[Brenda]

Lemmy Lemmy:

I guess my point was that parks don't really offer camping. People that use these facilities aren't looking to go 'camping'. They're looking to burn some shit and roast marshmallows and sleep in air-conditioned comfort. If you really wanted to "camp", you wouldn't even consider one of these places as a destination, so it's unfair to judge them on the real definition of camping. That's not their business.

[wildrosegirl]

Lemmy Lemmy:

...it's unfair to judge them on the real definition of camping. That's not their business.

Then they should quit advertising as campgrounds.

(Points taken and understood, btw.)

[Lemmy]

Speaking of camping...when you're camping, do you know how to tell the front of the tree from the back?




















The mound of shit's at the back of the tree.

[wildrosegirl]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Speaking of camping...when you're camping, do you know how to tell the front of the tree from the back?








The mound of shit's at the back of the tree.

Thanks for the tip!

[herbie]

We tried this but the nature of your laptop's wireless makes it difficult. It's very line of sight, and in BC we have these damn huge trees everywhere.
If you sit on the beach, you can connect to our free guest internet, but back at your spot the trees blot out. You can see the signal, but your laptop doesn't have the guts to talk back to it. And no one wants a big ugly tower in the park.
Our city park is landscaped, with shade trees rather than goddam wild jungle like a provincial park. You can surf anywhere within it.
BC is still 1960s style camping. No water hookups, no sanidumps. The 'ranger' is just some lowest bidder goof serving multiple campgrounds collecting money. Lucky if you there's any wood in the pile, paper in the outhouse or you site is cleaned ever.

[Khar]

I’m not terribly surprised. My immediate family were avid campers when I was little (moving out west kind of put a kink in tent camping) and one of the first things we noted when camping in the States was how many toys they had, and this is something which has been happening for decades. We were the Canadians with the Ontario license plate, a canoe, and a tent on top of an old Ford. We saw maybe two other tents our time there, but tons of jet skis, ATVs, portably BBQs, satellite dishes and so forth.

It was totally different when at Kalarney, Bon Echo, the Bruce Peninsula, the Pinery and other parks in Ontario – there; it was mostly tents or very smaller campers, the ones you saw back in the sixties and seventies. It was only a matter of time before that style of camping – coming into the bush with all the toys – would get more popular north of the border too. I used to bring a book, and the family would spend most of the time on beaches or trails or doing something around the campfire. There are a lot of people who still do that, but they tend to travel further abroad and away from the more urbanized “camping” these days. I was just in the mountains for a day, and am heading back out tomorrow, and I know where the camp sites are – they are just very far removed from the main thoroughfare of traffic, human, vehicle and otherwise.

Besides, there have been people who have been going out with the toys since way back when – there were always campers which would pop up from time to time rather than a tent. I think it’s just gotten a lot easier and cheaper to bring all the toys along for the ride over the past few decades, and it’s just advanced so quickly that it surprised us in comparison to how campers changed from the fifties through the eighties where there were a few periods where there wasn’t a lot of cash to go around. Now we had an artificially avoided fallout in the early 2000s so it was a lot easier for folks to afford the toys in the long run rather than having that setback which we usually get every 10 years or so. I think that these folks are latching on and it might be good for their business – I think that the general change in camping will stagnate for a bit now, and the tent campers and such out there will still have their spots.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll see some regression back to tarps and canvas.

[2Cdo]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

What the hell? Whatever happened to a tent, sleeping bag, fishing rod beer and food being all you needed for camping? If we were going for awhile we'd take a radio and bear repellent, and that was it. We had a cottage, but that wasn't considered camping.

Food? That's what the fishing rod and gun are for! Leaves room for more beer.

[Lemmy]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Food? That's what the fishing rod and gun are for! Leaves room for more beer.

We did a fly-in to McGowan Lake one year and we left the food box on the dock when we were loading the plane. The only food we took with us was eggs and potatoes. The 8 of us lived for a week on walleye and potatoes. The good news was my one buddy is a diabetic. His blood sugar was never better than the week he lived on pickerel and potatoes.

[herbie]

Having grown up on the BC Lower Mainland in the 60s, a good 50% of what you packed was plastic tarps and 30% rum. There were no cans of beer but plenty of good water for the Koolaid mix (a camping necessity for both the rum and 'electric KoolAid')
I don't even know if they still sell it, but I remember canned Danish bacon was always gone after the first couple days and then it was fried Spam (camping was the only time you could stomach that crap), and the last day whatever was left was tossed in a pot and everyone called that "Lac la Hash".

[bootlegga]

Geez, you people complaining are a bunch of old fuddy-duddies. Did you all walk to school through five miles of snow uphill both ways when you were little kids too? What's wrong with some conveniences when you're out on the middle of nowhere? Next thing you'll be demanding Parks Canada remove the showers and wood piles from their campgrounds too.

I think it's a great idea, esepcailly with the proliferation of smartphones these days. My wife and I love camping (in a tent not a trailer), but if you go for a week or so, it's a nice thing to have if the weather turns bad or to stay in touch with family.

[wildrosegirl]

bootlegga bootlegga:

....or to stay in touch with family.

That's WHY we leave town and get away from all communication services!

[bootlegga]

wildrosegirl wildrosegirl:

bootlegga bootlegga:

....or to stay in touch with family.

That's WHY we leave town and get away from all communication services!

If you're that anti-social, why do you hang around here?

[wildrosegirl]

bootlegga bootlegga:

wildrosegirl wildrosegirl:

bootlegga bootlegga:

....or to stay in touch with family.

That's WHY we leave town and get away from all communication services!

If you're that anti-social, why do you hang around here?

Has nothing to do with being anti social.

But seriously, I can't stand having any of that crap with me. I leave home to get away from the phones, TV, etc. I don't wantanyone to contact me. I want to get out and enjoy the peace and quiet, and the company I'm with.

Also, it blows me away when I walk by and see the satellite TV hooked up, Gamboys and X-boxes hooked up.. It seems few can leave the electronics for a couple days and just enjoy what this world has to offer.

[martin14]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

What the hell? Whatever happened to a tent, sleeping bag, fishing rod beer and food being all you needed for camping? If we were going for awhile we'd take a radio and bear repellent, and that was it. We had a cottage, but that wasn't considered camping.

You took food ?


wtf is wrong with you ?

[bootlegga]

wildrosegirl wildrosegirl:

But seriously, I can't stand having any of that crap with me. I leave home to get away from the phones, TV, etc. I don't wantanyone to contact me. I want to get out and enjoy the peace and quiet, and the company I'm with.

Also, it blows me away when I walk by and see the satellite TV hooked up, Gamboys and X-boxes hooked up.. It seems few can leave the electronics for a couple days and just enjoy what this world has to offer.

That's fine if you don't want it, but others apparently do. And well, there's lots of time in a day, and very few choose to spend it all hiking through the woods or fishing or whatever.

Frankly, it seems to me that most people do not enjoy the peace and quiet or what the world has to offer as you put it, but prefer instead to spend their days/nights getting shit-faced (this thread shows ample proof of that) and playing loud music (or blabbing all night long) around a campfire. Remember the fuss the May long weekend liquor ban created this year?

There's nothing wrong with wanting a beer (or whatever), but for most Albertans, camping takes a distant backseat to drinking IMHO. If the drunks can have their beer, why can't the nerds have their internet?