Wild camping in warmer countries

[jacko1066]

Hi guys and gals,

As some of you may no I had a brilliant trip in the cold to Estonia.

This brought about its own stumbling blocks to do with kit and weather and weight on the plane.

What I'm thinking maybe is doing the opposite and going to a warmer country like Spain or canaries etc.

Somewhere that's within a couple of hours flight from the Uk.

Does anyone have any experience of camping in warmer country's around Europe?

Google just seems to bring up the same sort of advice as it does for blighty, stealth camps etc, others seem to say that it's ok in places, but no definitive answers as to whether it's tolerated or not.

If not Spain I'm up for other places too if anyone has some ideas fire away!!

I would ideally like to try a lighter weight way of travelling using a tarp tent etc.

I'm also aware of the greater need for water in a hotter country and am prepared for that with my filter.

It's just an idea for now and may not happen but any help would be brilliant.

Cheers
Steve

[cbr6fs]

Problem you are going to have in hotter countries with regards to typical bushcrafting is, fires.

Over here in Greece it's illegal to start a fire at any time of the year in national parks, in summer you would really have to be a fool to even think about starting a fire as everywhere is a tinderbox.

Other problem here in July, August and September is keeping cooling, we regularly see mid 40c's in August and it it only drops to the mid 30c's at night so unless you have a nice breeze it can get very uncomfortable.
It's not like you can just throw a tarp on the ground either, as the mosquitoes will eat you alive.

If you head for higher ground it will be noticeably cooler, other alternative are beeches as in august they will tend to go from a nice breeze to tarp ripping gusts.

Northern Greece is also a fair bit cooler than Southern Greece.
Northern Greece also has some absolutely stunning wilderness areas, although things are a million times better you do need to be careful as many of the quieter areas nears the borders are often used for smuggling drugs or people.
There are also wolves, but the closest we got to them was hearing them howl.

[nilo52]

Come on down to California ! It's a bushcraft heaven ! You can do pretty much anything you want. We've never let anyone tell us WE can't camp out in the country. Use common sense and enjoy yourself! :welcome:

[jacko1066]

Problem you are going to have in hotter countries with regards to typical bushcrafting is, fires.

Over here in Greece it's illegal to start a fire at any time of the year in national parks, in summer you would really have to be a fool to even think about starting a fire as everywhere is a tinderbox.

Other problem here in July, August and September is keeping cooling, we regularly see mid 40c's in August and it it only drops to the mid 30c's at night so unless you have a nice breeze it can get very uncomfortable.
It's not like you can just throw a tarp on the ground either, as the mosquitoes will eat you alive.

If you head for higher ground it will be noticeably cooler, other alternative are beeches as in august they will tend to go from a nice breeze to tarp ripping gusts.

Northern Greece is also a fair bit cooler than Southern Greece.
Northern Greece also has some absolutely stunning wilderness areas, although things are a million times better you do need to be careful as many of the quieter areas nears the borders are often used for smuggling drugs or people.
There are also wolves, but the closest we got to them was hearing them howl.

That's brilliant info thanks very much!!

What's the wild camping laws like in northern Greece mate? Sounds perfect!!

Steve

[jacko1066]

Come on down to California ! It's a bushcraft heaven ! You can do pretty much anything you want. We've never let anyone tell us WE can't camp out in the country. Use common sense and enjoy yourself! :welcome:

I would do anything to go on a bushcraft trip to your neck of the woods mate!!

Flight would cost me a bomb though lol!!

Thanks though, your input is veryuch appreciated!!

Atb
Steve

[treefrog]

Best warm weather camping you'll ever find is Ontario in July. Algonquin park has temps in the 30's (C) and a few thousand lakes to swim and canoe in.
Don't know what flights cost, but I know we can fly to Europe cheaper than flying to the opposite end of our own country...

[cbr6fs]

That's brilliant info thanks very much!!

What's the wild camping laws like in northern Greece mate? Sounds perfect!!

Steve

Hope you don't mind Steve, but i would like to copy and paste what i wrote to you in my PM, hopefully in someone will correct me anywhere if i'm wrong, offer another opinion or it might help someone else out in the future.


Hi Steve,

Couple of areas i'd look at, Pindos or Epirus.
I'd say Pindos is a little more wild than Epirus but both areas are beautiful with enough wilderness to get lost.

The weather around that time period is pretty unpredictable here, i've had Easters where i've been walking around in shorts. and tee-shirt sweating my bollox off and other Easters where i've been in 2 jumpers and coat and was still cold.

The weird thing about the climate here (as opposed to England where i'm from) is that if your active you really only need a thin layer of clothing.
It will get cold at night in those areas though and i'd expect at least 1 day of rain out of say 10

If you start heading up higher than say 1000m then i'd expect snow to still be on the ground at that time of year.
If it's height your after you have Mt.Timfi is just under 2500m, Mount Smolikas is just over 2600m, both in the Pindus range.
If it's forest areas then there are miles and miles of forest, with many gorgeous little villages to stop off and refuel.

If you pick your spot well water shouldn't be a problem at that time of the year as the snow is melting on the peaks and we still get several days rain a month around that time.
As always though make sure it's well filtered, boiled or treated.

On the whole Greeks in these areas are extremely friendly, as you get closer to the border they tend to be a bit wary of foreign looking people as there has been many problems with drug and people smuggling from the various borders, Albania in particular was a major problem 10 to 15 years ago.

Once you've broken the ice though expect to be greeted warmly.

Decent scale and detailed hiking maps are a major problem over here.
I usually take a GPS with http://www.openstreetmap.org/ maps, a computer print out plus my phone with backup batteries.

As long as your not walking over peoples crops or through their back gardens access is pretty much open to anywhere you want to walk.

Only thing that really really pisses locals off is folks starting fires.
Personally when i'm camping in Greece i only use a stove rather than starting a fire to cook from.
It shouldn't be tinder dry that time of year, but still it's frowned upon to have open fires in national parks at any time of the year.



Hope that helps

Cheers
Mark

With regards to wild camping, it's the same rules as the UK in that it's illegal.

Have to admit though that i have wild camped many times, have been approached by wardens but never had a problem.
As long as you re respectful of the environment, don't have fires and clear up after yourself most folks will be happy that your enjoying the countryside.

It's also easy to get permission from farmers to camp on their land.
In the smaller villages language might be a barrier, but if you point to your tent and give the international sign for sleep (head tilted onto your hands with your eyes closed whilst making the snoring sound :D) folks will usually understand.

We've had to be pretty blunt with a farmer that was insisting that he wanted to put us up in their house for the night, we've had a old gal walk 1km across a muddy field to bring us breakfast in the morning and one old bloke that drove out and shared a rather large bottle of ρακή (effectively Greek moonshine) with us one night.

As i say initial impressions can be that local folks are a little "stand-off-ish" once you've broken the ice though the vast vast majority will be extremely friendly.