Is it safe for a young woman to go camping all by herself?

[Anonymous]

You guys are wrong - google camping & hiking on the Appalachian trail. SO many women do this every day. They are out there alone and nothing happens to them. I don't think you realize how LARGE the camping community is and how the logging works.


http://appalachiantrailgirl.com/

http://appalachiantrials.com/4-pieces-advice-solo-female-thru-hikers/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow i can't believe so many people are against this. I know a few females who have hiked the entire AT alone and lived to tell.

Camping at a camp ground in a national park is fine. Those places are packed. i would definitely do that over some cheep, seedy motel.

Not hard to find a few who didn't.

OK, I'll bite: I can't find a single news article about a solo female thru-hiker who has died on the AT. So if its not hard, I'm pretty incompetent.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

You're not depending on another stranger to save you. You're depending on the fact that its incredibly unlikely that someone will attempt to assault you with several families of campers all 30 feet away from you in an open area.

(Yes, its possible it could still happen. Just like its possible someone could attempt to rape you while you're standing in the middle of Farragut Square during lunch hour. Its just not very likely.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow i can't believe so many people are against this. I know a few females who have hiked the entire AT alone and lived to tell.

Camping at a camp ground in a national park is fine. Those places are packed. i would definitely do that over some cheep, seedy motel.

Not hard to find a few who didn't.

OK, I'll bite: I can't find a single news article about a solo female thru-hiker who has died on the AT. So if its not hard, I'm pretty incompetent.

There was a report recently that they found the body of woman who got lost/died a couple years ago, right? Then, a few years back, two women got (raped?) and killed. Both on AT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

on article I read mentioned 11 murders on the trail since 1974. Considering it is estimated that 2-million people use the trail per year i'd say you're pretty safe.

[Anonymous]

11:00 should have been 2-3 million/yr use the trail

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

on article I read mentioned 11 murders on the trail since 1974. Considering it is estimated that 2-million people use the trail per year i'd say you're pretty safe.

Most travel in groups though. Single hikers are mostly men. Do you know how many of 11 were M vs. W?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

You're not depending on another stranger to save you. You're depending on the fact that its incredibly unlikely that someone will attempt to assault you with several families of campers all 30 feet away from you in an open area.

(Yes, its possible it could still happen. Just like its possible someone could attempt to rape you while you're standing in the middle of Farragut Square during lunch hour. Its just not very likely.)

If your idea of "wilderness camping" includes being surrounded by families within 30 feet of you, what exactly would be the point of such camping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

You're not depending on another stranger to save you. You're depending on the fact that its incredibly unlikely that someone will attempt to assault you with several families of campers all 30 feet away from you in an open area.

(Yes, its possible it could still happen. Just like its possible someone could attempt to rape you while you're standing in the middle of Farragut Square during lunch hour. Its just not very likely.)

If your idea of "wilderness camping" includes being surrounded by families within 30 feet of you, what exactly would be the point of such camping?

Not PP. but OP wasn't talking about wilderness camping, she was talking about camping on a cross country trip in order to save money. Based on her other comments about being an inexperienced camper she almost certainly means car camping at established campgrounds.

Backcountry camping got brought in as a side thread.

[Anonymous]

I have done this, but took a big scary looking dog with me (a couple of cross-country road trips, plus exploring during summers out West).

It was a great experience, though I have to say that I definitely felt a bit unsafe at times. I would probably recommend against it without the dog.

I felt safer on solo backpacking trips (with dog and following standard advice on letting people know where I was heading and when to expect me back) than on nights camped alone in public campgrounds or near the road in national forests, particular if I pulled in late and didn't have a great sense for my surroundings.

Try to find a friend to go with you. I had friends with me for some of my trips, and it was much more fun, and I felt much safer/able to explore without worries. That said, I'm glad I had some solo adventures as well, I just had to be more careful about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't go camping by myself. Even if I knew the campsite was packed and there would be tons of people around, I'm not sure I would depend on a stranger to help me if I was being attacked.

You're not depending on another stranger to save you. You're depending on the fact that its incredibly unlikely that someone will attempt to assault you with several families of campers all 30 feet away from you in an open area.

(Yes, its possible it could still happen. Just like its possible someone could attempt to rape you while you're standing in the middle of Farragut Square during lunch hour. Its just not very likely.)

If your idea of "wilderness camping" includes being surrounded by families within 30 feet of you, what exactly would be the point of such camping?

Not PP. but OP wasn't talking about wilderness camping, she was talking about camping on a cross country trip in order to save money. Based on her other comments about being an inexperienced camper she almost certainly means car camping at established campgrounds.

Backcountry camping got brought in as a side thread.

+1.

About 40 million Americans go car camping a year. You get to sleep outdoors, make a campfire and cook s'mores, take hikes, and see an actual night sky, which takes your breath away every single time. It is also an incredibly inexpensive way to take a family vacation. People in DC can spend many thousands of dollars travelling abroad when school is out for a week. Most of the rest of the country can instead afford to spend only a couple hundred dollars, which can get you a week of camping on the way to an amusement park and back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow i can't believe so many people are against this. I know a few females who have hiked the entire AT alone and lived to tell.

Camping at a camp ground in a national park is fine. Those places are packed. i would definitely do that over some cheep, seedy motel.

Not hard to find a few who didn't.

OK, I'll bite: I can't find a single news article about a solo female thru-hiker who has died on the AT. So if its not hard, I'm pretty incompetent.

Try searching DCUM. There's a whole thread on the woman who died in Maine on the AT. There was a couple that was killed on the AT (in Pennsylvania, I think?). That's just off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what Cheryl Strayed said about being out in the wild on her own as a woman.

“I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.”

Obviously you need to do what's best for you but I thought this was relevant.

I read her book, and I think she's an idiot who got extremely lucky. Not just with regards to hiking/camping, but also with every other dumbass situation she put herself in. I wouldn't use her as an example of how to hike, camp, or live life in general.

I disagree. Why do you think she's an idiot?

[Anonymous]

Have none of you read the book "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed? People, including women, do these hikes all the time.