Camping Horror Stories

[Coll]

Any of you campers have any camping " horror' experiences? You know like you caught the tent on fire or forgot an important piece of equipment needed to put the tent up.

[Lifestar]

Oh Coll,

I have had a few "horror" experiences while camping! LOL

One time we were at a State Park campsite here in downstate NY during September. It was warmduring the day, but that night a cold front blew through. Without warning it got very cold, then the sky opened up and there was torrential rain, hail, lightening, and branches literally crashing to the ground. We knew we had to get to the car, or risk being crushed by a tree limb. I was afraid we wold have one of those little tornadoes we get around here, but thankfully it only lasted a short time. When the storm let up, we went slogging through the mud back to the tent, only to find it had been swept away by the rush of rain and wet earth! The tent was filled with mud, soaking into our sleeping bags andbackpacks. It looked like a landslide! . We just left the whole mess there, and asked the Ranger to take care of disposing of it all. It was the WORST ( and mosst expensive) camping trip EVER!!

Only slightly better than that trip was the time we were camping along the Appalachian Trail near my house. We figured being close to home was a better in light of our past camping experience. It was all well and good, until a black bear decided to make it his life-mission to get the food bag down from the tree we had hoisted it into next to our camp site. We were glad we had put everything ( including our toothpaste) into that bag. but just hearing that bear out there for what seemed like hours was terrifying!

[janieb]

Last summer, we went on two family camping trips with our Cub Scout pack.

The first time, we were using our tent which had not been used for around 10 years. The first night was fine, although the other campers were noisy so I didn't get much sleep. The next evening, my husband left for the night to go to a high school reunion and I stayed with the kids and other scouts. About 15 minutes after he left, it began to lightening and rain...and rain...and rain...and rain. All 75 kids and their adults were huddled under a fairly small pavilion that also housed all of the cooking equipment which was being used to make dinner - not the safest situation. After an hour, I ran across the lake that had formed outside the pavilion to our tent. Pillows, sleeping bags, clothes - all wet! At that point, I threw in the towel - literally. I grabbed all necessities, threw them into the trash bags that we had miraculously brought, and ran for the hills - or the car, which was 1/4 mile away. I was so afraid of the lightening! About an hour after we left, the park ranger advised the other campers that they had to leave due to the weather. We had packed up in the daylight - they had to pack in the dark!

The second trip, it also rained (do we see a pattern here?). This time, we had a new tent that did NOT leak. But, we placed it in the one spot in the campsite where the water puddled. So, when we woke up in the morning after a night of rain, we were sleeping on a waterbed in the middle of a mini-lake! The kids loved it - they put their hands down on the floor of tent and the tent floor rippled like waves!

We are planning more family Scout camping this summer - but I am NOT going if the forecast is rain!!

[BuddyBeanieBaby]

Well this is my horror story or should I say my daughter's horror story about camping...

My hubby and I decided to take the kids out camping on an island...so we loaded up the truck with everything we thought we would need for a week of peace and quiet and time as a family...We got to the boat landing and loaded everything into the boat and went 42 miles across the lake to get to our peaceful little spot to camp...

I had told my kids to make sure they packed the essentials...well my oldest daughter who was about 10 at the time thought her essentials should include,other than clothing...A Curling Iron and A Blow Dryer...I didn't know she had packed these...on our second day out on the island,my daughter walked up to hubby and I and asked with a straight face..."Where do I plug this in" holding the curling iron in one hand the blow dryer in the other,I couldn't stop myself from laughing,I laughed so hard I cried...

My daughter was not amused at all...when I finally stopped laughing I said to her as calmly as I could "We are in the middle of no where,we had to load everything into the boat and go 42 miles across the water to get here and you ask me where you are going to plug in your curling iron and blow dryer" "Well yeah" she says...Oh God what did I do to deserve this,I was thinking as I was trying not to laugh at her again...Hubby says find a big tree and plug it in there...She actually tried...and then realized there was no electricity any where to be had...so she informed my hubby that he should go all the way home and get an extension cord and bring it to where we were so she could do her hair...okay but where in the world was she going to plug it in...what a trip that was...

Oh my daughter hates camping unless it is in a Cabin with-hot/cold running water/indoor plumbing/electricity/and no bugs...

[Coll]

Theresa, your dd and I would get along great on a camping trip. Those are the things I need too.

[debknechtel]

I love camping and most camping experiences have been very good. i remember one trip as a kid in Yellowknife. We were camping all summer long as we did every year on prelude lake. there was a fire that broke out near the camp and most men left to aid in putting it out. all remaining camper gathered in a common hall to wait it out and see if we needed to evacuate.....this is what I remember and have never forgiven my mom for to this day...I was 89 years old and she bathed me on the picnic table in a baby bath in front of all these strangers. thought I would die!!!!
As an adult the only bad trip was the time my hubby decide to use the hatchet as a hammer to put tent pegs in with. Of course he cut himself...more like sliced. He refused to seek treatment saying it was fine.......well after our trip an return home he ended up with an infection and having to go to the hospital everday to have it lanced for 2 weeks.....men!!!!


hugs Debbie

[ellenmelon]

I remember going on a hiking/camping trip with my outdoorsman dh and he, yes, remembered the tarp but forgot the tent. So we made a lean to thing but the bottom foot or so was open to the world. Then he wanted to get cozy together and I said no, it was like being in a glass house!