Camping in the desert

So since I live in the middle of a desert, and all we have is dirt around us, my friends and I decide to periodically get a tent or an RV (which they rent for free from their work) and go sit in the middle of the desert. It's actually pretty cool, cause you're out there with no one around, and it's really private. Last night we had the RV, and we just spent the entire night watching movies and smoking and drinking. It was definitely a good time. It's all there is to do out here. Where do you guys usually camp?

 

One of the cool places I've camped with my family was this little piece of land right on the river. There was a dock right there, too...so we'd eat breakfast and stuff on the dock. It was a cool place to hang out!

By the way, Welcome to Hipforums!

 

Hey a fellow desert folk! I live in lower area Beaumont/Banning, not too far from Morongo.
Maybe we could hook up and camp in Joshua Tree when my RV is just a little more comfortable.

 

Im about to take a road trip to Quartszite, AZ from KCMO and I'll be camping out in the desert for a few days. anyone know the weather conditions this time of year (around mid Feb)? also is there stuff like fire wood in the desert? I dont know, never really been in the desert before, just wondering what to expect. My sister is living down there in a bus, and i'll be sleeping in the back of my truck with a camper shell.

 

It will be below freezing some nights. When we camped in the desert in our van, we found it worthwhile to carry a thermos. Fill it full of hot coffee or tea each night, so you'll have a hot drink in the morning. By the way, if you want to avoid the winter here in AZ, just sleep in. It was 30 degrees here in Tucson the other morning, but was up in the 60s by noon.

Steve
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www.TheUltralightBackpackingSite.com

 

We used to go camping on the beach,
we set up this AWESOME camp using wood we cut from trees (my friends werent so enviromentally aware, and i got really pissed that they would want to cut a whole tree down which would take years to grow back, when for just a little bit more effort u can cut a few decent sized branches of a few trees, and ensure there will be wood everytime u go, but thats another story).
The first time the weather was really warm, and the water wasnt too bad either. The night times were mild and soooo peaceful, and by the fireside it was SUCH a cosy and copmfortable place to be. That first time we went is one of my best memories.
Unfortunately, when some girls heard about how good of a time we were having down there they took a bus from the city where we live to join us... and they ended up getting shitfaced drunk (as did everyone bar myself) and throwing everying into the fire (not only fire wood, but chairs we made, and even so low as to put the life buoys ,for if people are drowning, into the fire cuz they were made from plastic and flared up).
That first day was magical and ill never forget it, but the second night was a disaster as i watched them destroy what i had worked so hard for 2 days to create.
Second trip out there was really good too, but the enthusiasm to build a camp like we had done before wasnt there, because they knew they would wreck it when they got drunk. (Hence why i made my mind up never to go camping with people who want to go to get pissed drunk again).
Despite its bad sides, the feeling of when we were camping on a warm day, and watching the sunset and rise with your buddies in sand dunes, with the wind in your hair and sand under your feet..... nothing can beat it.
peace and love guys

 

The desert is my fave place to camp. I prefer to sleep under the stars most of the time and the desert is the best place to camp and live outdoors with little or no shelter and still be able to keep warm. I love the nights in the desert when you watch shooting stars and gaze at the milky way and the moon for hours, the nights are usually so clear that you can see an abundance of celestial phenomena almost every night. Now that is some of the best entertainment of all. The dawn and dusk, sunrises and sunsets are at their most beautiful and serene in the desert.

The desert provides innumerable advantages to the camper compared to all other ecosystems. Firewood is nearly always dry in the desert when you want to have a campfire. You don't need to bring along an axe as you can usually find plenty dry wood lying on the sand or you can easily break firewood off from a dead bush or tree. In some cases a cutting/hacking tool other than a knife can be useful but not essential. You don't need to bring a stove (fuel or otherwise) or all those other camp "conveniences" with you in the desert, and you have comfortable places to sit and chill out nearly everywhere.

Shade is important but easy to provide, you can have a siesta in the afternoon under a simple propped up blanket, tarp, sheet, or the shadow of a rock. With sand and rock everywhere there is always a place to lay down for the evening and you usually don't have to worry about having a huge sleeping bag or raincoat, waking up in dew or mud and chiggers/ticks crawling on you as can be the case in a forested/rainforest area where people are more inclined to use tents/hammocks because of such conditions. Sure there are scorpions and snakes and ants and beetles but I haven't had any problems with them in the desert. If you have a good supply or close proximity to water and a little food (or nearby food sources) you don't need much else in the desert and your needs are few and finite.

 

Desert camping is something that I have always wanted to try but I have not done it yet. However I did do some research on it.

First off you need to prepare for extreme weather changes. It can easily drop well below freezing at night so make sure you bring appropriate clothing and learn how to build a decent shelter.

Water will be your biggest challenge. Bring lots of it. From reports I heard the desert just saps you body of hydration quickly.

Fire wood should be readily available so that should not be a problem.

There is actually food sources available in many desert areas (depending on the season) but make sure you bring food with you just in case you can’t catch anything.

 

Well there aint any deserts where I'm from.... but I was in Vegas last summer, and I definitely reckon the desert would be a sweet place. Its nice the way its actually warm at night!

 

It depends on the desert. I believe the correlation between extreme weather changes and latitude is that the closer you are to the ecuator, the greater the temperature fluctuations between day and night as a result of solar activity. It was warm at night in southern Jordan near the northern Saudi Arabia border, and I camped out for over 50 days with no tent under the open sky with minimal bedding, some days I slept with no bedding at all other than my jacket on the sand but usually I covered myself with a blanket or two and had a foam pad underneath me since they were plentiful at my camp. Usually the nights were warm enough that I only used one blanket. I spent other days sleeping in a large goat-hair tent when I felt like it or wanted to sleep by the open fire in the tent or when it got more chilly at night but there was only a few nights where it got more chilly than usual and even then I believe it was above freezing. It gradually become slightly more chilly at night and during the day as winter approached (in middle-to-late November) but still very mild, and the cooler nights reflected the cooler days.