Car camping

[Roadrunnr72]

I do a lot of camping with the scouts and over the course of a year it probably splits in thirds between remote backcountry, car camping, and camp/camporees (car camping with a large/many groups of scouts). Since it is all about exposure it is probably all good.

Same boat. Alot of camporees and then a week at Goshen (summer camp) with the scouts. We also do our fair share of hikes/canoeing trips. With the family it is usually car amping, but hopefully this year I can get my daughters to do a few hikes (younger one is 5). She has been in my hammack a few times and likes it, so a few campouts in the back woods and she how she does overnight.

[millarky]

always car camping for kayak trips. my favorite though are national forest car camping trips (hard to tow the quads without a vehicle ). no fee. no people. no facilities...at all...nada...keeps the simple folk out.

[Hulk]

Car camping is more of a convenience thing. Some times the drive is to long/leave too late, to start a hike in camp location. Generally this means hanging at the trail head, some times a developed camp ground.
I do not care for developed camp grounds, as in my neck of the woods it means habituated critters of all sorts trying to seal my food.

[carolinasbackpacker]

I don't car camp basically because I don't want to be next to a bunch of college kids who want to get wasted and party all night. I like the peacefulness of the woods. I would rather load up my pack with extra weight and hike in a mile or so and then camp. That gets you away from most of the idiots that have no etiqute(sp?). My brother, a friend, and I did this right after christmas. My pack was about 60 lbs. Hike in bout 1.25 miles and saw no one for four days untill we were hiking out. I would never carry that much weight on a backpacking trip, but it's not bad for a shor hike in and camp. Just my opinion though.

[aboyd]

I still do from time to time with the family. My son will go primitive with me but is still not ready to back country camp. Wife and daughter still have to have the bathhouse close by, so car camping for them....they still sleep in a tent, but have started asking about a popup camper this year. :-(

[Bubba]

I car camp with my wife. I don't go backpacking as much as I used to unfortunately. I do like to have campfires which I don't usually do when backpacking. Other conveniences like showers and flush toilets are handy for my wife. I usually pick sites that offer good privacy. I do want to get out into the bush more but life gets busy sometimes.

[Riverpirate]

I never backpack. My hammock hanging actually started because I do a lot of traveling for Ocean Kayak and kayak fishing trips. I started camping in campgrounds to save money on motel rooms. After a few years of trying to find different ways of being comfortable on the ground in a tent I almost gave up and went back to motels. Then I found hammocks.

I do kayak camp a few times a year but most of my kayak fishing destinations involve staying in a campground or park and fishing close by.

[MAD777]

I answered "never" but that's not quite the whole truth. Last year I attended my first group hang, which was my first ever car camp (this after backpacking for over 4 decades). Well, I've decided to come to all the nearby group hangs I can, because of the great comaraderie and I learned soooo much about hammocking (and making wood burn).

However, I don't have a hammock so that I can go camping ... I have a hammock so that I have a comfortable place to sleep while I'm backpacking.

[jloden]

I put "Sometimes"; for me car camping is all about group campouts with friends, like the HF group hangs :-)

On those kinds of trips I don't mind just bringing a few extra creature comforts and hanging around the campfire all day, enjoying being out in the woods and away from "civilization" for a few days. I suspect my winter trips will mostly be car camping too, until I feel more confident in my skills, get some snowshoes etc.

For my personal trips I will always prefer backpacking or canoeing I guess, though I haven't done that in forever. I really enjoy hiking and covering new terrain, climbing mountains and checking out great views. Most of all, I think when you have to pack in your stuff - even for a day hike, it really forces you to distill life to the most basic elements. It's all about water, food, shelter, and warmth, and I love that. Realizing how trivial so much of everyday life in the modern world usually is can be a great antidote to stress. I never fail to come home from a camping or hiking trip feeling refreshed.

-Jay

[Bearpaw]

Used to be, I didn't own any gear that wasn't backpacking specific. Then about 10 years ago, I began building trail, and we often car camped at or near a trailhead and walked in to build, so I got some heavier camp gear.

Now I am married, and my wife doesn't really like long-distance hikes (more than a long weekend). But she often likes to support me on longer distance hikes, so she will set up a base camps, and I will slackpack and spend evenings with her. I've grown to appreciate this approach quite a bit, including a six person bomb shelter of a tent, tent heater, screened in picnic area/kitchen shelter, chairs, etc. I still only use the setup three or four times a year (much less than my backpacking gear), but it's usually for about a week at a time.