By Cheri Sicard
In the video below, we join Larry from Work Less Enjoy Life More on a truck camper camping trip in the mountains just south of Flagstaff, Arizona. Here, Larry experiences his most disturbing camping night yet, including a spooky national forest encounter that scared him and his two dogs, Mason and Marty.
The spot was remote, with no cell phone service. Larry had camped in the general area before, but never so remotely and so far off the beaten path.
Larry found a nice boondocking spot well before dark and set up camp, including an outdoor pen for the dogs. Sandwiched between the footage from his spooky national forest night are cooking demos on a nifty small stove that looks like a tiny Solo Stove, although Larry does not identify it.
After cooking dinner, Larry goes into the truck camper to enjoy his steak. It’s then that he hears a loud sound outside. He leaves the camper to investigate but sees nothing and rationalizes that the noise is a falling branch or some such thing. After dinner, he and the dogs, still in their pens, enjoy the campfire and some star-watching. However, Larry finds himself still obsessing over what could have made the noise he heard earlier.
All of a sudden, the dogs started barking and growling. He made noise to scare away any animals and shined his light around the remote campsite, but he could see nothing. He gathered up the dogs, went inside, and locked the door.
Larry said he slept well, and the next morning, he made a big breakfast and made no mention of the previous night’s oddness. I know I would not have slept well in such circumstances. If I was in the middle of nowhere, alone, I know myself well enough also to know I would be freaked out all night. I don’t do it, tempted as I often am.
How about you? Do you camp remotely by yourself? Have you ever heard noises you could not identify in the night? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
##RVDT2504
Well, knowing that the dogs were there, that would have helped me………but….I would have high tailed it out of there. No questions!
When traveling through very hot & HUMID Georgia, we stopped for the night at a popular roadside campground. Around 11:00, I stepped just outside our camper, with our shepherd/lab mix, into complete & utter blackness, no moonlight at all, & no lights from other campers…like putting a sleep mask on. The noise from insects was almost deafening, like a Stephen King movie. I begged my dog to do her business quickly, but instead she started to growl at something in the dark. I practically carried her back into the camper, and put some pee pads on the floor. I would deal with it in the morning. Very unnerving!
Regardless of what people say about outside lighting….. I have the ability to
light up the exterior of our bus to be like daylight.
I would have done that, if it wasn’t for the eleventy-billion flying insects that would have been attracted to the lights.
After almost being blown off the road in Wyoming, I found a roadside picnic pull off big enough to accommodate my coach. There was not a light nor any sign of civilization to be seen. Traffic was almost non existent. Several times during the night I was awoken by a coach shaking sound similar to a fog horn. It wasn’t a train, nor semi. Just a loud, low bass that lasted about three seconds. Never did find out what it was, but was definitely scary!
Thank you, Cheri! No, we do not boondock unless tailgating at a football game. We did stay in some remote campgrounds in Alaska in 2019, but usually there was at least one other RV in each campground each night. Have a great week and safe travels!