Camping along?

[DaveJonesRocks27]

hey im planning a trip to hike thru most of the pa trail but i will be with a few friends our idea is when its starts to to become bed time just go off trail and camp in the woods like it was ment for has any one good ideas on best way to go about it? is it best to find tent sites or is it preference but i would like to rubber neck it and camp alone amongst the trees and wild.also any one have any good storys or encounters with wild life from bears,cats,deer even big foot or maybe even seen things that dont make sense(ghosts) interested in hearing

[DaveJonesRocks27]

any thing no yes?

[Grampie]

If you are hiking on the AT and you are not in a restricted camping area just walk off the trail 100 yds. or so, find a flat spot and put your tent up. It's not a problem, once you get over your initial fear.

[RED-DOG]

Make sure you pratice Leave No trace ethics, do not disturb Vegatation.

[DaveJonesRocks27]

oh i know trust me i love the wilderness and everything about it i will i have no fear of camping off trail i just want to be alone and feel as if im on a journey on my own every time i camp its been in sites with crowds of ppl and i hate that so im looking forward to this

[treesloth]

Hey DaveJones.. I just finished a Pa section, from Port Clinton to Wind Gap. It says you are from here, Philly, so you know how damn rocky the ground is... so you may have problems in a lot of spots just "making your own campsite" as you want to do. And there is also LNT to consider as previously mentioned. But if you look, you'll find primitive campsites all along the trail that other hikers before us have made. They are most always by the side trails for springs and whatnot.

And for your other query, search the posts here for one called "Things that go bump in the night". Lots of good stories.

And be forewarned... having just got done with this I can not understate the rocks. Not trying to scare you or anything, just letting you know that you'll literally be hiking over MILES of rocks at a time.

Treesloth

[bigcranky]

In some places this is easy -- you'll find plenty of good campsites along the trail or nearby. In others, not so much -- steep terrain, rocky ground, heavy undergrowth, thickl forest, etc., prevent you from finding any place to set up. So yeah, it's possible sometimes. Hammock hangers usually have an easier time of it, though sometimes it's hard to find the proper trees.

[DaveJonesRocks27]

not scaring me i hiked over dead bodies before working ina cemetery years ago so this isnt a issue and im looking forward to the challenge

[hikerboy57]

finding campsites is not always easy, as you should be well out of sightof the trail. so how do you find sites out of sight from the trail? exactly. its not easy, takes some experience and paractice, looking for sunlight thru the trees to find open areas. you might look for hemlock groves and generally hardwood forests are easier to find sites than evergreens which are generally much thicker undergrowth.
good luck in your search!

[Shutterbug]

hey im planning a trip to hike thru most of the pa trail but i will be with a few friends our idea is when its starts to to become bed time just go off trail and camp in the woods like it was ment for has any one good ideas on best way to go about it? is it best to find tent sites or is it preference but i would like to rubber neck it and camp alone amongst the trees and wild.also any one have any good storys or encounters with wild life from bears,cats,deer even big foot or maybe even seen things that dont make sense(ghosts) interested in hearing

Consider using a hammock. With a hammock, you don't even have to find a clear spot. Just find two trees the right distance apart and hang your hammock. When you take the hammock down, you won't leave a trace.

You asked for stories about camping alone. The first time I hiked the Colorado Trail, I selected a clearing about a 100 yards from the trail and pitched my tent. There wasn't another person within miles. When I looked around the clearing, I noticed a lot of droppings that I was unable to identify. The droppings were big enough that they had to be left by a big animal, so when I turned in, I was wondering what kind of animals were around.

Not long after I turned in, I heard this strange sound. It was kind of familiar, but I couldn't identify it. I had read that elk "bugle", but had never actually heard the sound. I wondered if it could be the sound of an elk. Every 20 or 30 minutes all night long I heard that same wierd sound. All the next day, I wondered about what kind of animal could have made that sound.

Near the end of the day I reached a place where the trail crossed a highway, it was at the bottom of a long hill. As I prepared to cross the highway, an 18 wheeler came over the top of the hill. As it came down the hill, the driver shifted to a lower gear and let off the accellerator. That was the sound -- jake brakes. I was disappointed that my imaginary animal turned out to be a truck.

[BigBadger]

Consider using a hammock. With a hammock, you don't even have to find a clear spot. Just find two trees the right distance apart and hang your hammock. When you take the hammock down, you won't leave a trace.

You asked for stories about camping alone. The first time I hiked the Colorado Trail, I selected a clearing about a 100 yards from the trail and pitched my tent. There wasn't another person within miles. When I looked around the clearing, I noticed a lot of droppings that I was unable to identify. The droppings were big enough that they had to be left by a big animal, so when I turned in, I was wondering what kind of animals were around.

Not long after I turned in, I heard this strange sound. It was kind of familiar, but I couldn't identify it. I had read that elk "bugle", but had never actually heard the sound. I wondered if it could be the sound of an elk. Every 20 or 30 minutes all night long I heard that same wierd sound. All the next day, I wondered about what kind of animal could have made that sound.

Near the end of the day I reached a place where the trail crossed a highway, it was at the bottom of a long hill. As I prepared to cross the highway, an 18 wheeler came over the top of the hill. As it came down the hill, the driver shifted to a lower gear and let off the accellerator. That was the sound -- jake brakes. I was disappointed that my imaginary animal turned out to be a truck.

Great story, thanks for sharing

[DaveJonesRocks27]

thanks you for the story

[Coffee Rules!]

In the early 90's while in the Corps I went to SERE school in Maine. During the "survive and evade" part, we were out in the woods. No clue where, as they just put us on a bus from the Naval base in Brunswick and drove us to the middle of nowhere. While the real world way of doing things is to move at night and sleep in the daytime, for safety reasons in the school we did the opposite. There were instructors out and about who, if they found you, would mess with you to make sure you knew you messed up and how so. (Personally I think they knew where we were at all times and shadowed us, but only messed with you if you were stupid/noisy/didn't hide your sleeping spot well to where it wouldn't be found easily at night.) Anyway, I always made sure my sleeping spots were good, but one night I got really lucky and found a shallow depression between two trees, just wide and deep enough for me to lay in and cover over with my poncho to make the spot look flat. Some leaves on top completed it. Even my team leader couldn't find me when he went around looking for everyone. Being well away from the rest of the group helped, enough so that I had to go get him to show him my hide.

Fast forward to the next morning, I woke up hearing someone/something rustling through the brush. Being completely covered, I had no way to look around to see what/who it was. Assuming it was the "bad guys" out looking for us, I stayed still. Then I heard grunting or whatever the heck you call the noise a moose makes. Along with that, the rustling was getting closer to me. Assuming it was a moose, since we'd been warned about them, I was a little worried about it walking right over top of me, or at least my legs, because while covered up, they were out in the open, as only my upper body was between the trees. I started inching along on my back, toward the end of my poncho (toward my head). Finally I made it to the end, eased the poncho away, and lifted my head slightly. Not 20 feet away and walking toward me was a bull moose. Huge SOB, or at least to a guy who'd never seen a moose before and especially from my perspective. I don't know if the movement caused him to stop or what, but he did. Stood still a bit, then kept coming. I didn't know whether to get up and hope to startle him to run him off or stay still, thinking if I startled him he might charge. It wasn't rutting season, but I didn't know how aggressive they could be. Lucky for me, some other folks were starting to wake up in my group and being rather noisy. That got his attention and he angled away from me and off into the woods. It was awesome on one hand, but scary as hell on the other.

TL;DR - Got woke up/scared half to death by a moose 20 feet away, luckily he wandered off.

[DaveJonesRocks27]

thank you for ur story yeah i seen moose before at zoo so there huge

[thecyclops]

oh i know trust me i love the wilderness and everything about it i will i have no fear of camping off trail i just want to be alone and feel as if im on a journey on my own every time i camp its been in sites with crowds of ppl and i hate that so im looking forward to this

http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/punctuation.pdf

[Jefe]

http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/punctuation.pdf

I was wondering how long that was going to take.

[DaveJonesRocks27]

what take?

[DaveJonesRocks27]

Did the trail and it was awesome at bake ovens knob

[sublimety]

http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/punctuation.pdf

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jerk

see 4b

[DaveJonesRocks27]

? what is this link?