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Thread: cowboy camping

  1. #1
    Registered User The Phoenix's Avatar
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    Default cowboy camping

    Hi,

    I got into cowboy camping on my hike and kind of liked the thrill of being out in the open... and one every have a bad experience cowboy camping other than petty things like bugs and that crap...

    I mean I got bit in the head by a raccoon in a shelter so could cowboy camping be any more dangerous?

    There is nothing more liberating than sleeping under a ceiling which nothing but the starry Heavens above!
    "you know a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage and relying purely on courage: It's possible."

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    Formerly "Totem"
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    3 walls and a roof can bring a level of mental comfort to some. I can't sleep without my blankie.

    That said, Tried it a few times. Different strokes for different folks. Didn't like the feeling of being exposed, but I bet Freud would love to interview me.
    up over the hills, theres nothing to fear
    theres a pub across the way with whisky and beer
    its a lengthy journey on the way up to the top
    but it ain't so bad if you have a great big bottle o'scotch

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Phoenix View Post
    Hi,

    I got into cowboy camping on my hike and kind of liked the thrill of being out in the open... and one every have a bad experience cowboy camping other than petty things like bugs and that crap...

    I mean I got bit in the head by a raccoon in a shelter so could cowboy camping be any more dangerous?

    There is nothing more liberating than sleeping under a ceiling which nothing but the starry Heavens above!
    i did it in the whites a lot and SNP/Smokys

  4. #4

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    I enjoy it, makes me feel a bit "Daniel Boone". Just wish we had that automatic, small campfire that never goes out.

    We preferred to camp this way in Denali so we could keep tabs on the bears - there was one who followed us for miles one day.

  5. #5
    Registered User The Phoenix's Avatar
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    Did you ever think that bear liked hiking and was just lonely and wanting some company?
    "you know a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage and relying purely on courage: It's possible."

  6. #6
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    do quite frequently when good weather is expected with little dew. just cowboy camped 2 weekends ago, right by the fire. wonderful starry night.
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

    amongnature.blogspot.com

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    Registered User toegem's Avatar
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    Once had a mouse run up one arm and sat on my chest squeaking but that could happen in a shelter and another time woke up to a deer nose to nose with me, that one got my heart a pounding.
    The journey of 10,000 miles, begins with the first step.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Phoenix View Post
    Did you ever think that bear liked hiking and was just lonely and wanting some company?
    Yes, he did ask for a bear hug, but considering he was about 500 lbs, I declined.

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    Cowboy camping in a hammock is the way to go.
    If you find yourself in a fair fight; your tactics suck.

  10. #10

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    I cowboy camped about 75% of the time I was on the PCT.
    Drab as a Fool, as aloof as a Bard!

    http://www.wizardsofthepct.com

  11. #11
    Registered User Phreak's Avatar
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    I cowboy camp about 7-8 months out of the year, and hammock the other months.

  12. #12

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    I got into cowboy camping on my hike and kind of liked the thrill of being out in the open... and one every have a bad experience cowboy camping other than petty things like bugs and that crap... The Phoenix

    Nothing very serious. I cowboy as often as conditions allow. On the PCT in almost 5 months put up a tarp maybe 6 times. Cowboyed the rest of the time. On the 900 + miles of the Hayduke Tr slept under a tarp once! Cowboyed all the rest of those nights.

    Have had racoons, oppossums, foxes, skunks, deer, a black bear, moose, a coyote, lizards, frogs, an ocassional snake, some mice, an armadillo, probably some other animals I'm not aware of, get real close, like sniff me. Not really a big deal for me. Wouldn't want a skunk spraying my $500 WM sleeping bag though!

    I suppose the least favorable is falling asleep under those starry Heavens you mention and waking up in the middle of the night to pit pat pit pat pat pat. You roll over thinking, "it will stop!" And, it doesn't! As it starts to rain harder and harder you wipe your crusty eyes clean and get up to erect your shelter.

    It's all very worth it for me though. I get to feel more a part of nature, to become one with it(I know some of you will sneer at that comment), rather than just feel like I'm traveling through it by separating myself from it by erecting both physical and psychological walls.

  13. #13
    Registered User handlebar's Avatar
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    I, too, really got into cowboy camping on the PCT. One has to be a little more careful in choice of campsite to avoid heavy dew, but I really liked staring up into a star-filled sky. Often, I'd see a shooting star or two before drifting off to sleep. When cowboy camping, I tried to choose a location that doesn't appear to have been camped in (Yes, I know about LNT, but on the PCT at least, there were many places that one night in my bag atop my tyvek wouldn't impact.) Like many others, except in bear country, I made a practice of sleeping with my food bag next to my feet.

    The only place rodents were an issue was in a designated campsite near Stehekin where I had to get up in the middle of the night to clip my food bag to my clothes-drying line that was stretched over my bag between two hemlocks. It was fun watching that persistent mouse try to tightrope walk the line! I don't know whether other animals came by to sniff at me over the night as I slept very soundly.

    In addition to the star show at night, I also liked waking early as the sky brightened to the point I could see in black and white. I usually rolled over for forty winks finally getting up as soon as I could see colors.

    I can remember a couple of times when I needed to get up to erect the tent. Once I tried pulling the tyvek from under my pad to cover me and the bag. Unfortunately, the rain progressed and shortly after I had to get up and put the tent up.
    Handlebar
    GA-ME 06; PCT 08; CDT 10,11,12; ALT 11; MSPA 12; CT 13; Sheltowee 14; AZT 14, 15; LT 15;FT 16;NCT-NY&PA 16; GET 17-18

  14. #14
    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    Love to cowboy camp. I even did it on the BMT when I could.

    Something about the stars above for a blanket and the wind in the air makes me fall asleep so peacefully.
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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    The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau

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    Only down side I've seen is having the full moon in my face. Too bright! I do sometimes pitcha tarp then sleep outside. i can move in in a hurry if the weather changes.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  16. #16

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    What I call bedroll camping you guys call cowboy camping, same difference. It's the way to go for most conditions but then again, it's not so good to lay down at 10pm and wake up at 3 in a rain deluge with no protection. I call it the Rodeo: you have 8 seconds to rope that calf! Doesn't work too good either in hot conditions and you're covered in mosquitoes.

    Or learning how poorly a goose down bag insulates when out in the open and exposed to a cold winter wind. Or to wake up covered in 8-10 inches of snow every morning. Is cowboy camping the same as bivy sac camping? Why wouldn't it be?

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    i did some cowboy camping last nite off the north south trail[r.i.]. i managed to drag a couple of friends out for an evening. we were able to hike 10 miles yesterday and another 5 today. no strange occurances last nite but we did hear some type of small animal scurrying thru the woods around one or two in the morning. we hiked thru arcadia and carolina management areas. temps were mid 50s for the days and a low of 34 over nite. i used my ems mtn lite 20* bag and was plenty warm. the only problem was how damp the bag got. this is an older mtn lite with no dwr...

  18. #18

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    I call it the Rodeo: you have 8 seconds to rope that calf!

    Keep em coming Tipi! Another good one!

  19. #19
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    My hubby and son love to cowboy camp. Enjoy.







    Hiking Blog
    AT NOBO and SOBO, LT, FHT, ALT
    Shenandoah NP Ridgerunner, Author, Speaker


  20. #20

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    You can't cowboy camp in a hammock.

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