Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm a single woman who lives in the west and I say do it. You'll regret it if you don't. You'll be as safe or safer than you are driving to the grocery store at home and you'll open yourself up to learning more about yourself and testing your meddle. You may even meet some great people along the way. Don't let the city slicker nay sayers dissuade you. If you want to do it, then do it. Don't let other people's fears make decisions for you. Join the Facebook group solo women travelers and there are people who have done what you're doing and can give you tips and encouragement. Live your life for YOU not for random scaredy cats on the Internet.

Look OP, I have camped alone, but I think it is generally dangerous. So, if you are hell bent on doing it anyway, stick will heavily populated campgrounds with drive in camp sites. No trail hiking, no backpacking, rock climbing, long strolls, none of that. Just stay on your campsite. If you can, use the site next to the camp host or a huge family. Ask a ranger to stroll with you, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I would generally feel safer at a NP campground than a Super 8 Motel. Have you been to one along I-95 at night in say Lumberton? Meth city.

Absolutely! It really is safe. DH are teachers and we take are kids car camping at National Parks only. They are incredibly safe, just sometimes hard to get a campsite. This summer we are going to Yellowstone (flying into SLC). Campsites are 23 to 28 dollars a night. You can get an annual national parks pass for 80 dollars and then get free entrance to all national parks. I would rather camp then stay in a seedy motel. It would be an amazing experience. If you have time stay a couple of nights at each national park to break up the trip. Go on a ranger led hike.

Sleeping at an established campground in the middle of busy season? I would say that's as safe as sleeping at a hotel traveling solo.

Anonymous wrote:I have known two people who died camping alone. Both were guys too. I would say not safe but much in life isn't safe. Take precautions.

how did they die?

I would generally feel safer at a NP campground than a Super 8 Motel. Have you been to one along I-95 at night in say Lumberton? Meth city.

There are some campsites at National Parks that have rangers around and lots of families -- those are the ones you'd be OK staying in. I stayed at some like that in Utah and Wyoming (Lake Powell; Yellowstone) when I did a cross-country drive. Families with kids are what you want to camp next to, and perhaps senior citizens. Otherwise, you'll feel safer and more comfortable to go to Super-8 motels (which are everywhere out West and pretty cheap) or similar chain hotel/motels.

You might research youth hostels along your route. I tried camping alone in OBX and gave up, only because it was so windy (40 knots) my tent was flapping around my head like a giant bat all night long. I bailed and got a bunk in the hostel where I was camping. It was only a few bucks a night and I could read/enjoy the AC and still have a campfire or a glass of wine at the picnic tables and not worry about my safety. That would be a good option for you. I also would not hesitate to camp at a national or state park or RV park type place esp. if I arrived and set up after dark. A small pop up tent, air mattress and sleeping bag and a bottle of Jack to help you fall asleep.
Last year I took the kids "camping" in Rehoboth and got a cabin at the campground. It started as a security measure because DH was not coming with us, but turned out to be great because it had A/C, mattresses, a small fridge to keep food & beer cold (and leftovers to reheat for lunch) electric, and when it rained we could watch a DVD without worrying about having to pack up a soggy tent later. We still cooked on a camp stove and made smores.

Haven't read the whole thread but I was surprised by the initial advice not to do this. I didn't get the impression from the first post that OP was going deep-country backpacking for weeks on end by herself. More like, sleeping at drive-up campsites with her car parked next to her. Seems safe enough to me. It is worth keeping your wits about you and exercising precautions, but that's always true while traveling in new places. I haven't done it by myself but I have with others and we met lots of interesting people and lots of families with kids doing the same. I'm sure one could look up crime stats, but going by my limited and anecdotal experience, I would put the risk of being raped and murdered at your average family campground as very, very low. And probably lower than your average shitty Motel 8. Fun, safe, cheap, entertaining.

If you are tempted to do some actual hiking by yourself, check in with the ranger station if there is one and keep to well-established trails. And have someone be your contact for an end-of-the-day telephone checkin to make sure you made it back to camp safely.

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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.

-but only 20% of visitors to National Parks are people of color, according to NPR last week.

Who cares and how does that affect OP's ability to go camping

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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.

Neither of these are examples of solo women thru-hikers, which is what the poster you were disagreeing with said.

If your larger point is that several people in history have died in the general area of a trail that is 2,200 miles long and passes through 15 states, then yes, that's true that happened. Of course, its also true that more Americans will die in a car crash in the next 60 minutes than have died on the AT in its history.

To be fair the woman who died in Maine was basically a thru-hiker (she started in WV) and she was hiking solo at the time she got off trail. However I do believe she is the exception that proves the rule, and the vast majority of solo hikers on the AT - male or female - will be fine.

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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.

Neither of these are examples of solo women thru-hikers, which is what the poster you were disagreeing with said.

If your larger point is that several people in history have died in the general area of a trail that is 2,200 miles long and passes through 15 states, then yes, that's true that happened. Of course, its also true that more Americans will die in a car crash in the next 60 minutes than have died on the AT in its history.

OP, I'm a single woman who lives in the west and I say do it. You'll regret it if you don't. You'll be as safe or safer than you are driving to the grocery store at home and you'll open yourself up to learning more about yourself and testing your meddle. You may even meet some great people along the way. Don't let the city slicker nay sayers dissuade you. If you want to do it, then do it. Don't let other people's fears make decisions for you. Join the Facebook group solo women travelers and there are people who have done what you're doing and can give you tips and encouragement. Live your life for YOU not for random scaredy cats on the Internet.

Good grief - google - hiking alone on Appalachian trail - SO many women do this. http://theactiveexplorer.com/2011/02/02/appalachian_trail/

There are also NUMEROUS resources out there for people who do this as a hobby. http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/hiking-basics/safety


http://appalachiantrailgirl.com/?p=255

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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.

-but only 20% of visitors to National Parks are people of color, according to NPR last week.

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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.

Yes, but given the number of people who do these hikes the number of deaths does not make it dangerous. Jeez. You are more likely to have some accident/crime happen to you walking the streets of DC.