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As Summer draws to a close, most people are done camping for the year. Fall is my favorite time to go camping, and I have two trips lined up in the next two months, with the possibility of a third getting slipped in there somewhere.

Who else is a camper? Do you do RV camping or tent camping? Do you go on long trips or short weekend ones? Any backpackers?

Share your experiences!

Last time i went camping was 11 years ago. Do you go out into the woods and camp or go to a site?

I usually go to State parks. Southern Missouri is home to both, confederate flag waving hillbillies living in tar paper shacks and the most beautiful terrain you could hope to see in a fly-over state.

Summer camping is almost always accompanied by floating down a spring-fed river. I camp almost exclusively in tents, or if it's cold enough that the bugs aren't out, outside under the stars.

The Henley Whalers are doing a "long row" in October and one of our members is going to camp in the boat. The rest of us are staying at a nearby inn, though.

I wouldn't mind camping in a skiff during summer.

I was recently at Acadia National Park in Maine, USA. Beautiful and varied scenery--(small) mountains, forests, and beaches--and I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who likes hiking. There are a bunch of campsites near the park (as well as a town [Bar Harbor] with places to stay, for those less camping-inclined; also a good place to eat/drink).

The last time I went camping was five years ago with some church members. We went on a canoe trip for a few days.

A friend at the head of my canoe drank a red gatorade and then got heat stroke. Freaked everyone out when he started puking red fluid over the side.

 daedalus wrote:
I usually go to State parks. Southern Missouri is home to both, confederate flag waving hillbillies living in tar paper shacks and the most beautiful terrain you could hope to see in a fly-over state.

Summer camping is almost always accompanied by floating down a spring-fed river. I camp almost exclusively in tents, or if it's cold enough that the bugs aren't out, outside under the stars.

I'll second the beauty that is Southern Missouri...

Also, check out the movie "Winter's Bones". That was filmed in Southern Missouri...

I'm a big fan of tent camping, and I usually go in the spring and early summer. The spring camping trip is a "guys only" where all the guys in the family and their friends go to Washington County Conservation Park in southern Illinois. The second trip is usually in late June/early July for mine and some friend's birthdays down at Rend Lake; also in southern Ilinois. Both trips basically consist of beer drinking, fishing, swimming, and grilling...and it's ALWAYS a good time.

I really only had one story worth telling, and that was this past camping trip at Rend Lake. In a nutshell, there were two brother that were camping behind my group, and since they seemed nice, we invited them over to hang out. Well, they were cool...until they started drinking. One of them made some inappropriate comments to a girl in our group. When we asked them to leave, they refused and became confrontational, and one of them took a swing at a friend, and then a fight broke out. Didn't last long, but I came out with a bloody nose, and a swollen lip, my friend had a giant lump above his eye and a sore jaw. The cops were called, and they made them move their stuff to a different site, and we didn't press charges since it wasn't that bad, and we were leaving in the morning anyways.

 whembly wrote:

Also, check out the movie "Winter's Bones". That was filmed in Southern Missouri...

I've heard about that! It's been on my "to watch" list for a while. Any good?

I haven't gone camping since I was in the boy scouts, but I sure used to love it back then. My wife hates it so I think I'm pretty much done with it now though.

 mega_bassist wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Also, check out the movie "Winter's Bones". That was filmed in Southern Missouri...

I've heard about that! It's been on my "to watch" list for a while. Any good?

It's terrific. Jennifer Lawrence's second best role so far.

Oh, you meant campING.

 Ouze wrote:
I haven't gone camping since I was in the boy scouts, but I sure used to love it back then. My wife hates it so I think I'm pretty much done with it now though.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat as you. I asked my wife years ago if she had ever been camping and she replied, "You mean like staying in a cabin?"

I have been hoping to go to the Almost Heaven Star Party in Spruce Knob, West Virginia at some point or another... 4 days of camping under some of the darkest skies on the East Coast, yes please!

I haven't been camping since I graduated college. My fraternity went camping twice a year.

RV and tent camper here,
The wife hated camping. Then I forced her to go because the kids wanted to try it.
Now she loves it. So you'll see my camper towing a camping trailer full of stuff (it breeds you know).
Five tents and 2 dual fuel stoves 2 kitchen units etc. Hard to find space for people to sit.

I spent 5 nights at Leeds festival in a 6 x 4 tent. The problem is I'm 6"2...

I vowed never to camp again.

To cut a long story short, the wife made me buy a tent.
I now have a 12 man tent (for 2 of us)
It has 3 bedrooms, a lounge and and a porch.

I last used it a few years back - we went to wales for a long weekend.
Didn't get below 30c for the entire weekend

Last time I went camping was years ago with my family in Ireland. Some beautiful places to camp, especially in Galway and Sligo.

I'm fairly into camping and live in the middle of nowhere (in deepest, darkest Wales) yet I've not been camping in around 2 years. This needs to change.