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Best & worst campsites ever?

Gamma1214

Gamma1214

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Blairsville, PA (about 30 mi E of PGH)
I'm absolutely certain that I found the best backcountry campsite I'll ever occupy when I was unexpectedly offered a cabin at Meta Lake Lodge on my Marshall Lake loop this past July.

I'm still searching for my low point (and hoping that I do so until I can no longer trip) as none have struck me as "never again" propositions and I've only achieved "avoid if possible" so far.

In your experience, what's the best and worst campsite that you've used on a trip? Have you reached "cancel the trip if we can't avoid that one" or, maybe, "sleep in the canoe"?
 
In college four of us paddled up to Moondance falls on Lake Jocassee. We thought we'd camp there. We arrived around sunset and discovered there was simply nowhere to pitch a tent. It's just too steep. We each laid out as best we could on rainforest floor, on the hillside, a tree at our back to keep us from sliding down the mountain.

I should have slept in the canoe that night.

I guess maybe it would be possible with a hammock tent. But it's prohibited anyway.
 
Worst may have been a site on the Eel River in northern California. We stopped at a really nice shoreline meadow. Set up camp. Then I saw a rattlesnake emerge from under another person's tent and disappear near other tents.

That wasn't the worst.

The worst happened when the wind changed direction in the evening cooling. That brought with it a heavy, pungent, putrid, sickly, deathly stench of rotting sulphur and ammonia and eggs and . . . flesh. GAGGGGGG! We walked upwind and found the decomposing corpse of a huge horse full of flies and ick in the tall grass about 50 yards from our campsite. The wind direction didn't change much during the night and we had to live, eat and try to sleep with the smell.

It did help us forget about the rattlesnake.
 
Best? I can't recall anything truly spectacular and don't have many digital pictures of campsites. However, I always liked this site on Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Easy landing beach and path up to the site. Privacy. Slightly elevated western view over the lake. You can walk out and sit or lie down on the big rock promontory.

Campsite Long Lake.JPG
 
Best campsite ever was on the Spanish River in Ontario, atop a pink granite bluff.

Spanish River Camp_resized.jpeg
Worst campsite was the night before on the same trip. We ran out of daylight and had to camp near a marshy area with beaver lodges. When I woke up the next morning the door of the tent was covered with mosquitoes. I stopped counting at 52.
 
I've had a lot of really good camp sites but this was probably the best. A huge open site with unknown centuries of use by the First Nations complete with an old cemetery.

Beautiful landscape surrounding the esker complete with a large pond. And all of it walkable. Good views too.

20160814_236 by Alan, on Flickr

20160815_248 by Alan, on Flickr

20160814_246 by Alan, on Flickr

20160814_240 by Alan, on Flickr
 
Best was on the Grand Rhonde River in Oregon. It was a sandy bench with a nice stand of ponderosa pine trees. Beautiful beach to land on. It is a wild and scenic river so it was absolutely clean. I took a nap and woke up to a mule deer fawn at 8 feet that had never seen a human before. A herd of elk swam across the river below camp. It was my 65th birthday so I made a cake in a Dutch Oven. We drank some rum and my friend recited a beautiful passage about "what it means to be a forester."

Worst was an old fish camp on the Colorado River in February. It was flat. The wind was terrible over 60 mph. I had to flatten my tent so the poles did not break. The water was horrible and it made me puke. We were stuck there the next day waiting for the wind to ease up. It was cold but there was no way to build a fire. I could not wait to get out of there.
 
Worst campsite was where there was no campsite at the end of a long, boggy, portage at the end of a long, hard, day.
One shoulder was up against a very steep hillside and the other was about 2 feet from the water. My head was up against the rocks and my feet were a couple feet from the water. It was the only flat, dry, and non-rocky place I could find. Thankfully it didn't rain because there was no way to even setup a tarp.
Sadie slept under a bush with packs to help block the breeze.

20160808_090 by Alan, on Flickr

20160808_089 by Alan, on Flickr
 
Alan Gage said:
I've had a lot of really good camp sites but this was probably the best. A huge open site with unknown centuries of use by the First Nations complete with an old cemetery.

Beautiful landscape surrounding the esker complete with a large pond. And all of it walkable. Good views too.

0160814_236 by Alan, on Flickr

20160815_248 by Alan, on Flickr

20160814_246 by Alan, on Flickr

20160814_240 by Alan, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Fort Hall area? Looks familiar.
 
Glenn MacGrady said:
Best? I can't recall anything truly spectacular and don't have many digital pictures of campsites. However, I always liked this site on Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Easy landing beach and path up to the site. Privacy. Slightly elevated western view over the lake. You can walk out and sit or lie down on the big rock promontory.

View attachment 143254
Click to expand...
This looks great. Love a tucked away spot.
 
Alan,
Sometimes you run out of daylight and make do. We had a similar spot, but larger, but had to squeeze in 4 people. Then it started to rain. We set up and tarp to cook under. It was actually alright after we did some earth moving with a shovel.
 
Glenn MacGrady said:
Best? I can't recall anything truly spectacular and don't have many digital pictures of campsites. However, I always liked this site on Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Easy landing beach and path up to the site. Privacy. Slightly elevated western view over the lake. You can walk out and sit or lie down on the big rock promontory.

View attachment 143254
Click to expand...

@Glenn MacGrady, is this the same site? (We stopped here for lunch a couple weeks back.)
IMG_0914.jpegIMG_0935.jpeg

We loved this site further downriver on Long Lake. A nice breeze that lasted all night kept the bugs at bay.
IMG_0948.jpegIMG_0953.jpegIMG_0957.jpeg

@Robin, VTL is another great site. I love your setup. Please tell me that you've taken that on the carry to the Oz. ;)
 
Last edited:
I've forgotten the bad ones, but the good ones I remember. The best one was on Sturgeon Lake (Quetico PP) looking across to Scripture Island, but I can't find a picture. Another really nice one was on the Blood Vein River (Woodland Caribou PP) and I attached a picture. Both had everything a good campsite should have - tent pads that are flat and no roots or rock, kitchen area, great views, easy entry and clean.Campsite next to waterfalls - fishing was good above the falls.jpg
 
As a long time traveler in the Wabakimi area, I was surprised that we almost always found suitable campsites for 4 people/2 Timberline 4 person tents. And Wabakimi is noted for few campsites. There were occasions when we had to bushwhack campsites - some were okay after a bit of prep work and some almost emergency campsites. On many trips we operated on “Wabakimi time.” This was due to Uncle Phil enjoying the campfire with his Dambuie until the wee hours and then sleeping in until 10-11am. Upon arising he insisted on being undisturbed while he smoked and drank several 4x4’s (coffee w/4 sugars and 4 creamers). Then he would announce we were moving at 1-2 pm. We would often travel into darkness or beyond and then look for a campsite. Sometimes it didn’t work out so well.
 
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