by Ann Hinds

Created on: July 18, 2009   Last Updated: September 03, 2010

People make mistakes. Campers are people. Does that mean that campers are destined to make mistakes? No, but like any experience, doing the prep work before ever leaving home is important. However, anyone who has ever set foot in a campground has, at one time or another, made a mistake.

Most mistakes are easy to rectify. Ask any camper if they have ever made a trip out of the campground to purchase some item that was left at home. Most campers have made at least one trip to the store to buy clothing for unanticipated weather or simply left the duffel sitting on the chair at home. Most mistakes are made before campers ever arrive. If campers start with a camping list, things do not get left behind. If they check the weather before leaving home, the necessary garments are packed. Researching the campground alerts campers to silly things like the quarters needed for the showers. .

There are other ways to make mistakes. When campers are in a hurry to setup a campsite, small details can be overlooked. Sometimes examples are the best way to share experiences. Here is what happened to two people who were in a hurry.

It was a little breezy when they setup their freestanding awning. They did not give it another thought and set off to see the sights. They were in a hurry and decided that they could stake it down when they came back. After spending the day in town, they came back exhausted and never gave the awning another thought. At 2:00 am, the windstorm took the awning for a ride. It took six additional people to capture it, control it and take it down. Had they taken the time to pound in four stakes, they would still have the awning. It was too damaged to save.

She setup the tent and then spent the rest of the time stepping on a rock that she saw but did not pick up. After all, it was just a little rock. She tried to avoid the rock but no matter how hard she tried, her foot always found it. Because it only looked little and she was in a hurry, she did not take the time to move it. By the end of the trip, that little rock had assumed the size of a boulder in her mind.

Another common mistake made by campers is not paying attention to details in the campsite. These clues were overlooked by the campers. In these two examples, the conditions should have alerted the campers to the current conditions.

Borax is the best deterrent to keep ants from invading your camp. Ever pull into a site and find white circles in strange places. It is not some sort of ritual; it says that there is an ant problem. Some newer campers may not know that the circles are ant protection. Worse yet, an experienced camper may know about the borax but think how bad can it be? Coming back to a camp kitchen crawling in ants should be the only time that they ignore that clue.

Sleeping out under the stars is an experience everyone should try. He found a great campsite and after a memorable experience around the campfire, crawled into his sleeping bag and watched the stars as he drifted off to sleep. When he woke in the morning, he was disoriented and several yards away from where he went to sleep. Then he realized that there was a slight slope to the site and every time he rolled over, he moved downhill.

The simple mistakes can be corrected with a camping list, checking the weather and researching the campground. Experienced campers can share many more examples of mistakes made when camping. What they have all learned is to take the time to setup their camp. They do not hurry and they do not skip details. They pay attention to the clues in the campsite and adjust accordingly. When campers talk about their trip, hopefully it is the best parts and not the mistakes that they made

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