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05/18/2017 07:33PM |
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05/18/2017 07:24PM |
quote boonie: "quote Whatsit: "I have recently subscribed to Les' survivorman channel and nearly every survivorman episode Les talks about "the long night ahead with the bogey man and bumps in the night". So it's good to know that someone like Les that makes a living by being outside even gets the spooks from time to time.
Mike"
They're out there, Mike, I've seen them, too.
Here's the solution I gave my brother after his first after dark latrine trip. He came back and said he saw eyes in the brush looking at him. I told him to turn his light off and he wouldn't see the reflections. :) "
Ha, great advise :-)
Did any of you ever watch Cary the couch skinner's YouTube bwca solo trip videos? He had an empty bottle he took into his tent every night so he didn't have to get up and go outside during the night :-)
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05/18/2017 07:27PM |
quote GraniteCliffs: "One night on a Quetico solo I had deer running through my campsite and next to the tent for what seemed like hours but was likely minutes. I am lucky. When I hit the tent I am usually asleep within seconds and don't hear a thing until I have to get up to relieve myself. And then back to sleep instantly. It is a blessing."
Lucky! I'm a very light sleeper. Normally even the smallest of noises I'm woken up wondering what I just heard. I sleep with a fan on at home. So the ear plugs are what I normally take on the bwca trip. I also pop a Benadryl too :-)
Mike
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05/18/2017 05:16PM |
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05/18/2017 06:45PM |
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05/30/2017 09:34AM |
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05/17/2017 06:13PM |
quote Whatsit: "quote gkimball: "The only time I have been frightened at night was not in the BWCA. It was in Rocky Mountain National Park many years ago on a solo into the Lost Lake area.
I was startled awake when I heard an animal noise near my head as I lay in a one person tent with the tent flap tied open. I had left my old, tired hiking boots just outside the door as there wasn't any room inside. Sleeping like a baby I recoiled when I heard some kind of grunt maybe 2 feet from head just outside the netting. I yelled something and fumbled for the flashlight. A porcupine was chewing on the collar of one of the boots.
My yell didn't scare it away but the flashlight did. Got a great look at it very close up as it decided the boot didn't taste that good after all.
Have heard many sounds at night in the BWCA but nothing I would call scary like that.
PS I now sleep with my boots inside the tent"
That reminds me of a story my boss told me that once he was in India at a hotel. One night he was awaken by a weird chewing noise. He turned on the light and on the night stand next to his bed a rat was sitting there chewing on his leather watch band. Can you even imagine?"
A rat? Not good...at least porcupines don't spread bubonic plague...right?
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05/17/2017 07:57PM |
quote Frenchy19: "Earplugs. "
Yep. Never leave home without them. Gotta have ear plugs or it's hard to sleep. The woods is not a quiet place in the dark. Usually the wind has died down and every small noise becomes louder with no wind or other sounds that we are used to like traffic to act as white noise and drowned out the other noises.
I have very little fear of the dark anymore. I have spent so much time walking out from bow hunting in the dark etc. that my brain has finally gotten to the point where it realizes that there is nothing different about the world at night other than it's dark. Sure, there's a few more critters roaming about, but I am much scarier than they are. Have you seen my face at night?
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05/17/2017 08:26PM |
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05/17/2017 10:31PM |
What about when you get home from a solo trip to review photos. And, you spot a shady image in the corner of one of your photos that turns out to be a GHOST!!! (just kidding).
I'm scared almost 100% of the time on portages, at night, or out on the ice skiing by myself. But I overcome it by knowing the statistics don't support the fears. Fear really doesn't go away. That said, I most worry about lightning, falling trees in a storm, or letting myself get too far from shore taking a shortcut when I'm alone and could drown.
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05/18/2017 09:33AM |
Mike
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05/18/2017 11:21AM |
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05/18/2017 03:03PM |
quote Whatsit: "I have recently subscribed to Les' survivorman channel and nearly every survivorman episode Les talks about "the long night ahead with the bogey man and bumps in the night". So it's good to know that someone like Les that makes a living by being outside even gets the spooks from time to time.
Mike"
They're out there, Mike, I've seen them, too.
Here's the solution I gave my brother after his first after dark latrine trip. He came back and said he saw eyes in the brush looking at him. I told him to turn his light off and he wouldn't see the reflections. :)
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05/24/2017 08:33AM |
I had a good laugh after that like a crazy person in the middle of the night! One reason I like going solo is you do get those moments of primitive anxiety from time to time. And then you get past it, and you know a little more from the experience.
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06/25/2017 02:34AM |
I use ear plugs and Benadryl as well. If something is out there, I don't want to know about it. If it is storming I can hear that through the earplugs but they seem to cut down on the rustling and snuffling.
I also limit my beverages after 5pm because I HATE WAKING UP TO URINATE in the middle of the night.
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06/25/2017 06:00AM |
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06/25/2017 07:17AM |
quote luft: "
I also limit my beverages after 5pm because I HATE WAKING UP TO URINATE in the middle of the night."
I get dehydration headaches if I do that. Top of the head pounders. I've relied on pee bottles for years so I don't have to leave the tent. Advantage boys. :)
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06/22/2017 07:34PM |
quote OgimaaBines: "
Now I don't worry so much. Just urinate up the trail from camp away from the lake and don't have them bears on my mind so much. "
Funny- I do this too. No idea if it is at all effective, but it seems instinctive to define your territory by scent.
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05/15/2017 11:08AM |
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05/15/2017 05:44PM |
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05/15/2017 05:37PM |
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05/15/2017 06:20PM |
quote Bannock: "I've yelled "Hey!" a few times. It's always worked so far.
"
I'll keep that in mind :-)
My friend made me a native flute out of the hardest wood he could find so I can use it to defend myself if I need to, Ha!
Thanks all
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05/15/2017 07:11PM |
You will find out, just don't dwell on the choices. Everyone is different in those respects.
Always keep a bailout option, especially on first solo trips.
butthead
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05/14/2017 09:43PM |
Mike
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05/15/2017 05:39AM |
quote boonie: "My advice: Leave your hearing aids in the car; that's what I do. :)
On one of my first solos in the ADK's, I was camped on the Oswegatchie. In the middle of the night, there was a loud splash in the water. I was sure it was a bear and sat frozen in the tent clutching my trusty Swiss Army Knife (SAK). In the morning, I ascertained it was a beaver that had dropped a tree in the river.
I also had wolves run through camp in the middle of the night on my first BW solo. I was asleep in the tent on Gebeonequet when a chase went right through camp at 3:00 AM. The first bark was only a few feet from the tent it seemed and I awoke instantly and was wide awake and alert with the hair on my neck standing up. These are not just the figures of speech we normally think of them as; they are real descriptions of what actually happens! I grabbed the nearest weapon - my camp shoe - but they soon veered off into the woods in full pursuit.
Now that I've put your mind at ease, Mike, my advice is to keep your SAK and camp shoe within easy reach in the tent - right next to that .44 magnum.
I'll leave you with my friend Joe's version of The Truth (they shall know The Truth and The Truth shall set them free). Joe had taken some inner city youth into Algonquin on a church youth group trip. One of them just would not buy the idea that those noises outside the tent at night were mice and squirrels, not bears. Joe finally just told him The Truth when he asked how he could be sure those noises weren't bears. He just told him because bears don't make a sound when they come into camp. Joe told me it didn't help.
Have a good trip!
"
Ha! Thanks for the great advise Boonie :-)
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05/15/2017 07:30AM |
quote muddyfeet: "Look at statistics of harmful animal encounters in the BWCA and rest easy. Consider yourself lucky if you get to see any.
That said, I have been scared at times- especially my first solo. Practice and experience make it go away, though. And if you have trouble going to sleep- a little whiskey can calm the nerves- but I probably wouldn't tell my kids that. People have also reported success with earplugs- I've not used them.
I do keep my knife clipped to the hammock ridgeline- more out of convienence- but it is a comforting thought knowing it is right there. "
Oh I know the odds are rare. I'm not worried in the slightest. Just know when I hear the odd bump i hope my imagination doesn't run wild :-)
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05/15/2017 04:59AM |
On one of my first solos in the ADK's, I was camped on the Oswegatchie. In the middle of the night, there was a loud splash in the water. I was sure it was a bear and sat frozen in the tent clutching my trusty Swiss Army Knife (SAK). In the morning, I ascertained it was a beaver that had dropped a tree in the river.
I also had wolves run through camp in the middle of the night on my first BW solo. I was asleep in the tent on Gebeonequet when a chase went right through camp at 3:00 AM. The first bark was only a few feet from the tent it seemed and I awoke instantly and was wide awake and alert with the hair on my neck standing up. These are not just the figures of speech we normally think of them as; they are real descriptions of what actually happens! I grabbed the nearest weapon - my camp shoe - but they soon veered off into the woods in full pursuit.
Now that I've put your mind at ease, Mike, my advice is to keep your SAK and camp shoe within easy reach in the tent - right next to that .44 magnum.
I'll leave you with my friend Joe's version of The Truth (they shall know The Truth and The Truth shall set them free). Joe had taken some inner city youth into Algonquin on a church youth group trip. One of them just would not buy the idea that those noises outside the tent at night were mice and squirrels, not bears. Joe finally just told him The Truth when he asked how he could be sure those noises weren't bears. He just told him because bears don't make a sound when they come into camp. Joe told me it didn't help.
Have a good trip!
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05/15/2017 05:51AM |
That said, I have been scared at times- especially my first solo. Practice and experience make it go away, though. And if you have trouble going to sleep- a little whiskey can calm the nerves- but I probably wouldn't tell my kids that. People have also reported success with earplugs- I've not used them.
I do keep my knife clipped to the hammock ridgeline- more out of convienence- but it is a comforting thought knowing it is right there.
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05/16/2017 09:10AM |
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05/16/2017 09:34AM |
You and a buddy are camping and hear a "bump in the night"
You say "whatsit" nothing.
Another bump, you say "whatsit" nothing.
Then your buddy starts calling you "whatsit" ;-)
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05/16/2017 09:33AM |
I was at a Forest Service campground in the UP in early May. I was the only person there. I woke up around 1 a.m. for some reason and laid there just listening. All of a sudden a horrible "dog fight" broke out right behind my tent. Growling and snapping and rolling all over the ground. Scared the hell out of me and of course there was no window on that side of the tent. It only lasted about 10 seconds but what ever the critters were, they were BIG!!..............
Suddenly it ended as quickly and as quietly as it started and I climbed out of the tent to look around. Never saw a thing. The dogs, or wolves, or coyotes had slipped silently into the darkness.
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05/16/2017 06:30AM |
After a couple startles that turned out to be small critters or something along the shore line (beaver mostly) I started spending time just listening. Amazing what sounds are out there and now I can identify most so the startle period of uncertainty is mostly gone.
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05/16/2017 08:49AM |
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05/16/2017 12:44PM |
quote LindenTree3: "Now I see how you got your screen name.
You and a buddy are camping and hear a "bump in the night"
You say "whatsit" nothing.
Another bump, you say "whatsit" nothing.
Then your buddy starts calling you "whatsit" ;-)"
You nailed it Linden :-)
Actually there's an English show/book called Darling Buds of May and the main character referred to things he didn't know the names of "Whatsit"
It's a favorite show, book and actor of mine. (David Jason) I just liked it so much I use that as my name on YouTube twitter and here
Mike
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05/16/2017 02:33PM |
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05/16/2017 05:59PM |
My dog was sitting up and her eyes got huge. I'll never forget the look on her as she slowly turned her head to me. She didn't make a sound but was obviously scared.
For me I do remember having the heebie jeebies on my first couple solos in my 20s. Not much anymore. More of a curiosity to what the sound may be.
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05/16/2017 06:32PM |
quote TomT: "Last September I was solo with my dog. We sleep in a 2 man tent and were just getting everything squared away in the tent when something trotted past us. It sounded like a coyote or wolf at a quick trot.
My dog was sitting up and her eyes got huge. I'll never forget the look on her as she slowly turned her head to me. She didn't make a sound but was obviously scared.
For me I do remember having the heebie jeebies on my first couple solos in my 20s. Not much anymore. More of a curiosity to what the sound may be.
"
Thanks Tom
Mike
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05/16/2017 08:38PM |
I was startled awake when I heard an animal noise near my head as I lay in a one person tent with the tent flap tied open. I had left my old, tired hiking boots just outside the door as there wasn't any room inside. Sleeping like a baby I recoiled when I heard some kind of grunt maybe 2 feet from head just outside the netting. I yelled something and fumbled for the flashlight. A porcupine was chewing on the collar of one of the boots.
My yell didn't scare it away but the flashlight did. Got a great look at it very close up as it decided the boot didn't taste that good after all.
Have heard many sounds at night in the BWCA but nothing I would call scary like that.
PS I now sleep with my boots inside the tent
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05/17/2017 07:54AM |
quote gkimball: "The only time I have been frightened at night was not in the BWCA. It was in Rocky Mountain National Park many years ago on a solo into the Lost Lake area.
I was startled awake when I heard an animal noise near my head as I lay in a one person tent with the tent flap tied open. I had left my old, tired hiking boots just outside the door as there wasn't any room inside. Sleeping like a baby I recoiled when I heard some kind of grunt maybe 2 feet from head just outside the netting. I yelled something and fumbled for the flashlight. A porcupine was chewing on the collar of one of the boots.
My yell didn't scare it away but the flashlight did. Got a great look at it very close up as it decided the boot didn't taste that good after all.
Have heard many sounds at night in the BWCA but nothing I would call scary like that.
PS I now sleep with my boots inside the tent"
That reminds me of a story my boss told me that once he was in India at a hotel. One night he was awaken by a weird chewing noise. He turned on the light and on the night stand next to his bed a rat was sitting there chewing on his leather watch band. Can you even imagine?
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05/26/2017 06:25PM |
quote TheBrownLeader: "6 years ago on Silence Lake I pitched my hammock really close to the water line. It was a great place to fall asleep. In the middle of the night I heard a huge splash, like someone had dropped a bowling ball in the water from a great height. Chunk! I jumped out of my hammock faster than I thought I could move, thinking, my god t's true, Sasquatch does throw rocks at you in the middle of the night. I yelled into the night pretty loud, and then you know, I was still in wake up mode with adrenaline surging. So after an intense minute of adrenaline fueled fight readiness, I realized what the sound was. Beaver. "
Same thing happened to me on my first solo. First night out camped on Alder right by the lake, swinging in a hammock. I had my red light on, doing some reading and about 10' from me one slapped. I would've thrown my book if I didn't have bug netting. Then those suckers woke me up at 4 in the morning felling popple about 40 yards from me.
My first solo was interesting because I've never been worried about bear, but when you're alone, your hackles are up quite a bit more. Survival instincts I suppose. Even went so far as to run a trip-line one foot off the ground around my hammock with a fishing bell on it once I found a basecamp. Nothing much more to do but also wanted a bit more peace of mind.
Now I don't worry so much. Just urinate up the trail from camp away from the lake and don't have them bears on my mind so much.
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05/27/2017 04:42PM |
Fully awake he reached for his .357 then realized there were hammocks all around him. So he basically laid awake all night.
Never had a bear or wolves in camp. . .but we have had several moose come through.
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05/31/2017 08:13PM |
Just got back from a 3 day 2 nighter solo in the Kenai Peninsula Wilderness.
I didn't sleep that great either night, not sure why except I had a little bug in my plumbing last nite. (Plus it doesn't get dark).
Finished with 4 miles of tripple portaging for 12 miles total, and only 4-5 miles of paddling today. I'm bushed. Did it in 6.5 hours today. I'll post a short report tomorrow.
