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Sleeping under the stars

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    • Re:Sleeping under the stars

      A couple of times in my youth.
      You need a night without dew - we get that a lot near Perth but rarely near my hometown - and preferably few bugs - we get that rarely.
      On a clear night tent without fly is nice though.
      The effect of the clear night sky is lost on those of us that need glasses.
      All those stars are not visible to me without my glasses.
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Re:Sleeping under the stars

      OzJacko wrote:

      A couple of times in my youth.
      You need a night without dew - we get that a lot near Perth but rarely near my hometown - and preferably few bugs - we get that rarely.
      On a clear night tent without fly is nice though.
      The effect of the clear night sky is lost on those of us that need glasses.
      All those stars are not visible to me without my glasses.


      Good points, Oz. I didn't think about the dew and I'm the same without the glasses. It's not really about seeing the stars though, but pushing my mental comfort zone.

      Bugs don't bother me too much but I hate ants. I don't know if it's me or the ants around here, but I get big welts from ant bites.
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    • Sleeping under the stars

      I have slept without shelter twice, once under a bridge, and once in just the clothes I was wearing. I guess the second counts.

      Ants have only been a problem once, at Sandhill Station near Lake Mills, WI. In my mind, the name became Anthill Station. Thankfully my tent kept them at bay. One time I pitched a tent at a state park near Madison, WI and noticed yellow jackets after I started to pitch my tent. I went back to the park office to get a different site. I avoided getting stung, but I was not so lucky in GSMNP in September.
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    • Sleeping under the stars

      CoachLou wrote:

      I have many times, under dew, rain, snow, zillions of stars and the lights...................................it is ALL good.


      You make it sound amazing.

      I've read about hikers sleeping on top of picnic tables. I think the ground would be more comfortable. Maybe they're younger and their joints don't bother them. :)
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Sleeping under the stars

      I have had three separate operations on my nose and throat and I am thankful for them. It really helps, so no I am not as bad as I was. Just being honest - It helps when tenting with others in groups. - The Hammock gives me a 5-10 degree angle and that helps too.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • Sleeping under the stars

      Just did this very action last weekend. Used a lightweight tarp to avoid the dew settling upon the bag. As I was on a lush grassy field, didn't use a sleeping pad but did need a sleeping bag as the temp dropped into the 40s.

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    • Sleeping under the stars

      I am for taking advantage of piling leaves and then using a pad - I like to side sleep with a airplane pillow. Yes a large head net - that proved almost useless in Canada. UL Tarp and a kitchen trash bag for the foot box. I too have done it in a field on a starry night - gives me something to look up to. 5 star accommodations cannot compete!
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • Re:Re: Sleeping under the stars

      Dan76 wrote:

      Just did this very action last weekend. Used a lightweight tarp to avoid the dew settling upon the bag. As I was on a lush grassy field, didn't use a sleeping pad but did need a sleeping bag as the temp dropped into the 40s.


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    • As close as I get is a small tarp and a bivy sack if it is cold enough. Next weekend I'll be down hiking through Standing Indian and I plan on leaving the tent at home. I'll take the hexamid tarp (3.5oz) and a MLD light soul bivy (4oz). The bivy is in case in drops to around 30*. Too much warmer than that and it gets too hot inside when paired with my 30* bag.

    • Hey back from the Salt Ponds of southern Delaware... saw this thread has been revived.

      I will share an "observation" pick a bald or open field with low grass - Pick a second location you can find in the dark off the field in case of high winds. Attempt to find a clear night on a "weather high" and per some silly meteor app a night
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • This will be my next challenge...sleeping under a tarp without the comfort of a tent. I probably won't try it until it gets warm again. It was really hard the first time I slept with my tent doors open. I startled awake many times during the night, thinking someone was standing next to my tent watching me. Since that night, I haven't had any problem. The lady who wrote the Continental Divide book that I reviewed had some fears too. The first time she slept under a tarp, she did it at a campground with her tent set up next to her and her car parked close by. I may try this first. ^^
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Kathy and I have done it.
      We did a night hike up Garfield Mountain, in NH, got to the top around midnight and couldn't find where the trail went.
      We put down our ground cloth and sleeping bags and layed down right on the side of the trail.
      Woke up to feet going past my head in the morning.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Kathy and I have done it.
      We did a night hike up Garfield Mountain, in NH, got to the top around midnight and couldn't find where the trail went.
      We put down our ground cloth and sleeping bags and layed down right on the side of the trail.
      Woke up to feet going past my head in the morning.

      garfield may be one of the best spots in the northeast for stargazing. although i havent slept on top, i did stay there until nightfall the day i ran out of water, and was surrounded by stars.
      another memorable night was at gentian pond. i got up in the middle of the night to go pee, and the carter moriah range was backlit from starlight.
      its all good

    • Best night sky I've ever seen was deep in the Adirondacks on a winter night, on the way home from skiing at Whiteface. But much more recently, got a great view from SloGo'en's place up in Randolph, NH -- pretty much in the shadow of the Mt. Madison. The key ingredients are dry (usually cool) air and lack of light pollution. Unfortunately on our hike, both campsites were in the woods with somewhat occluded views. Best views are often in winter because the air is dryer and holds less moisture.

    • Re: Sleeping under the stars

      Best I have ever seen is at Bryce Canyon Utah . If you have not been there, put it on your bucket list. We were lucky enough to be there one year during their annual star gazing week and they had dozens of telescopes set up it was amazing even without the telescopes.
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    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Best I have ever seen is at Brace Canyon Utah . If you have not been there, put it on your bucket list. We were lucky enough to be there one year during their annual star gazing week and they had dozens of telescopes set up it was amazing even without the telescopes.


      Bryce is gorgeous. Probably got good sky because its' pretty high up, around 8000 feet as I recall. Very cool nights while we were there, such a contrast from Zion NP a few days prior.

    • I think the best star gazing I've had an opportunity to do was in northern MN, during a mid-winter, dog sled camping trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Imagine laying on your back on a wide open frozen lake, looking out of your sleeping bag into an unpolluted night sky. I'm not sure which was more breath taking, the view of the sky, or the minus -25 degree temperature. Priceless!

    • LIhikers wrote:

      I think the best star gazing I've had an opportunity to do was in northern MN, during a mid-winter, dog sled camping trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Imagine laying on your back on a wide open frozen lake, looking out of your sleeping bag into an unpolluted night sky. I'm not sure which was more breath taking, the view of the sky, or the minus -25 degree temperature. Priceless!


      Sounds awesome. And cooold.

    • My year in MN I lived in a cabin on a 10,000 acre lake where they had an annual fishing contest, the caretaker talked me into entering, -19* with 25 MPH winds, sitting on a 5 gal bucket watching a hole in the ice freeze over, I no longer have an a**, it froze off, they had 9,000 participants that year, 18,000 the year before, had 20,000 holes bored in the ice.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • rafe wrote:

      True story here... I swear this happened. Camped illegally with a GF somewhere up on a ridge in the White Mountains, possibly even in the Prezzies. Sort of on the treeline, in the scrub. A meteorite came in so bright and close that we both heard it.


      Whoa, are you serious!?! What an incredible experience!
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    • rafe wrote:

      True story here... I swear this happened. Camped illegally with a GF somewhere up on a ridge in the White Mountains, possibly even in the Prezzies. Sort of on the treeline, in the scrub. A meteorite came in so bright and close that we both heard it.

      Incredible. I remember one time when I was 13yo going to the drug store with my mom to get 2 half gallons of milk for 88 cents and one came down the center of the road what seemed like headed right for us and flew over head probably at a fair height. Looked just like a ball of fire. I remember it so well because it was the same year we moved to FL and milk was only 47 cents a gallon and my mom said thank God now maybe you wont drink us out of house and home. Next day the meteor was discovered embedded in the base of a tree on the same road. I guess it wasn't that high above us after all. For years and years after that we took hammers and chisels to that thing trying to get a piece to break off. Never did.
      Best night ever viewing stars was in front of the Top of the World Store on the Bear Tooth Highway outside of Red Lodge, MT. Elevation was over 9000' and the sky was crystal clear and just huge. It felt like it was right on top of your head. Felt like you could just reach up and touch the stars.
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