Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How many here require ALONE time.....and where do you take it?

Thats why you live in Billings, and I don't

The last time I needed some "Alone Time" I spent about 4 or 5 months camping. I got out of grad school for teaching, and spent a year in the inner city. I knew it wasn't for me, and the experience left me in need of some major sorting out. I got my tent, pack, and took off. I woke up every morning thinking I'd sort things out, but it dragged on. I'd walk into town, buy groceries, and call home and feel a little irresponsible but I'd feel better walking back into the woods. I've got too many bills to pay to do that now, but I'd like to.

Head for the mountains, might see a little snow if you get some elevation. Hope your pistol permit arrived, be safe and don't forget to take an orange vest if you're going into an area open to any hunting.

Well, I'm a bit older than I once was, so feel the need to "clear my head" less often. But in my experience, getting to high altitudes serves best. Above 6000 feet minimum. Let it steep for a few days, then move upwards as needed.

Camp alone. Sleep under the stars if you can. If you must bring a dog along, let it be your best one, and only him. If you can sleep above treeline, good; if you can sleep above snowline, better. Get as close to the stars as you can.

I love the space of the open "road"....in rural Alaska: the big River, (the Yukon). Most of the river allows one to travel as far as they wish in a day and see almost no one, or camp on side flow or even on a bar in the river's middle and have all the alone time one could desire. And nowhere else I know has the unique combination of smells. I'm needing another fix soon.

preference high mountain ridge, windy a little too cool to be really comfortable till you slip on the insulated jacket. too hard to get to though on short notice.

most times to my cabin, hard to go solo anymore though since the boys are bigger, they always want to go.


but being there by myself and/or in the woods have always been a healing and settling tonic for me.

lucky I can walk out the door and with a 15 minute walk be pretty isolated

I think my best alone time has been a week spent solitary camping in the Sinkyone Wilderness on the Lost Coast of California. Summers it is filled with dopers and whackos, the early spring and late fall are great. In winter it is often closed due to big storms lashing the coast ( the reason why it was never developed). These days it is almost impossible to get solitude in this state. Parts of Big Sur are not bad in the winter.

When I need some alone time or down time, as I like to call it, I either hit the woods, or get in the boat and just go out by my self for a while. There's something very spiritual about a beautiful sunrise on the water with a gentle chop lapping up against the hull of my old Lund, or watching the woods come to life for the beginning of a new day. Unfortunately, the constraints of a busy life don't allow me much "me" time any more. So to those of you who do get the chance to just ditch every day life, if even just for a few hours, don't pass up that opportunity.

I don't have much alone time during the summer, but late fall and winter are a different story.

One of my favorite alone spots is in my darkhouse. I live near the lake I spear the most so I can get here for at least a few hours each week from early December right on through the end of February.

(The print is Les Kouba's 'darkhouse spearing').

Also the deer woods are a great place to spend a day alone.

When I was stationed at Fort Lewis, I would spend my weekends hiking the Wonderland trail around Rainer. I loved it, did the trail a few times while I was there, other than running into other hikers, it was very calming. I love a good hike. There was a small lake that had a campsite, can't remember it to save my life, very primitive, think it just had a fire pit, but that was always my 1st stop. I usually had to break it up into a few legs over a month, (it is 96 miles all the way around IIRC). Cool thing, you can do most of the hiking all year round if you dress and pack smart. When the Army came out with the new sleepin bags, it cut my weight by quite a bit. Les

Where did you go for down time while at band camp,flute player?

Never went to band camp, and I play Trumpet/Coronet, not them little girly things yer Momma made you play. Now Bitch, know your role and STFU. Bob's idea of alone time is running into the bathroom and pulling one off into a kleenex now.

Heard "Kleenex" was your nickname at boot camp.

Sturgis... Or anywhere with a Harley under my azz...

YEP....nothing like the calm,quieting sound of a Harley on a peaceful head clearing ride through the countryside.

Am I the only one who thinks the noise those bikes make are obnoxious as Hell. No offense Redneck, as you're one of my faves, but WTF is up with that anyways?

I run them off the road into mail boxes for relaxation.

You mean you couldn't find anything to swear at in the absence of others................I sure can!


I head to the preserve, throw down some bait and wait to see who comes to dinner............Very peaceful, accept during the rut when things can get quite tense!

Here is my spot. There is no telling what I will see over the course of a few hours, including elk, deer, coyotes, foxes, red tail hawks, and, recently, a mink. The pictures were taken with a cruddy camera and do not capture the true beauty.

This was taken about 10 days ago.


Each day is a new experience. This picture was taken the day after the previous one.

I will be driving up the road from WA to AK for the 4th time next week: picking up a car. By choice! I just got a CD set of KJV, will have some good company, for being alone!

Ha! Note that I said GOOD company. There just ain't much of that anywhere so I spend a lot of time with just me.

There's bound to be a few good people in The Magic City.