Author Topic: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?  (Read 1472 times)

gunwharfman

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I can honestly say yes! One of the thrills of tenting it, especially when wild camping! I've had pigs who tried to get in my tent with me, I've heard animals moving around me making all sorts of strange noises, I've been woken up by horses screaming (I was told by a local that they were being harassed by wild boar) and I was convinced one night that someone was creeping around in the dark, I kept hearing what I thought was a mobile phone bleep, first in one place and then in another, but after a while, I realised it was a just bird 'bleeping' as it hopped from branch to branch. I used to fill my water bladder and lay it on the ground, ready for my morning pack, just outside my zipped inner tent. One night on the GR70 route, it was a clear moonlit night, I kept hearing a 'blub' blub' blub' the sound of water moving and noticed flitting shadows moving over my mesh inner tent. My heart was pounding until I realised it was mice, running around all over the place, including over my water bladder. Of course, then there is the matter of thunder and lightning, so scary one night when a ferocious storm did its stuff immediately above my head, all I had for protection was my little tent and blow-up mattress.

ninthace

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By weather yes.  By bogeymen, last time was when I was 14 bivying on my own in a hut circle on Dartmoor ... turned out to be sheep.
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richardh1905

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Lightning. Had a very near miss in Orkney a year or so back - flash and the thunder almost simultaneous. I was physically stunned.

Also recall a terrifying night high up in the Pyrenees, thunder echoing off the cliffs above us, and the thunderstorm visited us THREE times!
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ninthace

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Our main export from the Pyrenees was thunderstorms.  In summer, we used to watch the clouds build on the mountains at the head of the valley then they would set off out over the plain where they popped and let lose big time.  Sometimes they got a bit enthusiastic and broke prematurely before they passed over us.  A friend in the next village had his farmhouse hit twice in a month.  The first time it cooked his cooker, the second time he had beefed up his conductor and he escaped without damage.
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fernman

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Most definitely anxious.

Second biggest worry is wind, after being caught camping with very little shelter at the north end of the Glyders when a gale came out of nowhere, with gusts I was later told were up to 70 mph that kept felling my tent. Another time I pitched in the lee of some conifers in the Berwyns when the wind increased to a gale in the night, leaving me petrified that one of the trees might topple onto me. So now, if I'm dropping off to sleep and the tent starts to flap, it makes me very anxious.

The main worry is flooding. It can be OK when you bed down but it can start slamming it down with rain in the night so that the nice spot I chose becomes a shallow pond. Two times I've had to get up in the night and move to somewhere better. I've learned to avoid that sort of place now, in conjunction with having better access to weather forecasts, the same as I have learned not to pitch too close to mountain streams, even the littlest ones. But I discovered only fairly recently that tiny puddles were starting to form on a dry and level area of grass I pitched on in the Moelwyns when there was no more than continual drizzle falling. So that is my biggest anxiety. Even when I have striven to pitch on a slightly higher mound I still worry that my tent might turn out to be in the path of an inpromptu flow of water if there is heavy rain in the night.

vizzavona

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Maybe, had I been disturbed while the 'raids' was taking place, I would have been worried.
Camped in Glen Rosa I woke up after sleeping through all that had taken place with a neat hole drilled through the side of the inner tent and found that my breakfast rashers had disappeared. A rodent?
In Corse again waking up in the morning to find that my food bag, left in the 'in between' bit twixt tent and flysheet, had gone and when getting outside to see what it was all about all that I could see was a trail of bits and pieces of the bag leading into the trees.  Almost certainly a visit from a fox. 
Again when camped in the lower reaches of the Corsican hills being several times kept awake by the, I think, Scops Owls with their underwater like navel detection sound echoing across the valleys. Maybe male birds letting other birds know about whose territory it was? Quite some incentive for a walker to get beyond the tree line on the island.
The most bizarre of all being wakened up by a possibly inebriated bagpiper giving it all while I was camped up away from the roadside in Glen Etive.  From what I could see was a car with the piper in the shadowy light blazing out his tune from beside the car....I just hope that he was not the driver of the car.

fernman

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In Corse again waking up in the morning to find that my food bag, left in the 'in between' bit twixt tent and flysheet, had gone and when getting outside to see what it was all about all that I could see was a trail of bits and pieces of the bag leading into the trees.  Almost certainly a visit from a fox.

Had a similar experience when cycle camping near Penmaenmawr aged 15 or 16, when an unused sliced loaf disappeared from under my flysheet in the night, with just the empty wrapper left.

when camped in the lower reaches of the Corsican hills being several times kept awake by the, I think, Scops Owls with their underwater like navel detection sound echoing across the valleys.

Yes, definitely Scops owl, which has the nickname of the "asdic owl". Often used to hear them on Greek islands, though they seem less common now.
« Last Edit: 09:28:53, 20/02/20 by fernman »

Birdman

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In the USA on the PCT it happened a few times that I heard a bear just metres away from my tent. They were black bears that are after things with an interesting smell and are not likely to attack you, but you know they can kill you so it is definitely a bit disconcerting.

Another time, late afternoon (still daylight), there was a stampede of sorts of ten (ish) small deer that were flying for something and they ran within a metre past my tent. I was really afraid they would hit my tent. Later I discovered that I was camped on top of a faint animal trail, which may have been their usual route, that now had an unexpected tent on it.

Last November in Australia, there was a nocturnal bird that dive-bombed my tent twice (and pounding the roof). Just before it touched the roof I could hear it approaching and could see the fabric moving from the air pressure of it's wingbeats. I wasn't afraid (what can he possibly do?) but is pretty disconcerting when you are in the pitch black in the middle of nowhere and don't know what exactly is happening.

I also heard kangaroos hopping around my tent at night and sometimes I was afraid they would jump on my tent by accident, because normally there wouldn't be a tent on that spot.


However, the most scary things are always other humans. I always try to camp (far) away from roads, but one time in Washington state in the middle of nowhere I struggled to find a spot (too lush vegetation). Finally I found an open spot where I pitched my tent. However, though in the middle of nowhere, there was a 4x4 track (about 100 metres from my tent) and later that night a car appeared there and stopped for a while. Why?? I see no reason. After a while he moved on, fortunately. I don't know if he even spotted me, but I found it a bit scary. It seemed like strange behaviour in a place where I wouldn't even expect a car in the daytime, let alone at night. If it is some deranged person with a knife of a gun... On the other hand, it may have been a just hunter trying to spot deer, because later that night lots of deer arrived there to graze. And they were extremely skittish, because I heard them immediately run off when I switched on a tiny light in my tent, which may indicate that they get hunted there.
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gunwharfman

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This may sound rather neurotic but I carry a small telescope with me, (a monocular?) only about 3" long and when I have found my spot and want to wild camp I use it to study the area above, below and to the sides of me just to find out if anybody is around. On my travels, I have sometimes met some odd people en route and because of my work I have learned to be cautious. Like on La Palma recently. I was walking up to the summit of an extinct volcano and a 30 something unshaven man was coming down the trail carrying a cardboard tray of small tins of beer? I kept thinking to myself why would someone be carrying such a thing? We were miles from anywhere and I was convinced that he was alone. He engaged me in conversation, he spoke excellent English and kept trying to offer me a can. I politely and firmly said no, I never drink alcohol before 6pm but made the effort to keep the conversation light and chatty. He drank one can while we spoke. He soon wandered off. I kept my telescope trained on him until he disappeared from view, but I have to admit that I was a bit unnerved and so at every good viewpoint I stopped and studied the landscape and route below me. I never saw him again.

Owen

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Never had any problems wild camping except maybe the odd mouse. Had a few people problems on campsites, mainly due to them being drunk. I don't really understand why should I be anxious when the nearest person could be ten, twenty or more miles away. There are few animals that aren't afraid of humans, especially in the UK. Livestock could trample on my tent but I very rarely camp that close to farmland so it's unlikely.

Zizag

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Re: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?
« Reply #10 on: 22:01:26, 20/02/20 »
Just settling down one night getting ready for sleep .
When I heard this loud Howling noise outside of my tent .
Started to get worried and my mind thinking what sort of Animal like Wolverine making this Growling .
I thought any minute It would jump on the tent and slash it to bits .
Not wanting to unzip to see what critter was there .
Just stayed quite .
And eventually it went away .
I could not settle ,slept on off glad when It was daylight
Found out later .
The Owner had a Great Dane which he let out each night
And must have been chasing squirells, rabbits or other animals .

SteamyTea

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Re: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?
« Reply #11 on: 08:47:01, 21/02/20 »
When I was 13 or 14, I packed my camping gear onto my bike and set off along the River Thames.  Found a campsite near Henley, pitched my tent and started to cook my Vesta supper.  All very lovely.
Then a calf got out of the field nest to the site and ran amok. A few people decided to shoo it away, away towards me.
It ploughed though my tent, then came back and trampled on it, and my supper.
Called my Mother and got her to pick me up.  She demanded that the camp site owners refund me the money (about 2 quid).


So I try and avoid cattle.
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April

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Re: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?
« Reply #12 on: 19:42:03, 21/02/20 »
Only time we have been worried is during really strong winds or a lightning storm on Hard Knott Fell. Strong winds at height are the norm in the Lake District; if you are camping on the fells you expect a bit of a breeze  :D
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richardh1905

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Re: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?
« Reply #13 on: 20:59:33, 21/02/20 »
In the USA on the PCT it happened a few times that I heard a bear just metres away from my tent. They were black bears that are after things with an interesting smell and are not likely to attack you, but you know they can kill you so it is definitely a bit disconcerting.

Now bears ARE something that I would be anxious about!
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myxpyr

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Re: When camping are you ever anxious or scared in the night?
« Reply #14 on: 13:47:24, 22/02/20 »
On two occasions, whilst camping in the Pyrenees, I've found myself in the midst of a thunderstorm. The first was in Gavarnie where I was camping at the camp site to the south of the village.
As others will know the Pyrenees can generate some pretty spectacular storms and this was no exception. It started at about 10pm and of course, being in the amphitheatre of the Gavarnie Cirque, the audio effects were accentuated to an alarming degree. I even remember the date - 13th August 1993 and - yes - it was a Friday! Strangely it seemed to stop quite suddenly at midnight.

The second occasion was about thirteen years ago and I was camping in Loudenvielle. I awoke at about midnight to the sound of rain followed quite soon by the pyotechnics and audio effects. Again the surrounding mountains amplified everything. As the thunder and lightning receded I heard what I first thought was rapid machine gun fire! I soon realised that it was hailstone and, on looking out of the tent, I could see that they really were the size of golf balls.
The battering from the hailstorm caused the tent flysheet to sag and contact the inner, breaking the rain seal. By the time I surfaced most of my gear was well and truly sodden. Thankfully there was a launderette in the village with a highly efficient tumble drier ;D


 

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