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  1. #1
    Wendigo Wendigo's Avatar
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    Default Illegal camping?

    I've recently noticed on a number of thru-hiking blogs photos of hikers camping on Max Patch, atop Kinsman mountain in NH, etc. I thought camping at these locations was prohibited? While I understand the necessity of stealth camping in an emergency or due to injury and such, am I witness a new trend, i.e. "camping where I damn well please!" on the AT and other trails?
    "If a hiker falls in the forest, and there's not a tree around to hear him, does he make a sound?" JN316

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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Were the trees less than 8 feet tall at the camping spot on Kinsman?

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    Was camping on Max Patch a no-no?

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    Stealth is not synonymous with illegal. The illegal areas are clearly marked in the Whites. There are radius areas around established AMC sites and tree line areas around peaks that are marked off. Sometimes the paper portion is missing. After you have seen a few of these signs the intent is obvious even without the paper. It is possible to camp legally near the peaks of many hills in NH. Some do it wrong. Many don't.
    Last edited by BirdBrain; 04-24-2015 at 19:05.
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    Registered User Donde's Avatar
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    Camping is not prohibited on Max Patch

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    Registered User Donde's Avatar
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    Further more there is plenty of legal camping in the Whites, I have gone through the Whites twice and both times stealth camped all but one night, without violating the rules.

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    I believe it is possible to camp near the peak of North Kinsman legally. I am not sure. The climb up South Kinsman is very steep. I doubt there is a suitable spot in that area. The col between the Kinsmans is wooded. Not sure of that area. The point is that it is not a given that it is illegal if someone camped near a Kinsman peak.
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

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    define camping

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    define camping
    Setting up your personal shelter: tent, tarp, hammock?
    The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
    Richard Ewell, CSA General


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    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    Setting up your personal shelter: tent, tarp, hammock?
    It's just boiling water, sleeping, and boiling water. Channeling someone.
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    define camping
    Why does it not surprise me that YOU are in of a definition. You should also ask about hiking. It's a great experience that you should try, like camping.


    (I suspect that you will go crying to some moderator like you always do and get this post deleted, but I will be laughing for at least a half hour!)
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    sure kid

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    I had no idea I wasn't allowed to camp on Max Patch. Unless it's a storm I bet there's someone camped there every night. But in the Whites anywhere above treeline I recall as not OK. Maybe the rules changed?
    Everything is in Walking Distance

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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    Bob,

    In the Whites you definitely cannot camp above treeline -- except on something like 2' of snowpack in some places. No exceptions.

    Treeline is defined as where the trees are less than 8'. That is why I asked about tree height on Kinsman in the second post in this thread. That matters with respect to where on Kinsman the campsite was.

    Oddly, along many of the trails in the Whites -- and even along miles of the AT -- there is no rule/law that you need to be 200' from the trail. That blanket prohibition applies in Wilderness Areas and in some other sections too, but is not across the board.

    None of that has to do with practicing good LNT camping, of course. That should be followed too and people should not camp everywhere it is legal to do so. For my part, I think it is important to know the rules/laws as much to moderate my internal reaction to others legal camping choices (especially their legal choices in places I would pass on) as to guide my own decisions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    define camping
    I grasp your point... I think. I doubt anyone would suggest it is illegal to take a nap at 2 PM most anywhere on the trail. So at what point does napping become objectionable? It would depend on one's definition of camping. Am I close?
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

  16. #16

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    While camping on top of a bald maybe technically legal, it's really not a good idea to do so. It's not a place to be if a thunderstorm comes along with strong winds, heavy rain and lightning. And thunderstorms can and often do come out of seemingly nowhere in the middle of the night.
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    Quote Originally Posted by BirdBrain View Post
    I grasp your point... I think. I doubt anyone would suggest it is illegal to take a nap at 2 PM most anywhere on the trail. So at what point does napping become objectionable? It would depend on one's definition of camping. Am I close?
    If you make that assumption in Shenandoah national park, you would be wrong. Camping in shenandoah is defined as using shelter/sleeping gear at any time, day or night.

    Rules get made, to combat people that try to circumvent what is supposed to be simple. I expect gsmnp to adopt snp definition one day as well.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 04-25-2015 at 10:57.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wendigo View Post
    I've recently noticed on a number of thru-hiking blogs photos of hikers camping on Max Patch,

    From the Forest Service:

    Max Patch sits next to the Tennessee state line in the Harmon Den area. At 4,629 feet this bald offers 360-degree vistas of Mount Mitchell to the east and Great Smoky Mountains to the southwest. An abundance of ferns and grasses blanket the bald, making it perfect for picnics. Fishing is offered at the pond past the main parking lot. Camping is prohibited at the bald.
    http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc...48620&actid=64
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    Never been tempted to camp in places where rules prohibit it. I need to be well below the tree line to hang my food right.
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

  20. #20

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    Some folks camp down below treeline and bring a sleeping bag up above treeline to watch the stars and or sunrise.

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