Question about Legal Sleeping in the Whites

[Mike P.]

Speaking of Chocorua, if you literally were to sleep on the rocks, how could you possibly do any damage? Just a foam pad and sleeping bag under the stars? If you didn't eat there, showed up after dark and woke up/ packed up at sunrise, I just don't see how you could do any harm or be an eyesore either. I know if you did this, then you could sleep somewhere else and this slippery slope is why there are rules, but we also get to draw our own lines.

Now Chocorua isn't above the alpine zone, right, so is the trick to find a spot that's 200 feet away from a trail.

(I'll plead ignorance on Chocorua, have been just once over 10 years ago & found it more work than several 4k peaks, some with better views & other non-4K peaks also with better views - or views I like better.

 

[Paradox]

I have always advised that nobody should sleep in the White Mountains without a lawyer, a surveyor and a lobbyist for the party currently in power among your hiking partners.

But here's a question, just in case you're out on your own.

A typical rules area: 200 feet from a trail or water source, a quarter mile from a trailhead or hut or shelter, under the tree line.

You find yourself collapsing after a long day of hiking. You find a spot meeting the 200 feet, quarter mile requirements.

On one side is a solid bank of trees more than eight feet high, extending forever. At your head (or feet, depending on which way you collapse) there are a tree or trees at least eight feet high. But in the other direction (your head or feet) there are trees/shrubs lower than eight feet high. And on your other side you are also abutting trees/shrubs lower than eight feet high. In other words you have found yourself in increasing darkness and cold at the edge of a meadow.

Are you legal?

Skofflaws should have their sorry butts tossed in the slammer. It will be warmer and the lights are frequently on.

 

[Will]

Skofflaws should have their sorry butts tossed in the slammer. It will be warmer and the lights are frequently on.

I don't disagree. Cruel and unusual corporal punishment might be even more appropriate. Evil must not be tolerated.

However, I should note that unlike some in this thread I have not advocated being a "scofflaw." In fact I have rarely met a wall of trees anywhere in the Whites that I can't manage to push into and eventually find a spot sufficient for my needs. I think a big mistake people make is they think they need a typical "bare ground" spot, or a flat spot. With an empty rucksack (or a backpack if you hike that elaborately) and a pair of hiking boots to help shape the natural foundation, you can fashion a bed just about anywhere. I actually prefer the final product to be more of a bowl with my feet and head elevated a bit. In one of the better old books about hiking the author joked about draping yourself around the uphill side of a tree, but that actually can work just fine too, if you have to.

Nevertheless I often find myself in the situation I've described, where it _would_ be easier just to lie down in the kind of spot I asked about. I'm lazy in thought if not in deed. So I asked the question.

 

[DougPaul]

In fact I have rarely met a wall of trees anywhere in the Whites that I can't manage to push into and eventually find a spot sufficient for my needs. I think a big mistake people make is they think they need a typical "bare ground" spot, or a flat spot. With an empty rucksack (or a backpack if you hike that elaborately) and a pair of hiking boots to help shape the natural foundation, you can fashion a bed just about anywhere. I actually prefer the final product to be more of a bowl with my feet and head elevated a bit. In one of the better old books about hiking the author joked about draping yourself around the uphill side of a tree, but that actually can work just fine too, if you have to.

Nevertheless I often find myself in the situation I've described, where it _would_ be easier just to lie down in the kind of spot I asked about. I'm lazy in thought if not in deed. So I asked the question.

Hammocks are a good alternative to sleeping on the ground in such places.

Doug

 

[spider solo]

Let's see if I can answer this without getting in to much trouble...If actually on the verge of collapse I would sleep on the trail.
It is durable, already compacted, already a scar on the pristine environment we like to enjoy.
Thousands of footprints will obliterate your transgressions...
If your injured or suffering from " a weak heart" " (as they used to say) you will be easier to find.
If you drop dead much the same is true.

If you awake ok don't tell anybody...as you certainly have broken the law.
Don't spit into the wind.
Don't pee or poop on or beside the trail
(which happens way more than anybody will ever admit to, eck)

I disavow any portion of any intelligent thing I might say at any given time, it is strictly by accident....

 

[wardsgirl]

Is it camping if you are not in a tent?

Example:

You start up the trailhead at dinnertime and arrive on the summit of Bond somewhere around 1am.

Tired, you throw a jacket on, sit back against the cairn and fall asleep, only to be awakened by the Guyot crowd at 7am.

Did you camp?

 

[Tom Rankin]

Is it camping if you are not in a tent?

Example:

You start up the trailhead at dinnertime and arrive on the summit of Bond somewhere around 1am.

Tired, you throw a jacket on, sit back against the cairn and fall asleep, only to be awakened by the Guyot crowd at 7am.

Did you camp?

I think the answer is yes. Out West, you can stargaze in some National parks all night long, but you can not camp. Standing is stargazing, sleeping is camping.