Do you Bivouac?

[Zenwind]

Do any of you here bivouac? To bivouac is to sleep outdoors in the open under the Moon and stars. To do so is to merge with nature.

 

I see this as a Taoist question because of the Chinese landscape paintings that depict a ragged scene of craggy mountains, deep gorges, gnarled pine trees and vast misty distances. Did some of these ancient Taoists bivouac?

 

To "camp" is to sleep out enclosed in a tent with all the luxuries. You can bivouac with a lightweight tent for emergency rainy weather, but the spirit of the bivouac is to be under the open sky whenever possible. Just you and the natural world. It is to be eye to eye with a chipmunk at dawn. To bivouac is to carry a light load and to settle down at dark like a taoist hobo or a dharma bum.

 

Bivouacking is my practice, my training. The Moon rises in the east, and I watch it come up over the horizon. I fall asleep with the Full Moon high and rising in the southeast. I wake up to see it poised at due south at midnight. Before dawn, I see it sink toward the west. It watches over me. I peep at it from my sleeping bag and smile. We are friends.

 

I grew up on a farm in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania. We were too poor to afford a tent, so I slept out in the open in the spacious lawn. If it started raining, I picked up my sleeping bag and stumbled to the roofed porch. I slept out almost every night of the summer with my faithful Great Dane dog and half a dozen cats.

 

My first bivouac was on a summer night when I was quite young, in the 1950s. My father and I slept out in the yard. We did not have sleeping bags then, but he spread quilts and blankets out on the grass. I fell asleep quickly but woke up in the middle of the night to be absolutely shocked, astounded and fascinated by the deep, rich and mysterious array of stars. I remember taking in one large slow inhalation of breath and, as I closed my eyes and drifted off again, exhaling out all the troubles of the universe. I awoke again shortly before dawn with a slight glow in the east but still a lot of stars shining. I was alone. It took me a while to realize it, but my father was milking the cows. I could hear the faint rattle of the milking machine motor. I rolled over and slept some more. When I woke up again, the sun was over the horizon and dew was saturating everything. I was hooked.

 

As a Marine in Viet Nam, I bivouacked on rainy hillsides in my poncho. Sometimes the stars would shine and I could see the Southern Cross.

 

These days, I bivouac in any dry weather, even in the northern winter. In winter, you need either a good winter bag or two sleeping bags combined, and you must have a foam pad under you. Sometimes the snowflakes tickle your nose.

 

Bivouacking is Taoist practice for me. I have a secret spot in the Allegheny National Forest that I call "Dharma Point." High on a big rock, it sits above the forest and faces the east. A good spring is nearby, and I never see a human. A good spot.

 

"Climb high. Watch moon."

 

-Zenwind.

[Yoda]

Great practice!! That's definitely the way to live! I assume you use repellent for the mosquitos?

 

-Yoda

[thelerner]

That is so simple. Sleep outside, watch the stars, be close to the Earth. Simple, deep and natural, as soon as it warms up, I'll have to try it.

 

Peace

 

Michael

[Zenwind]

Yoda and Michael, thank you for the replies.

 

I am a bit of a hobo, and my one bit of lifetime expertise just may lie in the art of the bivouac. I am 55 years old and have spent a fair amount of time under the stars. I will try to post, in the near future, some of my lessons learned from sleeping outside frequently in any weather. Good weather is always better than bad, but, on this planet, you sometimes must take what you get. Being prepared helps. I will work on writing down some recommendations.

 

Yoda, you asked about bug repellent ("bug dope"). Yes, I must use it in the warmer seasons. The best has DEET in it. It does not kill bugs, but it masks human scent. A good smokey campfire or incense will help also. My biggest concern is the Deer Tick that spreads Lyme Disease from May to October. I try not to wade through high grass or brush. While sleeping, I wear a mesh head-net over my face in warmer weather. The buzz of the mosquito is music to hear, as long as the bastard doesn't bite you.

 

Yes, Michael, the simplicity of the bivouac is one of its major beauties. The sights, sounds, smells, etc. are elemental.

 

-Zenwind.

[peter falk]

i used to "camp" alot too. havent used a tent in years. either a tarp in case of rain, or i'd make a debris hut or hogan. lived in a hogan for over a year with a friend of mine in a bed of beech leaves. best damn sleep i ever had was in that bed. god it was perfect!

 

as for bugs, eat lots of plaintain and drink pennyroyal tea. takes about 2-3 weeks to become effective. supplementing diet with wild onions and garlic is good too. fuck DEET. it causes cancer.

[hagar]

I think there really is nothing better than to hang out in nature.

 

Just returned from the Alps and there I felt that there was no need for me to do qigong, or to meditate while being on the mountain. It was feeding me anyway.

 

Like you, I really enjoy sleeping outside. I do it alot on climbingtrips and the like. Sometimes one is forced to bivouac on a not-so-comfortable place, but mostly it is just peaceful and profound.

 

I have this thing I do here in Norway in summertime, where I just go into the forest in the afternoon to take a nap. Then I wake up and make myslelf a cup of coffee.

 

There alot of things become quiet. Worries, problems, words, distinctions. I think we humans have lost so much in our urban world, and we unconciously grieve over the loss of seeing the stars when we go to bed at night.

 

You are lucky not to have forgotten how wonderful it is.

 

h

[Trunk]

Beautiful post.

.. been a long time since i slept out.

[Munch]

Do any of you here bivouac?

 

I do now. Been meaning to try it since I read your post. But now, newly single and dossing with friends while I save up for travel, the time was right. So I got an army surplus bivvy bag off ebay, and just used it for the second time.

 

Not exactly in the wilderness - a friend's garden- and I can't see the stars cos I'm too damn shortsighted. But just the air across my face is enough. I find I need to make sure my ears are covered.

 

It's surprisingly comfortable, and cures me of morning laziness. Once you wake, outside, you're awake, and there's nothing you can do about it.

 

Thank you.

[Zenwind]

Munch, you did a bivy out in a garden. Great! I think you are hooked now. You will never be the same.

 

I am also short-sighted, and I wear bifocals. Years ago, I got a pair of military combat frames into which you can have your eye doctor put in lens of your prescription. They are tough nylon and have no bows. Instead, they have an elastic band that goes around the back of your head and is adjustable. (They are made to fit under gas-masks or scuba masks.) They fit close to your face, and you can sleep in them comfortably because there are no bows. I can wake up sleeping on my face without discomfort. I call them my Bivouac Glasses and really love them because I can wake up and see the Moon and stars. (Warning: they look geeky as all Hell.) The prescription is old and does not have the bifocal feature, but I can see the stars fine.

 

My sister and her family was visiting recently, so we bivouacked out under the stars for my niece's 17th birthday. We saw meteors and looked deep into the Milky Way.

 

It is clear weather in the Northeastern USA right now, and the Moon is waxing to First Quarter. Guess where I will be tonight.

 

-Zenwind.

[Zenwind]

Li Po is my hero.

Wish he was here.

Found a new bivouac spot

next to a clear stream in pine tree glade.

Sounds lure me to sleep:

stream gurgling; wind whispering through pines.

It is getting dark with no Moon.

Empty forest.

Who is this drunken hermit in the woods?

 

-Zenwind.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Almost always bivouac under the stars, out in the open.

Almost never use a tent. Even when a tent is called for, I usually use a tarp or two and some line secured to trees and rocks.

Nothing like sleeping outside. I sleep out in my backyard from winter to spring, until the bugs come out.