Camped In The Us?

MansiN · Aug 12, 2018

hahaha @rihanna wow i loved this reply so much. so many things happening!

MansiN · Aug 12, 2018

So I thought I'd post an update on my experience.

WE made it to Acadia after a 13 hour drive from Maryland. Maine is one beautiful state. We set up our tent and before we could even begin to calculate other things, it started to drizzle. We had to immediately set up a tar shelter for our cooking area. Did that, had some precooked frozen food, heated and served.

One thing that went seriously wrong was, that it rained, heavily. storms and what not. And temperatures fell below 5 degrees Celcius. Because of the storms, no matter how many precautions we took with the tent set up to avoid water from seeping in, water managed to get between the tent footprint and the tent. Really chilly water. We were extremely tired from our trek all day, and couldn't understand why it'd gotten so cold inside the tent.

turns out, there was water inside the tent from condensation. Couldn't leave a door open, because winds were pretty chilly. It was like we slept on an ice water bed all night. woke up at 4 am and got into our car. turned on the seat warmers and got a good sleep.

dired out the tent next day and the tent was good to go. So as a solution to this disaster, we're setting tarp shelters even for our next camping trip, which happens in a week.

Other than that, the food situation was pretty nice for us. We purchased a good cooler, which made ice last for upto 5 days. precooked a few meals at home, froze them and heated and ate those. hassle free. We didnt want to do a lot of work at the campsite, because we were visiting a beautiful state 14 hours away from home and wanted to explore, more than be at the campground. Evening at campsite would be go great with the campfires.

Acadia has some really challenging hikes and trails and we managed to get on a few. It was simply an amazing experience and i'd do it all over again.

Next camping trip - Shenandoah National Park. I leave on friday.

If anybody has nay questions about camping, i'd be glad to answer them with as much as i have learnt from this experience.

MansiN · Aug 12, 2018

This is such an elaborate reply. Thank you so so much for taking the time to write this. It is very helpful and has some really good information. I agree, camping is a beautiful experience, if one isn't very picky and chooses to see beyond everyday luxuries.

Rihana said: ↑

There are rules but most are the common sense kind -- quiet hours after 10 pm and so on. The less obvious rules the ranger will explain to you on check-in. Such as food storage and not damaging nature etc. Looks like Acadia does not allow firewood from outside, you have to buy it from the camp store.

Are campers vegetarian or non-vegetarian? Any young kids? Plan to take lots of things that can be eaten without cooking or just heating.

What is the general plan for the day time of camping? Any serious hiking/trekking planned? Some Indian families cook, eat, play some games, and rinse repeat. : ) For such groups, cooking is great. If hiking is planned, you might be too tired to cook much after a hike. I take marinated non-veg and cooked parathas, yougurt, mango/lime pickles, bread, eggs, salt+turmeric+some powders pre-mixed. I don't cook. I sit on the camping chair with feet on another camping chair, reading a book or looking up at the blue or dark sky or tree tops to see where is the woodpecker that I can hear pecking away so steadily . Food and drink is served to me at my chair. : )

Our cooking needs many masalas, and many vessels get used. Best would be MTR instant upma kind of thing. Boil water and add upma mix.

Acadia has running water and potable water according to the website. So, there might be a tap shared by 1-3 camp sites. Very rustic. The water does not flow into a drain. Just some small rocks to catch the water. So, elaborate dish washing might not be possible, plus left over food would look yuck in the rocks. I take a small dishwashing liquid bottle and a scrubber to wash only my tea/coffee/milk vessel. Paper plates, bowls for other needs. There will be a sink in the restroom but you won't feel like washing dishes there plus it looks bad as that sink is not meant for dish washing.

Get quarters. Looks like there are coin operated showers. Take battery-operated lanterns. And camping headlamps (very useful when walking to restroom in the dark. Once you reach, you don't need a spot to rest lamp on. I also take toilet seat covers and toilet paper for just in case. Disposable wipes (baby wipes from Costco) and hand sanitizer are also useful. Paper towel.

Don't forget a hammer to use when putting the tent stakes in the ground. Can opener/knife. Plastic table cloth big enough to cover the wooden table provided in camp site. Mosquito spray too!

For rustic camping, very little stuff is needed. If you are taking things for comfort.. then stuff adds up. Easiest way to take them is in laundry hampers or big wide boxes without lid.

When inside the tent, and a light is on, whatever one does in the tent is cast as a silhouette visible from outside. : ) So, if changing clothes or something, use the light to get the clothes, memorize where they are and then switch off the light. : )

One time we forgot to bring shoes inside the tent. All were warmly settled in individual blankets. I said, let's leave them out. DH said, 'shoes are places small animals like to crawl into and use for shelter as they are warm and dry during the night.' I was out of my blanket and retrieving all shoes in record time. : ) : ) After shaking them very very hard.

Each campsite has one parking spot. Better to park the vehicle that has most of camping stuff in that spot. And better to have multiple keys to it. Once we went with friends. Men stayed up later in the night. I woke up early at 7 am and look in all places of our tent for car keys. Nope. No can find. Those days I had to have chai or coffee first thing in the morning. Long story short -- chai stuff was in the the car and car keys were in a still sleeping gentleman's pocket and said gentleman was not my husband so I had to wait. : ) He woke up happily after 1-2 hrs, comes out of their tent, stretches and yawns and says good morning. If looks could kill, he'd have fallen dead. : ) I was hopping mad.

Camping is a lot of fun if one is too picky about bathrooms, shower, food.

A few more things - it gets very silent at night. Very very silent. As one lies inside the tent, you can hear small animals scurrying really close to the tent. You need a certain faith that it won't come inside, and that there are many people camping just like you. It gets very cold at night. Take good socks. Extra pairs too. And I like to wear thin thermals under sweat pants.

If not used to sleeping bags, try one out at home first. I never zipped it around myself at home. Used it flat like a blanket. In the tent, zipped it around me, and the first time I turned over inside it, it turned over with me. : ) : )

One last thing -- tent sizes are deceptive. If it says sleeps 6 comfortably, assume 4. Or 3. And also - don't leave unused firewood outside when you go hiking. Can get stolen while other stuff you leave out is safe enough. If not familiar with starting a fire, watch a few videos to know which lighter fuel to buy, starter brick etc.

Air bed is a worthwhile investment if you will be going camping more times. We used only sleeping bags and comforter/blanket for a while, but now our old bones thank us in the morning for hauling the airbed, pump and D batteries for pump.

Acadia National Park seems beautiful from the pictures. Have fun.
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Camped In The Us?

MansiN Senior IL'ite

MansiN Senior IL'ite

MansiN Senior IL'ite

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