Overcoming Camping Fears

[Dave568]

I've done my fair share of solo hiking and camping with family and friends, but never before have I actually camped solo. I am planning on going out on a solo trip for a few nights in a few weeks, but I keep finding myself worrying about being alone in the woods at night. When I am alone in the woods during the day, I am fine. I am also fine at night when I am with others. However, I have a feeling I will be very uneasy spending the night alone. I was just wondering how others deal with this sort of feeling. I assume it just takes some getting used to, but what helps you feel at ease alone at night in the wilderness?

For this trip I am currently planning, I am planning to camp out in an area that is not very well populated. I will probably not encounter anyone at all on my trip, and I'm not sure if that will be a good thing or bad thing. This will not actually be on the AT, but if all goes well on this trip I'd love to plan a longer trip on the AT (maybe a week or so) sometime in the coming weeks.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Just let go and do it. You probably will be a bit uneasy the first night, but you will fall asleep eventually -- and you will wake up with a new sense of confidence from having faced your fear.

[kevin]

This is a question I can relate to. My first couple nights out by myself, I will admit to getting a little "wigged out" about sleeping out in the "middle of nowhere" by myself. Rationally, I knew there was nothing to worry about, but the nerves were still a little on edge. One thing I did was grab one or two decent size rocks and set them right outside my tent along with my hiking poles. That way I had my weapons all ready to protect myself from the vicious hoard that was waiting to attack in the night. Of course there was no need for them, but it was a good way to trick myself into feeling a little more comfortable.

The main thing though is that it just take a couple nights until you get used to it. Now, when I crawl ito my tent at night it feels like home (well, close to it anyway). I think its probably pretty common for those of us that have spent too much time being being "city-fied" (or at least I tell myself that its common and I wasn't just being a big sissy). We're used to our locked doors and quiet houses at night. But once you get out there and spend a couple nights in your tent you'll get comfortable.

[Hana_Hanger]

Aloha Dave568
I'll try to answer this to the best that I can remember.
I went solo hiking and camping for the first time in Oct 2005.

For one thing if you hike till you are soooo tired you are ready to drop dead, you will not have any problems falling to sleep at all.

You'll be too tired to worry about the boogie man and growling bears...or as in my case the local crowd looking for trouble or the wild pigs.

If you do a short mileage day or stay camping in one area for a few days...now that is a whole different story. This is where your thoughts can run wild and you must get them under control.

For instance...on my third night out...it was a very dark and yes a stormy night. (it rained 12 days out of 14 days) Rain and thunder and lightening (which the lightening part is a very rare occurance on Maui) so I was thinking and reasoning to myself. "WOW I like this... for no one in there right mind will be out here tonight.

I would say around 1 am I woke up with such in a fright. I felt something pass under the hammock and stop! Talk about jumping like a cow over the moon with no where place to go. It turned out to be a stray dog hoping to find some shelter out of the rain.

Second scare...returned to my camp after a day of swimming to find a banana peel left beside the hammock. This was done so I would know someone had been there...yes freaked me out...nothing was missing though and I packed up and left.

You adjust and get over it, and come to realize you cannot prevent something from happening anyways.
What is in your control is just HOW you will react or WHAT you can do to prepare if any unwelcomed event comes along.

I now wear lanyard at night with a whistle and a tiny pepper spray can attached. I feel better when sleeping and don't worry about it anymore.

I hope you work it out and enjoy your solitude...it can be wonderful going solo. I LOVE it now.

[BigToe]

I agree with kevin and Dino - you'll (as I did) feel a little uneasy the first couple of nights, then it will be easy. One thing I always do when solo is bear bag hang everything food-wise including all pots and utensils that touched food, as well as soaps, insect repellents, toiletries, etc. - anything with a scent. Then I can sleep knowing that no animals will be interested in just smelly me.

I sleep in a hammock which people seem to feel is more "exposed" than a tent although in my mind it's even less likely to be visited by an animal as it's off the ground.

[Rifleman]

Dave 568:
Just think how long hunters (folks like Daniel Boone) felt when they knew that there were two-legged predators in the woods who would take their deer or beaver peltries, their scalps, & their lives! These guys were the original LNT'ers & they definitely played for much higher stakes. Stealth is good & becoming a part of the woods (woodcraft) is even better. Recent events on the Eastern Seaboard have shown (again) what every thinking man (or woman) already knows--we are not always at the top of the food chain so act accordingly. Trip wires with noise makers attached are effective early warning systems and stealthy also. I've learned to not attract attention, blend in, and be observant. These things will benefit you not only in the real jungle but the concrete one too!
R.

[papa john]

Take something with you to occupy the time between the end of your hiking day and the time you fall asleep. Read a book, work crossword puzzles, etc.

On a recent section hike, we camped out on the last night pretty close to a road. Not a busy road, but there was the occasional car. I woke up at one point while turning over and there was this bright light shining at me from the direction of the trail. I started to FREAK out! I imagined the worst. I knew I was a goner until I woke up a little more and realized it was the moon setting and shining through the trees!

[Amigi'sLastStand]

Dave 568:
Trip wires with noise makers attached are effective early warning systems

So are claymores. This side toward enemy.

I solo a lot in FL, where beer and teenagers grow on trees. I am against carrying a firearm on the AT for reasons I have already stated elsewhere, but if I hike on a trail in the middle of nowhere in Fl, I usually have a weapon with me.

But if your concerns are loneliness and isolation, then plan on doing something other than just hiking -- bird watching, poetry, writing, photography, etc. Give yourself something else to thing of.
At nite, if you arent tired enough to sleep, pop on your headlamp and study your map, read a book ( outdoor murder mysteries are my favorite ), or catch up on "focus on you" thought.
Or just play go fish the boogieman, its his favorite game. Just let him win, ok?

[Lone Wolf]

#10 Valium will help.

[SGT Rock]

Try Jim Beam or if you are into more expenisve tasts - some Maker's Mark.

[Ramble~On]

Dave this is a good question.

I hike and camp solo more often than I do the same with others. I prefer the solitude, peace and quiet...and honestly other times I simply can't find anyone crazy enough to go where I plan to go, put in the miles or deal with the weather I sometimes venture into. I hike year round and prefer nasty, winter weather...So..for some strange reason I end up being alone a lot.
You mention that you have no problem being alone in the woods during the day.....well...night is no different....no Boogie Man came out and "got" you during the day...so night should be no different.........BUT ! It always is.
Animals and things that go "bump" in the night shouln't be a cause for a heart attack...but it is always funny how a little, itty bitty critter can seem really BIG at night...and Daniel Boone and the Mountain Men that showed no fear and slept under the stars and all that jazz did so prior to movies like
"The Blair Witch"....but they also had a lot more to worry about than we do today. I'd imagine that if you could ask they too would admit to the occasional "spook factor" of being alone at night in the woods.
I'm not a little guy, I'm a veteran and I've been backpacking and trompsing around in the woods pretty much my entire life and the fact is......
I still get freaked out sometimes and I don't mind admitting it.
It's all a head game and if you let your imagination run you too will have a less pleasant night in the woods than you could have if you will simply relax and keep your imagination under control. Your question is valid and a very common concern for those that venture out alone.....Simply it's due to the fact that it is a "New" experience and something "foreign" to what you are used to. I do not sleep well the first night in any hotel or when I stay at a friends house, relatives house...etc. I am used to sleeping in my own bed...with the same sounds, creaks, traffic outside or lack of traffic outside....see where I'm going with this ?
It's a common thing for everybody and aside from being "outside" instead of "inside"...you are also in the "woods" and that triggers your imagination as the experience is way out of "normal".
Keep in mind it's all a head game....go to sleep and enjoy the woods....I sleep better in the woods than I do at home....you'll find that the more you do it the more you'll enjoy it and as mentioned previously after facing it and doing it you'll have something to pat yourself on the back for.
The practice of having a fire is less and less used now than it once was, in many places fires are banned. Your first night out alone if you are able to legally and safely have a fire...and you see the need...go for it. A fire provides all sorts of mental benefits from being alone in the woods at night.
However you do it........Do it ! and when you get back let us know how it went.

[Ramble~On]

Oh Yeah....I almost forgot to mention that if you really want to have fun take a nice ample dosage of LSD.....

[Footslogger]

3 things already mentioned would be the route I would take. First, stay busy doing stuf until it's time to crash even if it's just a little walk around the general area of your campsite. Second would be a swig (or two ...or three) of some good hootch. Third, strap on a set of ear buds and zone out to some good tunes or radio.

Sounds are amplified at night and they can make an active imagination work overtime. Prowling little critters sound like large animals and even the wind can cause trees to talk (rubbing together).

'Slogger

[Ewker]

Try Jim Beam or if you are into more expenisve tasts - some Maker's Mark.

and if you want the good stuff try Woodford's Reserve

[SGT Rock]

That looks like it would work. Never tried it to have an opinion though.

[Newb]

Aloha Dave568
You'll be too tired to worry about the boogie man and growling bears...or as in my case the local crowd looking for trouble or the wild pigs.
.

Wild pigs? Oh thanks a bunch. Now I have that to worry about. I'd just gotten over crazed bears and Yeti...now you give me wild pigs.

[sirbingo]

I can totally relate to ya Dave.
I’m a total city-boy and so us city slickers have to take a few extra steps.

Here is what has helped me from my run away imagination:
1. I wear a pair of earplugs at night.
For some reason if I don’t hear all of the little creaks and cracks and other things that go bump in the night, I seam to feel a lot less frightened.
2. I hike until I’m dog tired. In 2 seconds I’m sound asleep.
3. I used to keep a Rambo knife in my tent…but now I just keep my little pocket knife in my Hammock…just in case I have to cut my way out when Bubba or a bear belly flops onto my hammock.

After a night or two in the woods without incident, I’m totally at ease.
Go figure...

[StarLyte]

No matter how much you camp, that first night you will not sleep well.

I would say not to plan anything for your first full day after your first night camping.

[Blue Jay]

The only truly dangerous thing in this world is human. Since there are fewer of them in the woods you are by far safer there than anywhere else on earth. Don't worry, enjoy.

[TDale]

Stealth camp. Get away from trails. Do without a fire. You'll be much more at ease accepting the natural world on it's own terms. Also, camp away from running water. Streams "talk" to you at night.

My first solo, I spent three days without seeing anyone. Plenty of wildlife, and a little radio to let me know the outside world was still there. While I would still camp near water (I like the voices in the streams) I will camp farther from the trails next time.