So, what was your worst night when paddling?

Mine was on the Mississippi River in November when a south wind howled. I just couldn't bury my stakes deep enough in the sand and the wind kept exposing them, collapsing my tent and freeing my fly to slap me, again and again. I reburied and reburied with the wind borne sand stinging my eyes, but the effort only bought me an hour or so of sleep before the tent collapsed again. I finally quit trying and tried to sleep through the flapping.

First day in June 2012. Brought my 8yr old son with me on his first trip. Put in at lake one.

This was the year after Pagami creek fire and we were skirting the northern edge of the burn area. Started raining at 10 am. Didn't get to a site out of the burn area till Insula at 3pm. 1am I thought the whole forest was going to come down on us, the wind and rain.

When we came out a week later found out it was 8" in 9 hours. Sinkholes in Duluth, and a deceleration of a disaster area. Was nuts.

Crazy part was the kid slept through the whole thing.

There have been a few bad nights over the years. One that comes to mind was on my first Quetico trip in July 1979. I was 17 and my tripping partner was not quite 16. We brought letters from our parents to get through customs at Cabin 16 on Basswood Lake.

Anyway, we were out for two weeks and decided not to bring a tent in order to save weight, the idea (delusion) was that we could camp on breezy points and islands every night to avoid the bugs. On our second evening on the water we were caught on the Shade-Noon Lakes portage by a severe storm just before sunset, and were forced to camp on the portage.

We laid out a ground sheet and slept on the ground under the canoe. The night was still, very mild, and humid---and the mosquitoes came out by the millions. We spent the night sweating in our sleeping bags with just our mouths sticking out to breathe. At the first hint of light in the morning (4:00 am) we got up, packed ASAP, and hit the water--glad to escape the bugs--and exhausted.

Backpacking in the mountains in Arizona, and I learned the hard way (before all the collective wisdom of the internet) that you need a pad or underquilt in a hammock. Ended up on the ground just to stay warmer. And the dog found a skunk that night and wanted to snuggle on the ground.

Scariest night was riding out a tornado warning in a hike-in area of mature oak trees. Could hear the tornado sirens in town, but decided to ride it out. I was 22, and it was the first camping trip out with just me and my youngest brother who was 12 at the time. Told him we would be fine, and we were because the tornado touched down about ten miles away.....

I was once robbed and beat up and my then-girlfriend was assaulted by two armed men who found us camped in the middle of nowhere in AK. Worst night by a LONG shot.

carmike: "I was once robbed and beat up and my then-girlfriend was assaulted by two armed men who found us camped in the middle of nowhere in AK. Worst night by a LONG shot. "

You win. I maintain that humans are the most dangerous thing in the wilderness. Mind sharing where you were in AK?

I don't think I've had many bad nights in the woods.

Lotsa rain, but gear mostly held OK or we made do. 10+ hours of thunderstorms with an almost-one-year-old, but she slept through it all and I mostly did too.

As they say, a bad night in the woods... is better than a good night indoors!

Well, I was on a solo trip headed into Ester. It rained cats and dogs all the way in on Sag, and had some really nasty lightening shows. I made camp in the last bay before Swamp Lake. Couldn't sleep and ended up spending a sleepless night in front of the fire with an ominous feeling. Decided to head back in, the next day.

Got to Trails End, called my wife, and her mother-in-law was in the hospital. All was otherwise ok. She was stable and my wife told me not to worry, enjoy my vacation and get another permit and head back out. I couldn't. I drove straight home, stopping only to use the restroom and gas up. Pull up at the house and my wife was on the phone with a friend; they had just "Coded" my mother-in-law and she had died unexpectedly. No way I could have "Timed" my arrival on that 17hr trip to coincide with that phone call; no way it was anything other than "Divine intervention."

It was June 1992 and I was with my brother who was 16 at the time. We pulled into a Quetico site late in the evening and decided to not pitch the tent but just sleep in our rope hammocks. We had 10 degree down bags and headnets and thought we would be fine.

It was calm and very warm out. The mosquitos were relentless and I remember the loud buzzing around my face all night. It never cooled off and we both were soaked through with our sweat in the morning. Not much sleep for sure.

Oh boy, I have had several.

Once in the cascade mountains of washington I hiked into a big drainage and set my line and had to sleep out. Trouble was I had not brought any mat, only a cheesy sleeping bag. Got dark around 6p.m., got cold, real cold and I almost suffocated. Worst headache I can remember. I awoke literally trying to claw my way out of the bag.

Then hiking the Wonderland Trail around Mt Rainier I had brought a Z-rest which is little more than 1/4" of hard foam. Very long night that first night with skeets driving me into a solo tent.......about a week in we made peace and I could finally sleep.

Then there was the rainy bear siege night in Algonquin. The hardest I have ever laughed, literally hysterical, but also the most frightened. We paddled to an island in Timberwolf lake in Algonquin and set up camp eager to trout fish. We took a look around and my buddy noted bear sign in the form of tracks and a very clawed up tree. "wow, look at that, lets go fishing".

Later that afternoon a front moved in with steady rain. The tent started leaking so we moved in under the tarp. Not long after dark we heard our dry bags getting batted around and when we peeked outside sure enough they had been swatted a good distance and a nice fat bear track was in the mud at the door of our tent. We settled back in for what was one very long night.

Now it gets good............rain collected in a pocket formed by the tarp, having not stretched it tightly enough, and after a gallon or two had formed it would release all at once and land on the side of the tent. It was the perfect imitation of a bear coming through your tent. You went from sheer terror to hysterical laughter within about 10 seconds. To heighten the scenario the bear came back a couple more times and once was snuffling mere inches from my arm causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand perfectly erect. Then of course another few gallons of water would come crashing down every hour or so despite our best attempts to fix the tarp. More terror followed by laughter which was contagious and even more so as my buddy was holding a big knife and I was holding a hatchet and the ridiculousness, yet seriousness, of our predicament bore in on us. My sides ached and yet we could not stop laughing all while getting ready to fend off a bear and awaiting the next crash of water.

Pretty sure we moved the tent after about the third crash of water and finally I decided to go to sleep, folding my arms over my hatchet which rested on my chest. The last I remember of my pal that night was sort of surreal, we had set up a little light and in true black belt martial arts form he had a knife held in one hand ready for action and a closed fist in the other. What a night!

July 21, 2016 storm in the BWCA.

We were camped on Red Rock Lake, about 2:00 a.m. the breeze stopped, and it was deathly quiet for 5 minutes. Then the breeze picked back up, harder and much cooler, with a lot of lightning, the kind that stays high up in the clouds.

After 20 minutes watching the lightning from my hammock, all heck broke loose for about half an hour. Had multiple trees down in camp, one just missing the tent we moved into. I thought the tent was going to take flight with us in it, a-la the Wizard of Oz. I was lucky I had tied the canoe down tight that night. I've read reports of winds of 80+ mph in that storm.

This took a little thought. Memories of thunderstorms, wet tent floors, wind and rain, and some dramatic insulin reactions in the middle of the night (not mine, but I was the one who had to deal with the difficult person and get food down from its perch 'way up in the tree.)

But I got out our list of all of the canoe trips, and I keep coming back to "1974, Moose/Knife/Eddy". Trip is described on the list as simply, "Rainy." If this had been my first trip instead of my third, it might well have been the last. The only high spot that I remember from that particular trip is our stop at the Isle of Pines to meet Dorothy Molter and enjoy one of her famous root beers. Otherwise just "pain and rain."

A little background: A little six-day trip, moving every day. Drizzly or light rain every single day, sometimes more rainy than "light". Our rain gear back then wasn't the very best, and our little lightweight nylon tent did OK for the first few days, but eventually everything was saturated. We didn't have enough plastic bags to keep anything dry after awhile and by the fifth day our gear was, at the very least, "damp". Really, really damp. :-(

But the kicker was that, at the first push-off on the first day, I had pulled a muscle in my shoulder/neck and during the entire trip I was suffering from severe muscle spasms in my neck! Couldn't turn my head to either side, could barely move my head up or down. Terrible pain! Paddling was difficult and carrying my pack was excruciating. A heating pad, some real pain medicine, a bed to lie on--none of those available! All we had was a little bit of aspirin which was gone quickly. So I was in constant pain, and cranky as hell.

For sleeping pads in 1974 we had inflatable air mattresses--the kind you used in a swimming pool. Cheap ones. By our last night neither of them would hold any air, so we had NO sleeping pads. We were sleeping on the ground. When Spartan1 unpacked my sleeping bag and it was, as he put it, "A little bit damp!" I took it in my arms, made a comment about "No such thing as A LITTLE BIT DAMP!!" and cast it aside! I said I was NOT going to sleep in that thing for one more night! And the end result was that I spent that night on the tent floor (damp), in my clothing (also damp), wrapped in a crinkly, foil-lined "Space Blanket", trying to get some sleep!

In the morning, the last morning of our trip, we had our first peeks of sunshine and I remember a family of mergansers visited our shoreline as we cooked breakfast. The only bright spot. I was sore and tearful and ready to go home.

Our 1974 trip is the only one of all of our trips that I do not remember fondly.

That would be my first night in the woods back in 1972. I was a city boy and I didn’t think that it would get that dark. I stayed up all night wondering what all the noises were. After that first night I got over it.

johndku: "July 21, 2016 storm in the BWCA.


We were camped on Red Rock Lake, about 2:00 a.m. the breeze stopped, and it was deathly quiet for 5 minutes. Then the breeze picked back up, harder and much cooler, with a lot of lightning, the kind that stays high up in the clouds.


After 20 minutes watching the lightning from my hammock, all heck broke loose for about half an hour. Had multiple trees down in camp, one just missing the tent we moved into. I thought the tent was going to take flight with us in it, a-la the Wizard of Oz. I was lucky I had tied the canoe down tight that night. I've read reports of winds of 80+ mph in that storm.


"

That was the night 2 campers were killed on Quetico side of Basswood.

Storm

I was in a bunkhouse at Clearwater that night - very glad to not have been in a tent! I remember the lightning you mention very well - it was constant.

Earl July, Poohbah Lake in Quetico 2012 . Severe storm with heavy winds, lightning. It was one of the few nights I did not tie the canoes up. I just remember running out to secure the canoes with trees falling, hail and ferocious wind. I have never forgotten to secure the canoes since that night.

Not in the woods, but on a mountain. My buddy and I were camped at 13,400' in Colorado. The next day we were going to climb up Mt. Belford at 14,100'. That night a thunder and lightening storm hit the mountain and careened up and over us. Our tents were the tallest structure above treeline and all the rocks around us were filled with iron. I thought for sure we were goners, with lighting strikes happening just football fields away from us.

In order to calm down, I turned on my Iphone and cranked Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov. By concentrating purely on the music, I was able to calm down, though there were moments when the music crashes lined up perfectly with the lighting strikes and thunder reverberations. To this day whenever I hear that music, I am transported back to that moment on the mountain.

Most recent bad experience: Paddled into a private campground with the family last summer. Next site over was the party site and was up until 3-4 AM. Left the next day... a day early. We told the staff on the way out and I messaged the owner a few days later. Of course he said that he wished we would have contacted him that night so he could have dealt with it. I told him that I did not want to put my family in a situation where we would have to deal with drunks in the middle of the night. Still don't think i would have handled it any differently.

Like most others, it was a night time thunderstorm. It happened on a canoe trip down the Cannon River with the Scouts in the early-mid 1970s. We were camped that night on my grandparent’s land when the storm hit. Every one of our tents collapsed and we made a run to the nearest farm house, which happened to be my aunt and uncle’s place. All twenty some kids slept the remainder of that night in their basement. The next morning, we heard the nearby turkey farmer had lost his outbuildings and the cause was 80mph straight line winds. We found our tents flattened and tattered with bent poles. I remember businesses donating money to us for new tents that year. Our privy tent blew away and was nowhere to be found. I wonder if it ever managed to make it over the Ames Mill Dam...

Hard to pick one. My brother and I were backpacking in Denali. We were way above the timberline, a small creek a couple hundred feet below us was thick with willow brush. The ranger had warned us about this area, we had to practice being mauled by a bear before he would give us a permit.

Night doesn't happen this far north, and as we were getting in our tent we saw bears. We spent the night playing catch using our metal gold panning pans (doubles as a dish) and bear bells. We made a hell of a lot of noise.

On my forty-some day trip in Labrador/Quebec, we were camped at the head of a five mile stretch of class 4,5,6 whitewater. Laying in the tent that night, I could feel the ground shaking from the power of those huge waves. Knowing that we had to deal with those rapids the next day was unnerving. We did end up swamping and it was a miracle that I didn't drown.

Easily my most frightening night was on the Ogoki River in Wabakimi. I have a rare sleep disorder, often i sleepwalk, mostly in a dream state. It drives my wife crazy, literally. On this trip, we were camped at a portage that bypassed an unrunnable rapid. I sleep walked out of camp, ended up at the river at the other end of the portage. Somehow I bulled my way through a quarter mile of dense woods.

At this point, I became more conscious, i was aware that the next road north was in Russia, my memories of this are like a hallucination, thousands of frogs lined the river, it was a moonlit night, I found the portage and made it back to camp. However, when I found the camp, I thought that it was German soldiers fighting in World War 2. Somehow, I ended up in my sleeping bag. I never told my brother about that night.

I've got nothing. Makes me worry that I'm due.

jwartman59: i have a rare sleep disorder, often i sleepwalk, mostly in a dream state. it drives my wife crazy, literally. on this trip we were camped at a portage that bypassed an unrunnable rapid. i sleep walked out of camp, ended up at the river at the other end of the portage. somehow I bulled my way through a quarter mile of dense woods. at this point i became more conscious, i was aware that the next road north was in russia, my memories of this are like a hallucination, thousands of frogs lined the river, it was a moonlit night, i found the portage and made it back to camp. however when i found the camp i thought that it was german soldiers fighting in world war 2. somehow i ended up in my sleeping bag. i never told my brother about that night."

No more ice cream before bed for you!

This is not quite on topic, but some of the worst nights I've spent were trying to sleep with 3 other guys in a car, the night before entry. When we were young and broke, we cut every expense possible, and slept in waysides. I hated those "car nights".

To this day (I'm now in my 60's) if I have trouble sleeping, I tell myself "at least this is a heck of a lot better than sleeping in a car".

Jaywalker: "I've got nothing. Makes me worry that I'm due. "

Me too. Some good stories here, though.

The only bad one I can remember was in college we camped up at Tettegouche after a day of late October climbing. Not sure why I didn't bring a proper sleeping bag or pad- but I thought I'd be fine with just an old car blanket. It snowed that night- No sleep at all- just cold.

Definately not the worst night, but a memorable one none the less.

I and my fire crew were flown up to a mountian top fire in Sequoia National Park, in a Bell 212 Helicpoter at 6,000 feet. (This was the day that Jerry Garcia died) , 1995.

We chinked line around a two acre fire, finially trying to sleep without any supplies including our sleepig bags. We had fougth that fire for around 12 hours and it was past midnight when I tried to find a place to sleep on the steep slope. (It was cold)

The duff (pine needles) of those Sequoia trees was over two feet deep.
I managed to get a few hours of somewhat unrelaxed sleep, by laying down in the middle of our fireline. (Cup Trench)
I had nothing to cover myself with, but my Chainsaw Chaps, and I awoke constantly all night by kicking the embers of the fire away from me, (But not too far back, becuse they were also keeping me warm).

We hit that fire for another two to three days, I pulled a 36 hour straight shift fighting that one.

Another one,

My father died in 2003 on the White Earth Reservation.
A native burial cerimony can take a long time, after the community cerimony in the town center we took his remains (Urn) back home.
You have to keep the fire burning for three days straight, to help their spirit find its way to the (Land of Never Ending Happiness).
My turn at the fire came up on the second of three, it was a mid January nite.
I spent all night alone outside in the woods, forbidden to sleep, at times burning Tobacco Pouches in the fire to help my dad find his way to the next life, (The Tobacco pouches are to appease the tricksters that would try to take my dad down the wrong path on his journey to the next life).

I do not remember much of the thoughts that came through my mind that nite, just that it was long.
It was the second time I had sat beside that fire helping someone pass unto the next life.
(The first time was for my brother).

They are burid behind my house now, here is a pic of their resting place.

I almost expected seeing spirit houses like I’ve seen in northwestern Wisconsin.

inspector13: "
I almost expected seeing spirit houses like I’ve seen in northwestern Wisconsin.


"

The nearest spriit houses from my place are about 2 miles away in the Elbow Lake Villiage.

There are some in the cemetery where my great grandparents, and other family members, are buried.

It was the night of September 10th 2011. I was camped on the east side of Lake Four with my 11 year old Beagle named Freddie.
It had been an unusually hot day in the mid 80's. The winds were calm and the humidity was very low. The air was smokey from the nearby Pagami Creek fire which didn't pose a threat according to radio reports.
From my hilltop campsite I had a good view to the west where the fire was burning. I could hear aircraft attacking the fire constantly and it sounded like a WWI aerial dogfight. The local radio station WELY was broadcasting live that afternoon from The Harvest Moon Festival in Ely. The fire was mentioned but the talk was mostly about how well waffle cones were selling versus hooded sweatshirts because of the hot weather.

As the sun set that evening a 15mph west wind began. The dark plumes from the fire which had been rising straight up spread and came towards me. The air became very smokey and irritated my lungs. It got dark and the sound of the aircraft ceased. WELY went to broadcasting a prerecorded Folk music show with no fire reports. I felt alone and concerned for the first time. Breathing was becoming more difficult.
The voices of a family with young children camped across the lake could be heard in and out of the strengthening wind. They sounded panicked like Auntie Em did when calling for Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz tornado scene. I was wishing I was somewhere else. I was worried about keeping the dog safe. I thought that the smoke would become thicker followed by flames and gases. There really wasn't much I could do so I crawled into the tent without the fly on and listened to the wind. Eventually I fell asleep.

A few hours later I woke and noticed there was no wind and the smoke was not as thick. I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful full moon I have ever seen. It was as orange as a tangerine and peaceful looking, not angry. I felt that the worst night in the woods had passed and we would be OK.

I had several that would make the list.

The one most recent 2 years ago is my hiking partner said he had a good tent so I
left my very good tent at home the first night I found out his idea of a good tent was a K mart special.

We had fine weather the first 3 nights the 4th night it stormed water in pooling on the floor by 2am very thing was soak temperature started to drop my morning there was 2 inches of snow on the ground. with rain sleet and snow still coming.

We were at 11200 feet and 11 miles from the trail head.

I made the executive decision to vacate the mountain 5 hrs later I collapsed at the truck normally we take two days to get out just because it is nicer that way.

I firmly believe I had the beginning of hyperthermia dry clothes, van heater of full and drinks pulled us through.

This happened on Aug. 17th.

After reading the stories above, I guess I'm pretty lucky. Like Jaywalker and Muddyfeet, I must be due, also.

I was camping at the Kawishiwi Lake campground for a long weekend. Though I'm an experienced camper, I grossly underestimated the expected overnight lows, and brought just a couple of blankets to sleep. A trip to Sawbill Outfitters the next morning solved that.

I went on two school-sponsored and supervised trips in high school. The worst nights were knowing that Mary K. was in the next tent over, and we couldn't "visit" during the night!

Mike

Woke up at 4 a.m. to a terrible stench. I wondered who died. Had to check my 10 year old daughter Beth to see if she was still breathing. I opened the tent flaps and let some air in. I will never make chili with TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) again.

goatroti: "Woke up at 4 a.m. to a terrible stench. I wondered who died. Had to check my 10 year old daughter Beth to see if she was still breathing. I opened the tent flaps and let some air in. I will never make chili with TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) again. "

Ha ha!

I have been in a few severe storms at night in the BWCA and in the woods: from tornados right next to our island to lightning hitting the tree in camp, to huge down bursts, to softball size hail, to trees falling down in camp. But I think the most scared I ever got, was hiking in the mountains when we had a grizzly in camp overnight. It took him a long time to leave and we didn't say a word. Grizzlies are crazy.

The worst day time experience has to be the time I got lost in the mountains without any gear on a backpacking trip. I was lost by myself for a good 2 or 3 hours. That was pretty terrifying. All it takes is one little turn and boom.. your lost. Hard to believe it can happen so fast.

Not me, but...

My wife and I spent our first couple of trips up the Gunflint at Flour Lake and the groundskeeper Tom told us that he and his wife Bobbi were in the park during the blowdown of '99. They were set up on a point, luckily, so no falling trees. They woke up to their canoe having been blown to the other side of the lake and had to cut their way back out. That was Bobbi's last trip into the BW.

treehorn: "

johndku: "July 21, 2016 storm in the BWCA.

We were camped on Red Rock Lake, about 2:00 a.m. the breeze stopped, and it was deathly quiet for 5 minutes. Then the breeze picked back up, harder and much cooler, with a lot of lightning, the kind that stays high up in the clouds.

After 20 minutes watching the lightning from my hammock, all heck broke loose for about half an hour. Had multiple trees down in camp, one just missing the tent we moved into. I thought the tent was going to take flight with us in it, a-la the Wizard of Oz. I was lucky I had tied the canoe down tight that night. I've read reports of winds of 80+ mph in that storm.
"

That was the night 2 campers were killed on Quetico side of Basswood.

Storm

I was in a bunkhouse at Clearwater that night - very glad to not have been in a tent! I remember the lightning you mention very well - it was constant. "

We were on Caribou during that storm. Not a good night. My husband slept thru most of it- one advantage to being deaf once the hearing aid is off. Found out how bad it was 2 days later when we got back to Clearwater lodge.

Once we were on Lake Tomahawk with our son and his friend. His mom texts me about 11 pm to say there is a tornado warning. Umm. Did she think there was a basement nearby, or maybe we should paddle a few hours in the dark to get to the car? It did get windy, but the boys and my husband slept thru it. At least until I woke hubby up because I heard our canoe rolling across the stone beach. We now always tie the canoes down.

Canoearoo: "...
The worst day time experience has to be the time I got lost in the mountains without any gear on a backpacking trip. I was lost by myself for a good 2 or 3 hours. That was pretty terrifying. All it takes is one little turn and boom.. your lost. Hard to believe it can happen so fast."

Glad you made it out! A good listen would be to hear that mishap in detail. Dealing with disorientation on an outdoors adventure is a horrible feeling--and for those who panic, it is heightened.

I equipped my buddy and his kid with an old MSR 3 man tent and a month before the trip I suggested he seam seal it and make certain it didn't leak. I kept mentioning it to him and sure enough he never bothered.

We were right around july 4th weekend and we were camped in a remote spot on Basswood and that night it rained REALLY hard for most of the night, epic actually. His tent leaked like a sieve and he spent the night with his sleeping bad in a plastic bag and the poor bloke laying on his mat in rain gear, sweaty and suffocating. He would later claim it was "the longest night of my life" and all while his kid slept through the whole sorry episode. He was a trooper though and never complained and adjusted well enjoying the trip immensely. We awoke to a beautiful morning and while he and his kid starting catching fish from shore I rigged the tarp over his tent.

Later, when we got back to civilization he took the tent back to REI hoping to get a good deal on another tent and lo and behold they gave him a brand new one. While he does have exceptional people skills and is a smooth operator, I couldn't help but mildly chastise him for taking advantage. I would of been embarrassed and frankly ashamed of myself to take a ten year old tent back and expect anything whatsoever. But, everybody is different I guess and he is as good as gold (well, mostly ;-)

My first outing with a hammock I did not yet know about tying a knot above my adjustment rings. My suspension slipped until my rear was touching the ground.

I know! It's a wonder I have worked up the courage to go back.

My first trip in the BWCA in 1977!! I was 10 and my brother was 7. Our father grew up in the woods of UP Michigan living a subsistence type lifestyle with his parents up until he graduated high school. He was always very comfortable in the wilderness and always shared his knowledge and experience with us boys. I don't recall what lake we were on but we went in through the numbered lakes. We were on an island campsite and I woke up to a loud rukus outside the tent. Something was obviously fighting close to us. I didn't panic or worry...I was with Dad after all and if he wasn't worried all was well...right?. Well I rolled over and saw him laying on top of his sleeping bag with his fillet knife out on his chest (still sheathed). I havenever seen my father with that out unless he was cleaning fish. In the moonlight all I got from him was his finger to his lips motioning for me to be quiet and then he mouthed "lay still". Now the rukus outside the tent had my full attention and I could very clearly hear the snarling and screeching and lots of "brush" snapping and rustling. It couldn't have lasted long but it felt like an eternity. Finally, everything quieted and my dad got up and left the tent telling me to stay there. 10 minutes later he comes back in and lays down and all he says is everything is ok.....go to sleep. Yeah, right! I laid there awake half the night before adrenaline wore off enough to sleep. In the morning as I woke up my brother (who slept right through it all) my dad heard us in the tent and said to hurry and come see what visited us last night. Not even 20 feet from the tent were 2-3 inch diameter trees sheared off and broken. There were several bear tracks and what my dad said was either a lynx or a cougar. We have no idea if why they were fighting, our guess was food. There was a little blood so we don't know if it was the meal or one or the other. When my dad got out of the tent he saw the bear swimming away for the shore. Only time I ever saw my dad nervous in the outdoors. My brother and I are now 47 and 50 and headed back this June for our first trip in the BWCA together in 30 years and trip number 6 in total for me. I can't wait!!

P.S. I have read enough threads on this board to know someone is going to say something about we had something out that drew them to the site. Nope, food pack was still hanging in the tree way away from the fight and fish remains that we cleaned for dinner the night before were in the shallows across the lake by the main shore not even on our island. :)

I know a guy who in the q went to go potty... He didn't return til morning. We won't name names cause I don't want to be embarrassed. Haha!

It does tend to sharpen one's survival skills though :)

LindenTree3: "Another one,


My father died in 2003 on the White Earth Reservation.
A native burial cerimony can take a long time, after the community cerimony in the town center we took his remains (Urn) back home.
You have to keep the fire burning for three days straight, to help their spirit find its way to the (Land of Never Ending Happiness).
My turn at the fire came up on the second of three, it was a mid January nite.
I spent all night alone outside in the woods, forbidden to sleep, at times burning Tobacco Pouches in the fire to help my dad find his way to the next life, (The Tobacco pouches are to appease the tricksters that would try to take my dad down the wrong path on his journey to the next life).


I do not remember much of the thoughts that came through my mind that nite, just that it was long.
It was the second time I had sat beside that fire helping someone pass unto the next life.
(The first time was for my brother).


They are burid behind my house now, here is a pic of their resting place. "

I am very sorry for your losses. Thank you for sharing that with us. Very touching and thoughtful.

mjmkjun: "

Canoearoo: "...
The worst day time experience has to be the time I got lost in the mountains without any gear on a backpacking trip. I was lost by myself for a good 2 or 3 hours. That was pretty terrifying. All it takes is one little turn and boom.. your lost. Hard to believe it can happen so fast."

Glad you made it out! A good listen would be to hear that mishap in detail. Dealing with disorientation on an outdoors adventure is a horrible feeling--and for those who panic, it is heightened. "

It was mostly anger, lack of skills/gear and over confidence. Young and dumb. We had heavy packs and were hiking with friends. They had the map and said just follow the trail. They hiked ahead (faster and more experienced) and found a campsite. Mean while the rest of us without a map came to a fork in the trail, didnt know which way they went so we choose the most used one. We hiked for an hour on the trail till we decided we had gone to far and turned back. On our way back first set of friends show up said they had camped 1/2 mile past the left fork. So basically we had just waisted 2 hours carrying heavy packs after an long 10 hour day of hiking (plus no sleep as we drove 20 hours to get there). I was mad and flustered i threw down my pack and said i was done. Friend picked it up and said just get to the fork,take a left hike a 1/2 mile then go right off the trail and camp is over the ridge. So I left them behind because i had no gear, reached the fork, took the left hiked for a 1/2 mile and took a right went over the hill and got completely lost. Ended up at a lake sat down and waited. I figured someone would come by, after all its a small lake. No one came by. I sat by a small tree (we were just above treeline) debating what to do. After about 2-3 hours i heard someone shouting my name so i tried to follow. But is is very echoey. Eventually i find the friend yelling for me and we hiked back to camp (which was much closer to the fork than 1/2 mile).

That's the trip that taught me i need to learn survival skills. And to never hike in the woods without some kind of gear or a map.

Selfsuffi: "My first trip in the BWCA in 1977!! I was 10 and my brother was 7. Our father grew up in the woods of UP Michigan living a subsistence type lifestyle with his parents up until he graduated high school. He was always very comfortable in the wilderness and always shared his knowledge and experience with us boys. I don't recall what lake we were on but we went in through the numbered lakes. We were on an island campsite and I woke up to a loud rukus outside the tent. Something was obviously fighting close to us. I didn't panic or worry...I was with Dad after all and if he wasn't worried all was well...right?. Well I rolled over and saw him laying on top of his sleeping bag with his fillet knife out on his chest (still sheathed). I havenever seen my father with that out unless he was cleaning fish. In the moonlight all I got from him was his finger to his lips motioning for me to be quiet and then he mouthed "lay still". Now the rukus outside the tent had my full attention and I could very clearly hear the snarling and screeching and lots of "brush" snapping and rustling. It couldn't have lasted long but it felt like an eternity. Finally, everything quieted and my dad got up and left the tent telling me to stay there. 10 minutes later he comes back in and lays down and all he says is everything is ok.....go to sleep. Yeah, right! I laid there awake half the night before adrenaline wore off enough to sleep. In the morning as I woke up my brother (who slept right through it all) my dad heard us in the tent and said to hurry and come see what visited us last night. Not even 20 feet from the tent were 2-3 inch diameter trees sheared off and broken. There were several bear tracks and what my dad said was either a lynx or a cougar. We have no idea if why they were fighting, our guess was food. There was a little blood so we don't know if it was the meal or one or the other. When my dad got out of the tent he saw the bear swimming away for the shore. Only time I ever saw my dad nervous in the outdoors. My brother and I are now 47 and 50 and headed back this June for our first trip in the BWCA together in 30 years and trip number 6 in total for me. I can't wait!!


P.S. I have read enough threads on this board to know someone is going to say something about we had something out that drew them to the site. Nope, food pack was still hanging in the tree way away from the fight and fish remains that we cleaned for dinner the night before were in the shallows across the lake by the main shore not even on our island. :)"

Some of you might know that I write for various magazines and some of these stories deserve a wider readership. If I can sell the article idea, "Worst Night in the Woods," to a magazine, are you and a few others open to being interviewed?

I’m OK with being interviewed. If my story goes to film I want Winona Ryder to play me.

Zulu: "I’m OK with being interviewed. If my story goes to film I want Winona Ryder to play me."

That's all you want? Easy-peasy!

johndku: "July 21, 2016 storm in the BWCA.


We were camped on Red Rock Lake, about 2:00 a.m. the breeze stopped, and it was deathly quiet for 5 minutes. Then the breeze picked back up, harder and much cooler, with a lot of lightning, the kind that stays high up in the clouds.


After 20 minutes watching the lightning from my hammock, all heck broke loose for about half an hour. Had multiple trees down in camp, one just missing the tent we moved into. I thought the tent was going to take flight with us in it, a-la the Wizard of Oz. I was lucky I had tied the canoe down tight that night. I've read reports of winds of 80+ mph in that storm.


"

Yeah, this was a bad one for us too and caused a couple of deaths, I believe.. We were also in the 2012 storm which blew our canoe out of a ravine I had put it in and over the top of the trees(20+ feet high) along shore and out in to the lake. Luckily the anchor rope hooked some brush along shore and kept it from blowing away.The ravine was around 100 ft from shore and 4-5 ft deep. I ALWAYS tie our canoe down now. It was terrifying, powerful and loud. I have a lot more appreciation for what the 1996 blowdown must have been like. YIKES!

I hurt my back lifting weights 2 or 3 days before we left with Gunsmoke, Lyonty, Food Nazi, plus my nephew and grandson for a 4 day trip to Fourtown Lake. I had promised to take my nephew and grandson so decided to just tough it out.
Had no problems the first 3 nights except my back was sore and stiff a lot.
On the last night I went out fishing with Lyonty in the evening and paddled across Fourtown to where we had caught fish earlier. Only caught 1 or 2 fish. so headed back. When we got back to shore and started to put tie up the boat when my back started really hurting. As we headed up to the tent I got about half way and couldn't make it any futher. Happened to have a hammock hanging up right there so laid in the hammock for a while and the pain just got worst. I crawled to the tent and tried to sleep but it hurt so much that I went back out side and sat and by the fire and rolled logs into it the rest of the night groaning and moaning as the spasms crawled up and down my back, wondering how I was going to get back to the car as I couldn't stand up and definitely couldn't walk. I took aleve to relieve the pain and when that didn't work I graduated to codeine but that didn't help either.
And that was the my worst night ever camping!
Epilog:
The next morning Food Nazi cut me a stick for a cane and everyone but me packed everything up and loaded the boats. My nephew and Lyonty paddled me back with me explaining to the nephew how to paddle as he had never paddled a canoe before. I would sit, and then stand for about 5 minutes at a time because my back hurt so bad. When on a portage I would look about 10 yards ahead then think I can make that far then go another 10 yards before sitting down. All then time I couldn't figure out how I was going to sit in the car for the 9 hour ride back home. Then a guy saw me and asked what wrong after I told him he said take this, it works way better then codiene. He was right percocet is way better then codeine. I was able to sleep most the home with my left leg on the right side of the dash pressing against the windshield.
Did make it home and with therapy have recovered and made numerous trips back up north.

Corsair: "First day in June 2012. Brought my 8yr old son with me on his first trip. Put in at lake one.


This was the year after Pagami creek fire and we were skirting the northern edge of the burn area. Started raining at 10 am. Didn't get to a site out of the burn area till Insula at 3pm. 1am I thought the whole forest was going to come down on us, the wind and rain.


When we came out a week later found out it was 8" in 9 hours. Sinkholes in Duluth, and a deceleration of a disaster area. Was nuts.


Crazy part was the kid slept through the whole thing.



"

Hey, I was on Agnes when that storm went through. Frightening for me. Thought for sure we were going to be in a tornado.

~~

Young and dumb? Long night?

I was working at Mt Rainier National Park and on my day off my pal Reece and I drove out of the park and parked at a trail head and hiked in 3 miles or so to a series of small lakes. We pounded the cut throat trout and then hiked out in the evening only to discover the keys to my truck were gone!

Reece immediately volunteered to run back to where we were fishing and search. I waited patiently and when he didn't return I became concerned. Now I started whisking my way up the series of switchbacks back to the lake. When I got there I never passed Reece and now I got totally freaked out. I yelled a few times, no answer. Then I pictured him having stumbled and fallen off the steep trail and was bruised, bloodied and unconscious.

By now it was getting dark and I was actually praying repeatedly as I went "The Lord guides my feet" as I made my way out in the increasing darkness. I got back to my truck (yes I was the one who lost the keys and didn't have a back up stashed) and started the 20+ mile walk out to try and get help. I walked all night and arrived at another friends house in the wee early morning hours only to collapse on his front porch on a bench.

At about 7 a.m. he found me and woke me and I explained what had happened. We jumped in his truck and made our way back to the scene of the crime only to find Reece standing by my truck. He had spent a long sleepless night in the mountains shivering as all he was dressed in was a white T-shirt.

"Where were you"? I asked............."I think I got turned around at the second lake" he replied. "Didn't you hear me yelling" I inquired............"no, he responded, but I did hear something coming so I hid, I thought it might be a bear" LOL.

Oh, and he had the keys in his hand. There were in my tackle box! When I looked inside they must have been hidden by the tray! What a night!

My worst night would be July, 2008 on an island in Ogish. when Eric, one of our party, was struck by lightning.

The four of us had arrived there quite gassed--tired, cold, wet and hungry after paddling all day in the rain. We discovered the fuel can we were counting on for cooking supper on the stove was actually empty and we had no luck with a fire either due to the rain and soaking-wet wood. About supper time the rain did let up a bit for us to eat some cold food. Shortly after dark we were driven into our tents as the rain started up again and then the storms came in wave after wave: heavy rain, strong wind, lightning, thunder and then a few-minute lull. Then, again, heavy rain, strong wind, lightning, thunder and then another lull and so it continued in these cycles. The rain drained down the slope behind our tent to under our tent floor until it was like a water bed. The winds bent our tent poles until they bowed in and in one gust about midnight, the fiberglass poles on my tent snapped and the tent collapsed on us (during a lull we were able to go outside and do a duct-tape tent pole repair). About an hour after the pole snap, we were startled to hear a tree snap and then shortly after that a big BOOM from a close lightning strike. A few moments later a feeble voice came from the other tent asking about our safety because Eric had just been struck by lightning in their tent. We were fine and after regaining composure, Eric decided he was OK as well as he felt fine with a small burn mark on his upper arm as the only noticeable injury. We assume that he had been laying close to one of the aluminum poles in their tent and that the lightning had arched from the pole to his arm.

The next morning was beautiful weather and four very, very lucky guys were able to exit the BWCA largely unscathed.

missmolly: "

Selfsuffi: "My first trip in the BWCA in 1977!! I was 10 and my brother was 7. Our father grew up in the woods of UP Michigan living a subsistence type lifestyle with his parents up until he graduated high school. He was always very comfortable in the wilderness and always shared his knowledge and experience with us boys. I don't recall what lake we were on but we went in through the numbered lakes. We were on an island campsite and I woke up to a loud rukus outside the tent. Something was obviously fighting close to us. I didn't panic or worry...I was with Dad after all and if he wasn't worried all was well...right?. Well I rolled over and saw him laying on top of his sleeping bag with his fillet knife out on his chest (still sheathed). I havenever seen my father with that out unless he was cleaning fish. In the moonlight all I got from him was his finger to his lips motioning for me to be quiet and then he mouthed "lay still". Now the rukus outside the tent had my full attention and I could very clearly hear the snarling and screeching and lots of "brush" snapping and rustling. It couldn't have lasted long but it felt like an eternity. Finally, everything quieted and my dad got up and left the tent telling me to stay there. 10 minutes later he comes back in and lays down and all he says is everything is ok.....go to sleep. Yeah, right! I laid there awake half the night before adrenaline wore off enough to sleep. In the morning as I woke up my brother (who slept right through it all) my dad heard us in the tent and said to hurry and come see what visited us last night. Not even 20 feet from the tent were 2-3 inch diameter trees sheared off and broken. There were several bear tracks and what my dad said was either a lynx or a cougar. We have no idea if why they were fighting, our guess was food. There was a little blood so we don't know if it was the meal or one or the other. When my dad got out of the tent he saw the bear swimming away for the shore. Only time I ever saw my dad nervous in the outdoors. My brother and I are now 47 and 50 and headed back this June for our first trip in the BWCA together in 30 years and trip number 6 in total for me. I can't wait!!



P.S. I have read enough threads on this board to know someone is going to say something about we had something out that drew them to the site. Nope, food pack was still hanging in the tree way away from the fight and fish remains that we cleaned for dinner the night before were in the shallows across the lake by the main shore not even on our island. :)"

Some of you might know that I write for various magazines and some of these stories deserve a wider readership. If I can sell the article idea, "Worst Night in the Woods," to a magazine, are you and a few others open to being interviewed? "

MissMolly - I thought I answered this but it doesn't look like it. I would be open to this idea.

I enjoyed reading this thread. Its easy to put myself in those situations, and relate to the fear, or plain miserable conditions. I have had so many awful camping experiences it's hard to narrow down to one. The 99 blowdown wasn't at night, but even if it was, I'm not sure it would make my worst night in the woods. While it was scary, maybe even terrifying, it was over so quickly, that I don't think it compares, to someone who has a grizzly milling around outside their tent for hours, or even an all night lightning show, of which I've been a part of 3 times.

I think what was most scary about the blowdown, was my brother and I being separated from our family. We both had children with on that trip, and we were stuck at a portage. We came back to this, but fortunately everyone was safe.







When trees are falling all around you, it's really hard to know what course of action to take. If you're ever in a similar situation, i recommend finding a large tree that has already fallen, and crawl under it. It's likely to provide the best protection.

Over the years there have been many miserable nights.

I'm not sure what the year was, as I recall, it may have been the year of the sag corridor fire. We had to back our trip up, from a summer trip, to around the 7th of september. We were camping on 3rd bay, between Sag and Swamp. The first couple days were 65 to 70 degrees, and beautiful, but the 3rd night, a lightning storm came through, and the next day the temps dropped into the 20's and 30's. It was miserable after that. But that lightning storm stands out as perhaps my worst night in a tent. The storm did not have much wind, if any, and moved extremely slow. But the lightning was nearly non-stop, and endless. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say every minute or less. Many of the strikes were going to the ground, seemed very close, and had me on edge for hours. You could see the outlines of the bushes, through the tent each time lightning struck. All 4 of us were terrified.

We had intended to camp in Zephyr, but it was taken, and many of our thoughts the next day, was to the group in Zephyr. We knew they had very tall Pine trees in that campsite, and we were worried for their safety. After breakfast we decided to check on them. At the portage we ran into them as they were portaging out. They had had, a big portion of a tree snap off and land on their tent. Fortunately, They were not hurt, but it ruined their tent poles, and scared them enough they were exiting the boundary waters.

When we were little, we lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. My father and my uncle used to make an annual trip up to Ely for Lake Trout and Pike fishing. I always wanted to go, and he finally agreed to take us. My Dad was always worried us kids would get lost in the woods, so he would pick an island site to camp on, put life jackets on us, and let us run off where ever we wanted to, because there was little risk at that point. The only problem this one year, was the island was infested.

I was perhaps 5 or 6 years old. He finally took me and 2 of my older sibling with to Ely. I was so excited to go. It's so long ago, my memory is a little fuzzy. All I know, the first night there as a full moon. We had one of those great big canvas tents, that are like 10' x 14', and super heavy. I can still smell the canvas even now. There were several of us, all lined up side by side in sleeping bags, on top of matts. I remember in the middle of the night, there was a lot of commotion. I woke up to MICE scurrying all over us. They had chewed their way into the tent, and there seemed to be 100's of them. My dad had work gloves on, he was trying to grab them, squish them, and stuff them back into the holes. I don't know how long that went on, but it was our last night on that island. I remember having nightmares for a long time. The mice were in our bags, and crawling over the top of us. We could see/hear them running across the top of the tent. I have a vague recollection of an owl swooping down and grabbing one in the moonlight. But it's so long ago, I have a hard time knowing whether that was real, or part of one of my nightmares. I do remember when we got up in the morning, there was a mess kit with water in it, that had lots of drown mice in it.

We normally deer hunt down by Lanesboro, in the 300 series, first season. One year we didn't get anything, so we were looking around for somewhere to hunt the 3rd weekend in NE MN. I found this rental on Craigslist. It was a 4 bedroom house, with 400 acres, and lots of treestands, for $200 for the weekend. I couldn't pass that up. The only problem was, the person who rented to me, didn't tell me the house was empty, and so was the propane. I would have brought a table and chairs, and at the very least, a HEATER. It was well below zero that weekend, and made for a very miserable couple nights.

We car camped at Lake Carlos one year, and sat through a hail storm, and lightning show. I didn't get any sleep that night either.

The first time I took my 2 kids to the boundary waters, when they were about 4 and 5, we decided to car camp on fall lake, and make day trips. The first night, both got the Flu ,and threw up all night. All over everything. Yuk.

It wasn't at night, but I remember August 16th, 1977. My father had a station wagon, with rear-facing seats in the way back, and pulled a trailer behind, with the canoes mounted on the trailer. The trailer was a goofy looking thing. It was the back half of a pickup truck, with a plywood box built to fit inside, and the canoe racks were on top of the box. We called it the albatross.

Nevertheless, we stopped at some sort of scenic place up on the north shore/duluth someplace, on the way to the boundary waters. As we came back to the car, dad and mom got in the front, and turned the car on. While my older brother and sister got in the middle, me and my younger brother walked around back, to climb in the back of the station wagon.

As my brother and I stood between the trailer and the rear of the station wagon, my dad, listening to the radio, just heard that Elvis Presley died.

He was in such a dazed stupor, that he started to pull away before my brother and I had a chance to climb in. As the trailer was about to run us over, I pushed my brother face first into the seat, and jumped up on the trailer hitch, as my dad started driving off. Everyone in unison yelled DAD!!! Of course at that point, he comes to, and slams on the brakes. Except that the back door to the station wagon is still open, so it slams "shut" on my brothers legs. It didn't break them, but he was bruised up pretty good. It could have been a lot worse. I just remember how depressed my dad was that whole trip. He loved Elvis Presley.

Worst night...In an IL state park. A bunch of crazies were howling, screaming, fighting all night. As the sun was rising, some gal started an argument with her boyfriend. He slapped her and was pulling her hair as I pulled away and headed home.
There were others from their group pulling him away, so I didn't get involved.

Humans create much more havoc then nature usually does.

jcavenagh: "Worst night...In an IL state park. A bunch of crazies were howling, screaming, fighting all night. As the sun was rising, some gal started an argument with her boyfriend. He slapped her and was pulling her hair as I pulled away and headed home.
There were others from their group pulling him away, so I didn't get involved.

Humans create much more havoc then nature usually does."

So, so right, people are the true danger....in the late 80s my best friend had just gotten his honorable discharge from the Air Force and we lived in Idaho, so we headed north to party somewhere around a hot springs and enjoy the weekend, Idaho is full of hot springs and finding them is sometimes just a matter of hiking in. We knew of one north of Lowman, Idaho that is kind of remote so we drove up there. We set up camp at a very nice camp ground near the hot springs, maybe 200 yards away. We purposely chose the farthest away campsite in case anyone else showed up. We made a campfire for later, got out some lawn chairs and enjoyed an afternoon of sunny conditions, watching elk graze on a far hillside as we drank a few beers. We put some beers in a cooler and decided to walk over to the hot springs to soak. I should mention here too that the beer was in glass bottles, dumb of us. The hot springs were a collection of rocks piled up over the years and about four feet deep at the deepest but you had to walk maybe 40-50 yards across rocks that are warm, wet, mossy, and slippery. We did OK on the way to the hot springs, got in and relaxed, enjoyed the afternoon around us and drank a couple more beers. After some time two guys and two girls showed up. These guys looked like they had just been released from prison, tattoos all over WAY before tattoos all over were common, this was mid 80s or so, and they had bad attitudes. These two guys were also very verbally abusive to the two girls along with them. The was a stream that ran very close to the hot springs, and these guys were encouraging the two women to dip the breasts in the cold water and give them a t*tty show...it was abusive and along with this they had a boom box. Keep in mind, this is fairly remote, my buddy and I cam there for peace and quiet and to enjoy some time together outdoors. They started playing the book box pretty loud, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, MegaDeath, Twisted sister, et al...even though this hot spring was kind of large and we were as far away from them as we could be, the music was intrusive. There are no park rangers or help up there, it is purposely remote, rangers rarely show up there. So, in between one of the songs, I had had enough and told them to "turn it off, leave it off". One of the guys clicked it off and looked, glared down at us and said "what did you say?" I said "We have heard enough, leave it off for awhile.."....the tension immediately ratcheted up, as you can imagine. The abuse of the women continued, the sun was going down and it was getting dark fast. My buddy and I decided to take the couple hundred yard hike back to our tent/campsite. We had to walk back across these mossy, slippery, wet rocks, only now in the gathering dark. I was carrying the cooler and slipped and fell- remember I said we were stupid enough to bring glass beer bottles? Now we had mostly empty glass bar bottles skittering all over the rocks and path to the hot springs. Not good....in the dark, I got up and started trying to find all the beer bottles, hoping none broke. My buddy helped and we did find them all, none broke, a miracle. We hiked back to our tent area, passing the convict tent area on the way. Thank God we did set up our tent at the far end of the camp area, but, still, I was uncomfortable with them even being in the same area. They were a bad vibe and looked and acted as bad actors.

It gets even stranger.....We returned to our campsite and started the campfire we had built earlier. It immediately got too large and we were concerned about it getting out of control...it did calm down after a bit and we relaxed in our chairs as we kept one eye down the way on the convicts distant campsite. We could hear them, barely, but they stayed to themselves, thankfully. It did get strange though.....

Later, quite some time later, we were still sitting around the campfire talking..... All of a sudden, across the short ravine just away from us maybe couple hundred yards, same area where we watched the elk grazing earlier, a bright light appeared on the ridge. This was a very steep ridge and no man or beast could maneuver as this did- this light moved rapidly up the ridge, across the steep ravine, down the ridge, then would shoot very fast along the short peak that climbed to the mountains behind it. My buddy and I watched this and became increasingly disconcerted, "what the hell is THAT?!!! What is God's name can move like that in that terrain?!!" It was unreal, to this day I get chills when I think of it. Nothing I am aware of can move like that though brush, some timber, and very steep inclines and rocky pitches. As we watched we got freaked out. We decided in our irrational state, we should get in my truck and lock the doors.....I had an old IH 4x4 that could push over what it couldn't clear- a beast of a truck but had no functioning door locks....so, we got in and tried to lock the doors which did not lock. We were semi-worked into a lather at this point, embarrassing, but true- this light and whatever it was freaked us out in a way that I can not even re-create today. And it went on for a good 30 minutes....up, across, down, over, and through this very wooded, rocky, steep, nearly impassable terrain. I still don't know what it was....

Anyway, we went back to the camp area and watched this light for a bit until it suddenly disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared, just all of a sudden, gone. Nothing further was seen of it. The fire died down and eventually we went to our sleeping bags, uneasily...at first light I awoke and we packed camp and got out of there. Not before I looked across at that ridge and wondered what the hell that had been. We went to the closest breakfast shop open down the mountain a ways and had a bunch of coffee and a massive breakfast. I stole a coffee cup from that restaurant to remember that time and still have it to this day......I will never know what that was and every time I see this long-term buddy of mine eventually that story comes up....

Worst night in the woods article Canoe & kayak online magazine

This looks like it was taken right from this thread, pretty cool. Nice pics too.

Swampturtle: " Worst night in the woods article Canoe & kayak online magazine


This looks like it was taken right from this thread, pretty cool. Nice pics too. "

Yes, it is a good article. Thanks for letting us know about it!

Unas10: "My first outing with a hammock I did not yet know about tying a knot above my adjustment rings. My suspension slipped until my rear was touching the ground.


I know! It's a wonder I have worked up the courage to go back."

Hey, you just had a shorter distance to fall. :)

my first trip was to carp lake quetico. we bought into the idea that it was good to leave the tent open during the day while we were away, well, comes a big august thunderstorm with heavy rain and wind.
everything got soaked and it was a wet, damp first night.
those first trips were sure full of laughable memories.

Swampturtle: " Worst night in the woods article Canoe & kayak online magazine

This looks like it was taken right from this thread, pretty cool. Nice pics too. "

Thanks for posting.

My mom likes to remind me of the story about when we went camping in a little pup tent at Lookout Mountain. I am was probably a preschooler. We went to watch the meteor shower. The campsite was on top of the mountain with a great view of the valley below. There was a little cliff that we watched the shooting stars from. When we went to bed I asked her what would happen if I went sleeping walking. Would I fall off the cliff. She told me not worry about it and go to sleep. I slept well all night but she was afraid to close her eyes after that.

Worst night? Or worst camping trips?
The worst night was while still in the army, while in the field we were inserted into a valley with orders to scout the next valley over and set up a OP on the ridge for the day. We would be extracted that evening after being radio’ed to set up a LZ. It was late Oct a nice indian summer sort of day and we had just the gear for the mission. We knew things were going badly when the radio failed and we were unable to contact anyone. We returned to here we had been dropped off hoping someone at this point would show up and gather us back up. A few hours before dark as the temps started to fall I started to worry a bit. As the sun set and snow started to fall we got really worried and retreated by into the tree line to set up some sort of camp and get a fire going. Out of the 5 of us I was the only one with any time in the outdoors with a few of the others who had camped out in the scouts are had gone on overnight camps as kids. I was able rig up a sort of camp with wind breaks and some cover breaking all the rules of “leave no trace” as I stripped trees of branches creating a sleeping area and windbreaks.
During the night the temps fell, it snowed and sleeted and as the sun rose the next morning to a driving wet snow we decided to leave a note and start a 12 mile hike out. I got everyone something hot to drink with pine needle tea and by 3pm we stumbled into a field HQ wet, cold, tired and really pissed off.
After a lot of yelling and screaming, we found out that because of the incoming weather the training had been canceled and everyone thought we were back at some other camp. We got a personal apology from couple of captains and a nice dinner on the drive back from a major. That night and the hike out were some of the worst times I’ve ever been outdoors

In 1985 me and my girlfriend (now wife) took the train from Chicago to Glacier National Park Montana. All we had were our backpacks and 10 days. Our first night was in the beautiful hotel at the edge of the park and just a walk from the train station.

Our first hike the next day was up and over a ridge called "Scenic Point". We were told it would take 4-5 hours to go up and down the other side to a campground. So off we were. Just before we entered the forest to start our climb we meet a local older man on horseback. We tell him our plans and he advises us against it. He says there's going to be very high winds later that afternoon and night.

Being young and fairly dumb we decide to proceed. Well, before we made the top we had roped ourselves together for safety and huge gusts of wind came and went. We we got above the tree line we were in trouble. We knew at that point we were stuck and it was too dangerous to be on the trail so close to falling to our deaths in a very high wind. We looked for shelter.

I found a small cave of sorts and though of holing up there through the night. Well, my wife is a cat lover and she smelled cat urine in that cave. We moved on. Eventually we laid out a tarp and put our bags on top behind a small stone ledge. We were very exposed and near the edge of a very steep drop but decided we could go no further.

There happened to be a large forest fire going on near St. Mary and we had a fine view of it across the valley. We were up over 7,000 ft. if I recall. I vividly remember seeing tree tops exploding in flame. The wind gusts were extremely scary. We climbed down the next morning and the people at the campground were in disbelief that we spent the night up there. There were gusts on the ground recorded at 70 mph.

I learned a big lesson on that trip. When a local calmly gives you advice - TAKE IT!

In 1985 me and my girlfriend (now wife) took the train from Chicago to Glacier National Park Montana. All we had were our backpacks and 10 days. Our first night was in the beautiful hotel at the edge of the park and just a walk from the train station.

Our first hike the next day was up and over a ridge called "Scenic Point". We were told it would take 5-6 hours to go up and down the other side to a campground. So off we were. Just before we entered the forest to start our climb we meet a local older man on horseback. We tell him our plans and he advises us against it. He says there's going to be very high winds later that afternoon and night.

Being young and fairly dumb we decide to proceed. Well, before we made the top we had roped ourselves together for safety and huge gusts of wind came and went. We we got above the tree line we were in trouble. We knew at that point we were stuck and it was too dangerous to be on the trail so close to falling to our deaths in a very high wind. We looked for shelter.

I found a small cave of sorts and though of holing up there through the night. Well, my wife is a cat lover and she smelled cat urine in that cave. We moved on. Eventually we laid out a tarp and put our bags on top behind a small stone ledge. We were very exposed and near the edge of a very steep drop but decided we could go no further.

There happened to be a large forest fire going on near St. Mary and we had a fine view of it across the valley during the night. We were up over 7,000 ft. and I vividly remember seeing tree tops exploding in flame. The wind gusts were extremely scary but we were in no danger from the fire being well above the tree line. We climbed down the next morning and the people at the campground were in disbelief that we spent the night up there. There were gusts on the ground recorded at 70 mph.

I learned a big lesson on that trip. When a local calmly gives you advice - TAKE IT!

carmike: "I was once robbed and beat up and my then-girlfriend was assaulted by two armed men who found us camped in the middle of nowhere in AK. Worst night by a LONG shot. "

And that is why I have a firearm with me, always.
About 18 years ago at a takeout on the Mecan river in Wisconsin a group of unsavory individuals mentioned that my Wenonah canoe must have cost a lot of money and that they were going to take it. My wife heard them say it and immediately picked up
the one gallon jar that held our wallets, ID etc. That jar also had a Glock pistol in it which I
retrieved and put on my waist. The group decided they had other things to do and left
as quickly as possible.