[pct-l] Newbie - 'alone in the dark' freak outs on the trail

[Anne Estoppey]

Hello to everybody again,
 
Thanks for the great replies :-)
 
Somebody asked me what I would be afraid of. Bears of course. And maniacs. And maniac bears :-)
I am especially reluctant to camp alone in the woods. If it is an open space, by a lake, or with mountain/desert view, I feel this would be ok-ish. But the woods, uhhh. Everybody knows there are strange creatures in the woods at night and spirits and trolls and what not. Hmmmm... ;-)
 
I am originally from Switzerland, and in Switzerland you don't camp in the woods. There are small cabins for overnighting. If somebody is camping in the woods in Switzerland, it is a weirdo and/or a maniac, and you dont want to approach him. So I think this is where my fear is coming from. 
 
Some people rightly said that camping alone has its advantages: no snorking noises from neighbours. And full peace in the morning when you get up. And jeez I like having my peace in the morning, so that will be a strong motivator.
 
The answer from Chuck was helping a lot. The real worries on the trail are definitely and truely something else than the worries about 'creatures of the darkness'. I fully agree with this.
 
I will most probably start the PCT at the kickoff. So it will be people to camp with, I am sure. Then I guess that I will slowly get used to it.
 
Last year I camped at Hole-in-the-Wall campground in Mojave. It was a few people only, dry toilets, cold water pumps, nothing else. In the morning it was this fabulous desert light when I opened my tent, and I had to slalom between cactus to go to the toilets. It was just amazing.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences :-)
 
Anne
 

From: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
To: Anne Estoppey <anne_estoppey at yahoo.com> 
Cc: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 6:29 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Newbie - 'alone in the dark' freak outs on the trail


Good morning, Anne,  
Many of us, myself included, got past most of the fears when first “camping-out” as an 11-year-old Boy Scout.  Kids have an advantage:  Even though they have active imaginations, they can’t see very far in the future.  When they wake up aliveafter a scary night they think that nothing will ever happen to them.  Adults have the ability to foresee all manner of potential difficulties, so it’s worse for them at night.  
The good thing is, people are likely to worry about only two or three things at a time.  As a few big worries are encountered, some really inane crap just drops off the radar.  Why worry about that little scitching sound out in the dry leaves when there’s a hot-spot developing on my heal that may turn into a blister at just the wrong time?  Why worry about the 0.0001% chance of seeing a cougar when the water in the ‘platy is low and it’s still 12 miles to the spring?  Why worry that the flashlight will only illuminate the first 30 yards around the bed when there’s a distinct rumble in the exhaust system that suggest giardia?  Why worry about “the boogey-man” when tomorrow I’ll have to increase the pace considerably to arrive at the resupply point in time to pick up my box?  Why should I worry about “…goulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night...” when right now I’m so damn tired from
 today’s climb that I just don’t care what they might do to me?
Proximity to others at night helps, but I’ve seen big, strong, adult soldiers from the city turn into sniveling, thumb-sucking, whiners as night approached on their first bivouac; regardless that there may have been 300 others camped in the same immediate area.
I like to camp alone, under the stars, and in the brief period before I sleep I listen to the night-sounds and try to figure out what they might be.  In the still of the night, a field mouse sounds like a  deer, and a single little deer sounds like a whole heard of elk.
Once I was camped with someone who kept waking me up saying, “I hear something! I think there’s a bear out there.”  Finally I replied, “Don’t worry about it.  Bears have big, soft, fuzzy feet.  If there was a bear out there you wouldn’t hear a thing.”  Bad idea.  From then on it was, “I don’t hear anything; there must a bear out there!”
Sasquatch is an entirely different matter.  See:  http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=167914
One thing I do that helps is to remember this:  Every night before the Boogey-Man goes to sleep he checks under his bed to be sure that Chuck Norris isn’t waiting under there to get him; and every night before Chuck Norris goes to sleep he checks under HIS bed to be sure that I’m not under there waiting to get HIM.
Last of all, don’t believe everything you think.
Enjoy your planning,
Steel-Eye
-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 1:42 AM, Anne Estoppey <anne_estoppey at yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello everybody
> 
>Another newbie question from me, I am afraid.
> 
>I have been field working, and camping and such, but it was always with people, or at least in some sort of campground with a few people. Planning to hike PCT in 2013 (thru-hike or sections) I know I will be facing the 'alone in the dark' overnight on the trail. Well, errr, yes although I am old enough, I feel unconfortable to camp alone, and I admit that I even freak out a little bit. I know it is silly, and the experienced hikers out there are definitely allowed to have a cheap laugh ;-)
> 
>Nevertheless, what are your experiences (when you were still a newbie) with coping with possible 'night freakouts'?
>How did you deal with this? Was it quickly a solved problem because one is so tired that you just sleep and that's it? Shall I bring a little teady bear with me? Or a little glow in the dark thingie? Are they some 'hiker tricks' that I dont know about yet?
> 
>Thanks in advance for any answers :-)
>Anne
>