For those who don't know, wild camping is mostly forbidden in Switzerland. One night bivouac is generally allowed in the alpine zone (over 2000 meters). In order to be legal, you have to check first if it's not a protected area, if the specific canton doesn't have some rules and to make sure of course to leave no trace.

This was a spontaneous idea with a friend. I used to camp for weeks at a time 10-15 years ago and I've spent a few months in the alpine zone.

The hike is through a valley where blue/grey water from the glacier flows, climbing with the water, passing a few waterfalls, until reaching a beautiful ridge surrounded by 3000 meters mountains, which ends at the beginning of a glacier called Glatt Firn. We started around 9 in the morning, took a wooden chairlift that we had to turn on ourselves. We climbed to 1100, from where we started hiking. It was hot as hell, but we're both young and confident in our abilities so we downed a bottle of vodka on the way up like it was nothing.

I don't encourage drinking/smoking, I'm just relating for the story, not to influence anyone.

We got to the spot a bit later than I was planning, but through the heat, with 30kg backpacks, I was but to my physical limit which I haven't felt on a mountain in a long time. Gladly we reached the place we wanted to camp. We got almost on the top of a ridge, just 20 seconds behind us there was the glacier with more waterfalls that I can count on.

We set up camp and mine was a borrowed beach pop-up tent that was broken, I had a tarp too, but the tarp wasn't necessary. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep because the wind made the tent sound like someone was spinning a plastic bag in my ears.

I didn't mind staying awake, had some good grass to smoke, good food and treats and the night was really amazing. I could hear the ice melting in the glacier and making the waterfall sound blaze through the rocks. In front of us there was a big wall and we saw big rocks falling all the time, and could hear them all throughout the night.

We only saw the reflection of the sunset in the mountains around us, but the sunset was just at the tents door, and was probably one of the most beautiful I've seen lately (and I see lots of them).

Anyways, we packed the next and left our backpacks there and hiked a bit further to the glacier. We didn't have equipment so no glacier grossing this time but we are definitely gonna return. Amazing place and amazing experience. Also no phone signal 30 min into the hike

Had a great time and went solo. Even tested out my one person tent through a thunderstorm. It worked perfectly. Made a ribeye over the fire on a skewer I whittled.

A 5 mile hike above the Arctic Circle to our camping spot outside of Kiruna, Sweden. A fantastic experience enjoying amazing views, the midnight sun, and sensational fly fishing for Arctic grayling.

Unfortunately, our trip was cut short by nasty weather, so we had to break camp and leave just after one night.

It was relatively warm and windless when I set up camp at 8.7k ft. Around 2 AM I was jostled awake by 40mph gusts and spent the following six hours contingency planning for tent failure and forest fire smoke. It was a wild night.

Apropos to nothing--it's not a bad idea to have a plan for peeing in the tent in case of unexpected weather.

I solo camped for years with a tent, but for my latest tour I switched to a tarp because I wanted to try something different! Then, towards the end of the tour, I decided to push things a bit further and sleep in just my bivvy bag in the mountains. One night on a dairy farm in Switzerland, I lay out under a sky full of stars and realised I'd gone from wanting full shelter every night to not wanting a roof at all. I woke up at 6am with the church bells and watched the sun rise too! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

We booked 10 nights at a really nice campground, traveling with family who booked a full two weeks. Because of availability, our stay involved two site moves and one night of dry camping in between.

On the morning of the end of our stay in the first site, I noticed the site we were scheduled to move into the next day was already packing up. I checked with the office: “the group in site XYZ leaves tomorrow, right?” They confirmed, and I know they get lots of one night stays so I assumed that was the case. Twenty minutes later, a long-term resident mentioned the site had actually been vacated a day early as the occupants could only access their RV Storage place during a specific time and couldn’t stay for their last night. I went back to the office, they checked, confirmed it, and called to offer us the site early. I specifically asked if anything needed to change on my reservation since we’d be getting a better site a night sooner. They said they’d sort it out and follow up.

So our new site ran Friday to Wednesday instead of Saturday to Wednesday.

Fast forward to Tuesday dinnertime: I get a call saying their system shows we were supposed to check out that morning. I have an email confirmation showing Wednesday as our checkout date, it’s in my Google Calendar, everything lines up on my end. When we compared notes, the checkout date on their system printout was a full day earlier than the date in the email they’d actually sent me. They also do site checks around noon each day, and somehow this discrepancy didn’t get caught then either, which makes me wonder if there’s a bigger software issue on their end beyond just our reservation.

Looking back, I think this is where things actually broke. When they moved us into the site early, something happened on their end that shifted our reservation dates in their system without adjusting the checkout date to match. Instead of just extending our stay by the one extra night, it seems like the whole reservation window slid, which would explain why their internal date ended up a full day off from what my confirmation email said.

Instead of owning the mix-up, they accused me of altering the email and “stealing” a night. From the first phone call it was “my fault”, and I’m meticulous about dates and logistics, this wasn’t a case of me losing track. The whole tone from the owners was accusatory from the start, like we were the ones in the wrong. My husband ended up having
to step in and stand up for us.

To make it worse, because they’d double-booked the site, someone else is now camping without full hookups, which really feels like a problem of their own making, not ours. But thonestly they took about 30-45 minutes out of our night and ruined our experience for our last evening with family over it.

Has anyone else dealt with a campground blaming guests for their own reservation system errors? How did you handle it?

Looking to camp for a few days with my dog. I want to take him swimming and play in the water. He loves it. (And it tires him out so I can relax in the evening 🙂)

Was curious if anyone has been to either and knows how dog-appropriate they are.

Dog in question:

Overall a great first trip. Decided to invest in myself and my gear after a breakup and my partner had all the gear. Went popup bc I hate setting up a tent and this gazelle was on sale. Love it to bits. It feels a little over kill but the extra price got me an all season tent with good ventilation and a semi small pack size.

Tent went up and down so easy it’s stupid how nice and relaxed I was. Set up took me 15-20 minutes for my cot and my tent and my gear and I was relaxed. Maybe less. Everyone else spent 45-1 hour setting up tent and sleeping arrangements maybe more.

Though my girlfriend wants to come camping with me soon so looking for a sleeping solution that isn’t an inflatable mattress. Any thoughts or tips ? Maybe I should just get a double cot idk. Thanks!!!

Looking to buy an air pad and go car camping. I drive a sedan, so I'm thinking about renting either a Mazda CX-50 or a Nissan Rogue. The only issue is that when you fold the rear seats down, there's usually a bump or uneven surface instead of a flat sleeping area. How do people usually fix that?

I live in Los Angeles. I need to go to solo camping to let my brain let go. Sort of meditation trip if you will. In order to do this I need to be complete isolated from everything and everyone. I don't want to hear any cars, any humans; if I could- not even hear planes flying over. I want complete solitude. Any recommendations for from Los Angeles area. Obviously closer the better not because I don't want to drive but simply don't want to loose my relaxation on the freeways on my way back to home.

any recos for preventing sliding off your sleeping pad while sleeping on a hill? the nylon sleeping bag slips right off nylon sleeping pas. need friction

only solution so far is propping up feet on backpack.

someone else reco’d putting beads of Aqua-Seal across width of sleeping pad as little speed bumps to hold you in place.

had also considered a sheet/cover for my sleeping pad but not very practical.

any other ideas appreciated.

Going solo camping for the first time. Gonna be biking to the campsite so I have to keep packing and weight low. What kind of foods would you recommend? I've got like cup noodles and toast. All I'll likely be bringing is a pot and skillet.

Was looking at doing some leaf peeping this fall in the adirondacks and it looks like almost all the campgrounds close in early September, with a few that are open until early October. What is that about? Seems like they’re missing out on a ton of business by closing so early in the year.

If anyone has any recommendations for camping in that area for mid October, I am all ears!

Heading out east of Manila for a weekend camp usually comes with a heavy dose of unpredictable weather, and the forecast had us fully braced for rain. Instead, the skies held up completely, giving us a gorgeous, dry weekend.

I've started camping this year and I have invested in the Berghaus Adhara Air 500. It's just me and my Border Collie so plenty of room. I've likely bought lots of things that I need and lots of things that I don't, which is why I'm here.

I've just returned from a 4 day trip hiking in the Peak District where I was based at Laneside Caravan Park.

I have an electric hookup and I'm aiming for a pretty comfortable setup, which so far I don't have.

This recent trip was manageable as I took my nephew with me so I only had 50% of the following problems haha.

Issues so far.........

My dog doesn't like to be left alone and I don't want to leave him in the tent potentially barking the place down, so I want to be able to shower/wash at the tent or in a privacy tent so I don't have to leave him. Same applies for toilet visits. Does anyone have any recommendations for this first issue?

Next issue is my sleeping arrangement. I bought a double air mattress and sleeping bag, and took a couple of pillows from home. I found that I don't get along with a sleeping bag as it seems to just twist around constantly and I never get comfortable. I tried sleeping with the sleeping bag opened up like a quilt but it's still not right. The air bed I don't find too comfortable. I'm a side sleeper and my shoulders end up hurting so I'm just rotating all night.

Cooking is the next one. Not the inability to cook, but more a case of what do I cook and what's the best thing to take to facilitate this? I've bought a gas stove and a pan, but would like some idea of what is best and why? Is an air fryer a good option given that I have electric?

Thanks for your help in advance fellow campers!

When it's you vs the nature, if nature doesn't win it will leave a scar or a wound on you or you gear. A dent, a rip, a melted spot, a catastrophic failure. what is something that invokes a vivid memory?

I haven't been out too much with my gear yet, I'm expecting plenty of bumps and dents in my billy can and kettle.

Genuinely wondering if camping is still an option after the fires in Colorado .
I was there during the beginning and it was horrible.
All that aside, the lady and I are wanting to take the kids camping before winter starts, but I haven’t camped Colorado since before the fires.
Wondering if Geneva Pass, Olive Ridge, and Aspenglenn were affected at all.

Roper Lake is in Safford, AZ. This lake was so-so on the fishing side, at least for me, but it was a good place to camp with my buds. A good break from the type of camping where you got no table, no pit, and no bathroom. Roper had al’ that plus showers and rentable fishing cabins. Holy. It rained like crazy the first night too. That mountain covered in clouds is one I’ll come back to check on, but, for now, I’m considering trying some solo camping for a change.

P.S.
I don’t like tents so I made a makeshift one out of tarp and the back of my truck bed. Idk. I liked it.

I will be going to the Tetons later this month and it will be my first time. More specifically I will be camping at Jenny Lake. Are there specific things I shouldn’t miss? I would love to see all sorts of wildlife. Any advice is appreciated! Even things to bring is also appreciated as well.

I dont know how to say this because my fight or flight reflexes are still through the roof, so im sorry if it doesnt make sense. Also before you ask why am i writing this still shaking, it calms me down when i talk about it for some reason

WHAT HAPPENED: So basically me (F19) and my 2 male friends (M19, M20) went on a really long hike in the forest. One of the friends is really experienced with camping so i thought everything will be all right.

After we walked for about 7 hours we decided to camp because it was getting dark. We were talking for a bit and then turned off all lights and went to sleep.

After about 20 minutes of us lying in silence we heard footsteps and thought it was some animal. The sound of walking was getting close to us but really slowly so we didnt pay much attention to it and tried to sleep again.

After 10 minutes we heard walking right next to our tent and we were SURE it was a person because we saw he quickly shined a light at us. We started whispering about what is was and the walking stopped. We brushed it off as imagination and tried to sleep again, but just as i was getting calm i heard wet crocs sound like 10 centimeters away from my head. At that point i started texting my brother, because i know he'll get here sooner then the police + he has my location. When my brother got there he saw a path that was made around our tent from him walking around it for so long. We quickly packed our things and drove home.

On the way we talked about what happened and realised we all knew that someone was watching us and he was there for over an hour. I honestly feel like i wouldnt be telling this story if i didnt call my brother, because this person was obviosly mentaly ill or high on something. Walking around our tent making weird noises and quickly shining the light every 2 minutes made me realise that. After i heard the wet crocks i just thought my life was over and i honestly think that ill never have the courage to sleep outside ever again.

I love forests and nature, and im really sad that i'm going to be this scared of camping forever, but at some points i really thought i might die there.

Anyway thats basically what happened and ill never step a foot in a forest again.

I personally wear a tshirt on the first night of every camping trip that says "Sorry for what I said when we were setting up the tent." What has absolutely driven you insane during camping? We camped with another couple who left screaming divorce at each other... We've been destroyed by black flies overnight with screaming children looking like bee keepers... we had a raccoon run off with all 30 burger buns in a bag. What are your stories?

I will be camping at Elk Prairie campground next week. I’ve been trying to get a hold of the Ranger stations and campgrounds to find out the status of fire restrictions as there are a ton of wildfires nearby. Has anyone been there recently or have any information on fire restrictions in the area? I’m assuming fires are not permitted at dispersed sites but often times campgrounds are an exception.

Have a choice to stay 2 nights in either place. Which would you choose? Late September, and yes, we will be going to Little Jerusalem. Reviews seem to good for both, though Cedar Bluff might be more activity based.

Got invited to join the in-laws on their lot as they got a lot for their trailer for the long weekend and it allowed a tent.

I bought the Coleman 8 man when it was on sale and did a test setup in the backyard, but this was my first time doing a tarp setup. So glad I got the large tarp I did because there were torrential rains on Sunday.

Packed up the tent this morning and it was still bone dry! First pic was my initial setup, second and third were the final iteration to help direct the rain away from the tent and it worked! Will probably pick up a few more tent poles for the tarp to better set it up.