Solo Wild Camping Alone | Fear of The Unknown.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- Wild camping and backpacking alone can be enjoyable and fun, but for many wild camping or backpacking alone fills them with dread. The thought of being alone in the woods or on the mountains alone in the dark might seem like a scary proposition.
It does take time to get adjusted to camping on your own and becoming accustomed to the sights and sounds of nature. Many scary sounds and noises during the night can seem terrifying at first until you realise what they actually are. Sometimes the simplest sounds around you can make your mind and fear levels go into overdrive.
In this video I give you my thoughts on solo camping as well as some of the more unusual things I have experienced. If you have a similar or interesting stories to share or advice for people solo camping alone for the first time then please share and post in the comments below.
The Ochil Hills are a long range of steeply sided, round topped hills, stretching 25 miles from the Firth of Tay to Stirling.
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Let me know in the comments below your own weird, unusual or scary experiences. Also would be grateful if you can remember to subscribe if you haven't for my future upcoming videos.
This topic is the most common reason people won't go camping. We'll done
My own weird ánd scary experience when I was hiking on my own: during a three day hike I got in the middle of storm Ciara somewhere in Belgium, I struggled in the dark pinning my tent just behind a empty building, but after a few hours rest a dog was waking me up barking outside while his boss shines his or her flashlight for minutes at my tent...I hold my breath ánd my knife 😬...luckely after a while dog and boss went on leaving me and my tent untouched...
I've seen a similar orb while fishing in a chain of man-made ponds at night. It landed in the pond furthest away from me and as if that wasn't frightening enough, fizzed its way through the small canals joining the ponds together. It came through several ponds before bursting into pieces of plasma looking flame. Enough to make me call it a night.
Some kind of ball lightning is my best guess.
Your tale of the earthquake related orb reminds me of a documentary I saw about the Hessdalen lights which describes a similar phenomenon.
I guess it would be scaring to hear the music of your video in the night while camping alone at this location... 😂😂😂
Just last week I was backpacking in the Hoosier National Forest (Indiana, USA). No tent, just a tarp open on three sides. A bit after going to bed I awaken to a REALLY bright light, it looks like a camper's lantern not more than 100 yards distant! What the... When I check my watch, I'm like WHEW... that's no lantern, that's the moon rising over the eastern horizon, waning gibbous so VERY bright. I went back to sleep. This is why campers need to know the times of sun and moon rise and set.
I have never camped solo overnight but the closest thing I have to relate to it is fishing solo in the dark.
For many years I used to fish alone down the river often till 2am, the only issues I ever had were from people drinking and walking along the riverbank behind me. This has happened quite a few times in the pitch black but in many ways the pitch black is your friend because no-one knows you are there until you make a sound. I've seen myself just freezing on the spot and people walking past behind me oblivious that I am actually there.
I have always done this because one does not know how a group of people on alcohol or other drugs might respond to meeting a solo fisherman at 2am on the river bank.
Great training for solo night camping.
The overwhelming source of the terrors is our own minds. Strange noises, unfamiliar sights in the half-light, to which our minds add large dollops of imagination...
There's another manifestation too, and it's happened to me twice in 20 years. A sudden onset of a totally encompassing sense of depression, despair, fear, hopelessness, from which it's impossible to escape. It feels like something physically gripping you. On the first occasion I didn't understand what was happening and I thought I was going mad, but after half an hour the feeling simply evaporated. Years later it happened again but I was able to recognise it, sit down, and wait for it to go. The probable explanation is that being alone in the wilds can act as a trigger for the release of pent-up rubbish in our minds, some of which can be negative.
I've heard others report this phenomenon too, and my message is that if it strikes, try not to worry. It will soon pass. I suspect that in some weird way we don't understand, it's good for us.
Thanks for sharing Dave. Atb
@kai kito I'm sorry but you have the better of me there. What are Krankies?
Or some kind of dark spiritual entity which roam around in the wilderness from time to time. They come and go and look for people to prey on.
Wow
@@tenminutetokyo2643 Ha, that's not helping ;o)
Since we Culled any Wildlife that could possibly harm us apart from The Adder, Large Deer, Bulls, Dogs (packs) Humans are our biggest threat. I personally feel safer the further away from People i am, would rather be in a Huge Dense Forest at midnight than Anywhere in a Big City at Anytime
I had been camping once and the weather was really rough when I went to bed, wind howling and rain coming down but during the night the wind eased off and the rain stopped. I was awoken at about 4:30am by a really sudden loud and strange noise that I had to investigate. I soon found out that I was not as alone as I thought I was. A couple had pitched their tent in a little ravine near by out of line of sight and also assumed that they were completely alone because they were having sex and making the craziest loud noises that they could. In the morning they soon found out that they were not as alone as they thought they were when they walked past my tent on their way back to their car as I was sitting enjoying my breakfast 😂
Would love to have seen there faces when they realised, lol. Atb
🤣
Squirrels crashing through the canopy sound exactly like zombies closing in on your hammock, which of course you can't get out of quickly. So you move onto one man tent camping then make the mistake of watching the Blair witch project the night before you go. Single malt helps me a lot 😁
Idea for a film there about killer squirrels attacking campers ;) Bit like the Black Sheep film. Atb
Quite right, the only evil spirits at your campsite should be that cheap, blended whisky someone got you as a gift once 😝😜🥃
Junebugs in the leaves sound like the undead sneaking up on you. Always getting closer...
The wailing cries of the undead whilst forest camping always freaks me out.... 😉😁😁
Thats deer & foxes, but yes they can sound like the undead or babies being murdered
@@AndysEastCoastAdventures 😱😱😱😱😱😁👍
@@AndysEastCoastAdventures it’s true!!!
I know it's a bugger
Here in North America there are ample reasons to be nervous: more dangerous animals than the UK, true wilderness miles from help, more cryptids and paranormal phenomena...we know about the Cairngorms and the tales that come out of the Highlands, so there's scary places everywhere for campers. You speak sensibly and practically as a solo adventurer and I raise my glass to you, sir!!
When I lived in U.K, few times in teens camped with friends and was always spooked by dark. Now I’m in Canada and camp a fair bit. As you say, way more to fear here with bears, cougars etc. Think if I was back in U.K I would sleep outside like a baby now 😆
I was once hiking alone in the Highlands when I heard the weirdest sound, rather like a hyena laughing. I'm a keen naturalist so know almost all the animals and birds you might come across in the UK and the sounds they make and it was none of these, so I became a bit spooked. Not long after, I descended a ravine and saw another hiker ascending. As we passed, I said to the guy "did you hear that strange unworldly sound?". He paused for a moment and then said "oh, I'm sorry, I think that was me". He was listening to a comedy programme on BBC radio through headphones as he was stomping about in the middle of nowhere, cackling in mirth like some demented wild beast!
Great video, glad to have watched this. I camped with my buddy in South-Central Ontario and was woken up to the sound of a woman screaming in agony beside the tent. My buddy was completely asleep throughout the entirety of it, (we drank a bit), however I'm a light sleeper, and woke up to it immediately. I briefly explain it in a video, but it really showed me how vast Ontario is, and that at any moment, a large predator animal might cross paths with you (the animal turned out to be a 'Canada Lynx', there's many videos on their spine chilling screams on TH-cam). This is a reality you must embrace if you live in Ontario. I think it was a very rare, and beautiful occurrence that has made me fall deep in love with the randomness of the wilderness. It was honestly the single most terrifying thing that has EVER happened in my life, not going to lie.
Great stuff. Just checked out some Canada Lynx videos and that would put the fear of god into you if you did'nt know. Atb
I'm an ex infantryman of 10 years . Spent most of my life outdoors but this was always with my mates inside and outside of the military. I only recently started to solo wildcamp and I have to say I was put on edge and felt a bit of fear. I wasn't used to it and I don't think I am yet. I do know I get more pleasure from doing this than I do of being scared. So I pursue it and love it.
Great stuff and glad you are enjoying it. It is a weird thing to get used to and you wouldn't initially think it would bother you. You get used to it :) Atb
@@RS.Outdoors I honestly think you should have a series on the BBC. It would be a great show. Please keep them coming and I hope you don’t feel any pressure to provide content all the time. The quality you have right now is lasting me ages. Thank you for doing this.
I sleep through thunderstorms and was raised in the countryside for many years and as a youth went off camping regularly - most weekends in the summer holidays. I'm more troubled by slugs, snails and other wee beasties. As a Pagan the great outdoors is my church and refreshes me and teaches me things I need to know. I don't fear the dark. I now live in North East Lancashire, Pendle and love the open moors. I'm not keen on towns or large gatherings of humans, I prefer nature.Once as a youth I woke up with a fox sleeping on the side of my tent and I tried not to disturb him as much as I could, once he left i did, but i treasure that privileged occurrence.
Get what you say mate. Pendle is meant to be an interesting place with all it's old ghosts and witches?. Atb
I camped in January up on the Lakeland fells. The wind was coming down from the surrounding hills in long bursts. As I fell asleep I could hear a woman singing gently in the breeze. I found it quite relaxing.
A real scary sound is the noise a grizzly bear makes when he rips your tent apart in the middle of the night or when you have no floor in your tent and a rattle snake crawls in to keep warm.
Hammock a foot above the ground and you hear the snuffling and shuffling of Mr. Porcupine.
Murray's description of the orb sighting brought me up in Goose pimples. I have seem the same 'bimbling' ball of light but at quite close quarters on a pitch dark night at the bottom of steep valley in the pennines in Yorkshire in the 1980's. I watched it for about 10 minutes 'bimbling' down the valley towards me, the top of the valley silhouetted behind. The ball of light stopped almost on top of a 33kv wooden electricity transmission pylon. It seemed to drop to the ground before lifting up and bimbling off behind a woodland. My hair (I had some then) felt like it was standing on end! I was a young man and was very illogically scared and agitated for a number of days. The phenomena was well documented in that part of the world, with multiple sightings and sometimes broad daylight by multiple witnesses. It was called the mystery '(heli) copter'. As you mentioned, people explained a link between pressure on crystalline gritstone rocks and piezo electricity, creating a type of 'ball lightening'.
Thanks for sharing and it is defo weird to see. Atb
I live on the edge of the country with fields on one side of my house so I am used to night-time sound. Cows lowing when they are disturbed, sheep, the tawny owl in the sycamore trees at the end of the garden, foxes screaming at eachother in the spring. On the other hand I find the constant night-time buzz of a city disturbing.
Thank you for the sound clips. Some animals make no sound at all. Wild camping in Glen Affric, I left my rubbish bag just outside the tent. Next morning it had disappeared without trace. A human snooping around in the middle of the night would have woken me up, but not a badger or a fox.
Great stuff thanks for sharing. Atb
I once woke to the feeling that there was some presence there. On opening my eyes a long grey face peered down at me in the silence. As you say, imagination going wild. It was in fact one of my two collies looking forward to its early morning walk !!
Good to hear from you again.
IFD
Oh wow! Great stuff and Atb.
I had that feeling once and looked up to a grizzly bear in my face. I yelled and it took off. The local bear dogs then chased it into the forest. I went back to sleep and 10 minutes later a large animal jumped on my tent. It was the bear dogs returning.
Not the wild life I’m worried about- it’s people. Thanks for sharing; great content as always 👍
Thanks for watching. Atb
The Staffordshire moorlands gave me a strange fright one summer in the early hours of morning. Awoken by the sound of children playing in a playground it really did frighten me to death.Looking outwards over the moors & seeing nothing in the dark no lights just the moon with many bright stars around.The sounds fading away in minutes is one that i will never forget or will I ever have an explanation.Still to this day the sound haunts me wondering what it could have been,I've never returned to camp in that spot again nor do I think I ever-will.
Amazing story. I would be so tempted to go back for a camp :) Atb
Go for it
Definitely shrooms 🌝
Woodland camping in the worst; there's always a snapping twig somewhere.
Yep, have to say it's not one my favourite place to camp solo. Atb
Thats mostly squirrels, they have a uncanny knack of dropping pine nuts on your tent as well. Deer & foxes mating calls are thre worst, sounds like babies being murdered!
Oh my goodness this reminds me of when I camped out in the Amazon... literal bits of dead tree or whole branches occasionally drop several meters and crash onto the ground and the weirdest sounding animals screech or go snuffling by..!
Foxes mating sounds are seriously unnerving if you've never heard them before
Yeh, vixen calls are a peach in the middle of a wood in the dark. Atb
Indeed. Qhen you know what they are though it's reassuring.
Absolutely terrifying!!!
Thought a woman was being raped first time I heard it 😓
So is the sound of my bloody neighbours mating !
Lovely stuff, thanks for this. As someone who is still building up the equipment and courage to wild camp, this certainly helped!
Sure you will have the courage to give it a go. After a few trips you will wonder what all the fuss was about. Atb
I did my first wild camp for years by Burnmoor Lodge in the Lake District last weekend. Having been reading up on the old Corpse Road from Wasdale Head to Boot and the associated ghost stories beforehand, which went right by where I was camping, I didn't have the easiest nights sleep. As you say, sheep and bits of grass rubbing against the flysheet in the dark definitely make it sound like there's someone - or something - outside.
All good fun in hindsight!
Great stuff and hope you get out lots more. As I said the more often you go out the easier it gets. Atb
Fantastic video Ray, a perfect "beginners" guide to psychologically surviving those first few outings, great sound recordings too. Nice one.
Glad you enjoyed it. Atb
I was once wilderness camping with a church group for a week in the high Sierra Nevada mountains in California. About 7 of us decided to hike the trail to the peak in the middle of the night. Amazing place, old growth forest with enormous Ponderosa pines and a galactic view of the stars at that elevation. Anyways, we were many miles up the trail, far from our camp and we heard women's laughter coming from the ravine on the right side of the trail. It wasn't an auditory illusion from the river noise, it was quite distinct and we all heard it. The laughter seemed to float around and echo. It was from an area that was inaccessible. There were no trails on the other side of the river which was rocky and rough and at the bottom of a narrow ravine. This was around 2 or 3 AM in the morning in total high elevation mountain wilderness far from civilization. We called out hello and then it was silent and then more laughter. It was eerie but not creepy laughter so we weren't terrified. Later when we reached the peak we saw two orange orbs float up and down around that same ravine. We just chalked it up to nature spirits or faeries or something like that. Very strange and witnessed by all 7 of us.
Amazing, thanks for sharing. Atb
When you start chalking things up to faeries then you need to have a word with yourself.
Just got back from a 3 night wild camp in Norfolk on a 60 mile hike. I always find it hard to sleep the first night, the the slightest noise you get a massive adrenaline rush which takes hours to leave your bloodstream. My first night I had every critter pass by my tent from fox to Badger, rabbit and rat. The last straw were the rutting deer, coming within 20ft bellowing at the top of thier voices in the pitch black night. In the morning on the trail I bumped into a dog walker who said a lady had been attacked by a stag the day before. The next night I found somewhere enclosed by a fence.. Slept like a baby.
Aye Ray, you and Murray come on..... that'll be the wild haggis 😄
Stay safe
👍🏔
Could be ;) Atb
I've always said there is nothing really that can hurt you in Britain other than people. I did have a very strange and scary experience about 20 years ago, not wild camping but night fishing for specimen carp on a lake near an old Abbey in Newport Pagnell near Milton Keynes. I was the only one on the lake. It was a fairly quiet night, summer, not much in the way of wind. About 2am I was woken up by sudden violent shaking on my bivvy (and when I say bivvy, I mean a fairly hefty carp fishing tent/erect shelter, rather than a bivvy bag or anything). Bolt upright, I sat there half asleep trying to understand what had just happened. It stopped as quickly as it started. I eventually found the courage to put my head out of the bivvy. No one and nothing around, and I know absolutely I was the only person on the lake, as it was gated and locked. I found it so unsettling I packed up and went home. I don't believe in the supernatural, but I can't explain what happened.
Great story mate and thanks for sharing. Atb
years ago I took my son on his first camping trip. Nice and simple, we camped next to the dam at the Loch Lednock reservoir. At some point during the wee hours my son woke me up saying he could hear noises outside. I reassured him he was imagining it/ being outside was magnifying the sound of insects, etc. He took ages to settle, and it was only the next morning that the massive trail of deer scat suggested that he had, in fact heard noises outside the tent. Never misses a chance to remind me of that.
Great stuff mate. Atb
The scariest thing I sometimes hear when camping is an alarm to get up, lol.
The spookier the better. Love wild camping. I've had the deer right outside my tent all night roaring. Loved it. Barrie
Very cool. Atb
Great video as usual, I aways enjoy your content!
Since you asked here’s my scary camping experience...
During a solo long distance backpacking trip I was camping in the Czech Highlands in some forest. I was laying on my side in my tent about to drift off to sleep when a large animal ran smack into the side of my tent and skelped me full pelt on the back. The tent collapsed on top of me with the weight of the animal above and then it got back to its feet, ran off and my tent bounced back into shape. Don’t know if it was deer or boar (or something else?) but it made the weirdest unfamiliar noise as it ran into the night...other than some minor discomfort to my back and a patch repair job on my flysheet, my gear and I were largely unscathed, but needless to say I was a bit freaked out for the rest of the night and slept with one eye open 😜
Never mentioned anything about needing change of underwear. If it happened to me I would have ;) Have to say that is a reason why I dont fancy a bivvy camp, it's the thought of a deer walking or running over me during the night I think about. Atb
@@RS.Outdoors 🤣
Camping in woodland or a forest can really play on the mind after dark. Hearing the creeking of trees and wind howling, like a distant train approaching, can be unsettling at times. It still amazes me how quickly the light and safety of a campfire disappears in dense forest only a few yards away! Great video and a new sub. Many thanks 👍
Many thanks for watching and the sub. Atb
I was camping in the Purbeck’s in Dorset summer of 2019, Using a Dutch army bivvy bag, camping on the cliffs near a place called dancing ledge, I had experience very similar than one you had with lights in the sky jumping around not like any satellite or plane or stars... then Suddenly the lights stopped and then just shot up into the sky and disappeared ...very strange .
Brilliant TH-cam channel keep up the good work 👍🏻
Great story Philip and thanks for watching. Atb
I love solo camping - however when camping next to a stream or creek, the more I concentrate on the sound of the water, the more likely I am to hear whispers or voices in the water.
I hate thinking about all the animals that could live in there and come up to you... rats, snakes, ... urgs. The worst is camping directly a few meters from the edge of a pitch black big lake... your imagination goes crazy. I was actually very happy it was raining so heavy I could concentrate on that. Just when I had to go out on a pee... oh no.
I remember going to the Tormaukin Inn before it started calling itself pedantically a 'hotel' in the late 80's I think, it had a great wee tiny bar with a fireplace for a drink before you went into the restaurant for a meal ... then they renovated and expanded, enough said.... that's the things in life that scare me, they call them 'improvements' lol
Brilliant Ray. Can relate to this video a lot haha I was camping at The Storr and just settled down for the night, pitch black, no wind at all, when I heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the tent. They started running the closer they got then stopped outside the tent. It was an American guy that was lost and didn't know where the path was. No map etc lol not going to lie, I absolutely shat myself! Lol I directed him back to the path and then I couldn't settle for another 2 hours 🙈😂
LOL Brill. Atb
Ive had that happen to me a couple of times, bloody lost hikers walking upto the tent in the dark, my dogs going crazy, me panicking because im scared the dogs will have them, dinner flying, nightmare
I've been sleeping in a covert area and been woken by Deer actually walking past where I lay and if your quiet , they won't bother you, unless one happens to trip over a guy rope, then its mayhem ensuing as the herd take off.
Had them close but not had one trip over guyline. Well not yet, lol. Atb
When I was 14 me and my mate decided to camp out near our home , a local guy who was about 30 years old came to our tent shouting at us, my mate stuck his head out the tent and the bloke kicked him full in the face and shouted warnings to us about making noise. The next night the same bloke shot his own brother with a shotgun!
Hells bells thats not good. Atb
The other week I camped at the top of Goatfell solo, and it sounded like a cow/deer was on the summit with me and the grass against the fly sounded like mice running up and down it
Goatfell looks a great spot. Atb
Cool video Ray. I run the Kilpatrick Hills FB page and they are very similar to the Ochils. Having the occasional Snipe take off walking in the darkness can certainly startle you!
Yep they sure can. Same walking about in the Gorms and a bunch of Ptarmigan make themselves know :) Atb.
Worthy of a subscription for sure, well done Renegade! I have solo camped off a motorcycle many many times. I fear no animal or cryptids but do respect them. People on the other hand are the problem 99.9% of the time. Being rather large and exceptionally ugly usually keeps the people at bay.
You have a great style of presenting Ray and your editing is first class, no jarring music, very peaceful and entertaining.
Glad you enjoyed it. Atb
Thanks for inviting us along, Ray. I enjoyed that.
We're Scottish and we usually carry knives. Ain't nothing silly enough to bother us at night and in the middle of nowhere 😂👍
I've wild camped solo many a time without too many worries. The strangest noise that disturbed me was when I was camping in a valley - a scraping noise in the vestibule. Looked out and the carrier bag I'd been using for rubbish was slowly exiting the tent going under the fly sheet. Weird and scary at first. Turned out a hedgehog had got into the bag and was walking off in it. The worst noises, and most concerning were, believe it or not, when I cracked in lockdown and decided to 'wild camp' in my back garden. Cats, humans in the roads and many other things. Far worse than being on the hill at night.
Cheers for posting Dave. Your comment brought back memories of a night I ended playing tug-of-war with something on other side of the flysheet trying to drag my food bag out from underneath :) Atb
I camped one night alone in the woods local to my home. I set up a camp fire and burned some damp branches. My tent was just 15' away. Pheasants hooted at dusk, the owls and foxes were screaming at each other at sun down, and in the back ground a Muntjac's barking echoed like a lost werewolf. All the horror movies I had watched as a teenager came flowing back to my mental vision. The fire continued to crackle as I battled to rationalize my fears. On the outside of my self was a beautiful, dark woodland, now peaceful with no other human activity, but on the inside it was a different story. It was a powerful experience that made me realise that part of what is inside us strongly drives our actions on a daily basis. Our fears. We are not always reacting to our external environment. Funnily enough, the hardest part for me was unzipping my tent door as I retired for sleep. That was when I felt most vulnerable. The faces from the darkness were all around me. Once I was in the tent I was safe!! How silly is that?! BUT - it was a most rewarding exorcism :-D
Amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing. Atb
Wild camping alone is awesome , freaky at times but always memorable .
I am a solo hiker but I do have fear of being at night alone in mountain. Your video helped me to realize I need to do it so overcome my fears!! Thank you 🙏
Hi Tara. The more you go out the easier it gets. For me now I cant wait to get out for a little bit of solitude. Atb
@@RS.Outdoors the area I live has bear and lion mountain . That makes it scary 😀😀
In the early 90s me and a pal had just left the Army and after several misadventures, our van died in Penrith and we ended up walking and hitching back home to North of Scotland. We were in bivvy bags somewhere just inside the woods north of Grantown On Spey and had gone to sleep with a fire dying down between us. There was a steep slop behind us. We were violently awoken by the sound of the most almighty crashing and breaking of branches came directly down the slop towards us. I looked behind me to see the outline of a stag in the moonlight, which appeared to have screeched to a halt and tore off in another direction. It sounded like an express train. I was surprised he was so noisy and that he didn't appear to notice us at the last minute. It felt like a horror film for a second. I say now that he was welcoming us home as we did have a stags head in our Tam O Shanters! But at the time we did indeed absolutely sit ourselves.
Then again, my other half and I canoed out to stay the night on Innishail - the an ancient the burial Island on Loch Awe this summer. It was lovely- I think the ghosts kept the midges away. I wouldnt be too keen to that one on my own though.
"Shit" ourselves I meant of course.....
Amazing stuff and thanks for sharing. Atb
I thought you were going to tell us Frazer's story of the "Auld Empty Barn".
Many years ago in the winter time I was once camping in a remote part of the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. It was a windy night and raining heavily when, at about 2am, a torch beam shone across the tent followed by footsteps walking around the tent! After a short while the footsteps receded and I looked outside, and was relieved to see a torchlight illuminating a column of soldiers walking along a track in the distance. One of them must have wandered over to check out my tent? Pretty alarming at the time!
That would scare the crap out of me, lol. Atb
SAS?
@@leecromer3289 Quite possibly..
Great stuff, it took me a few years to build up the courage but last year I went up the mountains alone and late enough that I could easily get back down, man I wanted to pack up and leave about ten times but I just promised myself I wouldn’t, I seen the last of the hikers leave down the mountain and new I was alone, I got a beautiful sunset then the most amazing stars, it was indeed scary, just the deafening silence, the odd random rattle of the side of the tent for no reason then would stop again for hours. But I never regretted it and looking forward to getting out again this year. I’ll be scared again but ya work through it, I have ear plugs or headphones and a podcast on etc. Making sure to do a good hike in or have a busy day so you are tired enough to sleep. When you wake up in the mounting you won’t regret it, you’ll have immense pride in yourself for staying the night. Just to note I have bailed on a camp before, got a lough in the mourne mountains and I couldn’t see 10ft in front of me for the fog, and the silence was scary, almost like the world had frozen, I took half an hour and weighed up the pros and cons and decided to go before light left me, I knew I’d be very nervous that particular night so decided to leave, yeah it eats away at me but I’ll get out again that’s 100%. So give it a go, you won’t regret it. I’ve also had some strange experiences in my life, seen orbs of light floating passed me, slowly, seen a metallic ball floating over the top of the mountain both during daylight, but never anything like that while camping, although it does enter my head, beat to stay in the tent and relax. You’ll love it so go for it.
Nice on mate and thanks for sharing. Atb
You're making me seriously miss Scotland. The magical feel of the land has never left me, and as beautiful as it looks where I now live (Canada) the feeling just isn't here for me.
Scotland might just be my future home. Thank you for your beautiful videos:)
It is an amazing place. Thanks for watching. Atb
Definitely had a few experiences at night in the middle of nowhere, good way of getting a quick cardio workout in lol
Great video, thank you. I’d love to go wild camping on my own but I do have these fears, that’s why I think I’m better off living it vicariously through people like you.
Nah, just get out and give it a go. Not as bad as you think. Atb
As a kid in the 70's walking down a pitch black country lane at 4am on my way to the Sea. A guy in the old Red and White Adidas trackies leaps the fence to my right. He runs passed me inches from my face and sprints off into the countryside. I was a little bit taken aback ..
Sounds like Mcvicar on the run 🏃♂️
Hi mate great video, when the first few times I went on a solo camp I could not sleep, it was the strange sounds and noises what got me on edge, but now I sleep like a log, you did a great job you now got a new subscribe, we’ll done. Ady
Thanks Adrian, Atb.
Renegade Scot hi most welcome mate I got a few videos to watch now on your channel. 👍 ady
Some good content in this video. I just spent the whole week wild camping in Glencoe... on the first night up in the woods, a red deer stag actually roared so loud that it woke me up... sounded like a proper wild beast... was a first for me.
The by far weirdest outdoor experience for me personally was last year, when some mates and I were out on a road trip along the east coast. One night we did a wild camp in a forest near Stonehaven. We arrived there at sunset and manged to get our tent pitched just before it got dark, near to another solo camper who already had his camp fire going. The guy greeted us and seemed very friendly at first. It was a horrible night in general - heavy rain showers the whole night, and we had camped underneath some tall trees right in the middle of the forest... so we had branches and sticks falling down on us the whole time. At maybe 3am/4am, I swore that I heard foot steps around our tent. My mates knocked it off at first and said it was just the sound of the sticks and the rain... but I kept listening, and it turned out that I was right - the guy was actually circulating our tent!! One of my friends even felt a hand touch his elbow as the guy was sliding along the tent... I assume he was looking to see if we had any belongings stored at the sides, where he could cut through the tent with a knife or razor blade and commit theft.
At some stage he stopped and shined his flashlight straight into our tent - for one moment I could see his shadow when he was putting on his torch... horror film type of stuff. We asked him what he was doing, he then mentioned the bad weather and asked us if we were coming out. We told him to go away... imagine being out in the woods on your own, and something like this happens to you in the middle of the night... what a nightmare!! At least it was the three of us and he was on his own... I assume that the guy must have been on some type of drugs to be honest.
Since then I always have a flashlight right next to me when I go to sleep, which is set it to SOS mode in case I need it... it should fend off most neds and other scum who are trying to mess around with your camp. You won't have these type of problems up the hills or mountains however.
Hell of an experience that to go through. However have met a few weird foiks like that whilst at a few bothies. As you say I do try and get away from normal locations and top of mountain is ideal ;) Glad it didn't put you off for the future. Atb
Interesting thoughts thanks. My guess on the orb is one of the hundreds of outdoor TH-camrs who've been given an Olight nuclear powered mini spotlight to 'review' - one of those that can throw a spot onto passing aircraft. You're so lucky in Scotland to have the luxury of just worrying about the relatively irrational things - ghosts, murderers, that sort of thing. In England there is a real and constant edge of being found out, and moved on. That makes any voices carrying on the wind quite buttock clenchingly tense... Cheers for posting, and a new sub from me. 👍
Thanks for sharing. Can imagine the issues camping down South can be a real pain. Did spend 6 months working down there and lucky I had Dartmoor near by for some form of outdoors. Atb
Hi Iv also seen these light jumping back and forward, first thoughts satellites, but satellites don`t do that, they only travel in a continuous direction.
Edinburgh area.
Another smashing video Ray. As always you make nature the star of the show. In mid September I walked the Dava Way from Grantown to Forres. The weather held so I continued along the Moray Coast Trail to Cullen. I camped for three nights along the way, my final night being in Lossiemouth woods, adjacent to the old WW2 gun emplacements, just behind the ruined barrack block building. I think a barn owl was nesting in there - it's high pitched shriek sounded like someone being brutally murdered in a 70's Hammer House of Horror. It took a while getting off to sleep that night!
Sounds like a great walk apart from the barn owl, lol. Atb
Thanks for this. Perfect landscape for a wild camp. The way you discuss the strange noises problem of solo camping, is very reassuring. I love the idea of solo camping but I seldom do it and I think it is because ofthe perculiar existential angst that rises up as the dark closes in and the nocturnal creatures begin their wanderings. If there's a companion in the vicinity, even if they're some distance away, I take all the scrapings and patterings in my stride. But alone it's a different matter. Mind you, here in Southern Finland, where there are occasional sitings of bears and a small pack of wolves passing through from time to time, I suppose one is forgiven the odd frisson of unease! Though it's the ticks that are the real danger in the warmer weather🙂. Enjoying your videos. Subscribed.
Glad you enjoyed it and you have an amazing place yourself to explore. Atb
This is strange, but me and the Mrs did a summit camp on Meall Buidhe (Glen Lyon) facing Westwards in September and looking towards round about where you and Murray were camping (Beinn a'Chrulaiste?) we also noticed the strange orb/light that you've described, it was miles away from the road, it moved quickly then slowly and even appeared to change colour, very strange.
Couldn't get any sleep in Corrie Fee last week because of the very noise stags 😂 was incredible seeing them in the daylight
Cool video mate, thanks for sharing. I always enjoy camping alone, despite some weird noises it's part of nature
Glad you enjoyed. Atb
Critters 🤣 Last week on the great Glen way, 1st night I camped at the trailblazer site near laggan locks... such a bad choice of area for October.. peak rutting.. at least 12 stags in the hills and woods around me and lordie did they shout all night. Also had a badger scare the bejesus outa me at 2am.. it had run down the side of the tent & popped 2 guy lines off the pegs 🤣😂. Made for a somewhat tetchy tired hiker on the next stage to Fort Augustus lol
The scottish hills and glens do seem to come alive more so this time of the year. The Great Glen Way sounds like a great trip and hope you had a fab time. Atb
Great video, Ray. Your local area is fantastic, well, magnificent, and will be a great explore. I think everyone needs to do local at this time. I mean it's not the wild camping that's the problem, but travel involves petrol stops, pub stops, food stops, etc. Local is good.
Btw, Scotland is in my book of 'Advanced Nations' for having wild camping. As you know, it's illegal here in England except on Dartmoor. Shame.
Thanks mate. feel for you down south and amazing how lucky we are up here. Atb
When deer actively seek you out and sing to you in ever approaching circles. It's not just creepy.. It's time to pack up.
LOL, Atb.
Did it in the first lockdown in the New forest .Sticks snapping all night round the tent lots of deer moving about barely slept.
Bloody terrifying your imagination goes wild.
I once camped in the New Forest on my own, the most scary things I'd experience was the sound of ponies feeding around my tent, it felt just like someone slowly creeping towards you and went on for all night 😆
I love solo camping, nothing to be scared about, good for the soul👍🏕😎👌
Sure is. Atb
Excellent again Ray, Love solo camping I wouldnt have it any other way, Thankfully after years of working during the night, I use the darkness to my advantage and thrive in it now, so much happens under the cover of darkness that you wouldnt see in daylight. I bought a night owl sight to use in darkness & love lying on my side on top of my sleeping bag with the tent flap open observing nature go about its business under the cover of darkness. Brilliant.
Thanks mate. That sounds like great fun and did think about a trail cam at one point to setup outside the tent whilst I slept to capture what nature was up to. Atb
In Queenstown, NZ, in the mountains I saw, on multiple occasions; blue lights. Big ones, small ones, some with big bright flare effects, some with small dots. Sometimes very very intermittent and sometimes very fast with quick successions. Watched it with a girl once too by the lake. Absolutely indescribable and weird. There's so much out there. Nice video bro.
Great story and many thanks for watching. Atb
Couple of the bothies I’ve been in I swear are haunted . The grey man is true I had the worst night camping there ruined tent and 70 mile an hour winds felt like a giant ! Great vid .
Oh wow! Atb
Lovely skies there, so many people never look up.
You are right, i used to camp in the Longdendale valley, near the no camping signs! There were wheel tracks in the grass, i was worried about the tent getting run over in the dark but as you say, the grass rustling against the groundsheet, i was looking outside each time! Needless to say, by the second night i was so tired, i slept like a log! Thank you for your wise and kind advice. Best Wishes.
Thanks for watching. Atb
Such a reassuring video, nice, thank you
Glad it was helpful! Atb
I've never found it a problem because my rational mind reassures my imaginative mind that by far the scariest things in this part of the world are other human beings! Most of them are in the towns and cities. Personality disordered people tend not to go hiking, I've found. We're mostly sound of mind and docile folk. I'd rather be in the wilderness on a Saturday night than in Leeds centre!
On the Pennine Way I solo wild camped at an old Roman fort. I guess if ghosts were real, they'd have spooked the bejesus out of me. I slept soundly, but yeah, the grass swishing the flysheet can play tricks with your mind sometimes.
I’ve heard stories of countryside criminals hanging around at night, steeling sheep and other live stock. They tend not to want to be recognised and perhaps unpredictable behaviour.
Absolutely correct, in the U.K. the meanest bit of wildlife is an adder...it's not like camping in a Canadian forest full of bear, where you carry a portable electric fence with your gear😳.
Go that extra mile, avoid that 'urban stealth camp' and get the hell away from towns & gangs of youths looking to get pissed around a campfire. Humans are the only thing you should be looking to avoid. Learn about the wildlife & the noises they make, being woken by wildlife can be annoying but it's much easier to deal with when you can process the information rationally with some knowledge👍
Great video buddy, really enjoyed it. Many thanks..... Jack.
Thanks 👍
Fabulous to see you enjoying my local hills Ray...the Ochils may lack the grandness of the hills to the North but they have given me countless many adventures over the last ten years in all seasons.. so thanks for that...atb
Absolutely. Atb
The thing that unsettles me is teenagers coming across my camp in the woods and messing with my tent whilst I am inside or a landowner finding me.
Camped in the lake district a few years back, a storm blew up one night and the wind came funnelling down the mountains like a bloody steam train, very scary. Enjoy your vlogs, thanks.
Thanks for watching, Atb.
Not forgetting the old horse with chronic flatulence outside Ruigh-aitechain bothy, that had me awake a few times
LOL, Atb.
I've had loads of experiences. The last wildcamp i did, I had been walking all day and pitched late in Glen Isla exhausted. Almost as soon as I put the light off I could hear something quite big approaching my tent from the north. It seemed to be quite large. A few seconds later something to the south west let out two shrieks, that sounded almost human. It was like a sound wave blasting through the tent and sent the other thing running away. Maybe foxes , maybe deer, I don't know. After some rumbles of thunder in the distance I managed to get off to sleep due to sheer tiredness.
Also had a bad night at Loch Drunkie before the permit system made it popular. Heard a gunshot as I walked down from the Aberfoyle side. Set up the tent and then heard another gunshot just before midnight. The birds didn't settle down all night and the geese and heron were pretty noisy. I also had that weird feeling of something not wanting me to be there.
Anyway I managed to survive.
The joys of camping. Amazing folks experiences. Atb
Gunshots are quite common, if you know the hunting seasons and expect that you might hear them. It's nothing to worry about although close gunshots would be very unsettling, usually hear them some way off in the distance. Regarding animal noises I've been solo camping for some years and I've only had a few really unsettling things happen, one was in a bothy (so not exactly camping) and another was in glen orchy when I was awakened by a loud screeching in the dead of night. The bothy was several loud bangs like someone was rattling the roof, I was alone and I almost jumped out my skin but put it down to icicles falling from the apex of the bothy to a false roof. Moral of the story is that noises happen and no matter how unsettling they are, I've always come out the other side.
@@bushcraftadventure5215 Great stuff mate and advice. Atb
Try reading some HP Lovecraft in your tent 😱😱👽👻. Love yours and Murray's no nonsense videos
Another brilliant wild camping share thank you 🙏🔥🏴💜
Glad you enjoyed it. Atb
I have wild camped alone all over the World, in Jungles and Deserts in very dangerous environments (part of the work I was involved in). There are many safety aspects involving environments such as these. Now at sixty and still wild camping in UK, apart from the odd extreme weather it is much more safe to be alone on a mountain/moor/forest miles away from any human than to walk in a city centre at night. There is no animal or for that matter any human you will find that is going to harm you. If I want peace, security and a sound sleep then it is time to go wild camping. If you are of such a nervous disposition that you fear wide open spaces, then stay in the city, as you are a danger to yourself only.
Going solo is one of my favorites. Just for 1 or 2 nights. It's all about the spot you choose to pitch. Just subscribed. Great channel. Although I'm hugely jealous, not many choices in the south east for a proper wild night out.
Thanks for the sub! Was working and living down south for a good while there in Plymouth. Really lucky up here with where we can go. Atb
In utter silence our minds try to make sense of any sounds we hear, it's particularly noticeable when camping next to a stream with pebbles moving in the current it's easy to interpret the sounds as voices.
The only odd sounds that made me sit up was when I was raided by a gang of hedgehogs 😱
i love it on my own. its a total different experience and you relax more
Totally agree! Atb
Ive never solo wild camped, but we did once wild camp in a forest and my friend went back to the car park to grab something he forgot. He saw a chap in a van with a clown mask on, and promptly got the item he forgot and returned to tell us. Much later in our secluded spot, just saw the man walking along the path. We didn't get much sleep that night.
I have a recurring nightmare where I am trying to wake myself up but can't raise myself from sleep (I have even thrown myself out of bed to wake from a nightmare). This time, I was wild camping at a remote location (Loch Calavie below Lurg Mhor) and either trail walkers walked past my tent in the middle of the night shining headtorches on it and trying to speak to me (I'm known to call out when trying to wake myself) or I dreamt it as part of my nightmare. No idea which happened but, given I hadn't seen anyone for 24 hours, the chances of people walking past when I was having the nightmare seems unlikely though the voices seemed very real. Suspect, I'll never know!
Sounds a bit like you were lucid dreaming ont hat camp that is meant to be fairly common. I do have vivid dreams myself and often help them along with some Babybell cheese and coffee before retiring to bed ;) Atb
Last time I was out, in september, in the Lakes, it was so misty I could only see a few feet in front, a few times I thought I could see someone coming towards me but it always turned out to be something else, was a bit spooky was a fun camp though. I'm in Liverpool, we've just been locked down for at least a month so might be a while before I get back out which is a shame I prefer camping in cold weather. Love watching your videos.
Shame you cant get out and feel for you mate. Cold weather camps are my favourite and most folks thing I am mad. Atb
Here in Maine we have coyotes, bobcats, black bear, and I’ve personally seen a cougar (although the state denies they’re here.) And, of course, Bigfoot.
Hi Kerry. Lucky in a way that we don't have much in the way of big wildlife like that. Bit sad in a way as well as things like that wouldn't put me off either. Wouldn't mind a camp in Bigfoot country though ;). Atb
Pears hitting a tin roof, found out in the morning, terrifying at night
Ha,ha, brill. Had a similar thing with acorns dropping off a tree during a windy night. Initially thought somebody was throwing things at the tent. Atb
Great channel, I had my supper on a mountain in Wales with a wee mouse on the summit of mountain on my wild camp.
Very cool! Atb
Wonderful uplifting video, slow paced, relaxed and true. Great to have audio examples of some of the beasts found on Scotland’s hills. Thanks so much for doing this one.
Glad you enjoyed it. Atb
Away from all the madness that's going on, thanks mate
Love a wee camp up the ochil's, we're you around the Craigentaggert Hill looking over Upper Glendevon reservoir? I too live around 20 mins away so it's my go to playground when I'm not hiking up munros.
What a place to camp close to Halloween with all the stories and the ruined house behind Dumyat that once housed warlocks and witches. I know they hills are full of life so I know you will hear the crying of the sheep, the thumping of the rabbits, the wind blowing the long grass and not to mention the shrieking cry of the vixen fox. I remember the first time I heard the banging noise that I believe was from the Lossburn Reservoir. I woke up thinking shotguns were firing nearby.
Yeh not far from there. Did see few car headlights later in night and did hear from farmer earlier in day that they are having trouble with poachers. Atb
Thats not good, people just need to get out and enjoy the land for what it is.
Great video. Thanks so much for your honesty. Keep on sharing please and stay safe!
Thank you! Will do!
we were on y garn facing Tryfan and seen the same type of light. i thought it was goats eyes. 3 of us watched the lights for a good hour. my mate said they were there all night. the way the light came down was like somone had fell. got back up and climbed to the same spot. weird
Lots of folks seem to be noticing these weird lights more and more when out and about. Atb
You are very lucky to be so close to this beautiful nature. And your video’s are a big inspiration. Much respect from the Netherlands!
Thank you so much 😀