Thats easy... every time i'm in the woods with Dutch
It puts the Underquilt on it's hammock ... It does this whenever it gets cold
My very first night in a hammock, I had borrowed a Hennessy bottom entry and slept like a baby. It was summer at about 7:30 am and I was blissfully slumbering sorta on my side, well you know the half back half side sleep, when I felt a breath on my face. BING, wide awake, wait don't move. Then I hear/feel a sniff/snort. Then what ever this thing is starts to lick my nose through the bug net.
I squeeze open one eye and see a bull mastiff, husky, great dane, Marmaduke looking dog licking me on the snout.
I proceeded to string together a dictionary's worth of four letter words together as I'm trying to wrestle my way out of this Hennesey womb to shoo my new friend out of camp.
We pack up and head down the trail to the next campsite (about 3/4 mile) and i see 2 dogs. The owner says Good morning and Marmaduke comes to visit me again. He says, "don't worry about her, she's a big lover". Without missing a beat, i said "I know, i woke up next to her this morning". I got a funny look from both the owner and my buddy.
Experts are the ones who think they know everything. Geniuses are the ones who know they don't.
You need seek no rocky summit, for these high places are within you.
wow some scary moments. Reminds me of being around the ol camp fire. I don't have one I mean I have had some close calls with snakes in the dark some odd sounds. Nothing yet though its only a matter of time.
In the woods same has most people,some bears but nothing crazy. I scariest moment was under the water. I was diving off the the coast near West Vancouver when I felt a bump on my back, I thought it was my buddy and turned to see what he needed. Well it was a HUGE 6 gill shark. I know it was only 14-15 feet long but from the teeth end it was much larger that the semi truck I drive. He just looked at me for a few seconds while I had a heart attack, then he was gone. That dry suit never smelled the same.
Carpe noctem!!
While not backpacking but was in the woods I submit this:
I was sitting in a blind naturally formed by two fallen tress scouting a potential hunt location along a well used game trail. I had witnessed maybe 3-4 whitetails meander by and stop to pick through some acorns under a huge oak in the edge of my visibility. Just as they entered the brush I heard a loud bark and lots of thrashing........I quickly turn and see the deer bolting straight at me with two dogs chasing them. The noise was amazing. I ducked as a doe jumped right over the two trees I was hunkered down in. Luckily the dogs continued on after the deer. To me they were scarier than the deer, but I must admit looking at a deer from below was pretty unnerving even if it was just for a split second.
I was camping in a park In SW Florida. When we think of predators, we usually first think of carnivores like the cougar or coyote. Hogs though are opportunistic omnivores, and predation is just one of the many skills they use to get a meal. These animals can weigh more than 300 pounds, and are extremely intelligent and aggressive. Just think a bunch of "Hogzilla", sniffing all around my space, no sleep that night. LOL!
Last edited by Muddpuppy; 02-20-2013 at 17:09.
Moose in BWCA
We were on day 3 out of 5, probably 9 portages into our trip in the boundary waters, when I woke up to my friend shouting "Moose!". My wife & I got out of our tent & saw the moose had just gone past our tent toward our canoes. The moose literally walked right over the canoes (this is seared into my brain) then proceeded to go back toward my friend, who by this time was walking out into the lake to avoid it.
The part we missed was my friend had woke up early & saw a calf.. then turned the other direction & saw the momma. Bad place to be. The moose charged him, he turned to run & tripped, fell to the ground & the moose somehow missed. My friends hands were shaking for some time after this.
Lost teenagers
In NC, I went on a quick over night on the Art Loeb trail. For those not familiar, the trail crosses over a number of balds, where the trails can get confusing, even during the day. I usually take my time, look back where I came from, so I'll know how to leave.
As I was heading toward Tennent Mtn, I came across 6 or so teenagers smoking something that wasn't cigarettes. I said hi, declined their offer, then continued on and got setup.
Then the night turned strange. It was a full moon, and as the wind picked up, clouds were just whizzing by. Temperatures were dropping fairly quick. For whatever reason, I just couldn't sleep that night. Too bright, too windy, tent flapping.. I don't know.. but I packed up around mid-night and headed out.
By this time, I'm wearing everything I packed. The wind was gusting. As I'm hiking back to the bald, I come across the teenagers. Man had they sobered up since I saw them last. They couldn't find their way back to their cars & figured they were going to spend the night out there, in their tshirts & jeans. I guided them all back to their cars, then headed back to Charlotte.
Must have been the first night of my first solo trip on the northville-placid trail in the adirondacks. I am no stranger to these woods as this was my 9th year spending the annual week in the bush. Unfortunately I got a late start that day and did not make my planned destination of a lean-to by nightfall. I did however make it to a spur trail leading to a seldom used tent site. Setting up camp in the dark was no big deal because I have before on group trips. Once I had my tent set, gathered wood, built a small fire, had my dinner, it was finally time to relax... Or so I thought. I set up my eno single nest, turned up some tunes on my tiny portable speakers and poured myself some wild turkey. All is well besides being a few miles behind schedule on day 1. I didn't get two songs deep when all hell broke loose. Something (never determined what it was) barreled up to my site in the brush just to the edge of the firelight. I sprang from that hammock faster than I thought possible (spilling my drink) and fumbled to turn on the head lamp and try and see what was 10' away and going to kill me that night. I never saw a thing. Whatever it was bugged out after I yelled (screamed) some expletives. Well that was enough to motivate me to build a needlessly huge fire and retire to my tent. (The equivalent to turning on the lights and hiding under the covers) After a sleepless night clutching my knife in one hand and a flashlight in the other, I tried to find some sign of what was just out of sight... and I couldn't. Thinking back I would love to watch myself terrified fumbling around heart pounding! It was only two years ago, but I feel like I've changed so much since that first night solo. Now I don't think I would have even left the hammock and I KNOW I wouldn't spill that drink. I know my nerves got the best of me being miles deep and alone for the first time and I've since had plenty of critters come check out my spot with out having a total freak out. That un-eventful story was my scariest night in the woods.
Bookmarks