower. Ew. Cooking over an open fire is the best part of it - if I could camp in a motel room and then come and eat your fresh caught, cooked over the campfire, trout with you, that would be perfect.

go camping every year for most of august

I hate camping. My idea of roughing it is no room service. Seriously, the ground is hard unless you have an air mattress (and blowing one of those up is just so much fun), and even the best of those starts deflating in the night. There are bugs (strangely, I don't mind snakes and lizards, just bugs). There's dirt. And, generally, you're washing up in a small dish of cold water instead of a hot shower. Ew. Cooking over an open fire is the best part of it - if I could camp in a motel room and then come and eat your fresh caught, cooked over the campfire, trout with you, that would be perfect.

I am so with you on this. camping sucks.

Given the amount of campers killed by serial killers, lunatics, legendary murderers of yore, alien diseases, escaped mutants and the results of man-interefering-with-what-was-best-left-alone, I would have thought it to be as dangerous a practice as 'skinny dipping'...or is it only if you do it on the American 'spring break' thing?

So NSG, do you all go camping? Ever been? Do you want to ever go? Any good stories to share? Or maybe some good tips for any newbies?

Been there, done that, HATED it.

Seriously, what's the point? Mankind spent THOUSANDS of years NOT to have to live like that any more.
People who go camping are in fact greatly disrespecting their ancestors.

1) Use an air mattress under your sleeping bag, no matter how much the people you go with laugh. You'll be up off the rocks they don't discover until they realize there's one in the small of their back. Also, if your tentmates insist on pitching on a slope in a rainstorm, then piling stuff against the walls ruining their "waterproof" nature, you'll float above while the stream soaks them. At least, that's what happened to me.

I'll add more in a bit

I've been all through Scouts, and have experienced all of that in far too many camps (watching kit roll out of a tent in a torrent of water is always fun)

I've not used an inflating mattress, but I have invested in a self inflating roll-mat now I'm a leader - the Cubs/Scouts still use the foam ones.

As for stories...
One of the best is from when I was in Scouts, I helped my patrol move another patrol tent - while the occupants where still asleep - and put it up properly as well after... (it was a clear night so they didn't get wet, just surprised in the morning).

A more recent one is more from my Cubs than from me...
We were on a District camp (so all the groups in the area on one campsite, Cubs and Scouts), and I left my Cubs to put the tent up themselves - the only leader to do so as all of the tents being used were the old style awkward canvas tents.
Their tents were still put up better than the local Scouts - not lop-sided, the door flaps could close all the way and no kit against the tent walls. Coincidentally they were the only lot to stay dry that night from our pitch (3 groups per pitch)

Been there, done that, HATED it.

Seriously, what's the point? Mankind spent THOUSANDS of years NOT to have to live like that any more.
People who go camping are in fact greatly disrespecting their ancestors.
Because when you're camping, you get to see sights like this: http://www.mdbrodie.com/scenery/eastlake.jpg

Because when you're camping, you get to see sights like this: <pic snip>]

I got to see pics like that every time my parents dragged me on holiday in the Alps... I'm not a fan of mountains, but at least they had the good sense to book a hotel.

I got to see pics like that every time my parents dragged me on holiday in the Alps... I'm not a fan of mountains, but at least they had the good sense to book a hotel.
I've gotten to better lakes that have no hotels (Or roads for that matter). In fact, my backpacking group and I had that whole damn lake to ourselves.

I've gotten to better lakes that have no hotels (Or roads for that matter). In fact, my backpacking group and I had that whole damn lake to ourselves.

So did we. Most people stayed around the Seilstation (no idea what that is in English), but my parents forced us to walk to those middle-of-nowhere lakes, and then ranted about the beauty of it all.
I kept telling them that if we had gone to the sea, they could see a lot more water. Plus, that water would be warm enough to swim in and therefore kind of serve a purpose...

God, I hated family vacations.

So did we. Most people stayed around the Seilstation (no idea what that is in English), but my parents forced us to walk to those middle-of-nowhere lakes, and then ranted about the beauty of it all.
I kept telling them that if we had gone to the sea, they could see a lot more water. Plus, that water would be warm enough to swim in and therefore kind of serve a purpose...

God, I hated family vacations.
You an swim up in those lakes, but it's the night sky with millions of stars and no lights, the crisp mornings, the peace, the nights around the camp fire cooking the chow.

Man, I REALLY need to go camping!

You an swim up in those lakes, but it's the night sky with millions of stars and no lights, the crisp mornings, the peace, the nights around the camp fire cooking the chow.

Man, I REALLY need to go camping!

For the night skys, come to Ireland. ;)

And nights around fires are horrible... you roast your face while freezing your butt off. No thanks.

I am with Cabra on this - the outdoors is cold and smells of shit and is full of insects. If I were to go camping I would want silk tents, persian rugs, and an entourage of thousands to make sure it was warm and comfortable.

I am with Cabra on this - the outdoors is cold and smells of shit and is full of insects. If I were to go camping I would want silk tents, persian rugs, and an entourage of thousands to make sure it was warm and comfortable.

And totally bug-free!

*shudders at the thought of big outdoorsy spiders*

Camping = win, especially when there are hilarious tentfire mishaps.

Camping with me is always fun. :)

Camping with me is always fun. :)

The thought of being trapped with you, in the remote wilderness, is not one that fills me with joy, I must admit.

Camping with me is always fun. :)

I can imagine - the last camp I ran (the first camp I ran as well) was last April.
The first day despite using the longest largest wooden pegs the main cooking tent blew down the field (had to make up guy-ropes for it in the end to keep it in place), and the field near enough flooded in the evening...
Saturday was a good day though, made a climbing frame using pioneering poles with the Cubs
Woke up Sunday morning to three inches of snow - even on the ropes for the pioneering project.
So our early break-up was constantly interrupted with snowball fights (started by everyone, no off-limits area so plenty of shots (mainly to me) that would probably get LG's approval..
Still loads of fun and I've got my second camp planned for this April - hoping we have better weather this time :)

Last time I went camping, it was as a chaperone(what maniac thought I'd make a good chaperone???) to a gaggle of teenagers participating in a three week Project Oceanology course who got to go camping on their last weekend on the easternmost tip of Long Island. We played King of the Mountain in the dark, spent the night through a major thunderstorm and then explored sand dunes that the more annoying kids kept getting pushed off the side of. :)

I hate camping. God damn n00bs in Halo use that tactic all the t...

Oh, you mean actual camping. Yes, quite enjoyable.
These were my thoughts exactly when I first saw this thread's title.

I can honestly say I have only stayed in a hotel once in my entire life (on holiday) adn that was when we went to Disneyland 5 yrs ago this july.

Im getting more into the whole tent thing recently but tbh i much prefer caravans. you get all of the central heating, running water and cooking equipment and you get some pretty spectacular views and sites you can visit too.

bring alcohol, women, enough tea to sink the Royal Navy, Haribo and wet + warm clothes

also never ever ever camp with someone who has a habit of sleepwalking no matter how much fun someone running through the woods screaming till they knock themselves out is >_>

btw:
I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping I hate camping

Camping in freezing cold England = worst morning evar

It's in tents!

no its not.

Camping is sitting under a canvas sheet with none of this wussy walls in the middle of winter eating food your dog would turn down!

I put a sort of foam pad (can't remember the name) under the sleeping bag.

roll-mats FTW!

Last time I went camping, it was as a chaperone(what maniac thought I'd make a good chaperone???) to a gaggle of teenagers participating in a three week Project Oceanology course who got to go camping on their last weekend on the easternmost tip of Long Island. We played King of the Mountain in the dark, spent the night through a major thunderstorm and then explored sand dunes that the more annoying kids kept getting pushed off the side of. :)

what? no Snipe Hunt? for shame! :(

Because when you're camping, you get to see sights like this: http://www.mdbrodie.com/scenery/eastlake.jpg
where is the pic from? it looks like lakes ive hiked to in idaho.

The thought of being trapped with you, in the remote wilderness, is not one that fills me with joy, I must admit.

You're not alone. If I had to go camping with LG, I'd bring at least one other person. Mostly so I could steal their clothes in case of any mud-related incidents.

Quite a reputation the man's built up around here, obviously. ;)

Given the amount of campers killed by serial killers, lunatics, legendary murderers of yore, alien diseases, escaped mutants and the results of man-interefering-with-what-was-best-left-alone, I would have thought it to be as dangerous a practice as 'skinny dipping'...or is it only if you do it on the American 'spring break' thing?

Eh, I'm anyways taking enough of a risk living in the one American city that always gets destroyed by aliens, attacked by ancient Sumerian deities, et cetera, et cetera. Camping's practically harmless in comparison.

where is the pic from? it looks like lakes ive hiked to in idaho.
The imaginatively named East Lake (Just opposite West Lake) in the Hoover Wilderness, California.

You're not alone. If I had to go camping with LG, I'd bring at least one other person. Mostly so I could steal their clothes in case of any mud-related incidents.

Quite a reputation the man's built up around here, obviously. ;)

Reminds me of a time when I had gone to a picnic with a couple of my friends' families, their kids, my kid(it was just Little Goofball then) and my wife. There was a path across a bridge overlooking this marshy pool of estuarial mud and not being able to resist, I tackled a friend off the bridge and down a six foot fall into the mud. It was a least 4 feet deep and we were instantly covered. Well, before long, all four of us guys got into an apocalyptic mudfight and we walked back to the cars and our hysterically laughing wifes and wide-eyed kids. Then I open the trunk of my car and pulled out a 2 1/2 gallon jug of water and proceeded to wash off. Stripped off my destroyed clothes, tossed them into a trash bag and pulled out a complete change of clothes including shoes I had in a vacuum sealed bag. I opened it, dressed and realized my mud-caked friends were staring at my now reasonably clean self.

"What, you guys don't carry a spare?"

I paid dearly for that. :D

The imaginatively named East Lake (Just opposite West Lake) in the Hoover Wilderness, California.

This is a nice one, too. And you don't have to go camping to see it. It's on a nice drive, on the Tioga Road, from Yosemite Valley to Nevada. Good fishing, too.

http://www.untraveledroad.com/Tenaya-Lake.htm

This is a nice one, too. And you don't have to go camping to see it. It's on a nice drive, on the Tioga Road, from Yosemite Valley to Nevada. Good fishing, too.

http://www.untraveledroad.com/Tenaya-Lake.htm
I know that lake! I usually go into Yosemite via Tioga Pass so I've been there a number of times.