by Joan H. Young

Created on: August 22, 2010

People tend to fear what they do not know or understand. This applies to camping in a backcountry situation as surely as it does to facing any other unfamiliar task.

It is good to begin with some definitions. Wilderness is actually a special designation by the National Forest Service. Wilderness is an area set aside where very little intrusion by humans is allowed, and no resource management is done (such as timber harvesting or mineral extraction). However, in this article, wilderness more likely refers to any sort of backcountry area where there are not designated campsites, with various amenities. These might include access roads, fire rings, picnic tables, toilets or latrines, etc. Campers are likely to be surrounded by other people. The proximity of others may give us a sense of security, but this may be more perceived than real. People are much more dangerous than threats from the wild. We are simply more acclimated to dealing with people.

Fear is a term that is an emotional reaction to several things, usually things that are unknown. We fear situations where we do not know what might be encountered. We also are fearful when we don’t know what to do should unexpected situations occur.

To know what kinds of difficulties or dangers might be encountered in the wilds can change many of our fears into something more like respect. Any lifestyle, any location has dangers of its own. But as we learn what those dangers are and how to deal with the ones that we can control gives us confidence.

For example, driving a vehicle is an extremely dangerous activity. Yet almost everyone learns how to drive, and as we gain experience we learn how to react correctly in potentially fearful situations: when a tire goes flat, when driving through bad neighborhoods, when we have a breakdown.  We learn to be prepared for such emergencies.  We also learn how to lessen the chances of such problems arising. The same sort of reasoning applies to camping in remote locations.

To get over a fear of camping away from other humans:

Remember that this is not a horror movie
Real wilderness camping has no relationship at all to cheap horror films that make every shadow into something sinister. There is not something behind every tree, waiting to get you.

Reduce the “unknown” factor
Learn as much as possible about the area where you plan to camp.  Use maps and human resources (call the ranger station, for example), to determine the location of trails, water supplies,

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