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skinnbones
02-10-2014, 22:04
At the beginning of your AT hike (before you became part of the trail) does anybody recall being nervous sleeping alone in a tent? I'm not scared of tenting alone in a wilderness setting, but I'm sure I will be a bit edgy the first few nights. Am I alone on this?

Meriadoc
02-10-2014, 22:05
You are not alone. I was edgy the first few times I was alone. :P

tarantolk
02-10-2014, 22:08
Your not alone, I literally got sick every night for the first week from nerves.

tf bear
02-10-2014, 22:15
You will ultimately be fine. Just make sure you Are tired and do not drink any thing caffeinated. At the end of your hike you will find it hard to sleep indoors on a bed.

Sarcasm the elf
02-10-2014, 22:23
It's totally normal to worry about it, it's just something that you have to get used to.

moldy
02-10-2014, 23:08
Plenty of other hikers out there, camp within earshot of a shelter early in your hike.

HooKooDooKu
02-10-2014, 23:15
I still get a bit nervous each time I'm driving toward the GSMNP to take one of my boys camping.

Actually, my worst case was the 1st time I took my younger son camping. The whole way we were heading toward the campsite, we kept hearing day hikers telling us about the bears they had seen at the campsite. I never saw the bears, but because I was trying to stay so attuned to any noises that night, I started having a lucid dream (that's when within your dream, you realize you are dreaming and can even control the dream).

Leanthree
02-10-2014, 23:53
I generally sleep lightly my first couple nights in the backcountry.

It used to be far worse until I had a bit of epiphany that I was getting anxious about not sleeping enough so I wouldn't sleep enough. Mental change and now I fall right back asleep when I inevitably wake up a few times the first few nights.

saltysack
02-11-2014, 07:57
NyQuil!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Old Hiker
02-11-2014, 08:12
Nope - seems to be a normal occurance. I woke up at every real and imagined sound for a week or better before I was so tired I slept through everything. Had a couple of nightmares as well. One was a bear sitting on my chest demanding my Fig Newtons !

Except the Nature calls. Couldn't ignore those. Dag-nab it.

Another Kevin
02-11-2014, 08:44
My first few times out, I was quite nervous indeed, but I was a little kid. I've got enough clueless weekends behind me that nowadays my technique for falling asleep in a tent is pretty simple: get into sleeping bag, close eyes, fall asleep.

This thread, though, makes me scratch my head a little bit. Do most people actually start thru-hikes without doing a long shakedown: at least one hike long enough to need to resupply, not to mention several shorter trips? That seems odd to me. Even with a lot of weekends behind me, I think there's stuff I'd want to tune up before making that kind of commitment. Because I'm clueless about long-distance hiking.

fins1838
02-11-2014, 08:50
Be Kalefull. Be vewy vewy kaleful.:)

kayak karl
02-11-2014, 09:01
i don't like sleeping with others around, shelters and even hostels with people moving around all night. the worst for me is when i hear vehicles close by. i never sleep near a road, but sometimes cars sound closer then they really are.

Drybones
02-11-2014, 09:13
One of the good/bad things about the AT is that you are never alone for long. Something I found interesting was how quickly (a few days) I developed a sense of belonging on the trail, like it was home.

Weather-man
02-11-2014, 09:52
At the beginning of your AT hike (before you became part of the trail) does anybody recall being nervous sleeping alone in a tent? I'm not scared of tenting alone in a wilderness setting, but I'm sure I will be a bit edgy the first few nights. Am I alone on this?

Your response is normal. It's not the fact that your tenting but rather that your environmental conditions have altered significantly. This is a normal human response and one of the reasons that we're the apex animal. You'll settle in once your senses have attuned themselves to the radically different and new stimuli.

Once they do, you'll settle down.... to be completely candid sleeping "like a log" is luxury and a result of living in a modern 1st world civilization. It's ok to sleep light. It's kept folks alive for a couple million years.

rocketsocks
02-11-2014, 10:03
Your response is normal. It's not the fact that your tenting but rather that your environmental conditions have altered significantly. This is a normal human response and one of the reasons that we're the apex animal. You'll settle in once your senses have attuned themselves to the radically different and new stimuli.

Once they do, you'll settle down.... to be completely candid sleeping "like a log" is luxury and a result of living in a modern 1st world civilization. It's ok to sleep light. It's kept folks alive for a couple million years.gotta agree with the Weather-man, many groups in the animal kingdom post a Sentry...so to speak, were no different. Ear plugs are my Sentry, and fate is my friend....and most definitely sleeping soundly is a luxury not many enjoy.


...Now I lay me down to sleep...


and if that don't get it for ya, maybe try this...

http://www.udap.com/bearshock.htm

guaranteed to oscillate the nuts off a grizzly...with a mild electrical correction.

HikerMom58
02-11-2014, 10:16
Nope - seems to be a normal occurance. I woke up at every real and imagined sound for a week or better before I was so tired I slept through everything. Had a couple of nightmares as well. One was a bear sitting on my chest demanding my Fig Newtons !

Except the Nature calls. Couldn't ignore those. Dag-nab it.

LOL... Similarly, my daughter woke herself up shouting, "bad bear!" because she had slept with her food, in her tent, that night. :p

HikerMom58
02-11-2014, 10:27
i don't like sleeping with others around, shelters and even hostels with people moving around all night. the worst for me is when i hear vehicles close by. i never sleep near a road, but sometimes cars sound closer then they really are.

How true! It's the AT, there aren't supposed to be "motorized vehicles" in the woods! Alas, there was an ATV "passing through" at 5:00 AM.:eek:

Having said that, I hate doing any thing alone in the woods. (walking, sleeping etc.. ) I hate it! I wish I could enjoy it, sometimes, believe me.

Skinnbones--- I'll hope that you can get used to it! :D Sounds like plenty others have!

hikerboy57
02-11-2014, 10:30
last year,at tray mountain, i heard choppers in the middle of the night, and it reminded me of home( i live near an airport and airtraffic is pretty much a constant.)had no problem falling asleep.
i usually have a bit of anxiety the first night out till i get use to the sounds of the forest and listen to the wind, puts me right out.

Old Hiker
02-11-2014, 10:44
last year,at tray mountain, i heard choppers in the middle of the night, and it reminded me of home( i live near an airport and airtraffic is pretty much a constant.)had no problem falling asleep.
i usually have a bit of anxiety the first night out till i get use to the sounds of the forest and listen to the wind, puts me right out.

Oh, yeah!!! Forgot those near Springer a couple of nights. Plus the machine gun fire, explosions, etc. Interesting attempt at sleeping THAT night !!

hikerboy57
02-11-2014, 10:58
Oh, yeah!!! Forgot those near Springer a couple of nights. Plus the machine gun fire, explosions, etc. Interesting attempt at sleeping THAT night !!
reminded me of the rockaways after sandy

Teacher & Snacktime
02-11-2014, 11:04
Oh admit it...you're quaking in your hiking boots! I know I would be. But just imagine how you'll feel when the anxiety turns to full-blown excitement! Have fun....I'll just sit here and be envious......

Old Hiker
02-11-2014, 11:04
reminded me of the rockaways after sandy


Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor THAT day, I can tell you!

Teacher & Snacktime
02-11-2014, 11:09
Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor THAT day, I can tell you!

Are you the Keymaster?

Night Train
02-11-2014, 18:55
Oh, yeah!!! Forgot those near Springer a couple of nights. Plus the machine gun fire, explosions, etc. Interesting attempt at sleeping THAT night !!
The clack of a 240 Bravo woke me up one night at Hawk Mtn.

Dogwood
02-11-2014, 19:14
Sleepy Time Tea w/ a shot of AppleJack might help.

Wait, wahatas tat. I tweard somthin.

imscotty
02-11-2014, 19:19
The only thing that makes me nervous in the woods is people, so the more isolated I am the better I sleep.

turtle fast
02-11-2014, 19:39
I think its common when alone once in awhile...you think...hmmm all that separates me from the outside is this thin material. Like a wrapper on a hamburger for a hungry bear, wolf, mountain lions, or gang of sasquatches.

Dogwood
02-11-2014, 20:02
I think its common when alone once in awhile...you think...hmmm all that separates me from the outside is this thin material. Like a wrapper on a hamburger for a hungry bear, wolf, mountain lions, or gang of sasquatches.

Sounds like someone has been watching too many Irreality made for TV by Bollywood for ratings TV shows. TV has gotten so over the top unreal, even the Weather Channel. :) A gang of sasquatches? C'mon. I suppose they're coming with the Gray aliens, zombies, and vampires to do sexual experiments, eat your warm brains, and drink your blood too? :) Where are Moulder, Mila Jovovich, Buffy, and the Van Helsings when you need them? Please Kate Beckinsale save me save me.

hikerboy57
02-11-2014, 20:09
I think its common when alone once in awhile...you think...hmmm all that separates me from the outside is this thin material. Like a wrapper on a hamburger for a hungry bear, wolf, mountain lions, or gang of sasquatches.

Or you can sleep under the stars

sent from a samsung galaxy far far away

Teacher & Snacktime
02-11-2014, 20:52
I think its common when alone once in awhile...you think...hmmm all that separates me from the outside is this thin material. Like a wrapper on a hamburger for a hungry bear, wolf, mountain lions, or gang of sasquatches.

Oh that's helpful! Now I KNOW Snacktime and I are sleeping in the car at SNP!!!!

Spirit Walker
02-11-2014, 21:01
When I first started backpacking, I always went out on nights of the full moon because I wanted to be able to see what was out there. I didn't realize that the light of a full moon was enough to keep me awake;-) I slept very little on those first few trips. On the AT it seemed like I was always so tired, insomnia really wasn't a problem. I stayed in shelters for the most part, so had to deal with the noise of snoring, mice, zippers, etc. but after hiking all day, I was tired enough I usually slept well.

Since then, I find the first night or two as my body adjusts to sleeping on the ground again difficult, but after a couple of days I'm asleep very quickly -- unless I'm in grizzly country. Then I tend to sleep very lightly.

Chris10
02-11-2014, 21:06
I know the first night out on my first section hike, I was expecting all sorts of wild sounds, but it was so quite, I couldn't sleep...crazy!

HikerMom58
02-11-2014, 21:20
The only thing that makes me nervous in the woods is people, so the more isolated I am the better I sleep.

I can understand that. :>)


I think its common when alone once in awhile...you think...hmmm all that separates me from the outside is this thin material. Like a wrapper on a hamburger for a hungry bear, wolf, mountain lions, or gang of sasquatches.

Oh man, you just read my mind! I've said this exact thing before. That's so funny!!

I'll never forget last May, on the AT, I had just finished eating my dinner on a rock. I turn around, in the pitch black darkness, of the night, to see 2 yellow or green (can't remember) eyes staring at me, not too far away. All I could see was the eyes, nothing else. No sound.

I proclaimed that TWO eyes were staring at me!! My daughter laughed & asked if I would have preferred just ONE. :p:D

Teacher & Snacktime
02-11-2014, 21:23
That Shelby! Don't you love the way our kids treat us like kids?

HikerMom58
02-11-2014, 21:32
That Shelby! Don't you love the way our kids treat us like kids?

Yep... that girl! The only thing that upsets her on the trail is SPIDERS! She has a cow if she sees one crawling on the outside of her tent. I'm like, who cares & I'll brush it off with my bare hands.. Meanwhile, she's in her tent having a conniption fit. LOL!!

Egads
02-11-2014, 21:38
During my first summer of backpacking, my wife sent me out Friday night. So off I went with Addis Gap my destination. I arrived at the trailhead around 11:00 and hiked North about an hour until I saw a campsite. Started putting up my tent an noticed paper in a hole in the ground. My thoughts were its "crap", until I realized yellow jackets were buzzing about. I killed the light and dragged my tent about 50 ft away. Switched on the light to make camp and got stung twice.

Shortly after getting in bed a blood curdling "Screeee"....followed by "Who, ho, ho". I imaged a rabbit became owl food.

Later, I was awakened by a loud "Sniff, sniff, sniff" by a large animal on the other side of the tent mesh. I wasn't sure what it was at the time, but saw bear tracks in the mud next morning.

I've never had a night like that since.

BTW, I was stung again the next morning