Various Topics on Camping

..ck..

I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this month
and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new parties
arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be dozens
of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have neighbors
when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a pack
of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were many,
many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my reaction is
to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
wide open spaces, or something else?

..m.. .. ..dizh..

On Mon, 31 May 2004 13:12:14 -0700, rick++ wrote:

> I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this
> month and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not
> new parties arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there
> would be dozens of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out"
> type of person preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to
> only have neighbors when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last
> week in Denali when a pack of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp
> right around me when there were many, many empty spaces hundreds of
> yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my reaction is to just move myself.
> Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make camping next me as
> undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for minimalists. I
> wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just social and
> want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of wide open
> spaces, or something else?

Good question. I had the time to contemplate this myself.....

Funny - if somewhat insensitive - story. If you're easily offended by
bodily functions, stop now.

Do I have your attention? I have a little RV - a Ford van with a camper
conversion. It looks pretty much like a regular van. It has a porta-potty.
So, one day, I'm driving through a town and had to take a ****. Pull off
into a *huge* parking lot that's completely, totaly empty. This place
could hold maybe 300 cars, and I'm the only guy in it. So there I am,
doing my morning constitutional, no curtains or anything - hey, I'm the
only guy in the parking lot, right? - and here comes this enormous RV, one
of those converted bus things. And they pull up next to me - I swear they
were within 18" of my van. When they stop, we're eyeball to eyeball with
them at the breakfast table, and me on the hopper. They had to know what I
was doing - they could see right in.

Now if it was me, I would pull up or go around and find a different spot.
Heck, they could have pulled forward 20'. Nope. They sat there, calmly
eating breakfast and glancing my way occasionally. I guess they were
checking on my progress or something.

Herd mentality for sure.

--Kamus

--
o__ | May your trails be dim, lonesome, stony, narrow, winding and
,>/'_ | only slightly uphill. May the wind bring rain for the s****rock
(_)\(_) | potholes fourteen miles on the other side of yonder blue ridge.
| May God's dog serenade your campfire, may the rattlesnake and
o | the screech owl amuse your reveries, may the Great Sun dazzle
>[] | your eyes by day and the Great Bear watch over you at night.
/\ |
\ \ | - Edward Abbey, Beyond the Wall

..hn-news-gro..

On 31 May 2004 13:12:14 -0700, rick303@hotmail.com (rick++) wrote:

>. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
>social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
>wide open spaces, or something else?

Hi

I would look unfriendly if they didn't

John

-------------------------------------
O C Outdoor
www.occuk.co.uk/outdoor
--------------------------------------

.... ..urtrig..

rick++ wrote:

> I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
> social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
> wide open spaces, or something else?

Perhaps for the same reason they'll all hold a meeting in the closest
available doorway? Moooooo...

Rick (a different one)

..nt.. ..

news:f7422d8e.0405311212.482b0799@posting.google.c om...
> I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this
month
> and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new
parties
> arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be
dozens
> of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
> preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have
neighbors
> when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a
pack
> of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were
many,
> many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my
reaction is
> to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
> camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
> minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
> social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
> wide open spaces, or something else?

Herding instinct? moo.

Em

..ristoph.. ..on..

On 31 May 2004 13:12:14 -0700, rick303@hotmail.com (rick++) wrote:

>I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this month
>and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new parties
>arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be dozens
>of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
>preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have neighbors
>when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a pack
>of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were many,
>many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my reaction is
>to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
>camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
>minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
>social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
>wide open spaces, or something else?

Few things that immediately come to mind:

1. "Hey! He must know what he's doing. He found the best spot, so the
seond-best spot must be very close by!"

2. There's safety in numbers.

3. They're just all voyeuristic perverts who are sneaking over to your
campsite in the middle of the night to try to watch you sleeping.

Personally, I would bet fifty-fifty on the first two.

..ev..

"rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:f7422d8e.0405311212.482b0799@posting.google.c om...
> I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this
month
> and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new
parties
> arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be
dozens
> of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
> preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have
neighbors
> when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a
pack
> of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were
many,
> many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my
reaction is
> to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
> camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
> minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
> social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
> wide open spaces, or something else?

Some people are afraid of the dark and things that go bump in the night.
Some have the herd mentality that makes them clump up just the same way in
the center of the aisle at the grocery store or on a sidewalk when there's
lots of room to spread out. Sorta like a human blood clot.

Steve

..or.. ..evela..

On Mon, 31 May 2004 21:55:50 -0700, "SteveB"
<desertNOtravelerSPAM@cox.net> wrote:

>
>"rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:f7422d8e.0405311212.482b0799@posting.google. com...
>> I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this
>month
>> and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new
>parties
>> arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be
>dozens
>> of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
>> preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have
>neighbors
>> when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a
>pack
>> of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were
>many,
>> many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my
>reaction is
>> to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
>> camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
>> minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
>> social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
>> wide open spaces, or something else?
>
>Some people are afraid of the dark and things that go bump in the night.
>Some have the herd mentality that makes them clump up just the same way in
>the center of the aisle at the grocery store or on a sidewalk when there's
>lots of room to spread out. Sorta like a human blood clot.
>
>Steve
>
The trouble is, they're scared of each other too. There is a county
park about 40 miles from our house in northern Wisconsin. The
campground there is very, very nice. But unfortunately all of the
campsites that are on the water are also electrical hookup types and
are usually filled with RVers from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But one
day, in the middle of summer, we lucked into an open spot. We gladly
forked over the extra $5 a night for the luxury of having our canoe
stahed on the shoreline 50' from our tent. Not having camped near to
the RV set before we were a little surprised with the amount of noise
and light they put out. The generators were bad enough but the most
annoying thing was those long strings of "party" lights they would
hang off the eaves of their trailers.*Every* triler had them. They
kept them going *all* night.It ended up making it feel as if we were
camped on a suburban street rather than on a small lake in the woods
of northern Wisconsin. When I returned to work I asked a guy who I
knew to be a keen RV camper what the heck all the light was for. He
said it was for protection. Protection from what I said. Animals? No,
he said, protection from the other campers who might make off with
some of his stuff if his campsite was left dark.


g.c.

.... ..ck..

In article <f7422d8e.0405311212.482b0799@posting.google.com >,
rick++ <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this month
>and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new parties
>arriving would tend to settle right next to me,

I have the same problem. It seems like every time I set up a
campsite, within an hour or so, a group of good looking women
set up camp next to me..... Before yo know it, they are all
running around *****. Very distracting when trying to be
one with nature.



--

"It's a sad day for american capitalism when a man
can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park."
J. Moran

..lli.. .. ....

they trust your judgement.
you get the same thing when you go fishing or shopping.
set up early in an terrible location and move before you turn in.

rick++ (rick303@hotmail.com) writes:
> I was doing a lot of camping in the backcountry and parks earlier this month
> and I noticed an interesting phenomena: much more often than not new parties
> arriving would tend to settle right next to me, though there would be dozens
> of vacant places further away. I am a "spread-it-out" type of person
> preferring of interests of solitude and early sleeping to only have neighbors
> when necessary. I think it reached a peaked last week in Denali when a pack
> of RVs decided set up a late, noisy camp right around me when there were many,
> many empty spaces hundreds of yards away. I'm a quick camper, so my reaction is
> to just move myself. Sometimes I lie awake at night and think how to make
> camping next me as undesirable as possible :-), but thats pretty hard for
> minimalists. I wonder if the reason for close-camping is people are just
> social and want to be where other people are; or are they afraid of
> wide open spaces, or something else?


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