It is illegal to consume or display intoxicating liquors in Minnesota state parks and recreation areas, forest campgrounds or forest day use areas. State laws apply to possession and use of drugs. Possession of 3:2 beer in a keg is not permitted without written permission of the park manager or forest officer.
I take cans of beer with me backpacking. Even though it is heavy, there is something great about doing a 15 mile trail in the mountains, find a nice cold stream, set up camp, make dinner and really savor that cold beer. The fact that pints a pound the world around self regulates how much booze you take backpacking.
I worked there one summer as a ridgerunner and had to clean up the sites along the Appalachian Trail. Overall while litter did happen, I usually didn’t find that much, but it varied. Occasionally I did have to pack out some groups’ huge Walmart ‘dispose-a-tent’ (a tent so cheap that the group thinks nothing of just leaving it behind when they are done with it). Some bottles too left behind.
On the OP’s subject, I like to put this into the category if it can be done without reasonably annoying other groups you are camping under control. IMHO smokers need to be aware where their smoke goes, and drinkers need to be aware of sound levels and attitudes to be good at camp grounds, but I don’t make the rules, and some don’t agree so we have bans instead. It’s just another case of why we can’t have nice things. But one thing bans do well is if you sneak it in, you are doing it low key, which is the point and thus OK in my book.
As long as one packs out one’s own garbage, strictly practices fire safety, and doesn’t become a blight on the forest and a nuisance to other campers (by rowdy loudness, stumbling drunkenly or otherwise through other folks’ campsites, playing loud recorded music, strewing litter around, and so forth), I’m all in favor of having a drink or two and a smoke or three when out camping; I consider it a matter of personal choice and nobody else’s business. And a good joint can make the wonders of nature seem even more awesome and beautiful.
Of course, one shouldn’t be climbing or hiking around in the boonies while impaired, because that’s one way bad shit can happen to a person. But in your tent or around your campfire, party as hearty as you can handle (albeit respectfully to your neighbors, the forest, and all the animals and plants who live there).
PS: I’ve camped out a lot, but rarely in designated camping areas.
more detailed reply. Backpacking I usually pound one or two beers at the trailhead while getting my gear together. Will have another one or two that were pre-frozen, an hour or three up the trail. Then I ration out whatever I have for the trip.
Longer trips I carry dehydrated beer. (Some people refer to this is whiskey)
When sleeping on a yoga mat out in the woods, I also like a sleep gummy. Nothing hardcore that makes it difficult to walk, just something to take the edge off
This is a great thing to do. Pick up other lazy people’s shit.
I don’t usually camp in public campsites, but occasionally on a trail, if I see litter, I will pick it up. But then, I am also a Burner, so there is both some social responsibility and some personal irresponsibility to that world view. I camp with alcohol (metered out to last the trip, it is normally a long hike) and a bunch of drugs.
Every morning once we have packed up and ready to go, several of us will walk the site looking for things that should not be there (in the Burner language, Matter Out Of Place)
I see no contradiction (as you seem to agree) between camping and getting a bit toasted. I was doing DMT in a canyon about 3 days away from society, for example, and even though my group were high and drunk that evening, we left no trace the next morning except, I guess, footprints.
In a public campground: drink and behave, but don’t smoke. There is nothing worse than camping next to someone who smokes, especially when the prevailing breeze carries it over to your camp spot. I also hate campfires for that reason.
Out in the boonies, do whatever you want, but do it responsibly so you don’t burn down a million acres and a couple of towns as a result.
I’m mostly in @Chefguy’s camp: don’t smoke as a courtesy to others if sharing even a well-spread out campsite, but otherwise, do as you like within your own acceptable risk and skills.
Would I risk an intoxicant if I was camping alone and outside of easy reach of help? No. But if you want to, and you bear the financial (or life) risks of something going wrong and being evacuated (or not), I’m not going to object.
My personal experience is to bring a small amount of booze, in a reusable secondary container. Most frequently, peppermint schnapps or fireball to add to the traditional, but horrible powdered hot chocolate to drink around the campfire. Bringing single use containers seems to encourage a certain looseness in some of the people I’ve camped with in the past, so that was always my suggestion.
Anyway, if you’re being considerate of others while being aware of and willing to accept risk (key points for concern for others, legalities, and cleanliness), I’m fully in the “you do you” camp.
Smoking is dangerous in the wilderness due to wildfire, not to mention second hand smoke. A beer or two is one thing, but there are a lot of things that can kill you out there if you get drunk.
Right, Not to mention small animals or kids can get poisoned by cig butts- and of course they are nasty.
Yep. I mean, peanut shells are one thing but plastic and cig butt are dangerous and wrong.
And getting drunk is dangerous- Boating Accidents: Alcohol is Still a Leading Cause - Giroux Pappas Trial Attorneys. Alcohol use is the fifth most common contributing factor to boating accidents , accounting for 282 accidents in 2019. However, it is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents, account for 23% of deaths, 113 deaths in 2019 (the next most common cause of fatalities, hazardous waters, had 48 deaths in 2019).
I concur, but the problem is smokers throw their butt on the ground. littering.
I suspect that your style of camping is very, very different to mine.
After a 20 to 30km hike in the mountains, a few tots of whiskey is going to make me drunk, and want to go to sleep. But we cook on an open fire or super-hot gas stoves, so some level of caution is required.
So we have a celebratory shot when coming into camp (usually, but not always, a cave or rock overhang, we rarely use tents), then unpack our bags to get sleeping equipment and food, cook, then have a few more. Then swiftly to bed.
Traditionally amongst my friends, we also have a shot just after breakfast, to wash down some painkillers. Because muscle pain is real, although the painkillers are probably a placebo effect, even though they contain Codeine, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol.
The hikes themselves are often more dangerous than what tomfoolery we could get up to in a cave, exhausted and lightly drunk.
I assume you are talking about camping, where you drive your car into a campsite, pitch your tent near, but not too near the ablutions. Keep your car nearby to act as your food storage. Go to the camp shop to buy what you forgot to pack. Yes I have done that and yes, loud drunk people annoy me.
