Sleeping Alone in the Woods

[Pringles]

The first time I camped in the woods alone, I was separated from my friends, so I was alone unintentionally. I got to sleep ok, but I woke in the middle of the night thinking that "if there was a bigfoot, he'd be right here, in these mountainous woods." I didn't sleep so well that night, after that. Bigfoot didn't come, by the way.

Now I hike and camp alone a lot. It rarely bothers me, though I spent a night at Wapiti Shelter this spring, alone, and that was kind of spooky. In the late fall I switch to a warmer sleeping bag, which has a zipper that sticks sometimes. With no companions, I worry that I'll be stuck in my sleeping bag until spring...when they find the body.

[nufsaid]

Oh that part is true!
The woman was asleep in her bed with the window open. The bug had perforated her ear drum and was causing excruciating pain inside her ear. They could not flush the ear and had to "go get it". I have made it a point that if a bug goes into my ear it's shortly dead. I'll worry about getting the peices out in a minute.

An ice pick makes short work of a bug in your ear. May take a few tries.

[Feral Bill]

i ain't fraid a nuttin...

Not the path to longevity

[OldStormcrow]

I pretty much hike solo, but never have any trouble sleeping....perhaps something to do with a cozy fire before bed and a cozy flask of Bushmills Irish whiskey. My vicious and outrageous snoring seems to keep all mammal and insect life away while I sleep like a (drunken) baby.

[MikenSalem]

I thought that was jus for crabs? Oh almost forgot and ice Anybody want me to fixum a little drinkie? What about it Big Dawg you ain't a frady-dawg is ya
I think an ice pick would be an improvement over my size 16 fingers. They don't fit my ear OR my nose thank you.




Shuddap Felix, bad cat, BAD CAT! and your little doggie friend too, bad dawg, I say BAD Big Dawg!

[Morning Glory]

this is a very familiar story....This is about exactly what happened to me...except someone else rolled into Cloud Pond about 7 p.m. I didn't care to keep up with my friend that was trying to finish the HMW in 6 days...Barren Mtn. just about killed me. He was waiting for me at the blue blaze to Cloud Pond and he wanted to go 7 more miles to the next shelter. I told him to have fun and that I was more worried about killing myself trying to keep up with him than I was worried about getting killed camping by myself. The next day, I hitched back to Monson after hiking down to Gulf Hagas.

My second time was much nicer. I was at Cloud Pond Shelter in Maine. All my buddies had hiked on further, but I was beat and chose to stay. No one else showed up, but I enjoyed a nice evening alone. I spent a lot of time contemplating my Maine hike so far and decided it was time for me to get off. The next morning I headed to Monson.

[Egads]

An ice pick makes short work of a bug in your ear. May take a few tries.

Not the path to longevity

Feral Bill's comment applies to more than one post. One try might be all you'll get Darwin

[Seeker]

it generally takes me a couple nights to get back into 'woods mode', where i know what's making what noises at night, but it can keep you awake. once i get it figured out again, i sleep pretty well. humans scare me the most. where i camp it's mostly sticks falling, followed by coons/ possums/ armadillos, then other animals. i've been tapped on the butt while sleeping in my hammock, by something, but i don't know what... probably a fox. despite the number of boars here, i've never had any 'invade' my campsite. deer make that weird snorting noise, and the one bear, well, that was definitely a night of no sleep!

[Captn]

It's easy to get freaked out by strange noises in the night.

I carry a little 1 ounce MP3 player with different stuff on it, sometimes podcasts, sometimes music, etc.

Listen to recorded NPR ... puts me out like a light.

[Big Dawg]

Anybody want me to fixum a little drinkie? What about it Big Dawg you ain't a frady-dawg is ya

no frady-dawg here,,, fixum up

[coheterojo]

I sleep alone with alarming frequency. In the woods I mean. When I plan a hiking trip I always let my friends know so they can come along as well. Used to be, if people bailed, I'd get all boohoo-y and not go myself. I finally developed the intestinal fortitude to go on my hikes w or w/o others. To be perfectly honest I prefer the solo experience in so many ways.

Also I do quite a bit of hiking here in the Francis Marion NF on the Swamp Fox passage of the Palmetto Trail. I've developed quite an afinity for night hikes. The night is never as dark as it seems(with some alarming exceptions). Just spending alot of time in the woods at night allows me to experience another magnificent dimension of its glory. I feel extremely comfortable in the woods alone.

How's that? Too verbose?

[Tucky]

Out on my Long Trail Hike this year I had a good 2 night and 3 day stretch of seeing nobody at all. It was a terrific experience partly because I was used to sleeping in the woods alone.

The first time sleeping out in the woods alone I remember being really tense during the night. It's just like anything else I guess. Experience will make you more comfortable with it.

[Grampie]

I'll always remember my first night sleeping alone in the woods, during my thru. It was a little campsite a mile north of Dick's Creek Gap. I was hiking with several others and my knees were realy hurting. They continued on and I decided to stop for the night. I thought that others would stop for the night and use the same camp site. It was a nice spot right next to a small brook. As it started to get dark, knowone showed. I built a fire and layed in my tent listening to all the night sounds sort of afraid to fall asleep. I soon woke up and it was daylight again.
I had fliped,from Duncannon, PA, finishing my thru there. The time hiking after Labor Day I spent much time alone. Once hiking for two days without meeting another hiker. I spent my last three nights alone in shelters.

[sbhikes]

Speaking of sounds, I was hiking the PCT and passed another hiker late in the day. After I passed him there weren't any other places to camp so once I found one, I assumed he would probably camp there, too.

In the middle of the night I could hear snoring. Man that guy can really snore! In the morning after I put my tent away he was still snoring but I couldn't see where he'd set up his camp. I explored the area and discovered that the snoring was really the sound of two trees rubbing together.

[Shutterbug]

Speaking of sounds, I was hiking the PCT and passed another hiker late in the day. After I passed him there weren't any other places to camp so once I found one, I assumed he would probably camp there, too.

In the middle of the night I could hear snoring. Man that guy can really snore! In the morning after I put my tent away he was still snoring but I couldn't see where he'd set up his camp. I explored the area and discovered that the snoring was really the sound of two trees rubbing together.

I was hiking the Colorado Trail and hadn't seen another human all day. As it was getting dark, I made camp in a meadow where I saw quite a bit of scat that was unfamiliar to me. Only a large animal could have left that size pile.

I thought it might have been left by a mountain lion or a bear, but I wasn't sure. I crawled into my sleeping bag wondering about what kind of large animal might be around.

Soon after I turned in, I heard a loud noise that I didn't recognize. It was a rumbling sound that lasted about 10 seconds. I just couldn't imagine what kind of animal would make that sound.

About every 30 minutes during the night, I would hear the sound. It always came from the same direction.

For the next two days, I wondered about what kind of animal had kept me awake that night. I decided that it was probably an elk. I had heard and read that elk make a "bugle" sound, but didn't know what that sounded like.

At the end of the hike, I was waiting at the trialhead for my ride. The trailhead was on a busy highway. A large truck came by. As the truck started down the steep grade, the driver down shifted and guess what? There was the sound!! The "animal" that kept we awake all night turned out to be the sound of a truck using its jake brakes.

The night sounds are what makes solo camping exciting. I love it.

[Alligator]

Trucks do leave large loads.


**collective groan**

[Disney]

Many many many times. Doesn't phase me at all. Although since I spent some time away from the mountains, I prefer the tents now to the shelters. Mice did not used to bother me, but when I became recivilized, they began to.

There is some small measure of apprehension, but it really is very very minor as long as you're not near a road. You'll hear anybody or anything approaching and come full awake. The difference I suppose is that when you're with people, you can rely on them to wake up if anything approaches, and there's safety in numbers.

Any apprehension should not keep people from sleeping in the woods alone. It's a cool experience.

[Trooper]

I walk softly through the woods, but carry a BIG stick just in case

[ShoelessWanderer]

LOVE sleeping alone in the woods! So much easier to experience nature & just enjoy some solitude.

[Gumbi]

I take the ostrich approach: I wear earplugs, and if I can't hear it, it doesn't exist! I sleep really well alone in the woods like this.