Fear on the trail.

“I?m just wondering does any one else have these fears, and if so, how have you managed to combat them.

Whenever I?m in the woods at night, alone I think that there is someone in the woods just waiting to kill me. Also, every time at night when I hear movement I always think it?s a bear just getting ready to kill me. Then I think, will I be left for dead after a bear mauled me out in the middle of the woods. Because of this, I don?t think I would ever be able to hike solo, even though I really want to.

Maybe I?m just paranoid, but if so, I don?t think I?m the only one with this problem. For those of you that do worry about things like this, how do you combat it?”

“No worries. It's prolly just bacpac out there.”

“I'm serious WD.”

“Now that's SKEERY! =8@O”

“Fear on the trail? I almost had a heart attack the first time a grouse exploded from the brush while I was night skiing.”

“I almost beat the crap out of my brother in the Grand Canyon. He could tell you about the scary time his little bro almost decided to kick his butt.”

“a good way to overcome fear that is provoked by what you "think" is going on is to try not to listen to your minds inventions.... our busy , imaginative minds usually have nothing to do with reality (reality being what is happening now, this minute) , but mostly what we have read or heard or been told. we take it all personally and think , surely , this will happen to us. hmm. If there is someone waiting out there to kill you (astronomical odds are in your favor)....well....oh well......do what ya can to talk em out of it!!!!!....what can i say....sometimes those things happen, but you cant let your fears keep you from experiencing life. that would be a great pity.

the way to try to overcome fear brought on by sounds you "hear"....is.. not to take them personally either.........lots of nocturnal aminals are doing their thing in the woods at night....they are mostly unaware and unconcerned of a "sleeping human"....their goal is food....which, we all know what to do about before we crawl into our little sleepybags at night, right? Instead of thinking the sound is always bear, think of what it might really be instead......a little rat trying to get to your snickers bars...the wind....or the blair witch....you know...heh”

“Just remember if you follow the rules, your biggest fear should be of the two legged animals not the four.

When I solo I make my camp a long way from the trail head (most crooks don't like to hike) and well off the trail. I'm also tactical, you would have to follow me to find me.”

“Spoken like a true Jarhead!LOL!”

“Its cuz your from New Jersey!

Just kidding...


I like what I-am-om said. Look for what the sounds really are and don't assume they are bears or psychos. They virtually never are. Remember, at night there is nothing there that isn't there in the day light.

Try this: Spend the night alone in the woods. Wear a jacket. Bring some snacks. Build a small fire in front of you. Listen to all the sounds and decide what they are instead of a bear or psycho. Listen to the wind. Look at the stars.

Face your fear. You'll come to enjoy it. Tell us how it goes.”

“Ice Tea, First watch "The Blair Witch Project" followed by all of the " friday the 13th" movies. Then go into unfamiliar territory,wander around off-trail without a map or compass. When you are too exhausted to go any more,make camp. Start a fire and read a nice book about bear attacks. I hope this helps.

PS. Its the Ninjas that will get you first,the bear just get leftovers...”

“My good friend Mr. P228.”

“My biggest fear while I am out hiking is that something will happen at home and they can't reach me.

With respect to hiking itself, my biggest fear is unexpected, severe weather.”

“Hyper, the summer camp I work at is the filming site of the first "friday the 13th".

I don't fear the blair witch and jason. But bears, bacpac and tarpy, are ones to be feared.”

“I had fear on the trail some years ago as an inexperienced hiker, while bushwacking in Humboldt County. Slept in a burned out redwood tree, with my bag of aromatic roasted sunflower seeds with me.

In the middle of the night I was awoken by a distinct "CRACK" as if a mammal had just stepped on a branch nearby. Immediately thought of bears. After several agonizing seconds I pulled my head out my sleeping bag to face whatever it was. Nothing there. At least, not any longer.”

“when I went to NC to hike with TTers I ended up spending one night solo. Its the first time ever. At first I was afraid to sleep thinking about bears ,people anything. then the next thing I knew I was waking up. in the middle of the night, to sounds right outside my tent. It sounded like something in the river. I imagined a huge black bear and was scared to death untill I got up and shined my flashlight outside at the creek. what I found has stopped my fear forever I think. there was trout trying to jump upstream against the current. I sat up for hours just watching in total amazment. It was the first time I had witnessed this beauty.my imagined bear turned out to really be neat to watch. I think fear is something we can overcome but It is something we must each do on our own, in our own way.”

“T.
I suggest you take a trip with a group as usual but one of the nights of the trip set up a good long distance from your group. You'll get a taste of night solo camping and if you can't control your fear high tail it back to the group and try another time when you get your courage up. I don't know if your a beliver but if I get the spooks I read a bit of "The Word" and all imaginations are cast down.”

“I think of John Cusack's character in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, who as a travel writer carries a tape recorder and tape of New York street noise to help him sleep in unfamiliar places, such as Savannah in this case.

The unfamiliarity of woods noises arouses our defensive-mindedness, particularly in situations where we are alone and solely responsible for our welfare. So I completely understand the advice of experienced solo travelers about sticking it out for several days before deciding if you can "handle" it, as growing familiarity will breed, if not contempt for the noises, at least acceptance.

When I was out solo overnight for the first time earlier this summer, I could hardly believe how many noises I could hear. But trying to rationally decide what they might be (for the unidentified) in context with the identifiable (turkeys, coyotes, frogs), and a huge dose of exhaustion, helped keep my mind from ramping up the rustling in the bushes into visions of voracious beasts.

Good luck, Tea. It gets scarier back in civilization when you wake up someday and wonder how that strange naked person snuck into your bed, and its your roommates that complain about hearing strange noises in the night, LOL.”

“LOL @ pekka”

“Ice Tea,

The first step in overcoming any problem is to recognize that there is one. I congratulate you! You're on your way!

For solo day hiking, you might consider trying some kind of exposure therapy. Gradually increase the amount of time spent hiking alone - even if it's only for short periods - until you feel comfortable enough to spend longer periods alone in the woods. Soon you may feel confident enough to go a whole day alone. With each experience, you should discover that there was/is really nothing to fear after all.

Regarding overcoming nighttime paranoia when camping, as you can see from some of the previous posts, it seems to be a function of experience and determination. I can attest to this myself. The more you're out there alone, the more you realize that the things which go bump in the night are hardly worthy of the fear they initially may cause.

Overcoming fear is like learning a new skill. You have to put your mind to it, go easy in the beginning, practice, be patient, persistent, work hard, get support, etc. Recognize and reward yourself when you achieve even small successes, and try not to beat yourself up too bad if/when you stumble. It's hard at first to completely ignore those firmly entrenched negative messages, and you may not be able to erase the old tapes running in your mind, but you can make new ones to choose to listen to.

If after repeated attempts, you still don't seem to be making any headway, and you're still very serious about overcoming your fears, perhaps it's time to make an appointment with a therapist. There's no shame in that.

Best wishes on your journey.

Oh, and BTW, don't go to scary movies.

---------------------------------------------
Wolfsister, hey I like your style! - finding comfort in reading the Scriptures.”

“I went to see Deliverance the night before my first backpacking trip in Shenandoah NP. eeeekkk!!!”

“With every other small noise I said oh hell
but, I faced my fears so, I`ll never tell
I up and jamed a finger each into each ear
seems what I couldn`t hear, I didn`t fear
I didn`t hear the bear that ate me while on my side
I didn`t even hear myself screaming as I died
it seems the only things I feared were in my head
I awoke from my dreaming the sleep of the dead”

“There was one time at pictured rocks when we had a huge hike and it was getting dark. I was trail blazing and i was scared. I started praying and everything was fine. That is how I am not scared is becuase I know that God is with me. I know that some of you dont believe that, but I do and i find great comfort in knowing that the one who created the woods and everything in them is on my side.”

“When it's your time to go, it's your time to go.

Also, I have an ex-husband, so anywhere's safer than home.”

“Big Foot rocks!

Exposure therapy, yeah that's it, the more nights I've spent in the woods and survived, the less of a big deal it has become. Plus I'm getting old so I fall asleep faster and frankly don't care as much anymore.

Wolfsister, John 5 has become my fav camping "Word" for the last few years. One chapter is usually all I can do once I lay down my head.

Ice Tea, if you really are a woman that makes your worries more clear, and you may consider a gun. But you'll have less fear with time.”

“Eeeewww, sorry about that Biz.

My fear on the trail story happened near Grave Lake in the Wind River Mtns, two years ago. We had come over from Pyramid Lake, set up camp and were long in bed. Some llama hikers were about half a mile back, some other folks had come in later in the evening and were set up in the trees a ways to the north.

About midnight some of the tree people started yelling and carrying on. I froze, realized I was 2 hard days from a trail head, and there was no law enforcement anywhere near. I don't recall what they were yelling, it just struck me as so out of place that I was scared.

Nothing came of it, the llama people came by in the morning on their way out of camp, and asked us what we were yelling about. We explained that it was not us. One of them pointed to his rifle and said while he didnt want to think of having to use it, he wouldn't hesitate.

So, so far, its the two legged critters that have given me the most grief.”

“I did my first solo backpack this summer. It was a short trip - only two nights. I thought that I'd be really scared alone at night, but that didn't happen. It was really nice and peaceful out there.”

“That has been my experience too wingding. I had expected to be skittish and it never happened. I feel so at one with the outdoors. I do not anticipate but just live in the moment.

I have a mental bell curve. It tells me the odds of something nasty happening are slim. If something ever does happen I will do the best I can so I can't fuss in the meantime.”

“I went on a trip with a group of people (about ten or so) two years ago. We had a hard first day (all up hill it seemed) and that night we camped at a three sided shelter that was set up on the trail.

We didn't get there until about an hour before dark so we started dinner right away and doing the stuff you need to do before dark. There was a big fire ring there so we gathered some wood and ate. Right at dark another group came in, they were from the Dallas Sierra Club, i think.

We had finished eating so we sat around the fire and talked while they were setting up camp and getting something to eat. It was a pretty cool time hearing some stories they had to tell. Alot of the stories were bear stories, they were pretty good. Fun to listen to.

There was six or seven of us sleeping in the shelter, about three the next morning one of the guys in the shelter got up and out to take a piss, well the guy next to him didn't know he had gotten up. He woke up when the guy was climbing back into the shelter at his feet, all he could see in the moon light was this big black figure climbing in. He started screaming like a little school girl.

We laughed our A$$ off. All those bear stories got to him.

It's like leatherneck said the two legged creatures are the ones you have to worry about. When I'm out I like to believe that I'm the most dangerous creature in the woods. You know what i like to listen to? I have some nature tapes (not with music) and a lightning storm and rain tape that we listen to when we go to bed at night, they are great. I make believe i'm in a tent in the woods.”

“90% of all my trips are during the cold months. Bears are not even a worry then. I've never been worried about people on the trail. Even when Rad & I camped at Blood Mtn Shelter with Chip (the certified nut).
On my first ever ECT hike, I almost set straight up when I heard this LOUD Growl outside my tarp. Turned out to be Zen Hiker snoring. I thought it was one of them Kentucky Grizzlies at first. LOL”

“Never been scared in the woods even as a small child. I feel more at home in the woods than at home. I have been worried about some nasty storms I had to ride out in my tent though.

The whole psycho killer thing I just don't get. Just turn off the TV all it's going to do is rot your mind anyway.

Bears? Just take the proper precautions and leave the rest to God.

No fear here just a profound respect for all things wild.”

“One Alaska summer we took the kids and one of their friends camping via boat on the Tanana river.

All the first night, my wife kept waking me up. "Did you hear that?" I'd look out, nothing. This happened a couple of times, then she woke me up again, "It's right by the boat!" I peered out again and their was a huge beaver by the boat, no bear thank goodness.

The next night at another spot, she started again, "What's that?"
This time though, I heard this low pitched, deep rumble of a sound, but it's inside the tent! This 8 year old kid is snoring like an old man! LOL”

“"Know Fear" not "No Fear"
Adrenaline is a great kick!”

“Iced Tea, The more time in the outdoors the more you get used to the noises. I always think "deer" then go back to sleep.
Earlier this year we were in a Forest Service Campground when I was woke up by what I thought was a "deer". Five minutes later the garbage cans were being knocked around by a bear.

My most unnerving night had to be on Redwood creek in Northern Ca. All night long there were strange noises going on. The Redwoods are full of critters.”

“i'm always 'afraid' that i might have to get up and kick whoever's ass it was that woke me from my peacful slumber.

or kick a fu&king racoon that's getting in my grub. bastards!”

“I've got a stupid friend who took his spagetti noodles into his tent at night and ended up in a fist fight with a whole gang of 'coons. It's pretty funny to hear him tell the story but it scared the hell out of him then. Don't tempt the racoons.”

“Rad, Quite a few deer have left my camp bruised with a well placed rock”

“Deer?
I've never heard of deer being a camp pest.”

“On Isle Royale (1997 I think) we encountered a camp fox,squirrel and a duck. It was a male mallard who walked circles around our shelter over and over and over, a very odd pest.”

“Deer can be a pest - they go for anything with salt on it such as shirts, bandanas, treking poles, etc. So be sure to hang your pole high if you don't want it nibbled.”

“I've had them eat the head strap off my sunglasses and tear into my hip strap. Mostly the more popular areas”

“Beware the killer deer.”

“I always tell my kids the same thing that Sonrisas said, that nothing is there at night, that isn't there in the daytime. The fear is something that is in your mind and can only be controlled in your mind. It is important to learn the difference between your ordinary uneasiness and a real sense of danger. A lot of people KNOW when a dangerous animal is nearby, because they feel a chill on their neck, or some other heightening of senses. A remnant of survival instincts left over from prehistory? I'm working on this same fear issue, and familiarity with the night noises of the woods over time, seems the best solution. I've found that a noise a 100 ft. away sounds like 5 ft. away during a quiet night.

Also, alone in the woods seems the best time to read the Bible. Fewer distractions, more in tune with your thoughts. Give it a try and see if it helps. Make a copy of a section so you don't have to carry the weight of the whole book (the little books will ruin your eyes).”

“I have no fear in the woods. Its the city that scares me. I avoid malls, etc. That's why I leave the city every weekend. Bears just add excitement to the trip. Hoping to see some in the next few weeks.”

“Reading the Bible on the trail, Hummmmmm, I can't make sence of it any other time. I don't think being in the woods is gonna make it translate any easier.”

“God made men, Sam Colt made them equal. Nothnig out there that wouldn't also get you if you had a partner with you, why worry.”

“THE WOODS ARE MY CHURCH, THE TREES MY BIBLE

don't mistake the forest for the trees-der”

“A couple of snorts of the Captain and you'll be right as rain!”

“Even on long solo day hikes I am pretty sure that every boogeything is following/plotting to kill/doing harm to me. I just try to get through it, I whistle and clap my hands sometimes thinking it will at least scare the thing away. I think the clapping and whistling are more for me than anything else though. On an earlier thread I posted about my unbased fear of the water, maybe it falls into that clasification.
Keep in mind that I am a soldier with combat time, and a scout leader. I think these fear things can happen to anybody. Good luck and if you get some GOOD advice on how to deal, send it my way.”

“The nother nite in the Windtooths, I heerd and smelled a bare byside our tent. I growled and my daddy sayed "shh" but I growled some more and the bare runned away. We sleept in the truk then til day time.

We rode aroun the camp woods rodes to see the bare but we did not see no bare. It raned at nite and ther was not no foot traks at day time. It was a little bit skeery but not reeeel skeery.”