I haven't been posting much lately. I also haven't been doing much besides playing guitar and watching TV. The weather here has been unseasonably cold and rainy, a terrible weather combination for a guy that blogs about motorcycle camping and travel adventures. I got hit with a ton of crappy weather last season too 😕
In a fit of boredom, I decided to watch some camping Youtube and came across these creepy camping videos. I'm sure some of them are fakes, but a few of the clips gave me the creeps. It appears this "creepy camping" is a whole genre on Youtube.
I'm a solo camper most times and I have to admit, at times it can get a little creepy. Sticks cracking in the woods, probably animals, at least that's what you hope. Occasionally you'll hear strange noises, again hopefully it's animals. Personally, I've only had a couple of experiences where my imagination really got the better of me. I've already written about them here. One was a possible alien abduction (I shit you not.)
@the-bitcoin-dood/some-alien-and-ufo-encounters-i-experienced
To this day I refuse to camp at this place, but I did return several years later for a day adventure.
@the-bitcoin-dood/adaytriptolostnationstateforest-l7669q4b4uv0jauhi64c
Personally, with the exception of the above encounter, I've never really experienced anything super creepy. At least, nothing I couldn't explain away in the morning. I did have a guy pull up next to my motorcycle once and thought he was going to try and steal it or something. It was parked within eyesight in a parking lot next to my camping spot. It was just weird, there was an entire empty parking lot and this guy parks his van directly next to my motorcycle. Then just sits there. I ended up getting out of bed with my axe and rolling the motorcycle over to my camping spot. 🤣 That had to be a sight if he wasn't there to steal my bike, I'm sure that really freaked him out. He did end up getting out eventually and set up camp, who sets up camp in the middle of the night at like 3 AM? When I woke in the morning I saw the guy had out-of-state license plates, so maybe they were just travelers looking for a late-night rest stop.
Besides that, most of my experiences have been pleasant. If I come across other campers they've always been nice and friendly. Occasionally you come across a rowdy bunch partying in the woods, but I'm OK with that too. I'll usually join in, The Dood loves a good party regardless of where I'm at 🤣
On the last trip of 2021 I woke to a large pack of wolves or coyotes in the area. I didn't write about it in the blog post, but it was the first time I had ever really gotten scared by wildlife. You could hear the wolves howling in the distance, small packs of them. One group would howl from one side of the valley, another small group would answer from the other side. I actually love the sound of wolves howling and I'm really fond of wolves too. By early morning, around 4 or 5 AM, they had all packed up and were howling really close to my campsite. Sounded like there had to be at least 20 or 30 of them. That was more than a little unsettling. Nothing supernatural, but scary none-the-less. Luckily, they never showed up around my campsite. Experiencing one or two in nature is nice, I've never seen a whole pack though and that would worry me for sure!
For the most part, I've never really had a bad experience solo camping. These videos really freaked me out though. I know I'll be thinking about them on my next camping adventure. Seriously though, when my thoughts go in this direction and they do sometimes, I just push them out. I think the experience of being alone in nature, far outweighs any danger one might face. Besides that, YOLO.
I don't know what I'd do with some of the weird experiences in this video. That might actually change my mind about solo camping if I experienced anything even close to this. I will admit, I've thought about some supernatural travel destinations but would rather do that with a brave friend and not alone.
This next video, I don't understand. Honestly, I always bring some sort of protection with me, usually several forms of protection. I won't get into specifics, but I'm comfortable in my own abilities. If someone came knocking on my campsite I'd probably greet them with my axe just like I did with the guy parking too close to my motorcycle. Regardless, I would definitely see what the guy needed and he'd better have a damn good excuse for disturbing my campsite at such an early hour.
Well, camping and adventure season has returned, hopefully, we have better luck than last year. I'm hoping to get out at least a few times this year. I'm not planning any destinations, I think I'm just going to wing it this year. As they say, "Man makes plans and the Gods laugh". Seems to be the story of my life lately, so I'm just going with it. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with some spur-of-the-moment adventures this year.