Solo Favorites: Solitary Camping on the Cheap in State Parks
Solo Favorites: Solitary Camping on the Cheap in State Parks
While my sons were at summer camp, and my wife was busy at work, I took a 5-day solo tenting trip to Lake Huron, first in Michigan (Port Crescent), then in Ontario (Pinery Provincial). For me, it was no hardship being alone: solitude is an dear friend of mine. :-)
Here are my favorites from the trip:
* Sunrise - watching the sun rise, all the colors, the sky lightening, then the amazing colors on everything for that "magic hour" afterward
* Beach walking - walking on the beach for miles, and finding the various flotsam from civilization, in most cases, just trash, but on Thursday morning, over twenty sunglasses and swimming goggles
* Trail riding - not much available at my Michigan camp, but Ontario camp made up for it in spades, including a super secret mountain bike trail hidden away from the anyone who wasn't looking. I took like three or four or five trail rides per day, some over an hour each. So fun!
* Star Gazing - I stayed up late, got up early, or even got up in the middle of the night to try to pick out constellations, and in doing so saw a few satellites smoothly moving in their orbits, and several shooting start, one, on Thursday night, would have been categorized as a fireball, as it streaked all the way across from left to right about 45 degrees above the horizon, and got brighter as it went.
* Trail walking / hiking - Since my Ontario Camp had ample biking opportunities, it was in Michigan that I did the most trail walking, including one trail three or four times each day, trying different directions, bare feet, singing songs to myself, going onto the beach, etc. I also like the sound of the footfalls, the rhythm, and even the feel of the ground under bare feet, plus, from time to time, I would look up to see the chipmunks or black squirrels scurrying around.
* Not Cooking = In Michigan, I frequented the local diner, which had both vegan(ish) breakfast of pancakes and waffles; and it's first ever veggie burger; and then for the rest of the meals, I just ate some shelf safe stuff I'd brought along: granola style bars, unsalted mixed nuts, breakfast cereal, carrots, mandarin orange cups, bananas -- and that was about it. No campfire hassles. No going to the store. No wandering around the snack bar or the ice cream shop. Earlier in the month, I'd lost my appetite and done a 4-day fast with no ill effects, so I wasn't concerned with running out or anything, I just ate when I was at my tent, and that was that.
* Photography - Between the sunsets, sunrises, scenic views, and innumerable selfies, I took probably over 1,000 photos; plus a 60 minute 4K video of the sunrise on the Tuesday morning which I'll share on YouTube (if I can find a fast enough connection). I enjoyed trying different compositions, angles, zooms, some filters, camera placements, and even some astro-photography, getting a decent shot of the Big Dipper as well as Jupiter, both using the 10-second exposure feature on the phone
* Music - I listened to a lot of music on my phone that I hadn't listen to in months or years, and enjoyed singing along as I walked or rode the bike. I realized that the most popular songs from Rush were not actually favorites... but I still love Tom Sawyer! :-)
* Tenting - So simple, my tent has the main piece, three collapsible aluminum arch rods, and six spikes. That's it. Add in carry beach blanket thingy, a self inflating pad for the sleeping pad, a mummy sleeping bag, a pillow, and my favorite body pillow, and that was easy-peasy. When the rain threatened on Tuesday, I just packed it all up in the car in less than 10-minutes; and when the rain was gone, and the ground dried, I just set it back up. I didn't use the rain cover the entire time, which was nice.
* Swimming - I enjoyed several swims in Lake Huron, warmer than I expected, but not annoyingly so, just a touch on the cool side, especially nice in the hour before sunset.
* Writing - I greatly enjoy writing, about silly stuff, or ideas, or movie reflections, or just documenting my day; and each day afforded one or more chances to write. I loved that. Just like this little piece, which took about an hour to compose. :-)
* Sunsets - Not the same as sunrises at all, because people come to watch the sunsets, and chat, and all take pictures, and laugh, and on Tuesday night, I counted 60 people on the little beach just before sunset, and a few more came after that. Kids in the water. Kids on the beach. Beautiful colors over the lake. Plus, in Ontario at least, it was a great time to skip stones on the almost still lake. My shoulder is sore from so many stones.
* Quiet - The Ontario camp was packed with people, during the day, at both the snack bar area and canoe/bike livery, and the beach... but only during the day. Every morning, I woke in the 5:00 hour sometime, and so I was alone to watch the sunrise, roam the beach, take a bike ride, whatever... nice. Then, after all the hustle and bustle of the day was over, after sunset, more quiet time (at least away from the campsites themselves). In Ontario, the only place in the entire park with WIFI was outside the snack bar... but no one was there at night, so it was very pleasant to tote in a chair, computer, and phone to edit photos, make posts, and do little reflections like this one.
* Chatting - Not a lot, just a few chats here and there: the diner owner's husband who was interested in veganism; the camp host who'd never done it before and was trying to do it right; the teen who couldn't seem to find the hidden bike trail(!), the camp staff who always seemed to be happy to have someone to talk to. Or, just random people, like the ones that couldn't figure out how to open the trash bin, and starred amazed when I flipped it up with ease (just do the same thing you were doing, but push your fingers in farther to release the latch). :-)
There you go.
You know what one sometimes-solidary, sometimes-social person likes.
If you ever get to go camping/tenting to state parks/campground perhaps try one, two, or even all of these. Perhaps you'll find that solitude is also a friend of yours. :-)
While my sons were at summer camp, and my wife was busy at work, I took a 5-day solo tenting trip to Lake Huron, first in Michigan (Port Crescent), then in Ontario (Pinery Provincial). For me, it was no hardship being alone: solitude is an dear friend of mine. :-)
Here are my favorites from the trip:
* Beach walking - walking on the beach for miles, and finding the various flotsam from civilization, in most cases, just trash, but on Thursday morning, over twenty sunglasses and swimming goggles
* Trail riding - not much available at my Michigan camp, but Ontario camp made up for it in spades, including a super secret mountain bike trail hidden away from the anyone who wasn't looking. I took like three or four or five trail rides per day, some over an hour each. So fun!
* Star Gazing - I stayed up late, got up early, or even got up in the middle of the night to try to pick out constellations, and in doing so saw a few satellites smoothly moving in their orbits, and several shooting start, one, on Thursday night, would have been categorized as a fireball, as it streaked all the way across from left to right about 45 degrees above the horizon, and got brighter as it went.
* Trail walking / hiking - Since my Ontario Camp had ample biking opportunities, it was in Michigan that I did the most trail walking, including one trail three or four times each day, trying different directions, bare feet, singing songs to myself, going onto the beach, etc. I also like the sound of the footfalls, the rhythm, and even the feel of the ground under bare feet, plus, from time to time, I would look up to see the chipmunks or black squirrels scurrying around.
* Not Cooking = In Michigan, I frequented the local diner, which had both vegan(ish) breakfast of pancakes and waffles; and it's first ever veggie burger; and then for the rest of the meals, I just ate some shelf safe stuff I'd brought along: granola style bars, unsalted mixed nuts, breakfast cereal, carrots, mandarin orange cups, bananas -- and that was about it. No campfire hassles. No going to the store. No wandering around the snack bar or the ice cream shop. Earlier in the month, I'd lost my appetite and done a 4-day fast with no ill effects, so I wasn't concerned with running out or anything, I just ate when I was at my tent, and that was that.
* Photography - Between the sunsets, sunrises, scenic views, and innumerable selfies, I took probably over 1,000 photos; plus a 60 minute 4K video of the sunrise on the Tuesday morning which I'll share on YouTube (if I can find a fast enough connection). I enjoyed trying different compositions, angles, zooms, some filters, camera placements, and even some astro-photography, getting a decent shot of the Big Dipper as well as Jupiter, both using the 10-second exposure feature on the phone
* Music - I listened to a lot of music on my phone that I hadn't listen to in months or years, and enjoyed singing along as I walked or rode the bike. I realized that the most popular songs from Rush were not actually favorites... but I still love Tom Sawyer! :-)
* Tenting - So simple, my tent has the main piece, three collapsible aluminum arch rods, and six spikes. That's it. Add in carry beach blanket thingy, a self inflating pad for the sleeping pad, a mummy sleeping bag, a pillow, and my favorite body pillow, and that was easy-peasy. When the rain threatened on Tuesday, I just packed it all up in the car in less than 10-minutes; and when the rain was gone, and the ground dried, I just set it back up. I didn't use the rain cover the entire time, which was nice.
* Swimming - I enjoyed several swims in Lake Huron, warmer than I expected, but not annoyingly so, just a touch on the cool side, especially nice in the hour before sunset.
* Writing - I greatly enjoy writing, about silly stuff, or ideas, or movie reflections, or just documenting my day; and each day afforded one or more chances to write. I loved that. Just like this little piece, which took about an hour to compose. :-)
* Sunsets - Not the same as sunrises at all, because people come to watch the sunsets, and chat, and all take pictures, and laugh, and on Tuesday night, I counted 60 people on the little beach just before sunset, and a few more came after that. Kids in the water. Kids on the beach. Beautiful colors over the lake. Plus, in Ontario at least, it was a great time to skip stones on the almost still lake. My shoulder is sore from so many stones.
* Quiet - The Ontario camp was packed with people, during the day, at both the snack bar area and canoe/bike livery, and the beach... but only during the day. Every morning, I woke in the 5:00 hour sometime, and so I was alone to watch the sunrise, roam the beach, take a bike ride, whatever... nice. Then, after all the hustle and bustle of the day was over, after sunset, more quiet time (at least away from the campsites themselves). In Ontario, the only place in the entire park with WIFI was outside the snack bar... but no one was there at night, so it was very pleasant to tote in a chair, computer, and phone to edit photos, make posts, and do little reflections like this one.
* Chatting - Not a lot, just a few chats here and there: the diner owner's husband who was interested in veganism; the camp host who'd never done it before and was trying to do it right; the teen who couldn't seem to find the hidden bike trail(!), the camp staff who always seemed to be happy to have someone to talk to. Or, just random people, like the ones that couldn't figure out how to open the trash bin, and starred amazed when I flipped it up with ease (just do the same thing you were doing, but push your fingers in farther to release the latch). :-)
There you go.
You know what one sometimes-solidary, sometimes-social person likes.
If you ever get to go camping/tenting to state parks/campground perhaps try one, two, or even all of these. Perhaps you'll find that solitude is also a friend of yours. :-)
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