camping stories.

[shenrie]

great contributions, thanks everyone!

I forgot to add something to my story that I remembered after reading rons moon story. that same trip on Saturday night the moon was full and bright. so much so that there were shadows. something woke me up about 2am. I scoped around the camp with great vision due to the moons light, but didn't see anything. as I laid my head back down I saw a bight light like a camera flash, so was thinking maybe a storm was rolling in. I peeked out the 2 windows closest to me and saw nothing but stars. perfectly clear night and zero clouds.

I laid back down and caught another glimpse of light. I sat up and focued on a dark spot near the camper for about 10 minutes wondering if it was going to happen again. right about the time I gave up and nestled back down to go back to sleep, again, everything lights up like a camera flash going off. this time I left the bed and exited the van to get a clearer view. zero clouds in any direction. nothing but stars and perfectly clear skies. I stood outside trying to get a glimpse of whatever was causing the bright light flashes for about 15-20 min. frustrated, I just climbed back into bed and sure as hell, right before i closed my eyes, again another flash.


now im kinda pissed and thought oh hey, maybe its our game camera going off. so i left bed and again got out of the van and tried triggering the camera. zero flash at all. had enough and it was pushing 3:30am so i said screw it, im going back to bed. no flashes this time as i laid down, somewhat wondering if i was seeing static cling flashes or something, but tired of being awake and fell asleep.


the next day after i had talked with the dog tag owner i asked if they noticed anything like what i was describing at their camp and found out he had actually left sat night, but offered to ask the others he shared his camp with as they were likely up really late drinking. he hit me back the next day and said that his fellow campers were up late and did say that they were seeing lightning flashes even thought there was no clouds and no thunder. so i wasn't seeing things, just never saw the source of the flashes. was really weird. also found out from one of the instructors at the college i work at was as the crow flies from me about 20 miles over the mountains who also saw the same dry lightning storm and it actually sparked a forest fire only 5 miles from where he was camped. still don't really understand how you can have lightning with zero clouds, but at least i could now explain what i was seeing.

[rionapo]

Originally Posted by bettyford

. . .So I grab my stopping tool and start out to investigate no flash light needed, I reached a clearing in the woods and still can't quite make it out, it is moving very slowly and is getting bigger and brighter. Then I see it The largest clearest moon I have ever seen and Ive seen a few. It was very funny on many levels and I am no longer the brave guy I once was.

Not a camping story but a similar experience. Driving down the mountain from the ski area--a very windy road--I kept getting blinded by a bright light in my rear view mirrors. "WTF--that guy has some monster lamps on his car. Must be afraid he's gong off the road." Finally reach a straight spot and it's a monster full moon rising directly up the road.

[bettyford]

You guys are very funny

R

[arctictraveller]

Three people in a tent is never fun, but there I was tied into a too small tent and a mummy bag. It was darn cold, but I’m exhausted and sleep came quickly. Well, suddenly its bright daylight and there’s yelling. WTF??? As I open my eyes and begin to focus on whats going on, to my horror I see that the tent’s sorta on fire. One of my less intelligent camp mates thought it would be a good idea to start his campstove in the tent to warm up. Somehow he proceeded to spill some gas and light the floor on fire. To his credit, he immediately took his sleeping bag and flew like spiderman on to the fire. Suddenly, it’s pitch black again, cant see anything. I’m still trying to get my arms out of my bag, when suddenly he pulls his sleeping bag off the stove, and…..REFLASH, only now its even bigger cuz he’s faining the flames. Well the third guy by this time was mostly out of his bag, and out of the door, without untying the ties, he just busted right through. I gave up trying to fully exit my mummy bag and just crawled out. Numbnuts does the flying sleeping bag again and puts the fire out. The bottom of the tent had a hole burned in it that matched the one in his sleeping bag. Later that night we had the pleasure of smelling him and his gas stained, burned sleeping till morning. ……. One man tents became the rule after that.

[daveb]

Took a weekend trip to Yosemite Valley. No one around due to being the off season, me and a buddy had the whole CG to ourselves. I enclose the awning and we had a nice warm place to sit around a propane fire and drink ourselves silly. Well the next morning came around and it was hangover city. My buddy was in a tent away from my van and my snoring. As I started coffee, I needed something to eat and had a bag of peanuts. In Yosemite valley the ravens are huge and very aggressive. As soon as I got those peanuts out they knew there was food. I fed a couple and it wasn't long before there were 10 or 15 birds fighting for every peanut I threw. Well I couldn't resist, and knowing Don was trying to sleep in, I started throwing nuts toward his tent. By then there were over 20 birds fighting over the nuts I was tossing at his tent. Those Ravens were making a lot of noise squawking and flapping their wings. Don was clapping his hands, yelling, and hitting the side of his tent to get the birds to stop so he could sleep. I'd let him think he got rid of em, but then I'd start throwing the peanuts at his tent again while sipping coffee around the fire. Each time the birds came back in force with more of their buddies. Finally Don had enough and crawled out of the tent. He asked what was up with those ******* birds. I said birds? He claimed "they were swarming me" and he'd never seen such a thing. I said Oh, maybe it was because I was throwing peanuts at your tent. I got a dirty look from him and a "you'll never see it coming" remark.

[wander]

I was camping with my son and his Boy Scout Troop in Colorado's Spanish Peaks Scout Ranch. There had been a pretty bad drought that summer which had caused several wildfires. It also forced the Black Bears to down out of the mountains looking for food as the mountain berries they usually ate were few and far between. As soon as we arrived, a Ranger stopped by our campsite and gave us a lecture on camping in bear country - NEVER have any scented objects in your tent and lock your coolers and cooking gear in the railer.

My son and I were new to the Troop and I wanted to get off with a good start. The first morning, I awoke to hear activity in the camp and thought, "Crap! I've overslept!" I jumped up, put on my clothes in a flash, crawled out of my platform tent only to find nobody. Not a single person in camp. Just a turned over glee cooler on the picnic table. Weird. "CRAP! They've left to go do their merit badge stuff!"

Then I heard the soft whisper, "Terry." "What?" I replied. "bear," was the soft voice. "What?" I asked. "bear!" "Bear?" I repeated. I turned to look at the cooler while at the same time a Black Bear peered around the cooler at me. He was sitting at the picnic table drinking milk from the cooler.

Not knowing what else to do, I clapped my hands and said, "HEY! Get out of here!" The bear got down and slowly strolled off. We later named him Scraps.

I had gone to bed early that first night and, evidently, no one put the cooler away.

[arctictraveller]

Once while motorcycle tent camping, I stopped for the night at Liard river hot springs. This is a very popular camp ground along the Alaska highway, so its normally pretty full in summer. While circulating around looking for an open spot, I passed a guy on a motorcycle who had already set up camp, but when I had gone all the way around with no luck, I knew I'd be camping with the other motorcycle guy that night. As always, if your already camped and another bike comes by looking, you offer to share. As soon as I parked the guy offers me a cup of coffee and being wet and cold, I eagerly accepted. He boiled some water, and I gave him my mug into which he dumped a handful of coffee grounds and hot water. Certainly not what I expected, but sure, why not? He did the same in his cup and started drinking it. I'd never had cowboy coffee before, but I drank it happily. Ultimately, it left a brown stain in my mug that lasted months. So, meanwhile, I'm setting up my tent when a ranger pulls up towing a large bear trap. He warned us that there was an aggressive bear hanging out at the campground and make sure not to leave any food out. They had been trying to trap it, but it refused to take the bait. So, my host who turned out to a super nice German, BMW riding, graduate engineering student who was taking a year off to travel, was subsisting on a steady diet of cheese and salami. When it was time to turn in, I reminded him to store his food, and I watched as he put his salami stick and block of cheese in his saddle bag. A decidedly un bear proof container. Later that night, I woke to a lot of yelling and then what sounded like gun shots. That got my attention, and I decided I needed to see what the hell was going on. Well, as I was trying to unzip my sleeping bag I heard a commotion getting closer and louder. Seconds later, a bear running full speed stepped on the edge of my tent while being chased by rangers with lights, who were shooting crackerballs and yelling at Mr bear. Hell, I haven’t even been able to get out of my sleeping bag yet, as I hear the commotion depart the area. ………………..I didn’t sleep much that night.

[shenrie]

one year a bunch of us decided to do a 15 day camp trip for a 4th of july party. most of us headed up on a Thursday night to secure one of the better spots (now you need to be there Wednesday to get a spot at all).

wife an I decided we didn't want to camp near the masses and setup up our tent a 100 or so feet away right on the creek to muffle out the noise in case we weren't wanting to take part in the festivities one of the nights.

all was good at camp. typical camping stuff. offering friends kids money to eat bugs, taking friends trucks through mudholes while they were out on adventures, stuff like that. then on the 2nd Monday 11 days in, we got a little surprise in camp.

we were all sitting around the fire drinking and roasting marshmallows. it had just got dark and a lot of us had been drinking since around noon. moods were great, lots of laughing. the girl sitting next to me at the fire leans over and quietly whispers "did you hear that?" I hadn't heard anything out of the norm and said no. the look on her face was kinda concerning, but drunk quickly took back over. about 20 min later we all heard something weird. I looked back at her and her concerned look said it all. I look up and one of my buddies had already stood up and grabbed his shotgun. his girl grabbed a lantern and started walking up the short road to the main road. I jumped up and tagged along still curious about what we had just heard. I asked what it was and knowing he was an avid hunter, I figured he had an idea but just wasn't telling us yet.

we walked up the short road and the entire way hes just staring at the dirt. when we get to the main road, he points out some tracks that crossed the road we were on. I asked what they were and he said kit tracks. said there was 2. all I could think was wheres mama? he and his gf started to walk down the main road. I was like where the hell are you going? he said he wanted to know where that cougar was. I said your crazy and just kinda stood there. he took another step and mama cougar let out a little growl, apparently with that last step we had her surrounded and she was nice enough to give us a little warning to rethink wtf we were doing.

i went from drunk as a skunk to stone cold sober. i told him to walk me back to the damn fire and his gf was 100% onboard, lol. we got back to the fire which was about 35-40' away and not one person was still sitting around it. they had all heard the growl from mama cougar and ran for their cars.

we jumped in his truck and us 3 drove around a little looking for the cat family with a spotlight for about 10 min but spotted nothing. went back to camp and we all stayed up for a little while longer, but it didn't take long for people to crash out after that little growl. the wife and i were now not so happy with our decision to camp so far away from the group that night. i couldn't scoot far enough away from the tent walls and didn't sleep worth a crap. got up the next morning and found cougar tracks within 10' of our tent. of course i did

we had a forest ranger wander into camp the next morning. we told her and her toothless partner about our little encounter. they both laughed and said, ya, they are pretty common around here this time of year. they had seen a cougar in the window of their cabin just 2 nights before. that cabin was within a mile away from our camp. as we talked, we came to the conclusion that our camp being there was blocking this mama cougars route to water. since we had been there so long we assumed that the cat family couldn't hit the creek after each weekend like they normally do when the idiot humans leave the area. sounded good anyway, lol.

still to this day with as much time as i spend in the woods i still haven't actually seen a cougar with my own eyes. im ok with that.

[Twoxentrix]

Bumping for exposure & contributions - introduced by shenrie, I thought it fun & entertaining.

[wanderers]

My cougar story is from long ago when my son was eight and we were car camping in Glacier National Park. It was early in the season and at Fish Creek Campground, where we were camped, only one loop was open. My son and I went over to a closed loop to toss a frisbie. While tossing it, snowshoe hares were crossing the road behind my son but when I told him about them he kept turning the wrong way and didn't see them. After playing a while I had to use the vault toilet but found the one on that loop locked so we headed back to the loop where we were camped. On our way back to our loop I saw something white through some bushes which were screening a campsite from the road. I thought it must be a snowshoe hare. Since the hares at that time of the year were strange looking with brown bodies and white ears and feet I wanted my son to get a good look at one so I told him to be very quiet and we would try to sneak up on it. As we got closer I noticed it seemed a bit high for a snowshoe hare but figured it must be on a rise or a boulder. After a couple of steps more we found ourselves directly in front of a cougar by about seven feet. We were looking straight down the length of his body which looked ten foot long including the tail. I said the obvious to my son, "It's not a snowshoe rabbit, it's a mountain lion." (the way he recalls it, he's the one who said that, but what does an eight year old know?) After a few more seconds I thought we had better move on before the big cat got too nervous so I told my son we better head back to camp. I was too dumb to be scared but I didn't want to turn my back on him so we walked of to the side slightly angling away from him. When I looked back I was amazed at how quickly and quietly he had covered about a hundred feet and was going over a bank at the edge of the campground and that is how I know it was a male. I may not have been as calm as I thought I was. You don't get the crap scared out of you, your sphincters tighten up pretty tight. Even though I had needed to use the bathroom pretty urgently, it was quite some time before I relaxed enough for that.

I don't know if the cougar was looking to ambush us, or more specifically my son, but it seems likely given that that was the area my son was playing in and at that age he would have been an easy snack. The cat may have been surprised that we spotted him first.

The cat had a reddish undertone instead of grey that I would have expected and yellowish eyes and after almost exactly forty years I can still recall the look of him even though I know he was not likely to have actually been ten foot long.
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Roger