We’d driven the parking loop not once, but twice. Visiting Mt. Saint Helens for the first time this season, the Sippel Sisters and I were looking for a perfectly level, sunny spot to camp. After deciding no such unicorn existed, we chose a primo location nearish the toilet that was strategically upwind from the stench (and away from other would-be summitteers). All we had to do now was erect our 3-man tent in the fading sunlight, and score some Zzzzs before the early morning start. Only, we were missing one critical item.
Tent poles.
Turns out, these little buggers are easy to forget. In her haste to pack up the tent from a previous trip, Theresa (or dare I say her partner Chris…) did not include the tent poles in the otherwise perfectly-packaged bundle. All we had now was a pile of nylon and pouch of stakes.
I don’t know if you’ve ever set up a tent before, but turns out the poles are a pretty critical piece of the equation. Without poles we had no tent, and only 2/3 of us could fit in the car…. Ever the problem solvers, we whipped out our avy equipment and extended three perfectly pole-shaped avalanche probes. Twelve feet in length, these had to be long enough to work as tent poles, right?
Wrong. Try as we might, we couldn’t use them to erect anything remotely resembling the intended tent shape. But, eventually, with the help of liquid encouraged problem solving, we created a lean-to against the side of the car. Trisha and I slept inside. Theresa, we were told, slept perfectly comfortably in the makeshift tent. Only she knows the real truth.
Turns out, we aren’t the only ones to have made this cardinal mistake. I asked my friends for their worst camping fails, and I’m happy to share those with you now so you may learn from our mistakes. You’re welcome.
Lesson 1: That Tent Won’t Erect Itself
- We went camping with a couple of friends, and drove down a road that we really shouldn’t have (no 4 wheel drive) for about 15 miles to get to a lakeside camping spot. When we got to the site, we realized we forgot the poles to a borrowed, 8-person tent and none of us wanted to attempt the road again to fetch the poles. Luckily, we had 4 dogs and used their leashes to tie up parts of the tent under the trees.
- My girlfriend and I went camping in Chelan and got there to find her family’s “tent” had the rain fly and poles, but no actual tent!
- Forgot tent poles for sleeping in the parking lot of Mt. Adams before a one day summit when we had gotten there after dark. Used some hiking poles but felt every single gust of wind. Summit day was a tired affair.
Lesson 2: Don’t Wet The Bed
- We drove 8 hours with our ice chest on top of all our bedding (we pre-made our bed by laying the bedding out in the SUV to sleep in the car). The ice chest fell over sometime during the drive and the bedding was soaked! Luckily it was hot at our campsite and the damp bedding kept us cool when we slept. Rookie mistake.
- Snagged the last campsite in the campground, couldn’t believe our good luck. Set up the tent in the flattest part (obviously right). Rained during the night and we woke up in a puddle. The site was the lowest in the area and the flat part was flat because that’s where all the water goes! I always check surrounding topography before to pitch the tent now, even in a campground!
- We set up a big group camp on a warm, dry, summer day. Rained during the night and woke up to most of us sleeping in standing water.
Lesson 3: Be Mindful of Wildlife
- One of my friends had a backpacking buddy show up with a package of marshmallows that he intended to open for dessert, then use as a pillow…in bear country.
- I emptied steak blood/juice out of the cooler and diluted it with water. Enough I didn’t think the bears could smell it. About 30 ft from out tent. Went out the next morning and there was bear poop about 3 ft away from where I had poured it. Not diluted enough!!
Lesson 4: Be Ready To Leave on a Moment’s Notice
- My parents took us camping a lot. We found a campground right on a river and, as we were driving through looking for a spot, a guy in THE prime spot said he was leaving and we could take it. Score!! We spent the night there and had a blast! Morning came and it was toilet cleaning day. The site was directly in the path of the overpowering stench. After inquiring with the truck driver and finding out it would take a couple hours, we were out of there! I have never packed up a campsite so fast!
- First camping trip with the kid in tow: We had a great day at the state park site, got our tent all set up, and went to bed….then it started dumping rain, like torrential downpour. Apparently we had set up right in the middle of a what appeared to be temporary stream bed for rain water. It completely flooded our tent – like a flowing stream through our tent – and we had to pack up and leave in the middle of the night. The toddler was completely unphased.
Lesson 5: Did We Mention Not To ‘Wet’ The bed?
- I bought a new sleeping bag at Costco. Got to our very primitive campsite near Lake Roosevelt and was more interested in swimming in the lake than setting up camp so I didn’t take my new bag out until I was ready to go to bed. Rolled it out, started to crawl in, and realized someone had purchased it before me, puked in it, and returned it to Costco. Needless to say, I made a bed out of beach towels.
Guess you should probably pack beach towels on your next trip, just in case! Happy Camping!
My fails have always involved someone else…haven’t had one when I camp by myself.
Some memorable ones: We took friends from Arkansas camping on the peninsula and used our big 8-person tent. David packed up the tent when we left. The next time I went camping and needed that tent, we discovered that the poles were missing. I always pack my poles with my tent wrapped around them. When asked, our friend said he never packs poles that way. Now, I double check before leaving the house.
My husband and I went campng half-way up Vancouver Island near the Gold River. We arrived late, it was pitch dark and we fumbled to set up the tent. We tossed off our clothes and craweled in our sleeping bags, which were on top of a queen-size air mattress. It rained during the night, so when we woke, there was about 2″ of standing water in the tent. Our discarded clothes were soaking wet and our dry clothes were out in the car (it was still pouring down raining). We threw on our cold, wet clothes, threw the soaked tent into the back of the van, looked at each other and said, “Hotel!” It turns out that my husband had put down a pad that was much larger than the tent, allowing water to pool into it. These days, I don’t even use a pad and try to avoid camping in the rain (if the weather looks iffy, I either don’t go or get a hotel room).
Another fail that I can’t blame on other people, but on mother nature. I was camping at Potholes with a friend and our site was right by the lake. Right before dusk, a huge swarm of mosquitoes arrived. I had generic bug spray and citronella candles, but it did nothing to stop the monsters from biting through my clothes. The older I get, the more sensitive I am to the bites. They swell up to quarter size and are really red. When I got home, my husband counted 96 bites on my back, behind, and legs (the front side was pretty unaffected). Now, I grit my teeth and make sure to spray myself with Deet. I also have other heavy-duty bug repellent to spray on my tent. And, I try to avoid camping near fresh water.