New here. Plucking up courage to do my first solo camp

[pt5005]

Hey all!

Been lurking on the forums for a while. I've always wanted to do a solo camp and be self reliant ...take in nature for what its worth but i have always hit a brick wall in my train of thought. Namely i have fears of waking up in the night, disorientated...i step out my tent into fog and black ness on the side of a mountain...the thought alone is enough to stop me... not to mention all the other scenarios...wild aninals, strange noises...axe murderers..but in any case i dont plan on doing it till late march early april

Any tips for a beginner to over come this?

[ScotFinn65]

I watched 2 videos on YouTube recently about this. One from Renegade Scot and anotfrom Always Forward. These may be helpful.

One thing l could suggest would be to start easy. Not far from civilization, not on the side of a mountain and definitely not near any axe murderers

Maybe go with a trusted buddy for the first time.

[Caberfeidh]

Don't watch any horror movies for weeks or months before you go, as the spookiness stays with you for a while afterwards, and I got really creeped out after going to the Cairngorms in winter conditions shortly after watching Bram Stoker's Dracula, the version with Keanu Reaves. As I crept about the snowy ground in the forest, with a full moon casting weird shadows from the trees, I couldn't help remembering the bit where Keanu is left in the forest by a coach driver who refuses to go nearer to the castle, and out of the stillness of the night comes a stagecoach pulled by a team of black horses wearing black plumes as if on hearse duty... I scuttled back to the bothy double quick and made do with only a small fire consisting of chairs...

Near Derry Lodge...

[Caberfeidh]

... Oh and a wee pocket transistor radio helps a lot, you can tune into music, comedy and so on, and thus your little tent becomes a haven of modern civilisation in a dark world of primordial emptiness. A bottle of tawny port and a selection of cheeses, cold meats, pate, crackers, etc. also helps civilise things. One of those battery operated lanterns is nice too, giving a more homely atmos than a mere headtorch which is all very functional but not homely. Take plenty of batteries. An interesting book helps too. March/April will still be very cold with long nights, leaving it til May would help a lot.

Camping at Kingshouse

[Jon and Jen]

Never heard of a murder in the hills recently, daily occurence in the cities. Chances of meeting anyone with bad intentions in the hills is slim to none. Not much point going murdering where the chances of seeing anyone are slim. Murdering is best in the cities where there are multiple targets. Sod chasing one lad around the countryside. The crime rate within your local area is likely 1000x the crime rate of the Cairngorms.

[rgf101]

There are plenty of places in Scotland where you can basically walk along an estate road, camp somewhere, then walk back out on the same route the next morning. Glen Tilt is a good example - easily accessible from Blair Atholl, easy to navigate, easy to walk (almost too easy, but we're just starting out) and there are a million and one decent campsites along the river. Or walk in to White Bridge from Linn of Dee, or go up Glen Feshie a bit, or...

Also, if you wake up in the night, step out of the tent and it's all dark fog and you're not sure which way is which - get back in your tent and wait for the sun to come up!

[penelope1]

Hi, Everyone has to start somewhere - I started camping with a friend over 30 years ago, we stayed close to habitations to begin with, then gradually I started to enjoy exploring the wilderness in Scotland more and more. Now one of the greatest pleasures for me is getting away from the hurly burly of civilisation in the summer and setting up my wee tent near the mountains - watching the sunrise on a northern mountainside in June is one of life's greatest joys for me. I've heard a few inexicable noises at night - once in Glen Affric an intermittant scuffling around the outside of the tent with nothing obvious when I opened the tent flap. Afterwards I decided it could have been a pine marten attracted to the food around the tent. Really foggy nights aren't terribly common in summer if you pick a decent spell of weather for the trip and no axe murderers so far in my 35 plus years of hillwalking... I've never regretted a moment spent in the wonderful wildernesses in Scotland, so I would say go for it, start slow, and see where you adventuring spirit leads you !

[EileanB]

I bought a tiny tent during lockdown, not having camped for over 30 years. I remember just picking the parcel up off the doormat cheered me up to the extent of thinking it was worth the money. The first two nights I spent in it were within 2 miles of home (I'm lucky, I live in a reasonably remote area) and the axe-murderer panic disappeared after about an hour and never came back. I then took it cycle touring and the only bad moment was a barn owl screeching nearby. It really did sound like someone being horribly murdered til I realised what it was. I'm hoping to go walking with it, when I've workied out how far I can realistically carry it (being smallish and past my first youth), oddly I was thinking of Glen Tilt as a possible first route, glad to see it recommended earlier on this thread.

[Marty_JG]

The axe murderer has been stalking me for over 35 years. He has yet to catch me but he most certainly stalks me. Every, single, camp.

[al78]

Perception is worse than reality. Best is to try an overnighter in a not so remote area with easy navigation. I did the Minigaig pass as my first attempt at wild camping, and it worked out better than I thought. Just make sure you know how to pitch your tent, and take plenty of food you can snack on. The worst thing that will happen will be 24 hours of continuous rain.

One thing I haven't yet tried is to hike into a remote area, set up camp, then go on a day walk, say, climbing some summits leaving non-essentials in the tent. I presume it is almost certain my gear will still be there when I get back, i.e. theft is an extremely rare to non-existant threat to wild campers.

[pt5005]

Thanks so much for all your kind replies

[Caberfeidh]

I've heard a few inexicable noises at night - once in Glen Affric an intermittant scuffling around the outside of the tent with nothing obvious when I opened the tent flap. Afterwards I decided it could have been a pine marten attracted to the food around the tent.

Camping alone in Glen Trool in Galloway I was awoken by blood-curdling snarling as some ravening beast disembowelled something outside my tent. I summoned all my courage to look outside to witness the foul murder, only to find a hedgehog eating worms. They are noisy little buggers!

[Kevin29035]

The axe murderer thing seems to go away pretty quickly. Couple years after I started hillwalking (start of August 2009) my brother and I went through Mugdock Country Park in the middle of the night (I grew up by Glasgow). We both scared ourselves absolutely s***less.

A week or so after that, I did a mental trip with the late Michael Coffield around the Northern Highlands: a couple nights camping by the road - then we messed up Fisherfield so badly we both ended up lying out in the open overnight, between the most remote two Munros with nothing but our jackets. And got out fine, but it could have gone diffferently.

Making a hash of Fisherfield isn't recommended but I never worried about the axe man again!

Four December's ago I did spend two nights in a very dark, very empty Sourlies. That was a bit creepy - self-control needed.

[Booga]

You don't mention if you have experience camping with others before deciding to go solo but I'd recommend getting in a solo practice night in an "easy" area or even your back garden with all the gear you'll be using so you're confident with everything you have so that that's one less thing to worry about. The more confident you are and comfortable with your situation the easier it will be to sleep.

The estate road suggestion is a good one too if you are concerned about feeling lost in the middle of the night, even if it's foggy in the day following an estate road back to civilisation is almost foolproof (I'd still take a map and compass and make note of any junctions etc). It's also good to have something like that as a plan B (heading back to your car or the nearest town for example) in case of emergency.

The wild animal/axe murderer concern is natural but unlikely to happen. Most wild animals will want to keep away from humans or will ony be interested in your food, not eating you, and as has already been mentioned the chance of random murderers in the hills is very low.

[EmmaMichelle]

Hey so I camped on my own for the first time last July. Honestly the most difficult part was deciding to do it, the actual camping part was very enjoyable and not the least bit scary. That said, I did go to a campsite. Part of the reason I decided against wild camping was because I was spending 7 nights on the Isle of Harris- it's much more remote than other places I'd been and I really liked the idea of having running water for the week.
I'm not sure if you're talking about wild camping or not, but after this experience I would definitely consider solo wild camping. I've camped in some dodgy roadside spots, and even in Fort William with friends- I probably wouldn't do this on my own as I'm scared of axe murderers..! But in a more remote place I definitely would consider it- at least there aren't a whole lot of dangerous animals in Scotland. Someone made a good point about not watching any weird scary stuff before you go camping which is a good point.
When I told friends I was planning to camp on my own, some were really surprised and were quite worried about me (these were friends who are not really into camping), but other friends (the ones more into camping) thought it was a great idea and even encouraged me to wild camp on my own. It can be easy to let other people's doubts get into your head. To some people the thought of camping on their own is one of the scariest things they can imagine, and that's completely fine. But if you feel the urge then you should go with it, a lot of people's fear comes from this built in fear of the unknown and of being alone. In truth, it's possible to feel more alone in your own bed than it is camping on your own!
I hope you have a great time wherever you decide to camp, my best advice if you're feeling unsure would be to go somewhere where there's a campsite nearby so you have options on the day. Best of luck

Top tip: bring earphones to listen to music or a podcast for that part of the night you're convinced there is an axe murderer circling your tent