Countdown to the Campout!
To spend a night under the stars is a wonderful experience, a night under thick cloud, but in the open air, is a pretty good compromise. To be woken in the morning by a gentle breeze on our skin, not caring what time it is but just knowing by the soft rays of sun that morning has come, is one of many memorable experiences that nature can bring us. Conversely, to wake in the early hours, a half-awake mind slowly piecing together how the rain has found its way into our hammock, is memorable also… perhaps a memory you could diplomatically call “an adventure”.
However contrasting, it is experiences like these that draw us to camping, be it hammock camping up in the canopy, tent camping on the ground, or anything in-between, it is this feeling of spending a night’s sleep immersed in the natural world that inspires our ever-enthusiastic community to join us each year for Big Canopy Campout’s yearly event.
The experiences that nature brings, and the opportunity to help nature in return, are reasons why we look forward to our annual campout event so much, and why it remains such a valuable part of our fundraising efforts.
Not only is it a fantastic excuse to write “camping” in our diaries, but by taking part in the event we know that we are sharing this same experience with hundreds of other campers around the world; finding joy out in the open air for a shared cause. The natural world, from the moss and flowers in our back gardens, to the dense jungle of the rainforest, matters more than we can comprehend as individuals. The scale of the campout event, thanks to our incredible BCC community, sets an international stage where we can promote better understanding, and encourage the enjoyment of, our natural world.
The BCC campout is a free event
An opportunity for us to stand in unison to show our ongoing peaceful protest against the destruction of the natural world. The joy of spending time in nature should always be free, or as much so as possible.
Hand in hand with this is the notion that our use of outdoor spaces should come at no cost to nature either, and Big Canopy Campout promotes this as part of our core values. There is no constructed venue for our campouts, no permanent human footprint, and the locations where our many campouts take place are to be left as clean as we find them, if not more so. The temporary nature of our camps makes us the perfect guests when visiting the natural world, and in keeping with this we must ensure that we respect our surroundings, and have our campground return once more to a place undisturbed. In taking part in the campout, we are not just visitors in nature’s domain, immersed in its company for a night or two, but we are also custodians, standing as a community with a shared message, naturally practicing what we preach.
On the 28th, 29th and 30th July 2023 we will be running this year’s campout, either of the nights (or both if you’re extra keen), and besides the date there are very few criteria to be met with this event.
Really, the two key steps are:
a) Register your campout, and
b) go camping!
By registering you join the international community that will all be out in and around forests on the same weekend, by sharing photos and stories throughout the event (if good reception allows!) we share, learn and inspire others on all the different ways to interact and enjoy our natural world. When people have the resources and the interest we also welcome people to fundraise for our annual cause to give grassroot organisations the chance to protect native forests. See our last blog post below.
For registering, please visit our website, and how you go about the actual camping part is entirely up to you. So long as you stay safe and respect nature while camping then there’s not many ways you can go wrong, and be sure to have fun too (or an adventure, at least).
Here’s two very different stories from last year’s campout, showing just how varied and fun the event can be.
Mat:
Last year’s campout was in Sepetember, and nothing quite prompts a plan a, b, c, and d, quite like camping in Scotland during the autumn. We registered our plan A on the BCC website and, as luck would have it, the rain clouds over the West Coast cleared just in time for the weekend. On the campout with me were Bex and Raven; both bouncing with excitement for a woodland camp, Raven being particularly keen for her 3rd BCC campout (at only the age of 8). Following one last check of the weather, the car was packed up with food, blankets, and waterproofs (just incase), and we were off west to find our camp-spot for the night.
Argyll is an excellent place for camping, a rural region of Scotland with a bit of everything; mountains, lochs, sea and woodland, and we knew we couldn’t go wrong so long as the weather and midges played ball. We meandered our way through villages and beneath great mountains, taking in the expansive Loch Awe as we skirted alongside, and before long we made our first stop at the caravan of a good friend of ours. We were delighted to have arrived in time to wish him a happy birthday, and have ourselves some cake, before their celebrations began in earnest. He directed us to some woodland just over the hill where we would be sure to find some flat ground amongst the trees, and some well-established paths to help us find our way in the half-light; an ideal spot for our campout.
About an hour later, we had found our camp spot. Raven was delighted at not having to carry her rucksack any further, and we were all keen to get a quick dinner cooked up. Soon enough we had settled in, with Raven entertaining herself with some art while Bex and I got ourselves comfy to relax into the evening with a wine. The night passed with just some light rain, and though the dampness lingered in the morning, we woke to the forest freshly lit with morning light. Having a go at some forest skills, and packing away the tent, the morning passed in no time, and we rounded off our stay by trying to identify some of the weird and wonderful fungi and lichen that littered the earth and trees. Raven was delighted to discover that the Wood Sorrel that grew nearby was so tasty, even if it did take her some convincing that it was safe to eat. With everything packed up we scanned the ground a couple times, just in case any rogue pieces of rubbish may have been dropped, and to find the hidden tent peg that inevitably gets missed when the tent gets taken down.
We were sufficiently buzzing from the campout, and keen to stay longer, but the drive home awaited and we had promised our friends at the caravan that we’d stop by… and maybe offer moral support on their hangovers. Before long we were on the road home, with photos and memories to remind us how special a campout it had been. No bells or whistles, just quality time in a small patch of woodland. It was a lovely wee adventure which was fun for all three of us, where we could enjoy time out and about with the comforts and discomforts of being camped amongst the trees. For us this is what the campout is all about, and even better that we can do so in support of such a fantastic cause.
Vicki:
This was to be my 7th Big Canopy Campout and each one has marked a different year with a completely unique and mostly unpredictable adventure!
It began two days before I was set to leave for the 7 hour drive to Belgium when a rodent made a nest using parts of my van engine leaving me and the tonne of hammocks, BCC merchandise and camping equipment stranded in Germany. I may have wept a small tear in that moment.
However, with all adventures, this was just part of the story and it so happened my new friends Jess and Sam were driving their camper van back to the UK and a small detour meant I not only got a road trip with friends but a lift to the campout door!
This would be my first time in Belgium.
AlI I knew was that the Belgian people I’d met at climbing competitions and conferences were some of the best and most authentic i’d had the pleasure to get to know.
Lucas and Laura were known for their previous campouts and incredible fundraising efforts and this year was gearing up to be the biggest yet.
The park gave a beautiful mix of mature beech, chestnut and oak forest with plenty of space to house the myriad of vans and cars decked out for camping trips, hammocks and tents were pitched in the understory and on the forest edge with a large tent to store all equipment, bags and shelter from the rain.
The first handful of people arrived on the Friday to get an early setup start on Saturday and by lunchtime there were around 30 people scurrying around choosing their spots for the night. There were a stronghold of professional arborists and experienced climbers who began setting up ‘the tree village’ and before long a colourful collection of ropes, hammocks, tarps and people were decorating the two dominant beech trees.
Setting up for the night.
With only the task of setting up a sleeping spot the night, many of us took the time to be particular in where that was and what comforts and creative ways we could mark out spot! Rain tarps, pulley lines for hauling up food, drinks and sleeping materials, coffee making facilities, connecting ropes to others and clothes lines were all installed to add a flare of creativity to the tree top troops.
The weather was ….unpredictable…with heavy showers followed by sun, clouds and rumbles of thunder. Used to working in all weathers we flowed with its mood and sheltered when we could and enjoyed the dry even more when it came. It didn’t prevent anyone from getting involved and carrying on with the day.
By early evening everyone was descending to the camp fire to share the good beer and i’m not going to lie, talk a lot about trees! When it started to get dark the food truck arrived and we got the comfort of home made Thai food! Lucas’s idea to hire a food truck and share the cost among the group is one that will be used for campouts again!
A wonderful atmosphere of friendly chatter, laughter and anticipation filled the outside space as nighttime came and the weather set in around us, finally after several hours of standing around the large fire pit drove even the hardiest of us under the comfort of the tent to continue discussing what was ‘too wet’ to sleep aloft in the trees!
One of the most poignant memories of the campout was waking up in my hammock to what sounded like a bathtub of water being tipped out of the sky and looking over to see a neighbouring canopy climber emptying the large pool of rainwater out of his tarp and washing his face in it!
The morning was grey and damp, hammocks and portaledges were slick with wet and several were already abandoned by their occupants that had opted for early morning coffee in the big tent below rather than a canopy coffee in a puddle!
Smiling through the rain
Despite the wet weather, almost everyone still slept aloft that night embodying the true spirit of the campout by celebrating forests and experiencing our natural world for what it is.
Mo, my hammock neighbour, and I despite our extensive work putting up a huge tarp the night before to stay dry were, in fact still wet and we decided we’d remove everything before going down to avoid putting wet harnesses back on again. Coffee never tasted better that morning.
*please note that if the rain had been torrential, high winds or storms then we would absolutely not have camped out! There is appreciating nature and also common sense!
Over 50 people attended the campout over the weekend from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. For some it was the first time they had slept outside in a hammock, for many the first time in a tree and for me the first time celebrating the campout in such a big group.
I am the first person to say that I prefer remote places, peace and quiet and the sound of nature in contrast to the hum of urban life. But nature is also people. We forget that we are in fact part of the natural world and that having the right people around you is as important as eating the right food and getting enough fresh air and sun.
Big Canopy Campout 2022 was the year that I got to celebrate forests with the people who make BCC a community. I hope this event continues to connect people throughout the world.
Head over to our website for all the different ways you can connect this year at the event….