Bag Night Challenge 2019

[Artemus]

It's up to you, not the reader! As @Artemus once said, it's a state of mind. Just because you sleep in your car doesn't mean it's not still camping.

You can close out 2018 at any time. There were a couple of stragglers reporting in after my summary.

 

[Artemus]

It's up to you, not the reader! As @Artemus once said, it's a state of mind. Just because you sleep in your car doesn't mean it's not still camping.

X2!

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I had a nice long weekend on the Paria Plateau. These might be my last nights for a little while since I will be lucky if I am able to get one night in during the month of February...

Total: 6 Nights

Jan 24-27 | Paria Plateau | 3
Jan 18-21 | Squaw Flat | 3

http://adventr.co/2019/01/sandstone-sand-hills-the-paria-plateau/


Coyote Buttes Alpenglow by Randy Langstraat, on Flickr

 

[Scott Chandler]

Total: 14 Nights

Jan 1-4: Los Padres NF/Big Sur, CA
Jan 5: Channel Islands National Park, CA
Jan 6-8: Just outside Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Jan 9-11: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ
Jan 12-14: Just outside Las Cruces, NM
Jan 16: Mojave National Preserve, CA

I decided I could afford a vacation before transitioning to another job and took a month to road trip. It is neat to finally add up the nights in the bag. It is amazing how many of those nights in the desert resulted in wet as could be tents. The deserts of North America are wet in the winter hehe. Sadly the government shutdown stalled my hiring, so now I'm grappling with whether I should invest in more bag nights or save money while I'm unemployed...

I haven't gotten around to looking at many of my pictures from the trip, but here is one from our camp of Big Sur.

 

[LarryBoy]

Total: 14 Nights

Jan 1-4: Los Padres NF/Big Sur, CA
Jan 5: Channel Islands National Park, CA
Jan 6-8: Just outside Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Jan 9-11: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ
Jan 12-14: Just outside Las Cruces, NM
Jan 16: Mojave National Preserve, CA

I decided I could afford a vacation before transitioning to another job and took a month to road trip. It is neat to finally add up the nights in the bag. It is amazing how many of those nights in the desert resulted in wet as could be tents. The deserts of North America are wet in the winter hehe. Sadly the government shutdown stalled my hiring, so now I'm grappling with whether I should invest in more bag nights or save money while I'm unemployed...

I haven't gotten around to looking at many of my pictures from the trip, but here is one from our camp of Big Sur.
View attachment 74596

Travel more! Looks like we've been running around in the same areas. If you see a disheveled dude in an obnoxiously orange shirt, say hi!

 

[Tipi Walter]

I like how Larryboy separates Backpacking Bag Nights from Car Camping Bag Nights. I'm all for such a separation. Otherwise people can live out of a 40 foot RV and call it "getting their bag nights." Just put a caption to this pic---"Getting our Bag Nights in the great outdoors." Really??

 

[Nick]

Judging other’s bag nights is not the point of this. As has been mentioned before, it’s up to each person to call it a bag night or not. If you’re in the pursuit of outdoor adventure and have that camping mentality, it’s fair game. Some people draw the line at sleeping in a vehicle. Some at any amount of climate control. It doesn’t matter. Just get outside and have fun and worrry about yourself. Classify and organize your own nights however you feel!

 

[Tipi Walter]

Having a Bag Night Challenge without carefully defining what constitutes a Bag Night might lead to some confusion.

 

[Nick]

Having a Bag Night Challenge without carefully defining what constitutes a Bag Night might lead to some confusion.

There is no need for confusion because you get to decide for yourself. And if there were any kind of definition, it has been given at the start of the thread, and at times throughout the thread, pretty much every year. I just did it again in my last post. This isn't some official thing that requires hard and fast rules. We're just having fun! I'll be sure to count my bag nights in my luxurious truck camper, but that doesn't mean you have to!

Here are the "official rules" from the first post of this thread:

There are no official rules, but a bag night in the thread is typically defined by a night out camping in some form. It doesn't matter if you sleep on a tarp, in a tent, or in the back of your car. It is more of an attitude thing. If you are outside to enjoy nature, if it's camping baby, it's a Bag Night.

 

[LarryBoy]

At least for me, the Challenge is about challenging myself to get out more. Sure, it's a silly game, but I do see my bag nights as a useful barometer for how much fun I'm having.

Also IMO, getting 30 bag nights in when you work 60 hrs/week and have a family and use all your vacations to visit relatives in far away places - that's far more impressive to me than getting way more nights as a full-time adventurer. Although if somebody would, you know, pay me to be a full time adventurer that'd be pretty sweet.

 

[Perry]

I have yet to post a single bag night for two reasons. One, I mostly am limited to day hikes so that obviously doesn’t count. Two, the nights I have been out the last three years I might be able to count on two hands, twice. Didn’t seem worth posting.

Having said that this is one of my favorite threads. I get to see quick views of lots of great places in one place. Gives me inspiration for possible future adventures. Also I do like following the “relaxed rules” competition. It inspires me to try to get out more often, even if it’s just another day hike.

I do think it would be unfair to count nights spent in an RV or trailer when you do that for months at a time away from home. Beyond that I don’t think comfort level of the overnight accommodations matters. Would we think any less of a summit of Everest or K2 just because basecamp has what many would consider “luxurious” meals, warmth, etc.? Just get out away from home and enjoy the outdoors!


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[LarryBoy]

January 5-6 | Western Nebraska | 1 night (car camping)
January 8-9 | Poverty Flats | 1 night (car camping)
January 9-10 | Mojave National Preserve | 1 night (car camping)
January 12-21 | San Diego Trans-county Trail | 6 nights (backpacking)
January 22-23 | Near Mojave, CA | 1 night (car camping}
January 23-25 | California Riding & Hiking Trail, Joshua Tree NP | 2 nights (backpacking)
January 25-26 | Middle of nowhere CA | 1 night (car camping)
January 26-27 | Organ Mountains National Monument, NM | 1 night (car camping)
January 27-28 | Near White Sands National Monument, NM | 1 night (car camping)
January 28-29 | Black Gap WMA, TX | 1 night (car camping)
January 29-31 | Outer Mountain Loop, Big Bend NP | 2 nights (backpacking)
January 31-February 1 | River Road East, Big Bend NP | 1 night (car camping)
February 1-2 | Davis Mountains near Ft Davis, TX | 1 night (car camping)
February 2-3 | Near Carlsbad Caverns NP | 1 night (car camping)

Backpacking: 10
Car camping: 11
Total: 21 nights

 

[Udink]

Snagged two nights for February this weekend, exploring between Hanksville and Hite. That'll be it for this month, unless I find some way to camp in the Philippines while I'm there the last two weekends of the month for a work trip.

Total: 5 Nights

1/18/2019 - Coconino National Forest, AZ (near Wupatki NM)
1/19/2019 - Wet Beaver Creek, AZ
1/20/2019 - The Rolls, AZ
2/1/2019 - Bull Creek (near Hanksville), UT
2/2/2019 - The Cove (GCNRA, Orange Cliffs), UT

Bull Creek Sunrise


The Cove Corral Camp

 

[Jazzy Joe]

Got lucky with walk in permits for North & South Coyote Buttes this weekend. Visited white pocket as well. Had a bit of an adventure getting home after rolling up to buskin gulch in the dark and seeing house rock valley road disappear into a torrent of water.

Total: 3 Nights

January 31 - Feb 1-3 On the Pariah Plateau

 

[Titans]

Got lucky with walk in permits for North & South Coyote Buttes this weekend. Visited white pocket as well. Had a bit of an adventure getting home after rolling up to buskin gulch in the dark and seeing house rock valley road disappear into a torrent of water.

@Jazzy Joe : Excellent and great you found a fire ring at WP! A bit of adventure? Seriously..... what did you do on HRVR when you got to Buskin Gulch? Turn around and go south? or did you manage to get through and go northbound? Lots of scenarios, hopefully not one including towing.

 

[Jazzy Joe]

@Jazzy Joe : Excellent and great you found a fire ring at WP! A bit of adventure? Seriously..... what did you do on HRVR when you got to Buskin Gulch? Turn around and go south? or did you manage to get through and go northbound? Lots of scenarios, hopefully not one including towing.

We turned around south and exited on 89A. Made a much longer drive home, we didn't make it back home until about 6 AM. I thought about attempting to cross but it was pretty fast, high, and muddy. I was watching the wash get deeper in seconds so I figured it was a bad idea. Crazy thing it hadn't rained where we were since early in the morning so all this water had to have come from pretty far away. Hope no one was in buckskin gulch.

 

[Carcass]

Got lucky with walk in permits for North & South Coyote Buttes this weekend. Visited white pocket as well. Had a bit of an adventure getting home after rolling up to buskin gulch in the dark and seeing house rock valley road disappear into a torrent of water.

Total: 3 Nights

January 31 - Feb 1-3 On the Pariah Plateau

Dang. I've been trying for 2 1/2 years for a CBN permit.

 

[Titans]

We turned around south and exited on 89A. Made a much longer drive home, we didn't make it back home until about 6 AM. I thought about attempting to cross but it was pretty fast, high, and muddy. I was watching the wash get deeper in seconds so I figured it was a bad idea. Crazy thing it hadn't rained where we were since early in the morning so all this water had to have come from pretty far away. Hope no one was in buckskin gulch.

Wow....! glad you made it back safe. Its a long drive around. Sure hope nobody was in Buckskin gulch.

 

[Titans]

Dang. I've been trying for 2 1/2 years for a CBN permit.

Here is your chance @Carcass - volunteer in 2019, you can apply here : https://www.volunteer.gov/results.cfm?ID=17786

 

[Carcass]

Here is your chance @Carcass - volunteer in 2019, you can apply here : https://www.volunteer.gov/results.cfm?ID=17786

Thanks! Just completed it.