Tenting and Car Top Tents

By Richard Dowson

I don’t camp anymore.

At one time I travelled and camped in all Canadian provinces, plus the Yukon and the NWT.

Today, my body has lost the flexibility needed to crawl in and out of a tent. Besides, people in a camp ground don’t want to hear a cranky old senior-citizen grunting and groaning as he gets in and out of a tent.

Travel now is about finding a nice, inexpensive hotel, which is almost impossible.

In my tenting days I owned a small, four-person tent that, in reality, only held two people. You could sit up in it and sleep in it and that’s about it. If it rained, you moved on.

The exception was the odd commercial campground that offered a ‘clubhouse’ with activities and a place to buy prepared meals.

I still keep up with the latest tenting news; car camping, mountain biking and backcountry camping.

I wish I could still get in and out of a tent.

And I miss mountain biking on the Kootenay Plains in Alberta or riding historic fur-trade trails.

On-line booking is stupid.

When I ‘tented’ it was first come, first served. You got off the road at three if you wanted a good camping spot.

I can just imagine planning a trip today to say Dawson City in the Yukon and booking all the stop-overs 2 months in advance.

What about ‘unforeseen’ events? What if you find a glorious spot like around Eagle Plain and want to stay an extra 2 days?You can’t because you booked online months ago. Dumb!

Booking ahead is like going at a fixed – guided tour. If I want that I’d book a Tour with CAA or go on an Ocean Cruise.

Rule one for remote campground camping is never have food in the tent.

Food attracts bears. If a bear smells food in the tent, it will come after it. Bears have the ability to roll up the food and the tent like a soft taco, and chow down. Not good.

But, I still look at tents and dream of ‘car-camping’ road trips. The latest tents to catch my attention are the ones you mount on the roof of a car.

They look neat, but why would you camp on top of your car or SUV. Not sure?

Access to these tents is a ladder. Well, what if you needed to take a pee in the middle of the night? You have to climb down the ladder and head off to the washroom. Then climb back up the ladder. Not efficient.

I assume the tent on top of the car is to avoid snakes. They can’t climb ladders. But bears can! And what poses more danger to Canadian campers, snakes or bears?

You get my point.

If I was still tenting I bet I’d buy a car-top-tent and try it out.They do look neat.

I like the look of this car-top-tent from Everich Outdoors

Writer Richard Dowson is a retired educator.

He is known for his frequenting local coffee shops and other places seniors gather. He is as they say out living the life.

In a previous life he wrote comedy for CHED in Edmonton.

His views may or may not reflect the views of this publication.