I have a friend who says that he loves camping. Every Memorial Day weekend he pulls all of his camping gear out of the attic and spends the entire weekend cleaning, resealing, sewing, throwing out and upgrading his equipment so that it is ready for what he calls “the camping season.”

Then every Labor Day weekend he gathers all of his gear and does it all again but in reverse so he can store it all away in his attic until next summer.

Overall I love camping with this guy and his family because they are lots of fun to be around, have similar interests overall, their kids are similar ages to mine and they are easy to be around. We have solved many of the world’s problems over a campfire and a 12 pack over the years!

My only problem with him is that his “camping season” is so short…in my opinion he is missing out on some of the best camping that can be had! To me April, May, September and October are the best months of the year to go camping. No heat or humidity (most of the time), no crowds, no jacked up prices and what’s better to warm you up on a cool evening than a roaring campfire?

I have gotten to know many really wonderful campground owners around this state just by staying the weekends during the “non-peak” season because there are relatively few campers, not a whole heck of a lot of work to do and they enjoy sharing a campfire with other people. 

Granted the activities at the campground and the surrounding areas are somewhat limited but so what we find lots of things to do and even if we don’t spending some time tossing a football or kicking a soccer ball with my kids means more to us than a day at the beach at times.

So back to my friend, every April and every September I call him or email him and give him the dates of a couple of camping trips we have planned and beg him to come out with us. Invariably the answer always comes back that it’s too cold or he hasn’t had time to get his gear out or some other weak excuse. It’s become a running joke between the two of us!

Am I alone here? Am I the only one in this state that enjoys camping in the off season? I honestly can’t imagine that I am the only one that doesn’t even begin to think about putting his camping equipment away until Thanksgiving.

Am I wrong?

Till Next Time…

Eric

Tags: Camping, fall camping