When the environment is conducive I like to cowboy camp beneath the stars. I lay out a thin plastic sheet, my foam sleeping pad on top of that, and there I lay in my sleeping bag, my backpack beside me. It’s a method of sleeping outdoors entirely different from sleeping in a tent. You are completely exposed. There is no barrier between you and nature; bugs, wind, animals, everything. It adds up to a much more complete experience of nature and it is surprising how many people go their whole lives without spending a single night under the stars like this. In a way I understand; bugs are annoying and gross, animals are scary, it feels good to have a barrier between you and the things that creep in the night, and what if it rains!? Bit, I must argue that it is an incredible thing to wake up in the night looking up at the milky way, to wake up in the morning with the sun shining directly on your face. Why enter the wilderness only to hide from it?
Of course many environments aren’t great for this style of camping. The east coast has tons of humidity which makes for wet nights and mornings of dew and condensation, as does the northwest and the southeast but a huge portion of our country is great for cowboy camping. Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, much of california and wyoming, are often pleasant places to sleep out in the open.
When I was a trail crew leader in Maine I never cowboy camped and neither did my crew. The weather was incredibly unpredictable and the bugs were hellish. Out here in the west though I’ve camped out in the open many nights and have influenced my crew to try it out as well. They’ve taken to it so much that if thunderheads are forming in the evening they’ll often ask me with disappointment “I should set up my tent tonight shouldn't I?”
It’s been a great experience. Cowboy camping seems to bring out a camaraderie in the group. Perhaps this is because it is “roughing it” and we are together in the risks and pleasures of the experience. I believe that together we feel more assimilated to these landscapes. We wake up easier, already in the landscape, not having to crawl out of a vestibule into it.
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