4 ms·

Part of me wonders how much of the author's sense of sublime isolation came from getting away from his small children for a whole day :) If you live across the

Part of me wonders how much of the author's sense of sublime isolation came from getting away from his small children for a whole day :) If you live across the pond in the US and have a free weekend, it's pretty easy to do this sort of thing here, too. Many national forests and lands administered by the BLM allow 'dispersed camping' in the wilderness. You're encouraged to use existing sites along forest roads, but the rules are usually pretty loose. Search engines don't do a great job of indexing the USFS or BLM websites, so you might have to poke around a bit to find a 'camping information' page for the area that you're interested in. But you can find some basic information here: https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping Sadly, it's not all roses and sunshine. The author got told that he technically needed a permit to be in the part of the wilderness that he stumbled into, and you'll probably get some of that if you spend much time in BLM lands. People throw up false 'private property' signs and gates all the time, and those sorts of people tend to have the 'Cliven Bundy' sort of attitude that they have more of a right to public lands than others. There's no arguing about land usage with someone who points a gun towards you. We also see the sort of aristocratic land grabs that he mentioned here; there are a lot of BLM lands which are now surrounded by private property, and those property owners are not required to provide access to the public lands which they surround. It essentially cedes "multi-use" public lands to the people/companies who own the properties around them. It's too bad we don't have a right-to-roam in the US. It seems like the sort of thing that would fit in with the ostensible national ethos of freedom and independence.

Evidlo 7y ago
Here's a map that shows all public lands in the US. https://maps.usgs.gov/padus/ https://maps.usgs.gov/padus/
pi-rat 7y ago
> It's too bad we don't have a right-to-roam in the US. It seems like the sort of thing that would fit in with the ostensible national ethos of freedom and independence. That’s something I’ve never understood about the US. You came late to the “land grab” (compared with Europe), and different kinds of freedom are deeply embedded in the culture. Ought to be perfect conditions for a proper “right to roam” policy. Here, we’ve the right to roam, you can camp almost anywhere on private and public land as long as you clean up after yourself and camp at least 150m from houses or cabins. You’re allowed to pass by a house/cabin on you way, blocking passage is illegal. We’ve unrestricted access to the shoreline, even next to houses and cabins. You can forage berries, etc, etc.
- jriot 7y ago
  You can do that in certain parts of the US. Idaho and Alaska for example largely fit your descriptions.
- leggomylibro 7y ago
  Right? It's baffling. But I think that it might have something to do with the near-religious reverance with which Americans view absolute property rights. If you frame it as a contest of "freedom and liberty" vs "get off my property or I'll shoot", then it makes a bit more sense. There's a certain segment of the population who are just itching for an excuse to shoot a 'bad guy', which is one of those things that makes exploring this nation so... interesting. Still, I like to think that there's a reason why 'property' got replaced with 'the pursuit of happiness' when Locke's basic rights were enumerated in the Declaration of Independence.

Evidlo 7y ago

Here's a map that shows all public lands in the US. https://maps.usgs.gov/padus/ https://maps.usgs.gov/padus/

pi-rat 7y ago

> It's too bad we don't have a right-to-roam in the US. It seems like the sort of thing that would fit in with the ostensible national ethos of freedom and independence. That’s something I’ve never understood about the US. You came late to the “land grab” (compared with Europe), and different kinds of freedom are deeply embedded in the culture. Ought to be perfect conditions for a proper “right to roam” policy. Here, we’ve the right to roam, you can camp almost anywhere on private and public land as long as you clean up after yourself and camp at least 150m from houses or cabins. You’re allowed to pass by a house/cabin on you way, blocking passage is illegal. We’ve unrestricted access to the shoreline, even next to houses and cabins. You can forage berries, etc, etc.

jriot 7y ago
You can do that in certain parts of the US. Idaho and Alaska for example largely fit your descriptions.
leggomylibro 7y ago
Right? It's baffling. But I think that it might have something to do with the near-religious reverance with which Americans view absolute property rights. If you frame it as a contest of "freedom and liberty" vs "get off my property or I'll shoot", then it makes a bit more sense. There's a certain segment of the population who are just itching for an excuse to shoot a 'bad guy', which is one of those things that makes exploring this nation so... interesting. Still, I like to think that there's a reason why 'property' got replaced with 'the pursuit of happiness' when Locke's basic rights were enumerated in the Declaration of Independence.