Bad camping stories

[John]

As a follow on from from Tinkerbell's thread I thought I would see if any of you have any bad camping memories.

Five come to my mind. There are more but these will do to start with.

1. One year we went to Mid West Wales, near Tywyn (just North of Aberdovey). We camped up in a field that was on a slight downward hill. At the top of the hill was a stream that was possibly about 9 - 10 foot down from the bankside. It had never been known to break it's banks before that night but we had so much rain throughout the night that it did break its banks and created a river, straight through our tent. We woke up floating on our air bed inside the tent and all that we owned was soaking. Needless to say we packed up and went home with three soggy children in tow.

2. I think it was 1976 when the Fastnet race was hit by a huge storm and a few competitors lost their lives. We had camped up at a place called St Minver (Near Wadebridge I think) when the storm hit us. Thankfully we were part of a handful that had camped alongside the hedge that sheltered us from the worst of the wind but we sat there huddled watching the storm tearing the tents to shreds. Frightening moment.

3. 1978. Croyde Bay in North Devon. I had been in Hospital for quite a few months diagnosed with prolapsed discs. I had been in traction for a few months since coming out of hospital. A holiday is what was needed so we took our three kids camping again. All went well until the penultimate day. We were walking the rocks at Lee Bay (just south of Ilfracombe) when I slipped and fell straight onto my back. I thought I had done some damage but seemed to feel alright until we got back to the tent. My back seized up and we asked the farmer if we could stay there until my back eased, which took virtually another week. Thankfully the Mrs and kids enjoyed themselves still but I was stuck for that week in the tent not being able to move properly.

4. 1981. IOW. We went to a campside in Ryde. We got there quite late in the day and pitched our tent up against a hedge at the top of a slight incline. It was cold at the time and it was freezing but we managed to settle down ok. Come the next day it was a real hot one. Gradually a smell began to waft around our tent which gradually got worse and worse followed by a swarm of small flies. When we went to investigate we found out we had parked right by the side of a sewage farm. Needless to say packed our tent away and moved quite quickly.

5. 1997. I had just purchased a brand new tent and wanted to try it out. It was November 31st (not the best time to go camping). There were some excellent birds being reported in north Norfolk and I knew of one site that was still open, Kelling Heath. I pitched my tent, hooked up electrics ( I had all the comfort gear by then) switched on the TV to see out the night when an almighty storm hit the campsite. After a few hours I found out that this tent was not up to it and was leaking from almost everywhere and I was getting absolutely soaked. It was about 1am and very windy so I was going to have to sit it out until morning. I couldn't escape the dripping water anywhere so couldn't sleep. That was a terrible night and a terrible pack up as well as by morning the campsite had turned into a quagmire with mud everywhere.

Have any of you guys and gals any horror stories to relate.

John

[nightshade]

I am not as good with the dates so I will just relate in no paricular order!
Site near salisbury ,there was only one pitch left,under an oak tree it was too late to move on.That night there was a furious thunderstorm and non stop rain,water began to ripple under the ground sheet and edged us and the airbeds towards the door we stuck it out.Then in the morning fled home.
a man camping on a little raised mound jeered at us, calling us fair weather campers,when we got home the 6:00 news showed the site completely under water with the jeering chap totally isolated on an island
The Forest of Dean,a beautiful weekend,but one evening the temperature began to drop so I fetched an old feather duvet from the car and we huddled together for warmth our breathe froze and fell out of the air,later there was a shrieking wind which lasted till the morning.At first light we were up and looked out to find most of the other tents had disappeared and most of the surrounding pine forest stacked an the ground like match-sticks,just one other couple remained unscathed in a tiny yellow trailer tent.
Derbyshire,Hope we were booked into a site and on arrival were shown to a pitch alongside a sewage works,then to put the tin hat on it 4 lorryloads of
excited noisey army cadets arrived next to us,we packed and moved out to another site down the road in a little valley witha stream running through it.
the site had a chalet style shower block ,and here is the clue a drying room
the size of a sail loft,it rained and rained,the stream rose and followed us as we left!
There are more stories involving a hillbillie type family that moved onto a site and set up camp in three inward facing tents completely blocking the movement on the site,and then all proceeded to get blind drunk causing absolute mayhem as campers tried to come back from days out
there were fist fights,shouting and screaming all night until they finally were ejected at4:00am
Animals in the dark,lost children in the dark and caravans going out to sea
Camping? I would not have missed it for the world!

[Lou-D]

My bad camping memory dates back to my very 1st camping experience when I was a teenager. It was a school trip to Rome and we were having a great time.

One night I started dreaming that I was being eating alive by insects. I woke up sweating and terrified to find the nightmare had not ended - there was one line of ants walking over my arm (which lay outside my sleeping bag) to get to a jar of opened potted meat in the bag next to me, then another line of ants was walking back across my arm carrying blobs of meat paste back to their nest. There were literally thousands of the wee beasties all over our tent and my sleeping bag (inside as well as out!) which totally freaked me out! I had nightmares for ages after that and couldn't watch ants on TV without itching and getting the shivers.

[Tinkerbell]

I recall one occasion when StuDH took himself off to France for a short holiday and decided that no tent was required - he could sleep under the stars on the beach, as it was so warm. Snuggled down in his sleeping bag he woke to find something hairy moving over his face - a rat!!! Didn't put him off wildlife though.

[henrya]

Well, there was the time when eight of us from University were doing some research in the Spanish Pyrenees. We were camping in the grounds of an hotel. One evening the hotel owners invited us to some sort of celebration (never did discover exactly what it was!) and we had a splendid meal along with many of the local people. After the meal we had a few drinks, and the girls decided to go back to the camp while us chaps had one for the road. One of the other guests, a very large Guardia Civile, approached me and started asking me something. My Spanish not being much past "Dos cervezas, por favor", I shook my head. He called over a friend who addressed me in French. It gradually became clear that what my Guardia friend wanted was to give me a bottle or two of brandy in return for which he and his friends would go and 'entertain' the girls. We said 'No' very positively, at which Mr Guardia, who was not entirely sober, drew his gun and started waving it about and shouting. Fortunately the hotel owners realised what was going on, and while Mr Owner, who was as large as the Guardia, ran interference, Mrs Owner sheperded us lads out through the backdoor, via the pigsty, and we escaped up the track to the camp - fortunately without being followed!

henrya

[paulst]

I went camping some years ago on the edge of Dartmoor, it was raining but other than that no problems. I settled down for the night and had a really good sleep. Early next morning, I was woken by what sounded like animals running around my tent. I crawled out, headfirst into a sheeps bottom . The sheep as you can imagine wasnt very pleased and probably more scared than me, promptly turned around and ran into my little tent, after a minute of chaos he ran off, leaving me still trying to work out what had happened paul

[digi]

Is it not the case that all camping stories are bad ones?

[Alan]

Originally Posted by digi

Is it not the case that all camping stories are bad ones?

It depends whether you've had vindaloo and lager beforehand!

[Hillwalker]

Easter, a few years ago: I'd just recovered from a bought of the flu, and we decided to go camping to the Lakes, and do some serious walking. We arrived late on the thursday before Good Friday, to find the campsite PACKED - the only place left to pitch was at the bottom of the hill. It was raining, and it didn't stop all night. The groundsheet on the tent then decided it would be a good time to end it's lifetime of good service, and to no longer keep water out. Then end result was that I ended up sleeping in the car, and the next day virtually had pneumonia and couldn't walk more than a few steps, never mind up a mountain. We went home

Not really MY bad experience, but I was camping near Yosemite and there was known to be a bear in the area. One of my party was given a lecture by the security patrol for going to the loo in the night on her own! Anyway, a woman a few dozen yards away, who had stupidly kept all her food in her tent, had it all eaten in the night by the bear - WHILST SHE WAS IN THE TENT Still, could have been worse !

[eeyore]

I was a gigrin farm the january before last, when we had a huge storm, my tent which was a Millets 19.99 special decided that it would collapse, then tryto take off leaving me trapped inside, trying to hold it down by spreadinf myself like a starfish. The next morning I discovered that all my tent poles had broken, so I spent the next two nights sleeping in the birdhides which were at least structuraly sound, but were flippin freezin. - Got some good kite shots though.

Also at Caerlavrock last year, some "nice" chap decided that my gear was far to heavy for me and kindly relieved me of the burden my smashing my car windscreen and stealing two bags. Fortunately my camera gear was on me so he got only my dirty washing, but I vidly recal driving north on the road to fort william (heading on to cairngorm) on a sunday with no windscreen. I hope to catch up with the gentleman concerned oneday so that I can "thank" him in my own special way...

[Tormentil]

The idea of camping as raised its ugly head in our house. It started after meeting some old friends who, like HiD and I, enjoy walking. They mentioned that they'd recently bought a tent, because, again like us, reduced income does n't always run to hiring cottages or stopping in B&Bs for a weekend. Anyway, HiD really fancies the idea, even to the point of bringing home a tent brochure from Millets this afternoon.

The strange thing is, that when our two girls were young, camping was mentioned, but I vetoed the idea on the grounds the I'd spent enough time on 'outdooor living' whilst in the Big Green Machine. Now I'm warming to the idea.

Should I book myself into a mental institution ??

[eeyore]

Tescos are doing pretty decent tents now - i just got a three person dome for 15 notes - two person domes are poorly octopus (sick squid ) and four and five person tents are around £25 - a good choice for those on tight budgets.

[Tormentil]

Whats their "hydrostatic head" rating and are they "pitch fly first".

See, I'm learning the lingo already. Argggghhhh.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Tormentil

Whats their "hydrostatic head" rating and are they "pitch fly first".

See, I'm learning the lingo already. Argggghhhh.

no idea on the former (dont even know what it means) but like every dome I have ever encountered they are fly first - which is important if pitching in the rain.

They are however comfortable - easy to put up and above all cheap - which is important if you go to the number of festies that I do - no Glasto this year tho

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by eeyore

no idea on the former (dont even know what it means) but like every dome I have ever encountered they are fly first - which is important if pitching in the rain.

They are however comfortable - easy to put up and above all cheap - which is important if you go to the number of festies that I do - no Glasto this year tho

Look here for the definition of Hydrostatic Head

[eeyore]

thanks - still no idea on the tesco tents - but i had mine up at gigrin last week and it tipped down but no leaks or damp patches.

[Forestknights]

Argos sell a half decent tent for no money. Although I prefer to have a decent nights sleep so I have invested in a decent thermarest and sleeping bag. I sleep in various shelters and tents. Some of my best memories are nights sleeping beside a camp fire. Coldest i have been camping is minus 30C.

[onionade]

lol this thread gave me numerous chuckles


ive had some bad ones to, mostly during festivals that you pay around £100 to enjoy so you do your damndest to stay and get your moneys worth.

on another occasion in south wales a large crew of us were camping when a crazy, massive guy who was randomly roaming the mountain we camped on decided to chill out with us for a while. This chill out session turned into him taking all our booze, hurling abuse at everyone and then proceeded to threaten everyone with iron bars. this escalated into a brawl between him and my smallest, most disciplined (in the martial arts) friend who repeatedly knocked this guy to the ground. After several attempts to try and kill my small friend, and bemused completely and utterly by the fact this small guy was so skilled he stomped off to get some friends, he came back with 3 small kids who didnt actually do anything. meanwhile my dog (flump her name is) went missing so i hurriedly went off to find her only to find another bunch of campers trying to hide her in their tent!! what a nightmare that evening was. However the morning produced one of the most beautiful sun rises ive ever seen that will always stay in my mind together with all the glow bugs we found.

there have been numerous other camping nightmares but i like to drink when i go camping so half the time im blissfully unaware.

[onionade]

Originally Posted by Forestknights

Some of my best memories are nights sleeping beside a camp fire. Coldest i have been camping is minus 30C.

agreed, im always one of the last to be in my tent and i always seem to be the one who maintians a fire and waking up in the morning next to it, if the weather permits i always prefer to sleep under the stars. cant say ive ever been camping anywhere near -30 C.

[peppermint]

there was also that time onionade when we went to the big green gathering, and it tipped it down with rain at night, we were sleeping in one big puddle of water. we had to go home as everything was soaked and we were frozen.

[peppermint]

....oh and also that time we camped out on the beach in the Gower, well, no tents, just under the stars....and we woke up and our pillow was on fire hahahahahaha

[onionade]

lol.....how can i forget that

[honeybee]

Had some strange camping experiences at festivals. One time a load of us were all camped together in a circle and after a long days drinking or what not we'd just crash in the nearest tent and one morning I woke up to find my friends sleeping in the porch of the tent and some hairy dreadlocked bloke who nobody knew came out of the tent and he'd been in there all night. Thing is he must have climbed over my friends to get in. Feel sorry for the people at a wet and muddy glasto when their tents were flooded and washed away.

Also remember being kackered after a disaterous trial Duke of Edinbrough expedition when one of our team forgot the compass and we'd been walking in cicles for miles in the woods. We hitched a lift in the dark when we found a road but we had to put our tents up in the dark when we finally reached base then had to go off again at 6am and half the night the boys had been trying to scare us.

First bad camping experience was probably when I was about 6 with my parents in Cornwall. We were camped on a slope and every morning I woke up the wrong way round after sliding down to the bottom of the tent.
And those dashes in and out of the communal showers with wet hair in the dark and coin meters that mean your money runs out when you've got shampoo in your hair or something! All part of the fun!

[Paul mabbott]

There are so many bad things but, really, there is nothing worse than setting up tent, in the dark, in a dried up river bed ... just before a downpour .... I've only done it twice but ....

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

There are so many bad things but, really, there is nothing worse than setting up tent, in the dark, in a dried up river bed ... just before a downpour .... I've only done it twice but ....

s