Camping DIRECTLY on trail
Under what circumstances is it OK to camping DIRECTLY on the trail, not right next to it but on it. This is a general trail etiquette question not specific to the AT.
enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry
Emergencies?
Emergency seems like the only reasonable answer, but...Originally Posted by egilbe
An emergency for some people might be "it got dark" or "I'm too tired to take another step."
And even though it was an "emergency" to them, I bet they'd get heavily criticized.
I feel like this question has a back story to it. Do tell!
Personally I've only done it once, it was at night in bad weather and felt like the wisest of the available options and safer than continuing on.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I Think it would really depend on each individual situation where the need may arise.
"In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks." -John Muir
"Because in the end you won't remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ******* Mountain!" - Jack Kerouac
Just my two cents. If it's past sunset and a low-traffic situation, not much harm done. I've done it once or twice.
I posted this because of a discussion on a PCT facebook page, not so much the actual post below but of some of the comments. I have camped directly on the trail before but under very specific conditions. In general I thought it was pretty clear trail etiquette but I am really wondering if it is as clear as I thought it was hence the question.I feel like this question has a back story to it. Do tell!
Personally I've only done it once, it was at night in bad weather and felt like the wisest of the available options and safer than continuing on.
IMG_1012.jpg
enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry
One ought not make a habit of it, probably...
Well the emergency thing makes sense but perhaps it is more related to absolutely having to stop and there being no other possible place to do it but the trail.
I have camped literally 2 ft from the AT 2 times. Both times in severe weather conditions when I was really cold and wet and started to shiver and at that point I treat it like an emergency and just set the tent up, strip down and get in dry stuff and in the sleeping bag. But no one other than the guy I was hiking with one of those times even knew I did it and he did the same thing about 30 yards from me. On the PCT there are lots of tent spots which are just feet from the trail.
On the AZT I slept in the trail one time also. I was running out a big water haul and since my last possible water hole was dry I knew I was going to run out the next day. So I walked deep into the night until I was really tired and just set the tent up where the trail crested a climb and then headed down. But I was up before light and moving. That day was a tough one as I ran out of water a couple of hours before I made the next water source and was suffering bad leg cramps due to dehydration.
Anish has stated that she sometimes just goes to sleep right on the trail or next to it when she can go no further. I have also walked around tents set up right on the AT several times.
Little used trails or during off seasons or in emergencies. Even then as Rafe said it shouldn't be made a habit. From the sound of it she should have better planned her day. Southern Cali PCT is ripe with places to erect a 1p MSR Hubba. She/he made it worse because this hiker slept in expecting others to hike around her during prime high peak PCT usage in SoCal and looks to be located in a narrow single track rocky sloped thread area.
How about hanging your bear bag directly over the empty tent pad next to yours? Yeah, not cool.
i've heard the trail described as a wildlife highway at night, animals liking the easy walking as much as humans do... i don't know how true that is but it has always discouraged me from hanging my hammock across the trail, even when stopping well after dark with an early start planned!!! so, hammock parallel to and right next to the trail, without a tarp -- done that a handful of times, leaving plenty of passing room. across the trail? never...
Lazarus
That can be considered acceptable, provided that a bear trap is also set underneath the food.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
It all depends on the trail. Some trails see no traffic and especially trails that haven't been maintained in the last 10+ years. I camped right on the Basin Lead trail a couple months ago so I'd be close to Basin Gap and a quick morning shove off for Warrior's Passage trail.
But it's a rule for me to avoid trail camping, mainly because I value my tent and don't want humans tripping over it and breaking the poles at night. Often times the terrain is so bad that the trail is the only open, level spot for miles---but you have to suck it up and move on until you find a spot off the trail. Simple trail manners and good discipline.
In an emergency of course all bets are off---camp wherever you want. (Like during the Blizzard of '93).
Short of an major emergency, never? Running out of daylight doesn't count as you can always keep hiking in the dark until something decent comes up. Didn't bring a flashlight/headlamp like a few on this forum advocate? A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine.
As others noted above, animals like using trails at night since its easier to use then pushing through the brush. Amazing how they sound almost human in that regard. I've seen and heard Elk, deer, and bears along the trail at night, just to mention some of the larger ones.
As someone who likes to get on the trail early in the morning, one of my most annoying moments I had hiking the PCT was coming across 2 tarptents set up on the trail when it was cut into the mountainside. There was no easy way around them. Their excuse was there was no level place to camp. Well, 15 minutes past them, I found a site. So I have little tolerance for this. I'm more tolerant if they are just camped next to the trail since I can get by them without issue.
Last edited by Miner; 04-14-2017 at 21:08.
Even with a headlamp, sometimes it's just not safe or smart to keep walking. A small tent on the trail ought not constitute an emergency for any other hiker that happens to come by. If it did that'd be pretty rude.
You say "15 minutes later, I found a site" -- but the hikers in question most likely didn't know. I can think of several instances where I ran out of steam or out of daylight without reaching the shelter or campsite I was aiming for. Only to discover, the next morning, that it was a quarter mile from where I'd made camp.
It's not something I'd encourage. But it's not the end of the world either. Pull off the trail if at all possible.
Yes, camping on the trail is bad form. Once was backpacking down the Slickrock Creek trail near Lower Falls and some retardants set up their big tarp camps directly on the trail overlooking the falls. Prime real estate of course but only for idiots. I had to dip and weave and squat for a duck walk and do a belly crawl to get under all their guylines. Didn't say anything cuz they were clueless and possibly suffering from tarp-induced retardation and moral deficiency disease---MDD.
i've done it quite a bit.
By Lakes of the Clouds hut?
A tent on a trail is not an emergency for another hiker until they trip over you and snap a couple poles. THEN it becomes an emergency.
And there's a backpacking rule I have found to be true more times than not---Do not stop at the first campsite you find---go ahead a couple hundred feet and you'll probably find something much better. I learned this the hard way by setting up camps at so-so spots and in the morning shoving off and finding much better camps just a little bit further on.
If someone does set up on a trail, they should not be surprised to have their guylines or tents disfigured by stumbling bipeds at 3am.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
