JohnnyB65

I’ve wanted to take a long ride into the desert for a long time now, but I’m concerned about safety. Besides riding on dirt roads with vehicle traffic, I’m worried about sleeping on the ground with fire ants and rattle snakes. I cannot even guess how many snakes I’ve come across in my past 30 years of living in the desert and I even got bit in my boot once by a Mohave Green.

I’m now experienced enough to avoid snakes during the daylight, but it’s kind of scary at night especially lying on the ground in the dark. There aren’t many trees for a hammock and I don’t trust a cactus to hold me up off the ground.

Anyway there are other dangers like coyotes to discuss, but the snakes are my biggest fear especially after getting bit once, so any information would be appreciated.

10 Wheels

Coleman tents have an enclosed bottom.

Zip the door shut and sleep well

10 Wheels

2 person tent holds all your gear.

JohnnyB65

Thanks 10Wheels, wow you know a tent never even occurred to me, I was only thinking of a lightweight sleeping bag.
I think I may need to rethink this

10 Wheels

Carry some spray for the ants.

The Black area is water proof, Believe they call it a tub.

10 Wheels

The temperature drop from Day to Night can be 50*F and very Chilling.

JohnnyB65

Thanks, I know it gets cold at night and I plan on doing it in late Sept. or early Oct. so that its not too hot during my actual ride.
I haven't got all my gear together yet and I'm trying to keep it light because I have a lot up-hill travel and I need to carry plenty of water. I have an old 2-man tent that i haven't used in a very long time and I'm going to have to weight it.

hankaye

JohnnyB65, Howdy;

Keep the tent closed and your sleeping bag rolled up until you are ready to crawl into it.
Keeps other folks from joining you when you don't need surprises. Don't forget to turn
your shoes upside-down and knock the heels together before you put them on in the morning.
It knocks the scorpions out.

hank

10 Wheels

Have fun and take some pics.

JohnnyB65

Thanks, this reminds me of when my cousin was camping in Mexico and someone stole their hiking boots from outside the tent and they had to walk to town in their socks.

hankaye

JohnnyB65, Howdy;

By other folks I meant the snakes an bugs ... humans will most likely just cut the tent wall to take what they want... .

hank

JohnnyB65

Oh OK.
Well this desert has a lot of people wondering around it at night. I’ve seen some really strange people out there that looked pretty insane without any structures around for miles and I have no idea what they are doing.

There are also a lot of meth labs out there and I just watched a documentary about a 1%er biker club that manufactures meth allover the desert and makes no bones about murdering people out there. I’ve seen bikers riding Harleys out in the middle of nowhere in packs of 2 or 3 many times over the years and I don’t want to run into them.

nashvillebill

Back in high school and college, I slept directly on the desert ground in a sleeping bag many times without getting stung or bit. Of course, that was over 35 years ago, and I don't know how far north the fire ants have invaded in the desert--that would be a far bigger concern than even scorpions or rattlesnakes.

I also concur with the sentiment that the two-legged critters could be much more problematic than any of the other varmints. There's some whacked-out folks wandering around, and even a personal self-defense item might not be sufficient to stave off trouble. The sad reality is that the desert harbors some groups of very deranged people.

On a more humorous note, I remember backpacking in high school with the school hiking club. One night we were all asleep in a desert canyon--no tents, just sleeping bags on the sand. I woke up to the sound of footsteps (I'm a light sleeper). For several minutes they went on, and I was soon convinced that someone was wandering through our "campsite" since the noises seemed so loud and ominous. Eventually I poked my head out of the sleeping bag and looked around to discover that the evil axe murderer in our midst...was actually a small skunk a few hundred yards away. (Fortunately he kept foraging far from us)

JohnnyB65

I used to backpack in the 70s and never used a tent although it did come in handy once when I got caught in an unexpected snow storm. My back pack usually weighed between 65 and 90 lbs depending on how long I planned to stay and for some reason I always carried that 2man tent. We didn’t have these spring popup tents back then and my tent had posts and stakes to construct before I could use it so I would just sleep on the ground under the open sky. I discovered that I still have that old tent, but I may just buy the newer kind that’s easier to assemble.

I am concerned that a snake might bite through the tent if I happened to move an arm or something up against the side while a snake is passing by. When I got bit before the fangs went through my denim jeans and through my leather boot to inject the venom into my boot. I was lucky that my leg was at such an angle that it did not go through the skin.

Anyway I also have a humorous story to tell. I was backing packing with a friend up on the Eel River in Northern CA with his dog. One night his dog let out a yelp and somehow squeezed her way right down into my sleeping bag. I then heard a loud shrill scream not too far away causing me to scream as well because the dog had me trapped inside the bag. My buddy jumped out of his bag to find a cougar who wanted to eat the dog. He scared it away and we decided to build a fire to keep it away for the rest of the night. My buddy had to unzip my bag to get the dog out because I couldn’t move.

JohnnyB65

I accidentally came across this DR. T’S® SNAKE-A-WAY® SNAKE REPELLENT and it even came with a video. I don't know if it would be worth it to haul it around with me.

SpeshulEd 

Our last bikepacking trip, we had a snake crawl through camp which was a bit nerve racking...throwing small sticks at it had no affect, waiting patiently for it to leave worked best.

For the most part, just try to setup camp in an open area, free of tree branches and other debris where ants, spider, and snakes might hide. Try to keep things tidy and throw trash away rather than leaving it lay around.

We all had 1 person tents or bivy sacks and had no problem with any bugs at night.

JohnnyB65

Thanks, you know the more I think about it, the more I think I’m just going to buy a new tent.

There has been mention of bugs and I remembered a time I spent the night camped out at the Salton Sea. The bugs were unbearable. We did not sleep a wink all night and left at first light when the rest of them came out. I had forgotten how badly we were eaten up and how miserable we were for days afterward, scratching.

I did some research on that snake repellent and found out it doesn’t work and actually is toxic to the environment.

I’m going to be alone so I’ll be selecting a place with cell phone service if that’s possible.