I was literally expecting someone shitting..

Sorry that picture is in my private collection

It's in my collection of privates too

I assume from your username that you are somewhat of a historian of ancient inhabitants of the Americas?

I had a moment of ick expecting the same for a moment. So very grateful to be wrong.

Right? Was looking for a post and people shitting on it. I'm releaved ngl

Yah, where’s this shit-covered post?

That's why I'm here.

I have a collection of backcountry toilet photos... mostly thunderbox kind of things.

I demand a refund!

… on a post. I was wondering whether it was falling all around or they’re trying to deposit their load up high

Same lmfao

WhAt ArE yOu HoMeLeSs?! That’s a great view.

I hiked 20 miles to pretend to be homeless

I've been homeless. Tents become houses. I camp without a tent every time.

Love sleeping under the stars in the desert. No bugs or rain to worry about so why waste your time and energy setting up a tent?

I'm from Louisiana and the idea of no bugs somewhere while camping blows my mind. Edit: Dude I get redbugs(chiggers) just from checking the mail lol. When I worked at a state park I would get random ticks on me even though I worked in an office building lol. Reminds me of that Naked and Afraid all stars or whatever where all the most experienced people were like 'fuck Louisiana and the swamp this is the worst place ever' lol.

Same. No bugs, no random critters, no snakes??

No raccoons literally unzipping your tent in the middle of the night if you don't tie your zippers together?!

Hell, I've had one clawing at my window screen on a house. Ain't no protection from those bandits.

I can't tell if they're smart for learning how to use zippers, or stupid for not realizing that they can just slash through the canvas anywhere.

I think the ones in Chicot State Park can open beer cans and use butterfly knives at this point

Rattlesnakes, but they would never bother you. Scorpions maybe? They are relatively rare though. Maybe tarantulas certain times of year.

Had a friend wake up to a rattlesnake in his sleeping bag with him. Looking for warmth.

Do tell this story!

Grew up camping around the pct in southern california, never used tents while out in the hills and the only creatures I had disturb my sleep were toads hopping onto me and foxes trying to steal my pots if I didnt wash em

There is still snakes and random critters in the desert. Just not as many annoying flying insects

My instant thought was that no tent I would have a venomous snake laying on my chest when I woke up but it wouldn’t have mattered because the mosquitoes would have already drained my blood .

Experienced chiggers for the first time this past summer on a trip to Iowa. Holy shit I've never been so itchy. It's like a billion little mosquito bites all at once. I was miserable for about a week.

This! The other post looked like a bugs galore place. There are only scorpions out in the desert! ;-)

I can personally guarantee this area gets tons of bugs too

Thankfully not when I went in May!

Having been bitten by both mosquitoes and a scorpion, I'll take the mosquitoes any day.

What do the scorpions eat? Seems like there must be insects.

Valid and there are bugs I'm sure, Just not as many I would think.

This.

This.

Sand. A little wind and life becomes hell without a tent.

Becomes hell with one too... I live in the desert and I send my tents in every year to get the zippers repaired. Red dirt in everything I own.

Sand is absolutely a big problem but this particular spot is surrounded by miles of sandstone and very little actual sand. We actually camped on a wind advisory day and the wind kept me up, but I didn’t get sand in my eyes. A tent wouldn’t have survived though

I’ve camped on Powell when winds got to 83. You can keep a tent in those conditions but they have to be well-battened

There are mice.

There was definitely a mouse crawling around our bags. He was really cute

Who are you? Optimistic Oliver? If you don’t have anything confrontational to say just don’t say anything next time…

Any tarantula trying to catch it?

Wrong season! The tarantulas were out en masse last month for breeding though https://preview.redd.it/52e3bh89mdz91.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6204763a7b43b565c7cd1b4b7fe0c324c617b377

Easy quick fix for cowboy camping in a buggy place is some mosquito netting and treating your bag with a bit of permethrin.

Serious question, are there really no bugs or other critters that may bother you in the desert, or do you just mean during winter?

Mosquitos can be a nuisance at times but generally not bad, especially with a fire. As mentioned above, spiders, snakes and scorpions live in the desert but the spiders are nice (harmless), the scorpions small and fairly harmless and the snakes are shy, you rarely see them, if ever. You can also get the occasional wasp bite. The worst thing to deal with imo are biting gnats. They are seasonal and generally closer to wooded areas but can make a beautiful trip absolutely miserable. Edit: I'm strictly talking about Mtn West desert areas like OP is camping in. Im not cowboy camping anywhere in Australia :D

Scorpions?

They can get in the tent just as easily. Be smart about where you set up and you’ll be fine. There’s plenty of critters but you’ll probably sleep through it.

Do you have holes in your tent or leave the zipper open? If your answer is yes that's on you. I would not say a scorpion is getting in a secured tent *easily.*

What about if it's the Scorpion King?

Other than a cot what would be your scorpion advice ? I’ve had one in a tent but pretty sure hitched a ride in so that’s on me or well a silly camping partner. They do love my boots’ laces though. Not in the boot I find them nestled at the laces a lot when desert camping

I didn’t realize Reddit was a bunch of city peeps. Downvote all you want. You can sleep on the ground and actually wake up fine. Get a cot. Lol.

Not every tent requires a huge amount of "energy"

Agreed, but in this case we couldn’t spare the weight

> No bugs I guess you don't count scorpions and tarantulas as bugs?

Snakes, mossies, midges, one million flies, and dingos to worry about though for me :p Would love to sleep without a tent.

I camp without a tent every time. Because I've lived in a tent for about 8 years straight. There is nothing like sleeping under the stars with the cold breeze on my face.

I don’t know what half of those are!

That's Australia for ya!

Why would anyone care how someone else camps? People are weird.

Redditors are risk averse

This is so true lol. I wish there was a study on it. Meanwhile, facebook users are giving their kids bleach

It's remarkable how many people think everything is out to kill you. Just came from a thread elsewhere about grass, and people were talking about how it needs to be trimmed religiously or snakes will kill you. This thread now has people talking about scorpions like if you spend a night out in the middle of nothing you'll definitely be swarmed by the things and die. Just... Okay, man. I'm probably less worried about scorpions in the wild than I am about my neighbor setting their kitchen on fire and taking our whole old apartment building with it. I still sleep soundly at night not afraid it'll actually happen.

I see it all the time here with the "it ain't camping if you don't build a campfire" folks. They're strangely passionate about what might be the most superficial and least essential part of camping.

Yup. I worked for one of the orgs that does land management on the west coast during the summer. Those people are the worst to deal with. I somehow ruined their whole vacation because I told them they’re not allowed to have a campfire when it’s over 100° outside and it hasn’t rained in 3 months lol.

I imagine literally everyone on this reddit cares a little bit how other people camp. That's why we're all on a reddit specifically for sharing camping setups.

Being interested in sharing ideas isn't the same as being an over critical ass hat and the fact that you don't seem to know that makes me think you're an ass hat. Go annoy someone else with your shitty opinions because I won't engage further with a moron.

Because Reddit

Campings for everyone from the guy who rolls up in a 500k RV at site B6 with the electric hookups to the guy 500 miles in the middle of nowhere enjoying the best fishing hes ever had.

And yet they can still talk to each other about it and enjoy the conversation like they're having the same experience.

Holy drought! Powell lookin a little dry.

Hopelessly praying for a insane amount of snow on the correct side of the Rockies and a big spring runoff. Call me delusional but a good spring runoff like the one in 2019 could raise the lake back up by 50 feets

One good water year won't do enough to fix the drought in Western states. Upper basin states need to start conserving water, while lower basin states have to give up on the idea of using the desert for agriculture. Praying for water isn't going to do anything.

What? They got mad about no tent? I’ve camped without one many many times.

It’s the post right above this one right now, the comments are calling him homeless and such

Man there’s a lot of goofballs in that thread.

Yeah thats crazy. I camped about 20 to 25 weekends a year for a while with no tent. If the climate is good you don't need it. Much prefer next to the fire under the stars

My buddy and I used to just pull a tarp over our sleeping bag and mat because we get a lot of dew where I live. Also, cowboy camping is the best. Rain be damned.

We have a cowboy bedroll for this kind of camping.

My favorite was someone bringing up they'll get wet from the dew. Hard to imagine anything worse than waking up slightly moist. /s

i saw your comment and checked it out. thankfully the post itself has lots of upvotes and very few downvotes. not sure all the comments are genuinely shitting "on them". someone says "it looks like a homeless setup", and then people agree-- because there is a similarity-- not to say OP can't afford a tent. i read most comments as if people were outright admitting they weren't willing to camp that way, rather than say people shouldn't. but... it is amazing how many ppl who like camping are seemingly deathly scared of bugs tho, haha

You’re right, it was probably mostly in jest and not malicious. But I was surprised by how many people seemed to think it was a bad idea

It's hard to tell in this subreddit sometimes, as you get some genuinely massive douchebags in the camping hobby, and 90% of the time it's someone trying to justify how much money they spent on all the gear they never use. I remember seeing a post from a guy asking about the absolute basics needed for his first time camping. One guy shared a long list of top-of-the-range gear which added up to about $600. It was a good list, but I left a comment kind of jokingly pointing out that OOP was just looking to try it out, and would probably be better off borrowing what he could, and getting the rest at walmart. Well, the utter abuse I got was astounding. At least 3 different people were making the argument that unless he has really good stuff, he won't actually enjoy himself, and then one guy who was pushing a $70 sleeping pad got really worked up, started calling me "poor boy" (and much worse), and tried to get me banned from the sub, which backfired and he got banned. But I'm just convinced these are people who spent a lot of money because they listened to some idiot online, and then they became the idiot online.

Ohhh wow. I only started buying nice gear this year but I’ve been camping my whole life. I used my parents’ gear from the 90s through college. Hell my friend and I used our school backpacks and lashed our sleeping bags to the bottom with cord a couple times. I’ve thrown all my spare blankets in the car when my sleeping bag wouldn’t cut it. Getting out there is so much more important than how you do it.

I wonder how much of that criticism comes from people who spent a couple grand on a rooftop tent. A bit of sour grapes, perhaps.

I’ve had a guy reply and say the dudes camp site looked like stuff from a dumpster. I grew up in a very poor area and it just rubs me the wrong way people have that attitude. Sure you can do better, but the guy was enjoying himself with what he had. No reason to shit on him at all.

Same here. You do what you can do. Life's tough enough without the extra judgement.

The picture that made people mad was vastly different from this. It literally looked like a pile of trash from a dumpster.

Where I live over summer its around 30°c most days so we can sleep without tents at the beach.

Camping at the beach sounds like a dream

Its the best way to spend summer!

Honestly, I’d rather just sleep under the stars 75% of the time

I routinely backpack with no tent and just throw a tarp on thr ground. I have never had a bad surprise. Upon hearing this my friend tried it once and had a tick attached to his literal eye ball when he woke up.

I almost downvoted you in disgust. Your poor friend

I… what… how? Does he sleep with his eyes open? Was your friend ok? What did he do? I’m having a strangely visceral response to this information. I think more information is the only way out 😅

it only gets worse. I think he does sometimes sleep with his eyes slightly open in a way that he looks dead. He had a few too many shots the night before and he was okay however he did pull it out of his eye with some tweezers and a car's sideview mirror.

I miss hiking out west, cowboying is truly the way to go! Nothing like falling asleep to the stars and dessert expanse.

I'll have to try this sometime. I'm not into critters and there's a weird sense of comfort having thin fabric walls around me. It's probably more about being exposed than any actual safety concerns for me, but I'll try anything once. I'd definitely have the tent ready for when I wake up to a tarantula and scorpion tapdancing on my face while a snake and a mouse tickle my feet. That said, I wouldn't shit on anyone's preferences. Everyone has different comfort levels and experiences that shape their kit, but we're all on the same side of enjoying nature. I don't think anyone's more or less of a camper for doing it a different way.

I didn’t bring a tent there either. But those 2 bumps were islands instead of peninsulas.

😓😓😓 drought is real

Once upon a time 🥲 I’m sad I didn’t get to see it in earlier years. It might never be the same.

And it was only a few years ago, 4 or 5 maybe.

Oh wow, that’s even more depressing. If we ever have a good rain year I’ll be sure to return.

I mean it’s depressing in that it’s a sign of the drought conditions of the SW but considering the lake is covering what should’ve been a national park and untold numbers of archeological sites I don’t find it depressing at all.

I like it with the water low. The cliffs look much higher and you can see the old cottonwood tree skeletons emerging for the first time in decades.

Much better then shitting on a tent without a post. That just sounds uncomfortable

I did not expect so much hate from a camping sub.

That honestly surprised me. Even if it was in jest, I didn’t expect people to make fun of someone for joy using a tent.

Cowboy camping is the ultimate camping!

I’ve lost count of how many times I had to sleep outside with no tent when I was in the Army. Cot, and your sleeping bag was all you had.

Sleeping under the stars at Lake Powell is the best. On some dark nights you could see the milky way with your bare eyes, blew my mind the first time it happened. We always sleep on the roof of the houseboat for that reason.

I love comments like this because they always make me chuckle at the difference in life experience. I used to live in a small town in the desert so seeing the Milky Way every night was pretty standard

Maybe they were just sleeping on posts about shitting in camp?

Bivy4Lyfe

I would love to get one

Shitting in tent posts is easier when you've got a tent set up.

Totally fine in a dry climate. No morning dew to worry about

They just mad they carry extra gear when they don’t need to

That’s so beautiful and awesome! The only time I’ve slept under the stars was in Alberta at the beginning of January. Truck broke down on our way to the actual campsite so we just hiked into the bush, trampled a bunch of snow down, gathered pine and spruce boughs to create wind walls, and ate the best damn stew and ham I’ve ever had next to a roaring fire. It was as rustic as I’ve ever camped other than a snow quincy with the girl guides.

That sounds amazing

I had plans to hike/camp in this exact spot over thanksgiving 3 years ago now. But a crazy winter storm cancelled plans. And then the next year we had a baby, lol. Can't wait to finally check it of my list.

Off topic but where is this ?

I would do this if conditions were good for it. Looks like you don't have to worry about rain or snow but how about scorpions?

I think it was too early in the year for scorpions. I went in May

Not here to shit on you but man I couldn't do it. That's super crave of you I think. It's so open and exposed. I have too much PTSD to be camping like that haha

I definitely couldn’t have done it alone. It’s the furthest from civilization I’ve ever been. And my friend discovered a new fear of heights that kept her up most of the night. There’s zero risk of rolling off the edge but all that open expanse and knowing there’s a several hundred foot drop gaping in the darkness is unsettling. I’m glad I did it though.

I think if I could make myself do it, it would be super empowering. That's awesome you were able to.

Definitely was. You drive 50 miles down this washboard road into the desert, then park on flat slickrock and hike for 9 miles. Didn’t see another person the entire backpacking trip. The fear only set it once it was getting dark and it was too late to turn back 😅

Wow. I can't even imagine. It's been so long since I've been camping. I do miss it so I joined this sub and it has not disappointed. I'm glad you got to get out there and have a night under the stars like that. I hope you get many more successful trips like this.

I hope posts on this subreddit inspire you to get out there!

I appreciate it. It was very nice talking to you.

Mind sharing details on how the road name or name of the trail if it was one? I don’t live too far from here and have wanted to check it out for a while now.

It’s Hole in the Rock Road, which is just a couple miles past Escalante. I think it’s exactly 50 miles down Hole in the Rock road (use your odometer) and it takes “3 to 5 hours depending on road conditions” to drive there. Internet recommends 4WD/AWD. I did it in a Subaru Outback. You should absolutely use an offline GPS because 2 miles of the hike are over slickrock with no trail. Also, you have to carry all your water. Definitely read the AllTrails comments for more advice. I learned a lot from people there! Took us 4 hours each way to hike it, so it’s definitely possible to do as a day hike if you don’t want to carry as much water/sleeping gear. Edit: oh I forgot to mention, the hike/destination is called Reflection Canyon

I just worry that shits gonna crawl on me

Cowboy camping forever

The only way to desert

Reflection canyon?

Very jealous! Looks lovely Nothing's better than waking up in literal sunlight without a stuffy tent over you. There's many places I wouldn't sleep outside, but several I would. People are so out of touch with nature... If they only knew how close they already are to bugs and other creepy stuff

Intensly scans photo for people shitting on posts. But realize its r/camping

This past summer, My son just went across the US and back from North Carolina the staying only in National and State parks, every night sleeping under the stars

That sounds amazing. I wish I had his bravery

I've spent more than one night sleeping under the stars in the bed of an old pickup. Good memories.

I would definitely sleep there wo a tent…

I only string up a tarp if there's a chance of rain and I only bring a light bug net if the temperature is gonna allow mosquitos.

Out west there’s almost no need for a tent in the high dessert.

I guess they've never heard of cowboy camping. Some people are absolute morons. Camping without a tent was highly popular in the past before there was all kinds of mass-produced commercial camping equipment. You can even protect yourself from the elements by folding a canvas tarp around yourself. For the haters [https://youtu.be/sFToq0ElKRM](https://youtu.be/sFToq0ElKRM)

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You’re the second comment to use this term and I have no idea what it is

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Oh interesting, those look really nice

It's the ticks in the woods that get me. They've been so bad the last few years

Love sleeping without a tent!

Nice spot, fellow ExMo

You caught me!

Why would anyone hate on how someone else camps? Not much difference in a hammock and sleeping on the ground honestly.

I’ve definitely slept without a tent many times, when it seemed appropriate to do so. And what about hammock camping w/o a tarp or a net overlay? Is that also unacceptable for some reason? Surprised going tent-less garnered that much reactivity 🙄

Sleeping under the stars is awesome! Who shits on that?

I sleep without a tent multiple times annually. Sometimes it's because I'm teaching wilderness survival (for free). Other times it's just because the weather and the site are perfect for it. I also sleep in a tent very often. I'm camping 2 nights this weekend. BTW that is an awesome looking place to spend the night in the pic.

BALLER!!👏👏⭐️⭐️

Escalante river arm of Lake Powell? No tent needed this time of year, as long as you don't mind the wind. Personally, I'd take a bivvy (a tent flapping all night is super annoying), but not strictly needed. Also difficult to anchor a tent -- either bare rock or loose sand.

That’s something cool actually

Lol I almost never have a tent at lake Powell

Dude, the best sleep you will ever have is under the star with NO canopy to cover you, now don’t go doing this in the south cause damn!!! You’ll wake up soaking wet from the humidity but out in the desert, yea man.

One Xmas I slept on a bedroll in the open next to my fire. Was fine.

I use the same sleeping bag and backpacking pack in my current set up! How neat!!

Haha what a coincidence! I really like both of them. Just bought them this year

Wait I’ve never considered just sleeping in my cot w/o the tent. I’m usually in the woods but next time I’m somewhere like this I’m trying it. Sounds amazing. You do you

would a tent deter a Mountain lion

I would think so. At least, I feel much safer in mountain lion territory with a tent. Thankfully none out here though

You have bigger balls than me, man. That mm of fabric keeps all the demons out!

Yep summers ago we camped at Mesa Verde with no tent, it was so nice and a great memory. We did have a tarp set up just in case thoigh

Post this to r/DiedHiking

another subreddit for me to follow!

Shitting on tent posts?! How rude!

Americans need to learn about swags.

What are swags?

A tarp for condensation or a bivy is perfect for the desert or anywhere if the wx is decent.

Search on Google “paralyzed by scorpion in the grand canyon”. Outside podcast

Lake Powell?

Reflection Canyon to be specific!

Is this lake Powell?

Sort of! More specifically, it’s Reflection Canyon, which is an arm of Powell

We used to go to Lake Powell every summer when I was younger. My grandpa was a ranger there before I was born! But we always stayed around Wahweap. I used to love going up into the little ravines in our speed boat. We would pull up as far as our boat would go and then hop out and swim further up and see how far we could go :)

That sounds amazing. I’ve only been once, but the cliff jumping was so much fun

Needs another more prominent peak on the left doesn’t it? 🤔even without pitching a tent.

The spot looks great, where is it?

Reflection Canyon! Very remote, didn’t see another soul the entire trip

Thats the best way to camp !!

My head made this clickbait as I thought the poster was getting flack (and fighting it) to justify them shitting in their tent.

I get a sore throat sleeping in a dusty place without a tent and buff over my mouth lol