I believe that’s called
…theft of service!
tsk tsk
you made an offer of payment. An honorable person would have followed up instead of sneaking out.
I have been preparing to stealth camp in the Hudson Valley this fall. Anyone out there know the area?
@ said:
Done properly…
If done properly, the landowner will never know that you were ever there and will have nothing to complain about. I am all for being legitimate every chance I get… however, in areas where access is already locked-up, I’m all for a little stealthly civil disobedience.
Like using someone else’s photo? Who doesn’t mind.
Having issues with jerks pooping in our farm equipment, and ripping open locked out- buildings, and borrowing old tools, I come down on the side of asking permission of the land owner. Also with cheap remote trail cameras readily available, you are risking getting a visit from the sheriff or my 30-30 if you set the alarm of in the middle of the night. I also suggest asking the local police, in New Zealand lots of great spots were posted no camping, we asked a ranger/cop where we could go to camp and he said … oh you can camp right here. A friend later confirmed that stealth camping in NZ is often expected, but you have to know when and where you can break the rules, and that’s a bit tricky. Scandinavian countries have open camping on private ground laws, make sure you understand the laws, and also if you can identify the owners let them know you are there and leave the site as you found it.
Stealth camping is what is normally required on multi-day events like the Everglades Challenge.
Ironically I find it is often best to hide in plain sight - if there are no safe and hidden public areas then camping at a condo often works. I suppose people assume that you are associated with someone there and they are not as freaked out by “someone on their land” as most private landowners are. Still best to setup late and leave very early.
Every situation is different. At first not knowing exactly where I would sleep was stressful and sleep was difficult. Now it’s just part of the challenge.
Greg Stamer
Greg and the rest of the Water tribers wrote the book on “Stealth camping” !