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  1. #1
    Registered User Thatguy's Avatar
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    Default Stealth Camping experiences

    What are some experiences you've had while stealth camping? A friend was taking me to a trail last month when his car broke down. After a tow truck came & took my friend and his car I said I'd just walk to the trail. I looked at my topo map of the area and it looked easy enough. Before I got to the trail it got dark and I became exhausted. I had gone about 11 miles and had another 6 to get to the trail. I found a nice spot and made camp. In the morning a guy knocked on my tent, woke me up & asked what I was doing on his property. I explained the situation and apologized. He said I could go to his house & use his bathroom. He then fixed us both breakfast. He said he'd drive me to the trail if he could hike with me. To make a long story short we discovered his cousin had been my roomate in college. Had I not stealth camped I would've missed an opportunnity to make a new friend with a lot of backpacking experience. I do understand other people's experiences have not been so good.
    THE LONGER YOU LIVE THE OLDER YOU GET

  2. #2

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    First you must define your terms. Your example is classic stealth camping at its best: Illegal, or at least not "authorized", whatever this means. Nowadays, what with the Tent Police growing in numbers (See new rules planned for the Smokies), stealth camping will by necessity become more of an art like Winter Camping or Long Trail Thruhiking. As our US population explodes to 350,000,000 and 450,000,000 by 2050, backpackers would be well served to master the art of stealth camping. The first step is knowing how to read a 1:24,000 topo map.

    Other people, mostly those who have never camped "illegally", consider stealth camping to be anywhere off a trail that is not a designated camping spot. This definition is absurd since many backpacking trips are done in areas w/o any designated spots and so then, are all of your nights stealth?? Don't think so. In my experience, stealth camping can occur on any backpacking trip, or can constitute the entire time of being out, like when hitchhiking across the country with a pack and having to stealth camp in treelines by the side of the roads. Here are some of things I learned:

    ** For serious stealth camping in a certain "zone" or locale, carry the topo maps relevant, as above. Learn to read them---they can be lifesavers when you find roadless areas and green valleys cut thru by creeks, or adjacent forests near cities.

    ** Never build a fire. This is a very important and obvious rule for the stealth camper.

    ** Either have a green/brown blending tent or carry a olive drab tarp to cover your tent if you decide to stay a couple days at a site. Master the art of bedroll camping or have a bivy sac.

    ** When "urban" stealth camping, enter the woods at night and leave very early in the morning. Practice the Doug Peacock technique: Hang back before a road, crouch and listen for traffic, scoot across when clear and crouch on the other side, etc. He was a SF medic in Vietnam so maybe he's a little more "careful" than the rest of us.

    These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. The main consideration is to have the "heart of the stealth camper", that is: Someone who understands that the land belongs to us all and every half-wild place offers the opportunity for another bag night.

  3. #3
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    ** Never build a fire. This is a very important and obvious rule for the stealth camper.
    One of the main reasons property owners get pissed when someone has been on their land. That and damage to gates or fences.
    The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
    You never know which one is talking.

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by WingedMonkey View Post
    One of the main reasons property owners get pissed when someone has been on their land. That and damage to gates or fences.
    I never heard of a stealth camper (i.e. on foot) ever busting up a fence or a gate. One time I did cross a river in NC and ran into an electric fence at dusk---I turned around like a bug and scampered away. Returned and carefully got across. Climbing over barbed wire fences is not so easy when wearing a full pack---unless there were obvious gaps in the wire, I always climbed over next to the post by the fence staples.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I never heard of a stealth camper (i.e. on foot) ever busting up a fence or a gate. One time I did cross a river in NC and ran into an electric fence at dusk---I turned around like a bug and scampered away. Returned and carefully got across. Climbing over barbed wire fences is not so easy when wearing a full pack---unless there were obvious gaps in the wire, I always climbed over next to the post by the fence staples.
    ahah!!! finally, a chance to tease you about your pack weight and the virtues of ultra light camping... easier to climb over barbed wire fences!!!

    Actually, you very much have my admiration for your commitment to finding "bag nights."
    Lazarus

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I never heard of a stealth camper (i.e. on foot) ever busting up a fence or a gate. One time I did cross a river in NC and ran into an electric fence at dusk---I turned around like a bug and scampered away. Returned and carefully got across. Climbing over barbed wire fences is not so easy when wearing a full pack---unless there were obvious gaps in the wire, I always climbed over next to the post by the fence staples.
    You could give lessons on fence and gate climbing. I've seen places where hikers have climbed over the latch side of gates instead of the hinge side. I've also seen barbed wire strands twisted together and to ease passing through, and left that way. Not always easy to tell if it was a stealth passing by or a poacher carrying a gun.

    Another reason if I have to stealth I try and avoid areas known for game where I might be mistaken as a poacher.

    I also avoid areas where there may be heavy equipment parked (unless I ask ahead of time) where I might be mistaken as a thief.

    And...I always avoid areas where there is trash from either party use or dumping, means the area is too well known.
    The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
    You never know which one is talking.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by 1azarus View Post

    Actually, you very much have my admiration for your commitment to finding "bag nights."
    It's a sort of calling, or a disease---gotta get the bag nights. Most people can get high bag night numbers if they just throw a bedroll on their front deck or back porch or in the yard with a tent or tarp. Bag nights are everywhere, really.

    Quote Originally Posted by WingedMonkey View Post

    I also avoid areas where there may be heavy equipment parked (unless I ask ahead of time) where I might be mistaken as a thief.
    This reminds me of the time I slept under a parked 18 wheeler by an airport in Sacramento.

  8. #8
    Registered User -SEEKER-'s Avatar
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    Of the times I've "stealth camped" only once was it done illegally, in SNP. It wasn't my idea and I wasn't comfortable with it, but I went along. The guy I committed the "crime" with wanted to eat breakfast the next morning at one of the Waysides so we stealthed nearby, then the next morning they opened later than he thought, so we moved on and it was all for nothing. There, I confessed after 3 years. Funny, I don't feel any different.
    Seek, and you shall find.

  9. #9
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    Mt Cube in NH a week ago, absolutely awesome spot to camp. No fire. LNT All good.

  10. #10

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    We were stealth camping in Spain after our Pyrenees hike in '99 and had a small fire on a beach by a bay.
    2 policeman came and threw us some firewood.
    I remember they had this gigantic flashlight with the batteries almost completely exhausted. And we had our Photon Micro-lites that were bright as could be. We laughed together about that.

    I've also been chased in Germany (in a farmers field) and also in southern California.
    Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams

  11. #11
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    Memorial Day. 1986. i tried to stealth camp on the front lawn of Big Meadows in SNP. under a spot light. after being in the pub for 6 hours. i was so trashed i couldn't get the tent out of the stuff sack. ranger noticed me and talked me into letting him drive me a few miles north to an access trail to a shelter. there's more to the story.....

  12. #12

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    A light gray tent is also a great color for stealth camping.

    I was in Mammoth Lakes on one of my hikes. They have a campground in town that costs $20 a night. No special rates for walk-ins. I thought that was absurdly expensive. I noticed the church across the street had many gray granite boulders on its property. I set up my tent next to one that was about the same size and shape as my tent. Most ordinary people are completely oblivious to their surroundings. You'd have to be observant to notice my tent was not just another rock. Sadly, last time I went to Mammoth they were putting up a large building so my stealth site has been obliterated.

    Another time, on my 2nd half of the PCT, I camped in Government Camp in a stand of trees on an empty lot in the middle of town. Someone else with a K-mart tent was also camped there, looked like a homeless guy or something. He didn't bother me, I didn't bother him. I spent a whole zero day just laying in my tent reading a book. It was one of the most relaxing zero days I ever spent.
    Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
    I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.

  13. #13
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thatguy View Post
    What are some experiences you've had while stealth camping? A friend was taking me to a trail last month when his car broke down. After a tow truck came & took my friend and his car I said I'd just walk to the trail. I looked at my topo map of the area and it looked easy enough. Before I got to the trail it got dark and I became exhausted. I had gone about 11 miles and had another 6 to get to the trail. I found a nice spot and made camp. In the morning a guy knocked on my tent, woke me up & asked what I was doing on his property. I explained the situation and apologized. He said I could go to his house & use his bathroom. He then fixed us both breakfast. He said he'd drive me to the trail if he could hike with me. To make a long story short we discovered his cousin had been my roomate in college. Had I not stealth camped I would've missed an opportunnity to make a new friend with a lot of backpacking experience.

    Wow that is some awesome story, I have to admit.







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  14. #14
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    We only camped "illegal" once atop Tinker Cliff in VA. Boy that was a nice spot. We thought at the time it was ok until we saw the no camping sign on the ground behind a tree, after we had set up.
    Last edited by Blissful; 09-21-2011 at 14:06.







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  15. #15
    AT 4000+, LT, FHT, ALT Blissful's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by -SEEKER- View Post
    Of the times I've "stealth camped" only once was it done illegally, in SNP. It wasn't my idea and I wasn't comfortable with it, but I went along. The guy I committed the "crime" with wanted to eat breakfast the next morning at one of the Waysides so we stealthed nearby, then the next morning they opened later than he thought, so we moved on and it was all for nothing. There, I confessed after 3 years. Funny, I don't feel any different.
    Hikers are stealthing all the time near the picnic grounds. Met a couple a few weeks back that did it at South River. Then again, it isn't thru hiking season.







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  16. #16
    Registered User RGB's Avatar
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    I got caught camping a little ways off the Tanawha Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Kudos to the ranger who found me, as I was underneath this enclave of boulders about a mile from any parking lot. He did let me off with a warning and admitted he did the same thing when he was younger.

    That's the only time I've been caught so far. There was another time (also BRP) that some busybody that apparently had a textbook knowledge of NPS rules and regulations that kept telling me I needed to go to a designated campsite. I'm assuming because of the crashpad attached to my pack. Finally I asked "are you a ranger and/or ridge runner?" "No, but-" "OK." I did drive a few more miles down because he seemed like the type that would actually call it in.

    I wish I had some cool stealth camping stories about Sweden, but it's impossible to do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Sweden
    "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."

    -Bob Dylan

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by RGB View Post
    I got caught camping a little ways off the Tanawha Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Kudos to the ranger who found me, as I was underneath this enclave of boulders about a mile from any parking lot. He did let me off with a warning and admitted he did the same thing when he was younger.

    That's the only time I've been caught so far. There was another time (also BRP) that some busybody that apparently had a textbook knowledge of NPS rules and regulations that kept telling me I needed to go to a designated campsite. I'm assuming because of the crashpad attached to my pack. Finally I asked "are you a ranger and/or ridge runner?" "No, but-" "OK." I did drive a few more miles down because he seemed like the type that would actually call it in.

    I wish I had some cool stealth camping stories about Sweden, but it's impossible to do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Sweden

    I was thinking about this for the US, as i trespassed my was home from the cherokee national forrest, either hike 1.5 miles on private land or drive 30 minutes around in TN to do a 5mile hike?
    Yes we need freedome to roam ,

  18. #18
    Registered User SawnieRobertson's Avatar
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    Ha-ha. The very words "stealth camp" bring a big grin on my face every time. Those are the nights you never forget, the best nights of all. Of course! each has been illegal. No, I've never been caught, and it is a wonderful way to prove that you do, after all, know how to "leave no trace."--Kinnickinic
    You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
    --Salaun

  19. #19
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    One of my best stealth camps was the White Horse. My dad & I could not find room at the Inn at Fairingdon and decided to see the White Horse before sunset, Dad suggested pitching the tent! So we parked about fifteen feet above the head and spent the night. The next morning (crack of dawn) we were surrounded by sheep making an awful racket with their bells and bleats.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse

    Uffington-White-Horse-sat.jpg
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  20. #20
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    Default Make it obvious

    If I need to camp in an area where it is frowned upon (illegal/unauthorized), I just wrap my angle in an Ace Bandage and use a stick as a crutch. When someone confronts me I just explain that I'm injured and could not hike to the shelter/campsite. This usually results in an offer of help which I decline by saying I should be able to push on after I eat and take some Vitamin-I......lol....call it what you want, but it works.

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