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Manwich
03-12-2009, 00:48
I cannot sleep in the woods without Ear Plugs. It's not so much the snoring of others (Mrs. Totem snore would shortd!ck every cannibal in the congo...) but despite having slept in the woods a hundred times... those random rufflings of leaves and "was that a footstep?" reaction still gets me. Crazy Irrational, I know I know. But if I can't hear it, it can kill me.

Good Idea? Bad Idea? Am I alone in bringing Earplugs?

4eyedbuzzard
03-12-2009, 00:52
I can sleep through damn near anything at home, but I tend to have some hightened awareness in the woods and hear every little sound while trying to fall asleep. That said, once I finally do fall asleep I'm pretty much out for the duration. No earplugs necessary--except to give out to others.

Manwich
03-12-2009, 00:57
edit: *can't kill me. damn i need to donate.

darkage
03-12-2009, 01:06
I've had issues when i haven't backpacked in a few weeks and get used to that quiet at home sleeping outdoors .... a night or two and i get used to knowing if its not a rapid or steady rustle its nothing ... just gotta get it in your head, small animals sound like medium and medium animals sound huge, not to mention the winds and elements causing branches and what not to fall to the forest ground snaping twigs ... I still tho find myself from time to time getting the WIDE EYES after nearly falling asleep and something making a noise .... When i backpack with my brother in seperate tents, i do carry plugs cause he snores pretty bad .... There light, and if something big is coming near your tent ... your still gonna hear it with ear plugs in ... they dampen sound, not eliminate it.

darkage
03-12-2009, 01:08
Should read, Sleeping indoors*

drastic_quench
03-12-2009, 01:46
Last spring, I was canoeing with a friend down a local river. We decided to camp on an island. The island was separated from the shore by about ten yards of swiftly moving water. It was a large chunk of land for this river - perhaps 40 yards by 30 - and plenty high off of the water, so we wouldn't get swept away unless it was a hundred-year flood.

We staked out the densely wooded island entirely before settling on a sandy campsite. We had plenty of time before dark to set up camp, cook, and drink the last of our beer before climbing into the tent and calling it a night around 11pm.

My eyes popped open and I checked my watch in the darkness. It was 2:30. I heard the crunching leaves sound we've all heard thousands of times. I'm a hunter, so I think "deer", but just like in hunting, I remind myself to scale back my imagination. "Probably a squirrel or raccoon."

I drift back to sleep, but I keep hearing more. They really sound like footfalls. Can't be. It's always your imagination. Go back to sleep. Then I swear I hear voices. Can't be. But it's worth sitting up. I'm peering out of the tent's netting into the darkness. It's an island. We walked the entire thing. It's just us. Who would pull in off of a river at 2am?

Then I saw silhouettes. Black figures moving between the trees. No friggin way! It's always a squirrel! I wake up my hard-sleeping friend, and tell him that we're not alone on the island, but upon hearing this, he's where I was a half hour ago: disbelieving and skeptical. I convince him to get up and look. Then we both hear speaking, but not clear words.

Now we're both out of our bags, and our knives are out. You've been there, right? We see two distinctly human figures moving about the island towards the far end, perhaps 25 yards from us. We talk in hushed tones about what we should do, and what they're doing. Soon the two men have a fire roaring. We convince each other to stay put. If they were out for no good, they wouldn't blow their stealthiness like that, unless they hadn't seen our tent.

We finally get back to sleep. Sure enough, we wake to their commotion at sunrise. In the light, we see them depart and solve the mystery of how they got onto the island. They're carrying a ladder between them back to the ten yard gap to the mainland. The mystery jerks leave their large fire roaring and depart. We go over to inspect their camp and put out the fire. I was practically expecting evidence of some bizarre ritual. They had multiple Y-shaped sticks stuck in the bank. They were all-night catfisherman.

The incident scared the hell out of us owing to the fact that we were on an "uninhabited" island. Still, ignorance is indeed bliss, but I'm never wearing earplugs to bed.

phishpapond
03-12-2009, 01:49
All fear the twig monster.

That's what I call any sound at night in the woods.
Hey did you hear that twig monster

Pokey2006
03-12-2009, 03:05
I agree I'd rather hear the noise and wake up than sleep through potential danger. Though, it is hard to wake me up in the first place. Not that I haven't needlessly lost my share of sleep on the trail...

Last week, I was camped alone a ways off trail, well off the beaten path, and kept hearing noises that I was convinced was some kind of very bold animal out to get me and the bag of food I neglected to hang. I was even banging my hiking stick against a tree and yelling at the creature to go away and leave me alone. Turns out, it was just pieces of ice and snow falling from the trees.

Egads
03-12-2009, 05:03
I bring earplugs too, but it's the widow makers that worry me the most at night. They are usually silent until impact, I always look up before setting up camp.

http://forestry.about.com/cs/chainsaws/g/widow_maker.htm

Tipi Walter
03-12-2009, 07:57
In this day and age of human-generated noise pollution, a study of earplugs and noise stopping headphones should be part of the backpacker's education.
http://www.earplugstore.com/foam_consumer_plugs.htm

I'm partial to the Flents Quiet Please PVC foam plugs and I always take a a couple pair with me in the woods for various reasons. Sometimes humans will camp within earshot and bring alcohol: whip out the plugs. Sometimes airplane noise will be so bad on a quiet evening under the stars that plugs are required. Sometimes mice will romp and a set of plugs will keep them out of mind. Sometimes the wind will be so loud and the tent flapping so bad that sleep won't come w/o a set of plugs.

And for serious noise suppression in tandem with plugs comes the Peltor headphones:http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/peltor-earmuffs-h10a.html

I used a set of Peltors up at the tipi when a sawmill opened up business about 4 miles away--much easier to use than plugs.

When I first started backpacking years ago I got a little jumpy in the beginning over night time nature noises but this nervous nelly period passes over time. Hooting owls in pairs can make a real racket, they actually talk to each other and make some strange clacking sounds, and irritated deer can come up behind you when sleeping and let out some godawful screams. Earplugs put me in a fuzzy cocoon of dreamlike goo--don't hear nothing, don't care, go to sleep.

Doctari
03-12-2009, 08:13
Deep gap shelter in GA: Heard a HUGE branch fall, from the sound it was directly onto the tent of a friend. I did not want to look, & he wasn't screaming in pain so either it missed him completely or he was dead & beyond my help. :p
Come morning, turns out it landed between us, & he thought exactly the same thing: "Missed or dead"

Sort of wish I had earplugs that night.

Valentine
03-12-2009, 08:17
A little Jack Daniels works wonders. No! don't pour it in your ears:)

Homer&Marje
03-12-2009, 08:18
Nope. Wanna hear that bear coming. I mean mouse.

mister krabs
03-12-2009, 08:19
either earplugs or headphones. you're right, if I can't hear it, it can't kill me.

Valentine
03-12-2009, 08:29
I said "a little". :) just enough to get you to sleep. My dog would wake me up if it was a bear. One of the first nights I bivy camped with her she lifted her head like a sentry every 30mins or so to make sure everything was kosher.

Even dogs have trouble sleeping in the woods too!

Frick Frack
03-12-2009, 09:05
I love listening to all the sounds of the woods & usually sleep like a rock. I will use ear plugs at shelters though because I hate the sounds of people moving around, coughing, snoring, talking, mice, etc...

A little "John Daniels" is a great idea though.....wooooo ahhhh....

Manwich
03-12-2009, 09:40
A little "John Daniels" is a great idea though.....wooooo ahhhh....


psh. a Shot of brandy and a shot of Nyquil works when my earplugs don't.

IceAge
03-12-2009, 09:58
...just gotta get it in your head, small animals sound like medium and medium animals sound huge...

I posted my "Law" about this last summer in this post-

"... I developed Jones' Law of Nocturnal Immensity, which states that all animals heard at night sound as though they are the next larger animal. Therefore, beetles sound like mice, mice sound like skunks, skunks sound like raccoons, raccoons sound like bears, etc.."

Manwich
03-12-2009, 10:05
I posted my "Law" about this last summer in this post-

"... I developed Jones' Law of Nocturnal Immensity, which states that all animals heard at night sound as though they are the next larger animal. Therefore, beetles sound like mice, mice sound like skunks, skunks sound like raccoons, raccoons sound like bears, etc.."

what do bears sound like?

IceAge
03-12-2009, 10:48
Good question, maybe rhinos? If I ever have a bear in camp I'll let you know!

BigToe
03-12-2009, 10:51
As a section hiker, I do the earplug thing. I'm sure given time, about the time I'm done my section, I would get used to the noise. However, wearing the earplugs I get a good night's sleep.

BR360
03-12-2009, 16:46
Rather than earplugs, I listen to AM radio, specifically CoasttoCoastAM which is available on WSB 770AM (Atlanta), WLAC 1510AM (Nashville), WRVA 1140 AM (Richmond), WPHT 1210AM (Philly).

The show provides entertaining talk about alien abductions, ghosts, Bigfoot, chemtrails, government conspiracies to release bird flu vaccine on us all and kill 80% of the human race, being wage slaves for the Illuminati, New World Order, etc. etc.:eek:

This gets me all worried so that I don't care what's outside the tent/hammoock.:D

Manwich
03-12-2009, 16:47
It'th A Conthpiracy!

Cannibal
03-12-2009, 16:51
Mrs. Totem snore would shortd!ck every cannibal in the congo...
Well then keep her away from me!:eek:

I use earplugs when camping in campgrounds or within a mile of a road. Critters don't bother me; drunk idiots and tractor trailers do.

4eyedbuzzard
03-12-2009, 16:51
Rather than earplugs, I listen to AM radio, specifically CoasttoCoastAM which is available on WSB 770AM (Atlanta), WLAC 1510AM (Nashville), WRVA 1140 AM (Richmond), WPHT 1210AM (Philly).

The show provides entertaining talk about alien abductions, ghosts, Bigfoot, chemtrails, government conspiracies to release bird flu vaccine on us all and kill 80% of the human race, being wage slaves for the Illuminati, New World Order, etc. etc.:eek::D

Good Lord, it sounds just like WhiteBlaze on the radio! :eek::D :banana

Manwich
03-12-2009, 16:53
Good Lord, it sounds just like WhiteBlaze on the radio! :eek::D :banana


he didnt say anything about shooting dogs or uselessness of leki poles

Kanati
03-12-2009, 19:35
[quote=BR360;800055]Rather than earplugs, I listen to AM radio, specifically CoasttoCoastAM which is available on WSB 770AM (Atlanta), WLAC 1510AM (Nashville), WRVA 1140 AM (Richmond), WPHT 1210AM (Philly).

Illuminati

my cousin

Nicksaari
03-12-2009, 19:38
earplugs. dont want to heat it, dont want to see it. go away

Tinker
03-12-2009, 22:21
Moose and hammocks don't mix well. I heard him walking around, chewing on whatever they chew on and decided to head over to the shelter. No ear plugs for me, thanks - plus, I'd miss the hooting of the owls and the barking of the coyotes, the wind in the pines.........I'm waxing romantic here.....snif.....:)

Tin Man
03-12-2009, 22:29
No ear plugs for me, thanks - plus, I'd miss the hooting of the owls and the barking of the coyotes, the wind in the pines.........I'm waxing romantic here.....snif.....:)

i love the night sounds...

only skeerdy cats use ear plugs or music buds (or folks who think shelters are part of nature)

saimyoji
03-12-2009, 22:59
Rather than earplugs, I listen to AM radio, specifically CoasttoCoastAM which is available on WSB 770AM (Atlanta), WLAC 1510AM (Nashville), WRVA 1140 AM (Richmond), WPHT 1210AM (Philly).

The show provides entertaining talk about alien abductions, ghosts, Bigfoot, chemtrails, government conspiracies to release bird flu vaccine on us all and kill 80% of the human race, being wage slaves for the Illuminati, New World Order, etc. etc.:eek:

This gets me all worried so that I don't care what's outside the tent/hammoock.:D

zero point energy tonite. :cool:

superman
03-12-2009, 23:33
I want to be able to hear the bad guys when they come. If you stare into the dark, you will absolutely see bad guys maneuvering on you. If you think you hear bad guys... that's not them. When the bad guys are really there you will really know it. Before settling down for the night check your NDP perimeter. Make sure everybody has enough ammo and frags. Check fields of fire. If all is quiet have a FNG break squelch twice every two hours. Let yourself drift off to dream that you are hiking the AT.:)

Incahiker
03-13-2009, 09:35
Some nights I will be able to fall a sleep in the woods without any help from Jack or anything like that, and I will fall asleep to the sounds of coyotes and things screaming in the night and feel just fine, no fear in my mind. And I will sleep so deep that I wake up feeling better then any nights sleep I had gotten at home.

Some nights I feel like a kid again and hear the bogey man in the trees and imagine a crazy looking bigfoot running around camp with blood dripping from his teeth.

Also, every once in a while I envision that girl from the grudge crawling up the side of a hill to get to my tent.


Don't know why some nights I am loving it and other nights I am worst then my kids with their monsters under their beds? Anyone else like this.

Its awful though when you have a nightmare, I'm talking aobut one of those real nightmares where your heart is racing as fast as it can go and you are covered in sweat, and you wake up to find yourself all alone with a big bear running outside your tent, even though it was really just a racoon.

Yukon
03-13-2009, 09:38
Also, every once in a while I envision that girl from the grudge crawling up the side of a hill to get to my tent.


Now THAT, is a creepy thought...

Incahiker
03-13-2009, 10:06
Now THAT, is a creepy thought...

Yup, that is probably the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. The grudge girl crawling along, but the movements are jerky as hell and so abnormal that it just freaks me out, plus those groans she makes. Yup, that will make you scream like a little school girl in the middle of the woods.

mindi
03-13-2009, 21:15
I took earplugs, but the only time I had to use them was when I had to sleep in shelters (in the Smokies).

I was royally spooked one night when I heard loud crashing outside my tent. Heart pounding, I finally got up enough nerve to put on my headlamp and unzip the tent. I was sure I'd see a bear or something out there.

It was a chipmunk.

Tin Man
03-13-2009, 22:32
the only time i was alarmed along the AT was when i hear gunshots at 2am

Tinker
03-13-2009, 23:20
Just Wrongway shooting at Nalgene candle lanterns. No worries :D.

Summit
03-13-2009, 23:22
I was awakened by a very close noise one night and with my face about an inch from the mosquito netting, I turned on my light to see a skunk face about an inch from the netting on the other side - two inches from my face! Needless to say the surprise caused a yell that would have woken the dead. Very lucky that didn't trigger the skunk to spray me but it flipped over backwards from my yell and took off. You talk about pounding heart! Wish I had had ear plugs that night as I probably never would have known of the skunk's visit.

Tin Man
03-13-2009, 23:23
tinker, i think i can handle that sound, it's the pfftt upwind that knocks me over

karo
03-13-2009, 23:30
what do bears sound like?
BIGFOOT!!!:eek:

karo
03-13-2009, 23:44
I wear the earplugs also, as I sleep very lightly. On one occasion tho a very loud crash suddenly startled me awake.
While camping in Sipsey wilderness a few years ago, 4 of us crashed after a long day of bushwacking the Wilderness. I was camping under my tarp as it was winter and very cold. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the loudest crash I had ever heard. Immediately I felt something brush by my leg! I knew that there were lots of pines dead from the bettles and remembered not to camp under any of them. I took out my earplugs and put on my glasses and headlamp to take a look. My legs were still intact and no one was screaming, so I got up to take a look around. I didn't see anything and after heeding nature's call I crawled back in my -5 sleeping bag and went back to sleep. In the morning everyone asked what the racket was and I responded that it had hit me in the legs. After closer inspection tho' nothing was even near my tarp, but it had 2 large tears and there were deer prints leading up to it and mud smeared across the top. I guess that deer was more spooked than any of us! With a little sil-net I fixed the tears and it is as good as new and now has an interesting story behind them.

Erin
03-14-2009, 00:07
I don't use ear plugs, and love the sounds. But what is it that makes a small thing sound like Big Foot? Oh, it is a bear, cougar, boogeyman..and it really is a mouse, armidillo or a raccoon.
Anyway, my first ever night on the AT section, alot of people with me had ear plugs. I laid in my tent listening to two owls calling away. I love the sound of owls at night. I finally fell asleep still listening to them. I will always remember my first night on the trail because of that.

Tin Man
03-14-2009, 00:24
yep, owls are the best

Pokey2006
03-14-2009, 00:28
Except when they're too close to your tent. They make a racket! I had one sleepless night in GA when I camped right underneath one of the members of the Owl Choir.

sarbar
03-14-2009, 00:30
I grew up with snorers (the BAD ones!) so I often park my tent next to those who admit to snoring. It actually soothes me.....it blocks out all white noise. Sleep like a baby.

Couple stories:

About 5 years ago I wake up to this scratching sound in high alpine. It was a marmot trying to get my trekking poles! It was between my tent body and wall.

A good 8 or 9 years ago in the Olympics I had squirrels that ran up and over and up and over my tent all freaking night long. Then they figured how to get under my fly. I layed there, looking up at them (I had mesh on my ceiling). Finally I fell asleep :p :p

On another trip I listened to a raccoon(s) visit every Ursack in a very long line before it gave up, later a bear came sniffing by. The Ursack line was less than 10 feet from my tiny tent. They both gave up and went away. I often sleep only a few feet away from my Ursack and booby trap the area with pots :D Haven't lost a morsel yet!

But of all of the trips there is only one that freaked me out. In late fall a couple years ago my husband and I did a coastal trip in the Olympics. We stayed in an area most people don't choose, we are the only ones with permits for this area.
There was a trail off the beach long abandonded that goes inland to a lake from the coast. At the start of the inland trail there is a camping area in the trees, on a bench above the high tide line. We picked that to be out of the wind and also to avoid sand camping (ie..sand fleas!).
So all goes well, we set up our tent and enjoy the evening. We go to bed. I somewhat drift off, husband is totally asleep. I wake up to a little girl giggling. And that wakes me up. I listen and I hear the sounds of a girl running, laughing and talking down on the beach.
Yeah, OK, I tell myself - I am just hearing the trees, the water, etc - like how people hear children's voices when it is a creek running.

I didn't fall asleep for a long time.

And in the morning? I walk the few feet down to the beach, cross the driftwood and there are barefoot prints in the sand. That were not there the night before. It was cold that night, clear skies and a moon out. We were also in an area far from roads - an overlnad hike out to the coast, then a long beach walk.

I have a lot of respect for the Olympic Penisula in Washington. It has a lot of balled up energy from its past. I asked my friend Jer who lives down over that way what he thought and he wasn't surprised - many from the tribes there won't go alone after dark in certain areas - the fear of Stick Indians being one.

I never felt in fear....but I also didn't feel very peaceful. Suffice to say, it is one place I will never camp at again. When I have coastal camped since then, I always sleep in open areas, right above the beach, where I can see the water and am not covered by the thick forest (coastal forest is like a jungle).

Captain
03-14-2009, 02:08
Good question, maybe rhinos? If I ever have a bear in camp I'll let you know!
but then what do rhinos sound like

freedompirate01
03-14-2009, 02:40
Man i wish I never opened this thread.
I'm a newbie and now i'm all freaked out.. ;p

johnnybgood
03-14-2009, 07:31
The only animal to really be concerned about in the back country are Homo sapiens .

DAJA
03-23-2009, 12:45
I used to use ear plugs... Up until week long trip in the Ontario Northern Region, north of Algonquin National Park. We'd been hiking on old trading route's, mainly following the coastlines of the many lakes in the region.. Anyway, on the third night of the trip, we stopped, set up camp, it was raining and had been all day, the ground was soft. We built a small fire to dry out some of our gear, had some supper, had a dip in the lake, sat around the fire until about 10pm then both turned in to bed in seperate tents.. As was my ususal method, I popped in the earplugs and was out for the night..

I awoke the following morning, and as I climbed out of my tent I froze in fear as I see perfect size 12 boot prints right to the door of my tent... I quickly scan my vestibule and realize my boots are gone (oddly, I wear a size 10) then look to our clothes line and realize both our sets of raingear are gone..

Once I woke my buddy up and explain we'd had a vistor and that some gear was missing, he got up and realized his boots where gone as well... We put on our sandals and followed the tracks to where we had hung our bear bags, which where both gone as well...

So here we were, 40kms from our car with no food, stoves (they where in the bear bag) no boots or raingear and it was still raining hard...

We made it out fine, but it was an uncomfortable hike both physically and mentally. This was not a blazed commonly used hiking trail. Rather, it was old overgrown trading trails used 50yrs ago... So it was first shocking that someone else was out here with us, but more so that they where malitious enough to make off with our stuff.
That final night camping on the way back to our car was a long night... We sat around the campfire trying to ease our imaginations from taking us to the worst possible places. My buddy did admit that he'd heard my vestibule unzip and movement around camp, but assumed it was me getting up to go to do my business...
Since that night, I no longer sleep with earplugs... I've learned that the only thing I fear in the woods travels on two legs...

Manwich
03-23-2009, 13:08
Good Lesson. I'd worry about the same happening to me but I put all my gear in my tent with me

JAK
03-23-2009, 13:16
That's a great story DAJA. What are the odds eh?
Makes you wonder. Maybe hang food, but stash some emergency ration also.

DAJA
03-23-2009, 13:24
Good Lesson. I'd worry about the same happening to me but I put all my gear in my tent with me

I hear yah, and have made some changes with my camp setup since that night... For one, all essential gear, minus food, goes in the tent with me, no matter how smelly my boots may be.. Also, no more ear plugs, and i've become much better at distinquishing the difference between common night woods sounds and pi-pead walking sounds.. Also, my hiking buddy and I now give a shout out to one another if anything suspicious wakes us in the night to avoid any future mishaps..

I still hang a bear bag, I think I'd be karma challanged if my food bag got stolen twice in a lifetime of hiking.. And in remote off the beaten path wilderness hiking, it's just to risky not to hang a proper bear bag.. In fact that same trip, on our way home, we heard about a young couple and their dog that got partially eaten by a bear while they canoe camped on an island of one of the lakes we hiked the shore of... They had there food in the tent with them believing they where safe since they where on an island. Well apparently bears don't mind swimming 200 yards for an easy meal..

Glebbber
03-23-2009, 15:09
So why did he or they take the boots?

DAJA
03-23-2009, 15:15
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we never had the oportuntiy to ask... Boot fedish??? Perhaps he has a family and they live in the woods and they needed the boots??? Perhaps he was just an A*&hole wanting to mess with us??? I have no idea...

DAJA
03-23-2009, 15:17
We did follow his boot prints for a while up the trial past where our food bag was hung, but eventually they driffed off trail and into the woods, we decided at that point to stop trying to follow them...

darkage
03-23-2009, 16:10
Hope karma comes back to bite that dude's arse ....

Desert Reprobate
03-23-2009, 21:01
I bring earplugs. If I don't, I'll keep waking myself up all night.

Freeze
03-23-2009, 21:27
what do bears sound like?

They don't make any noise, especially when they are relaxing in a hammock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB-vQivWd-c

Unless they are drunk!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Fqin1VigU

superman
03-23-2009, 21:41
Somebody tell him about the hiker that woke up to a find the one handed crazy, criminals hook caught in the tent zipper.:)

Wise Old Owl
03-23-2009, 21:55
yep, owls are the best


YES THEY ARE!

Why – Noise Plugs? Ok if that works for you…. For many of you when you lie down the mind need to occupy it self, sort of when you turn off your Windows based computer and it continues to run without a reason. Noise isn’t the issue, someone said heightened sense of awareness, well folks that might just be something that comes from being hunters for the last ten thousand years, Perfectly OK. The only funny story was from right here on WB where a hammock hanger woke up and found the porcupine on a branch above the hammock.

Recently, my boss demanded that I stop watching Jay Leno and get to work before 8 am. After years of retail, and not having to work before 10 am, I knew he was asking a lot! If you ever want to see a joke, watch me count 10 grand of change & singles at 6 am. – I wish I had that on you tube - hopeless. Here is what I did and it works: Limit alcohol get it down to next to nothing. ½ hour before bed warm ¼ cup of milk and add diphenhydramine hydrochloride (OTC allergy medicine) 1 pill. Read a little from a mag or light book – pass out.

Good Night – No plugs required.

Wise Old Owl
03-23-2009, 22:40
Good Lord, it sounds just like WhiteBlaze on the radio! :eek::D :banana

No work reading, all you have to do is listen!!!

DAJA
03-23-2009, 22:54
Somebody tell him about the hiker that woke up to a find the one handed crazy, criminals hook caught in the tent zipper.:)

Loosing my boots, rain gear and food may seem a tall tale but I assure you it is not, in fact, that trip was mild compared to a group of 4 of us essentially being held hostage by "Sh%thawk" and "Boner" while camping when we where just punk teenagers.. These two winners had just been released from prison for robbing a liquor store, and had got in some trouble at a bar in a nearby town and where looking to lay low for a while... They had ditched thier camero (i'm not kidding) in a gravel pit down the road from the trailhead and decided to hike into the woods to "live off the land for a few weeks". They stumbled upon our campsite near 2am and thats when the fun begins... Long story short, we spent 3 days babysitting these two, against our wishes... They had no gear, just jeans, leather coats, and work boots, and hinted heavily at being armed... Lucky for us, not with a brain... We convinced them we were planning a clam feed, knowing full well the flats had been closed due to red tide... These fella's where so impressed with our menu when we dug and cooked up a pot of clam's in salt water and seaweed... We all got such pleasure watching them savour their dinner. Within an hour these two where in such a world of hurt that we just packed up and walked away... When we got to town we explained to the police where to find them...

My only regret is we didn't think of the clam boil on day one instead of day 3... Worst hiking trip ever!

And to be fair, they only threated to be armed, never saw so much as a knife... But as youngins, we were too frightened to push our luck on grown ups...

In the end the we all survived, the mountie's got their men and we all got a fun story to tell when we get together...

superman
03-23-2009, 23:05
It was worth the experience to collect a great story. I doubt anyone on WB could top that as a hiking/camping story. Congratulations on surviving.:)

dperry
03-24-2009, 01:46
Also, every once in a while I envision that girl from the grudge crawling up the side of a hill to get to my tent.


Naaaah, you'll wake up in the middle of the night and find her in your sleeping bag. :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Gee, thanks for bringing that up. Now I'll never get to sleep in the woods again. Why don't you just talk about little girls crawling out of wells while you're at it? :datz

optimator
03-24-2009, 12:29
Naaaah, you'll wake up in the middle of the night and find her in your sleeping bag. :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Gee, thanks for bringing that up. Now I'll never get to sleep in the woods again. Why don't you just talk about little girls crawling out of wells while you're at it? :datz

Ah crap, The Ring. Yeah, that chick crawling out of the TV freaked my ass out:eek: I'll just leave my TV at home next trip:D