Coolest camp you've ever had?

[rabidpossum]

in 2000, not too far into golden gate park, past where the coppers filled up their tanks we had raccoon camp. it was just off the road behind some trees and bush. on the other side of the fence was part of that huge rose garden area. we (on and off, about 7-12 of us) had that camp for at least 2-3 months. who knows how long it existed with the people who showed us the spot. i could leave my tent, guitar and pack there during the day and not worry.

called raccoon camp because one night we were getting drunk as usual and all of a sudden like 5-10 raccoons started scaling the fence from the garden trying to get in. we would shake em off and theyd climb right back on again. they were mounting a full scale offensive on our camp! thus, the name. good times, great oldies.

 

[Mor]

Thanks.

I am working on a deal now for a XJ (Cherokee) plan will be to drive to BC late spring early summer and set up longer stay camp in the Mt wilderness. I have been doing a lot of reading on vertical log construction and since I have over 6 years carpentry experience I think I may just give that a go.

This is called "balloon framing"?
I can't imagine how to stabalize the walls properly.

I have seen a trapping cabin built with horizontal logs but the corners werent notched together like usual. They used square beams (vertical) on the corners and just butted and nailed through to the logs.


OK.

And here is a picture of the coolest (literally) camp I've had:

Down in the Baja near the town of Catavina there is an expanse of house sized granite boulders. One such boulder was perched on top of three or four larger boulders and was hollowed out on the bottom by the wind to form a domed cave about the size of a small bedroom. It was a nice place to rest in the shade between forays into the maze of cacti and dirtpaths.

I camped out there for a solid week until I ran out of food.

Oh, and the "vampiros"

 

[bote]

coolest camp I ever had was the tank at Slab city. I built a hanging house inside and a tiredome on the roof and a kitchen and water system in there and stuff. LAst I heard, Moth took it over and had some christmas lights going with my old solar panels (I never did get them working). Definitely my dream home, with a view of the sunset route no less.

 

[ring]

My favorite was an abandoned summer camp we found in the woods, we camped in these concrete gazebo type things, had a fireplace in the midde, we strung up a few tarps to be like walls, and hung a hammock between two support beams, i think a friend took pictures, its a real cool area. ill try to get pics

 

[SpaceCadet]

This wasn't my camp, but some years ago in Pittsburgh, before the punks started buying the cheap houses (which caused all the squatters to move in with their friends), there was a camp in the woods in the middle of the city. If you aren't read up in your history of that city, the woods are there because it is forbidden to develop on that steep slope of land. The trees protect the homes, businesses, and roads below. Decades ago, during some construction further up, a landslide rushed down, demolishing everything in its way all the way down to the river. Landslides are common in that city, which is hillier than SF by a long shot.
About a dozen people lived there, in an encampment. There was a tarped communal kitchen set in the basement foundation of a home long since swept away in the dirt avalanche. Tents were placed nearby. It was a summer camp; when it got colder, anyone serious about staying in the city could squat a house or perhaps even resort to paying rent. It lasted about 3 summers.

I lived there for summer and most of fall in 05. Do you remember Centro? The punk house at the bottom of the hill?

 

[finn]

I lived there for summer and most of fall in 05. Do you remember Centro? The punk house at the bottom of the hill?

I thought the camp was down in the fall of 05, I was visiting grace before she went down a medicking to nola, and there wasn't much left. And yeah, everybody and their mom remembers the Centro.

 

[Smallredbox]

Now, it wasn't my camp, but once upon a time my friends and I stumbled upon this huge tent city in the forest near Kissimmee, FL one day while going on a fishing trip.

There were about six tents all interconnected by tarps. It was a bit creepy, because there was no one there; it was a ghost town.

The cool thing was that about 3 days later, we went back and it was completely gone, without a trace.

 

[sprout]

Unfortunate circumstances stuck me in Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico earlier this year. We were in a town that is one mile long with nothing but a restaurant and a dumpy area that was used for, well, dumping. But we took all the old, moldy, broken, busted down recliners, televisions, refrigerators, stoves, plywood, etc. and made a pretty awesome spot. Luckily we didn't have to stay there for more than a day or two.

 

[SpaceCadet]

I thought the camp was down in the fall of 05, I was visiting grace before she went down a medicking to nola, and there wasn't much left. And yeah, everybody and their mom remembers the Centro.

It was there in the summer of 05. We stayed (about 4 us) there even after centro closed. We squatted centro after everyone moved out.

 

[Drunken Hearted Man]

My traveling partner and I met this old school guy in Nashville this spring, he kept telling us about this magical spot in Illinois where you could make 100+ dollars flying signs (every day), and where the cops are so nice they just don't give a fuck what you do. I had my doubts, but all three of us hopped up to Chicago and made our way out to this suburb. Apparently he wasn't lying, no travelers ever go there, and there's virtually no homeless people, so we were the craziest thing these (super rich) people had ever seen. Anyway the only patch of "wilderness" was this little half mile chunk of light brush/trees in the middle of a heavily developed area (malls, walmart etc.). Rusty had been coming there for about three years and had built a hooch in the woods there, it was still there when we got there, so we fixed it up and lived there for about a week or so. The aldees dumpster threw out like 50lbs of meat every other day along with fucktons of other food, so we "borrowed" a grill from the back of some nearby business and spent most of our time drinking whiskey and grilling steaks.

Pictures (left to right).
1. Overall view of the hooch.
2. Talia and I posing with a new half gallon.
3. Holding 150-200 dollars that we made in about 45 minutes.
4. The grill we stole.
5. Rusty (He brought us there)
6. Asstons of dumpstered food (box in the middle is all meat)

 

[stink]

My traveling partner and I met this old school guy in Nashville this spring, he kept telling us about this magical spot in Illinois where you could make 100+ dollars flying signs (every day), and where the cops are so nice they just don't give a fuck what you do. I had my doubts, but all three of us hopped up to Chicago and made our way out to this suburb. Apparently he wasn't lying, no travelers ever go there, and there's virtually no homeless people, so we were the craziest thing these (super rich) people had ever seen. Anyway the only patch of "wilderness" was this little half mile chunk of light brush/trees in the middle of a heavily developed area (malls, walmart etc.). Rusty had been coming there for about three years and had built a hooch in the woods there, it was still there when we got there, so we fixed it up and lived there for about a week or so. The aldees dumpster threw out like 50lbs of meat every other day along with fucktons of other food, so we "borrowed" a grill from the back of some nearby business and spent most of our time drinking whiskey and grilling steaks.

Pictures (left to right).
1. Overall view of the hooch.
2. Talia and I posing with a new half gallon.
3. Holding 150-200 dollars that we made in about 45 minutes.
4. The grill we stole.
5. Rusty (He brought us there)
6. Asstons of dumpstered food (box in the middle is all meat)

what town in illinois is this? ive been here for a while. and i never heard of such a place

 

[seldomseen]

@ Bryanpaul - If that's not a jungle I don't know what is. Great pic.

 

[wildboy860]

damn it.... ! enough stories, post more pics of your cool ass camps, please...!!!

 

[jobe]

i had a sick camp in richmond va that I "built" tracks on one side, river on another and freeways on the other two. There was no access by vehicle and no rva locals knew about it.

I shit you not my 2nd or 3rd day going back there I saw a fucking long white hair mountain goat...big curly horns n shit. It was a decent walk form carytown where I got my supplies but not bad at all. the only sketch part was the access point was at the end of a dead end in some white suburban neighborhood. Ii had to kinda climb over one of those spots where people toss their old christmas trees n shit. I loved it though.

 

[barnaclebones]

My traveling partner and I met this old school guy in Nashville this spring, he kept telling us about this magical spot in Illinois where you could make 100+ dollars flying signs (every day), and where the cops are so nice they just don't give a fuck what you do. I had my doubts, but all three of us hopped up to Chicago and made our way out to this suburb. Apparently he wasn't lying, no travelers ever go there, and there's virtually no homeless people, so we were the craziest thing these (super rich) people had ever seen. Anyway the only patch of "wilderness" was this little half mile chunk of light brush/trees in the middle of a heavily developed area (malls, walmart etc.). Rusty had been coming there for about three years and had built a hooch in the woods there, it was still there when we got there, so we fixed it up and lived there for about a week or so. The aldees dumpster threw out like 50lbs of meat every other day along with fucktons of other food, so we "borrowed" a grill from the back of some nearby business and spent most of our time drinking whiskey and grilling steaks.

what burb was it, nails? ....the chicago suburb dumpsters fed me for YEARS... theyre fuggin amazing. we'd ride the commuter train out in the winter, hit trader joes and score salmon steaks, christmas hams, fudge, veggies galore, cheese, bread, pastries.... its like dumpster eden in the west suburbs (glen ellyn, wheaton, elmyra, oak park..)

 

[Adonis]

This is called "balloon framing"?
I can't imagine how to stabalize the walls properly.

I have seen a trapping cabin built with horizontal logs but the corners werent notched together like usual. They used square beams (vertical) on the corners and just butted and nailed through to the logs.

It's actually referred to as Vertical log construction and was first developed by the french around (i think) the 1300's they would dig a square trench and stand the logs up inside, The logs are all vertically notched and a strip of wood is inserted between each so when the square is complete all four walls stand on there own.. Its a cool way to build cause you can be extravagant or very very simple.

Anyhow there is tons of info on the web about them with great pics if you actually wanted to fill your interest.


Now that I am actually out here in BC I have come up with a slightly different idea/plan... A floating log cabin! but more on that later

 

[1percentfreeloader]

I have to admit, I did very little to create "the coolest camp ever" but I did find some camo netting that came in super handy when the trees thinned.
OK: This camp culd not be seen, even with campfire, 20 feet away. NO shit. It sat in a little valley that did not flood. Above was a jogging trail surrounded by "wilderness" for asthetics. 20 toward the street was a two track sidetrack that used to service a factory long since shut down. *Thats a whole other amazing story* You seriously had to know the landmarks just to find the short ass trail that it was. Picture this: 5 or 6 tents surrounding a covered common area that usually had a fire going, some folks cooking, throwing bones or generally living. Two picnic tables resided under the community canopy. The location could have barely been more beautiful. 5-10 min walk from downtown so d-dived food was always stewing, literally a stones throw from an all ages hall and an enjoyable little beach. To this day I can't think of a more together camp, couldn't ask for much more, really.
BTW- We kept tight lipped about its existance so idiots from the shows or any random shitbag couldn't blow up the spot.. Not to say that that generousity wasn't in effect. We just kept it Sucka Free..Boyee!

I'm looking for flicks as we type.. Hopeflly I can show its bad assedness lol..

Stay up y'all

 

[LeeevinKansas]

awesome stuff. i recently stumbled upon this spot in a pine forest not far from where i live. Fuckin this pine forest is already extremely thick and u have to stoop low as ballz to get anywhere, well these people made a natural wall/fence by interlocking pine tree's branches in a circle, its pretty bad ass. they cleared out the area inside the fence. Theres a lil wooden half ass table, 3 logs to sit on, a door mat made of twigs woven together. lots of alcohol. and its like completely hidden from view. ill go and take pics soon. its pretty tight.

 

[Mr. Expendable]

This place everyone called hidden valley we scange a whole little village.... wed find tarps chairs couhes tables matteress all struff being thrown out.... and we had tents and blankets given by the local kids.... the first camp was the best in its prime it had 2 make shirt tents two big sided tens 3 couches , carpet, a hommockand three or more mattressesall kings and queens.... tables and chairs.... but the cops raided and each time we'd build a new spot it would be smaller and more hidden till everyone gave up on it and some people stayed at local kids houses some traveled away and some lived in the squat house we found..... very depressing time because we all where so close...almost like a giant tribe and it was all torn at the seems.... but it got in the local news paper.... they called it the punk rock shanty town

 

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

One my favorites northern MN: