How do you pass the time once everything is set up?

**SkyPainter** · 07-19-2013, 14:05

Originally Posted by pgibson

I go backpacking to go fishing. Not so much searching to be entertained as it is why I go to the woods. I can go fishing without backpacking but I can't go backpacking without going fishing.

That and a little uisce beatha.

====> Just a shot of the Tee Shirt I am currently wearing. Thought you might get a kick out of it, Paul!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1374260718.864579.jpg

~ SkyPainter

**Silverpalm2x** · 07-19-2013, 15:54

Originally Posted by Sidewinder

...Once it gets dark I don't tend to stay up much unless I'm with other people.S

i tend to stay up too late when I go to hangs staring at the fire and listening to people talking.

on my solo trip i had no fire but when it started raining at 9:50 I went to bed.

Originally Posted by Trail Runner

My Kindle usually comes along but I don't use it often. Mostly I spend some time surveying the area around camp and then just listening to the earth.

I think a kindle is a great idea on a solo trip.

**Trambo** · 07-19-2013, 16:03

I am a firebug..... I enjoy fiddling with the fire, along with
preparing more wood for the fire. If the fire can burn more
efficiently, I try and get it doing such.

I agree with the other person's comment, why do people need
to be entertained so much? I believe that is what society is
coming to. It is a very attention deficit society, meaning that
we always need something new and interesting to grab our
attention. Luckily, I am not like this all the time.

My time outdoors is my detox time from society. Sure, I could
listen to my ipod and sing some music, but I would miss out on
all of the animal songs and my environment. I am out here to
camp, and not to do everything that I can do at home.

As for games, I sometimes take a Mad Libs pad. These are fun
around the campfire. It is the game where you place random
words into sentences, and it makes funny stories. It is good
for a chuckle. Around the campfire, I like to sit and tell stories,
about favorite camping trips, places that I want to go, or
ghost stories. Cooking is also a very fun conversation.

Aside from these, I also spend my time whittling, or splicing rope,
or doing some other little task with my hands. Busy the hands
frees the mind.

**Seeker** · 07-19-2013, 17:14

If I go solo, I just bring a book. But when i'm with others (mostly my daughter), I have a game bag I bring... MANY years ago, she brought home a small (and folks, I mean SMALL, like 1" x 1/2") deck of UNO cards from a kids birthday party, as a favor they passed out... I tucked them away for camping. I also acquired one of those mini decks of cards (maybe 1.5"x2.5") and that went in the bag too. Finally, I found some craft foam and thought "hey! I could stamp some checkers out of this stuff!" So I got a 3/4" copper pipe about 4" long, sharpened one end of it, and used that to cut out 24" small circular pieces of foam in 2 colors. Never got around to adding the chess pieces to the other side. Anyway, I took one of my bandanas and marked an 8" grid system on it for a "board", and that finished my 'game kit'.

When I canoe, I take along a wannigan/box. Someday, I will follow through with my plan to mark a grid system on the lid for checkers/chess as well.

You can also play hangman in the dirt/sand, 20 questions, or, best of all, just sit there and listen.

**m_huber** · 07-20-2013, 09:38

Well, it turned out to be a nice evening in the woods. We could only be out Friday night because of social obligations the rest of the weekend, but it was quite lovely. As many of you suggested, having a bit of rum along made everything nice. We couldn't have a fire, but we brought along some tealight candles to make some flames, and it made all the difference in the world. Between hunting around to see what was in the nearby woods, listening to foxes or rabbits rustling the leaves nearby, watching the flickering candles, and a minor freakout over a tick, the night went by much too fast

Thanks for all of the feedback, it is really great to see how we all enjoy the outdoors!

**affreeman** · 07-20-2013, 12:25

Originally Posted by m_huber

Do you play games, read books, fiddle with the hammock all night, go directly to sleep? I am going hiking with two friends this weekend, and we talked about bringing some games with us. I don't really know what to do, though -- normally I camp by myself, and just bring along a good book.

I've usually hiked enough miles during the day that I'm plenty tired by evening. I crawl into my hammock with a book, read 2 or 3 pages, realize my brain isn't absorbing what my eyes are seeing, put the book away and go to sleep.

**wilder setx** · 07-20-2013, 13:46

i like to take an mp3 player and sit around the fire listening to garrison keeler, paul harvey, or the old time radio shows, especially the scary stuff. stuff you never hear anymore at home.

**g2outdoors** · 07-20-2013, 19:45

I like to go to bed early in the woods because I usually get up with the sun. I also hike with my dog most of the time and he definitely will be up with the sun. If I'm not, he'll make sure to change that.

I almost always find myself doing 2 types of hikes. The first is to get somewhere and see something: a peak, a lake, animals, a certain distance, etc. On this type of hike I'm usually spent at the end of the day and after the fire has been made and dinner finished off, I'm ready for bed.

The second type of hike is hiking to a river/stream/lake to go fishing. I *usually* don't hike anywhere just to hike. So I don't typically have a lot of "free" time. If I have down time, I like to do what others have said and read a book, listen to the woods, or check out the local flora and fauna.

Nothing beats a few nights in the wilderness to restore the soul.

**Zigerot** · 07-22-2013, 04:50

Kindle.

It weighs 8 oz, thanks to a very cool company I can completely submerge it in water and it works fine and the battery lasts for 44 hours of reading with backlight.

It is my all around entertainment machine.