Camping, Hiking, Backpacking, etc.

[Miles]

Does anyone else enjoy camping, hiking, or backpacking? Share your stories here. Where have you been that you can recommend? What about nightmare trips and places to avoid or times to avoid?

[DukeUsul]

I've only gone camping a few times in my life, but have enjoyed it. I'd love to go more often.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

My idea of roughing it is staying in a budget priced motel that has free wifi. Glad y'all enjoy camping, I'll stick with Brunchgate!

[Miles]

Friends and I visited Cumberland Island in Georgia a few weeks ago. It was an amazing trip and I'd recommend it for it just about anybody. We're planning a return trip this fall (more on that later).

Pros
In short, you wanna go here to enjoy a light to moderate backpacking weekend. There is a diverse and active wildlife, including 200 wild horses that roam freely, as you can see in my photo album, armadillos, deer, and tons of birds. You can camp and rough it, and then hike for about 10-20 minutes and be in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is ripe with history and there are cool ruins. Unfortunately, I discovered upon my return, that one of my ancestors, Lighthorse Harry Lee, died on Cumberland Island and was buried there. Robert used to visit his grave and had a headstone erected that still remains today. I'm returning this fall to get a rubbing of the headstone.

My Photo Album.

Cons.
If you go in the summer you're asking for a Southern Summer, that means heat and humidity.
Mosquitos and Ticks are everywhere. Clear out the leaf litter around your fire rings and tents to deter tick invasion. I bathed in deet and didn't have any problems. Where there are horses, there are flies and they bite. They're deterred by deet, but it's not as effective as it is on mosquitos. The wild horses can be cool or scary as hell. Two stallions burst through the brush about 15 feet away from us and had it not been for the giant palm tree in between us, I'm sure one of us would have a cooler story to tell.

Details
There are four parts to the island/park, each offering a unique experience. There are historic grounds, Google for more info, and a ferry that drops off passengers near the site. Pretty cool for a day visit, especially if you like Civil War era history. Sea Camp is basically a luxury camp on the beach. There are assigned sites, running water (must be treated), and "campers" enjoy the use of several hand carts to lug their crap from ferry to site. This results in a lot of chaos boarding the ferry for return trips because Sea Campers tend to bring anything and everything under the sun.

Stafford Grounds mixes the best of both worlds: Sea Camp "luxuries" and back country wilderness. It's a 3.8 mile hike through a flat, well-developed trail lined with palmetto palms and ancient live oak, you'll see some pine trees and cedar on the trail too. Stafford provides a few access points for water, but it must be treated. We used a 0.1 micron filter and chloride dioxide tabs and the water tasted better than our tap water in Charlotte. Campers at Stafford have easy access to the beach, less than half a mile, two shower facilities that pull water directly from the aquifer. Water is cold and gets colder by the second, but that wasn't a problem on our trip. Camp sites include a fire ring.

Back Country is just over an 8 mile hike through the same terrain. There are more marshes and wetlands in the back country, there are no shower or toilet facilities, but there are water pumps; again the water must be treated. Campers cannot have fires.

Camp Sites are offered on first-come, first-serve basis which is taken from your Ferry Reservations. Read between the lines, you must plan this trip. If you wait too late for the reservation, you end up in the Back Country where you have an 8 mile hike to setup camp, and then you've got a ton of roundtrip hiking the next day if you want to see the Dungeness Ruins. However, the Back Country is closer to the First African Baptist Church where JFK Jr married Carolyn Bessette.

[Miles]

My idea of roughing it is staying in a budget priced motel that has free wifi. Glad y'all enjoy camping, I'll stick with Brunchgate!

I don't know Ozzie, a budget priced motel sounds like hell compared too…
Surf fishing on a 10 mile stretch of island, with nobody else in sight except friends
Enjoying fresh caught whiting smoked over an oak fire
Exploring historic ruins
Sitting around a camp fire sipping on vodka, Irish Whisky, port, and cognac. Hell, we were even lucky enough to be neighbor free so we didn't mind enjoying a few cigars that evening either.

[Lavabe]

I've lived/camped in a rainforest for three straight years, camped in Laos during monsoon season, and repeatedly camped in Madagascar for several months each year in 2004, 2009, and soon-to-be in 2010. I'll reserve camping stories for this year in the O Madagascar 2010 thread that will soon start up. However, comments on equipment, camping materials, etc will go in this thread.

Love camping.

[DukePA]

I love camping. When I was a kid, we would camp at Kerr Lake or the Chesapeake State park, VA Beach. When we camped at the lake, we would take our dog, Bozo and our Siamese cat, Saki. It was really cool until Saki decided to disappear when it was time to leave one time. We looked for him for hours and finally had to go home. Mom and Dad went back to the campsite the next evening after Dad got off work and there was Saki sitting on the campsite table yelling his head off! Only Sheltons are crazie enough to take cats camping

[CathyCA]

The closest I get to camping is Brunchgate. It's fun for a few hours, but then I need creature comforts like a real bathroom, hot water, nice sheets, a refrigerator, internet access, shopping, television, cute shoes.

Hey! Maybe I'm camping right now since the guy didn't come to fix the water heater today.

[lawgrad91]

The closest I get to camping is Brunchgate. It's fun for a few hours, but then I need creature comforts like a real bathroom, hot water, nice sheets, a refrigerator, internet access, shopping, television, cute shoes.

Hey! Maybe I'm camping right now since the guy didn't come to fix the water heater today.

Sounds like you're roughing it to me! I always wanted to go camping as a kid but my dad thought it was physically impossible to stay anywhere that did not have its own bathroom. I spent my Christmas money one year (I was about seven) on a pup tent, but Mom wouldn't let me sleep outside. On Friday nights I could put it up in my room and sleep in it with my stuffed dog, though.

[cl15876]

Miles - your adventure sounds wonderful! I do enjoy all of the above! My dad and I used to go to the mountains all the time and whether we stayed in a tent, camper, back of truck, RV... it really didn't matter, we were always outside. Do the old military bath routine with some hot water from the stove and obviously some soap. As for the potty, we actually would find a holler up from the camp, make a lean to and throw a tarp over it and level out an area for a bucket and had a toilet seat on it and it worked great! Your photo shots are wonderful and that fishing and the grilling looked delicious! Thanks for sharing! How was the water? I haven't strayed too much from modern conveniences since those days, but it's still in the blood! ;)

[OZZIE4DUKE]

My idea of roughing it is staying in a budget priced motel that has free wifi. Glad y'all enjoy camping, I'll stick with Brunchgate!

I don't know Ozzie, a budget priced motel sounds like hell compared too…
Surf fishing on a 10 mile stretch of island, with nobody else in sight except friends
Enjoying fresh caught whiting smoked over an oak fire
Exploring historic ruins
Sitting around a camp fire sipping on vodka, Irish Whisky, port, and cognac. Hell, we were even lucky enough to be neighbor free so we didn't mind enjoying a few cigars that evening either.

Quite honestly, none of that is my cup of tea. But I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[windsor]

The closest I get to camping is Brunchgate. It's fun for a few hours, but then I need creature comforts like a real bathroom, hot water, nice sheets, a refrigerator, internet access, shopping, television, cute shoes.

ditto

I do not camp. I have camped (Mr. Windsor and WindsorsDaughter love to camp) and hated every second of it. I told Mr. Windsor if he wanted me to go again it would require an RV - if he wanted to pitch a tent outside the RV and pretend, that was fine by me...but I would be indoors on a real bed with hot and cold running water a flush toilet and A/C.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I enjoy camping, but don't care much for beach camping, especially if there are no trees to block the wind. Tents and sand aren't a good combo. My last camping experience was in Yosemite, which was flat out awesome. We don't have a tent, but are planning on buying one this summer.

[Lavabe]

I do not camp. I have camped (Mr. Windsor and WindsorsDaughter love to camp) and hated every second of it. I told Mr. Windsor if he wanted me to go again it would require an RV - if he wanted to pitch a tent outside the RV and pretend, that was fine by me...but I would be indoors on a real bed with hot and cold running water a flush toilet and A/C.

I guess that means "no" to observing lemurs in Madagascar? ;)

[Lavabe]

I enjoy camping, but don't care much for beach camping, especially if there are no trees to block the wind. Tents and sand aren't a good combo. My last camping experience was in Yosemite, which was flat out awesome. We don't have a tent, but are planning on buying one this summer.

It looks like I'll be on the beach this summer, complete with mosquitoes.

WHY are there so many mosquitoes on the beach?

[Miles]

I enjoy camping, but don't care much for beach camping, especially if there are no trees to block the wind. Tents and sand aren't a good combo. My last camping experience was in Yosemite, which was flat out awesome. We don't have a tent, but are planning on buying one this summer.

Camping on a beach doesn't sound like my cup of tea either. Cumberland was nice because we got the best of both worlds, a short walk to the beach and plenty of shelter from the average ocean elements once you're back in the maritime forest.

Take a look at REI-Outlet, they've got some great deals on tents and other gear.

[Miles]

I enjoy camping, but don't care much for beach camping, especially if there are no trees to block the wind. Tents and sand aren't a good combo. My last camping experience was in Yosemite, which was flat out awesome. We don't have a tent, but are planning on buying one this summer.

It looks like I'll be on the beach this summer, complete with mosquitoes.

WHY are there so many mosquitoes on the beach?

I haven't had a problem with mosquitoes, it's always the damn sand fleas that get me. Nothing keeps them away except a good blast of wind!

[Miles]

I've lived/camped in a rainforest for three straight years, camped in Laos during monsoon season, and repeatedly camped in Madagascar for several months each year in 2004, 2009, and soon-to-be in 2010. I'll reserve camping stories for this year in the O Madagascar 2010 thread that will soon start up. However, comments on equipment, camping materials, etc will go in this thread.

Love camping.

Do you have photo albums online? I would love to see some of your posts.

What kind of pack(s) did you carry on your excursions? I have an old Coleman Peak 1 external frame pack. It's no where near as fancy as all the modern internal frames, but it has the best of both worlds. The frame is plastic so it flexes and gives you the agility of an internal frame, but it can be loaded down to carry a massive load. My only complaint is that I need a new hip belt because this one is getting thin, and Coleman doesn't make accessories for this pack anymore.

[devildeac]

I will have a story here when I have a bit of time to reconstruct it about our first and only camping experience.

[Very Duke Blue]

This has been a fun read. Lavabe, I'm looking forward to your post on this year's Madagascar's trip.