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How rough have you slept?

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 mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
Not counting vehicles, bothies and tents, what the roughest you've slept? I've slept:

On a park bench
On a band stand in Shrewsbury
In a (vacant) sheep pen at the back of the PyG
In a pill box
On the grass at Pen y Pass car park
Under a beech tree in the Pyrenees(very pleasant)
Terminal Building Heathrow
Near Cromlech boulders

Let;s hear what others have done.
Lusk 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a wet ditch somewhere between High Cup Nick and Appleby.
1
In reply to mypyrex:

With Dawn of the dead, God bless her! The biggest highlight was probably the blow job she gave me in a mk2 golf dropped on it's arse and stiff as f*ck on that rough piece of road from South Sheffield to Rotherham.

Edit spelling
Post edited at 19:25
OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Lusk:

>a wet ditch

How come?
Clauso 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

I once shared a bouldering mat with Sloper, and woke up in an outhouse at North Lees... It doesn't come much rougher than that.
 PPP 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On the door - my friend had a summer house where the bed was literally a lied down door.

In Scottish mountains I used a small book under my bum to keep myself from getting cold at 900m altitude. Apparently, 550g total weight sleeping bag and bivy bag is not enough for summer use.
In a bus stop.

I also felt asleep in a bus while standing.

OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to John Simpson:

Blimey
 Richy boy 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Behind the Cromlech Boulders.
Corrour train station.
A skate park.
A pier.

Richy
Planks Constant 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a rhodedendron bush.

Behind Budget Tyres.

Behind the bus station in Bourg d'Oisans where I was awoken by a stray dog licking my face.
OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to PPP:




> I also felt asleep in a bus while standing.
Vehicles don't count

 Tom Last 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Literally, in the gutter. I was annihilated though.

Also during a Jeff Mills set at a Universe night at Ally Pally.
This guy: youtube.com/watch?v=7W3fMASDrNs&
Post edited at 19:34
 Pagan 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Park bench in Chamonix in winter.
Steps of a homeless shelter.
Car park at Calais ferryport.
Next to the car in Scotland in winter a few times.
 Billhook 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

At 14 slept under bails of hay in a farmers field and in the open on the moors after misreading a map
At 17 I ended up sleeping in a public toilet near peters field
At 20 I ended up sleeping behind a hedge after failing to get a lift home
In my twenties a few train stations
At 21 a beach in Morocco
In my thirties a pig sty when I couldn't make through deep snow home. The pigs were on holiday!

I try to sleep in more pleasant places now I'm a bit older
 Billy the fish 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a sheet of corrugated iron next to a river, it was off the damp ground but otherwise not very comfortable.

I curled up to sleep under a tree in Scotland one rainy night. It offered shelter and surprisingly flat grass; it turned out that was because it was someone’s garden and the owner wasn’t happy when it was light enough for him to spot me.

Do airports count?
Lusk 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

> >a wet ditch

> How come?

On a 2 day hike over Cross Fell, got split from the lad I was with, f*ck knows how (he was a bit of a strange character)!, and he had the tent and map.
So I'm wandering around on the moors completely lost and eventually found myself at HCN, cool place, late evening.
Heading off towards the Settle-Carlisle line, finally collapsed exhausted into a ditch. Then rolled up in Appleby and train home.
OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Billy the fish:


> Do airports count?
Yes

1
 Alan M 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
On the top of a picnic table in France (my mate underneath it)
in a Park in Poland
Next to the car in winter (clear frosty night temp down to about -6). Just sleeping bag and mat nicer to sleep outside than in the vehicle.
On the banks of the river Nene in Northamptonshire such a beautiful spot I stayed there until the next morning (summer).
Several airports and bus stations
Post edited at 19:50
 Bruce Hooker 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

If you sleep it can't be that rough
 Tom Valentine 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Lusk:

My best was in an old lead mine entrance near the top of HCN. Too blustery to put the tent up so just wrapped it round me.
The night after I slept at Hannah Hauxwell's farm.Luxury by comparison.
OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Bruce Hooker:

> If you sleep it can't be that rough

All right - tried to sleep
 Scarab9 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Bruce Hooker:

> If you sleep it can't be that rough

Agreed!

I've slept fully in the open under my jacket but Manchester Victoria station in late winter was the worst! All the 'shelters' have foot high gaps around the bottom so there's no where to escape the wind tunnel effect of the place. Ended up jumping into the fences of bin area (big industrial bins) to get out of the wind
In reply to mypyrex:

The worst place I've ever slept was in a rest area on the M25 after getting mugged. Second worst was Heathrow. Both bad because I was feeling lonely and miserable (and wet in the first case, to add insult to injury)

I've also slept in a bush next to a petrol station, at the last bus stop on the line in NZ (bus driver kindly took me into town when he told me I had to leave the next morning) and at a lorry layby with the ground shaking all night because of the logging lorries.

Scariest wakeup call I've had was being chased by a dog when we accidentally slept in somebody's garden in France.

You tend to sleep in strange places when hitching, I'm sure I'm not the only one. I have also slept in some truly amazing and beautiful places which I never would have found if it hadn't been hitching (including a number of kind peoples' homes) and I strongly urge people to try it.
 Paul Atkinson 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

1. the top of Crowberry Tower in a blizzard
2. A sewage farm somewhere near Arras
Planks Constant 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Bruce Hooker:
> (In reply to mypyrex)
>
> If you sleep it can't be that rough

Drink helps.
 Mr-Cowdrey 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

under a bush in Chamonix in summer whilst it was pissing down with rain, then moved to under a picnic table.
under a boulder just down from the plan de L'Aiguille station.
By the car at the foot of the Aonach Eagach ridge in winter.
On the tarmac in Pen Y Pass car park in winter.
In a lay by next to the run way at Inverness airport (police were involved)
Over the wall by the Cromlech boulders.
Between some boulders in Cwm Idwal in winter, woke up to several inches of snow covering me.
Under a public toilet porch in a carpark near brown cove crags, in winter.
Behind a wall at the base of Tryfan, in winter.
In Cheddar gorge (bloody boy racers!!)

There are more, but it's safe to say I can sleep anywhere.
 sbc_10 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a rubbish tip in a village in the Sierra Nevada (Spain).

(this was after several bottles of the local snake-bite)

Pitch black, torch running out, looked over a wall, saw some soft-ish fullish bin liners, thought that might be more comfortable than solid rock without a mat. Girlfriend was falling asleep standing up, so went for broke without explaining the unpleasant details to her. A few rats in the night scurrying past to contend with but the real test was the Sun heating up the pile at about 7 o'clock in the morning, phewweee!! and with the worst hangover that Satan could inflict on you as well.
 Alyson 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Once the penthouse at the Hilton was unavailable and due to unfortunate circumstances with the carburetor of the Vanquish, I had to stay the night anyway - in an ordinary suite! <shudder>
 wintertree 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a circular hay bale floating on its side in the scour pond under a wear. It was quite idyllic, until...

It started to take on water whilst I was asleep. The results of which were quite unpleasant.
 JJL 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In the scoop of a large digger

In the rope luggage rack of a french train

In a concrete pipe
 Bob 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Yorkshire
 mack 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a park bench
Under a park bench
Behind a park bench
several fields (not all in the same night)
Heathrow
Several train stations
A few doorways
Too many bus stops and stations in SE Asia
On top of an active volcano
.
.
.
. And.. sprawled out on top of a hedge right outside the local police station.
 Bulls Crack 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Churchyard bench
Bus shelters (some with vomit)
Under bridges
Rugby stands
Windy Ledge
Hadrian s Wall (very very cold)
Stations
Travelodge

Caves - some quite luxurious (surround sound with car battery and stereo...shame the acid leaked )

Various places in the mountains...I don't call that rough though!
 marsbar 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Slept out under the trees when we were with Scouts. The Scouts built shelters and slept in them. I did have my bivi bag and thermarest so not that rough. Slept really well. Waking up to the light through the trees was a wonderful experience.

Slept outside another night when I arrived at a campsite late on a summer's evening too tired to be bothered putting my tent up.

Also fell asleep on a large windowsill in a heavy metal club in Finland. Apparently I can sleep through anything. Not sure that counts as it was indoors.
 Andrew Wilson 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In the long grass at the side of the A1 by the Catterick turn off between lifts on my way north.

On a beach on Ko Samui

Once woke up clutching a cold kebab by the bottle bins in Ilkley car park

A bus station floor in Mexico

A formula one hotel!

The river bank in Bolton abbey after a New Year's Eve party.

Once strung my hammock up in a side street in Melbourne, but I had a sleeping bag too so not really roughing it like the others which were all unplanned benightments with the obvious exception of the Peterborough Formula One which was just dire.

Andy

OP mypyrex 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Bob:

> Yorkshire

LoL
 ThunderCat 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

My first ever 'night on the piss' was accidental and unplanned. Must have tried to walk back from the town centre to my house and fallen asleep because I woke up under a tree in some woods about two miles away from home so cold and wet that I couldn't speak.

Horrendous.
 The Potato 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

wrapped in a hessian sack on a concrete floor in a building site in oldham

on the steps outside my front door

in a spare wheel in the back of a landrover
 ThunderCat 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

We also went camping and forgot the tent. Five lads in a ford cortina. F*cking great nights sleep.
 Wendy Watthews 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Behind a bolder at the top of carn barra, on a park bench near lamorna, under a car many times (golitha falls in the tipping rain springs to mind most promenantly), bivi bag stays under peak edges probably don't count but a few of those.
mgco3 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In the outside lane (southbound) of the M74 in the back of my stationary car.

Supper (soup and sandwiches) supplied by the coastguard!!!

Hundreds of cars snowed in and stuck overnight.

(There are stranger and more "exotic" stories of where I have slept but if the wife ever found out I would be well stuffed..)
 nniff 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

A few stand out:
- a supermarket loading bay in Germany for a week. Noisy start every morning at 4:30
- a large cardboard box in a blizzard - actually very cosy.
- various assorted with too much mud, water, sleet and wind and not enough shelter

The worst though, got off to a good start. A large trailer with a canvas cover, filled with suitably accommodating stuff, which provided a very snug hammock-like sleeping position on top of it. When it started to pour with rain I just pulled the hood of my bivi bag up and slept on. However, by about 3:00am, the water was a foot deep around my middle and reached as far as my chest and shins, and it was coming through the bivi bag. My mistake was moving, because when I propped myself up on an elbow to work out what was happening, the lake of water shifted north and poured into the bivi bag. The more I wriggled the worse it got until seemingly the whole puddle was in my bivi bag and precious little was on the trailer. When I finally out out of my bag and tipped the water out, I was standing bare foot in a muddy puddle, soaked to the skin in a raging gale. I wrung the sleeping bag out as well as I could, found somewhere that wasn't a puddle and climbed back in. Not a pretty sight in the morning
 Albert Tatlock 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

The police cells, Bootle Street nick Manchester City Centre 1981 ish, sharing a cell with 3 pissed up lunatics, two of whom soiled themselves, all three pissed on the bedding that we had to spend the night on.

It made subsequent alpine bivy suffer fest’s a joy.


 Prof. Outdoors 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Whilst hitching around Europe in 1983:
Under bushes in the centre reservation of a road in the centre of Vienna. Surprisingly unobtrusive but woken by trams.
In a field in Yugoslavia.
Following night in a field in Yugoslavia only 25 miles from the previous field. Then got one lift from Zagreb all the way through to Athens.
On a golf course in Cyprus. Was woken by a rat on my chest.
On concrete at the back of the bins in an Italian service station after failing to get a lift.
Following night in a corridor of a train with people stepping over me to move down the train.

More recently in the pursuit of climbing:
In the middle of a campsite 10 metres away from my tent which I could not see in the dark!
Stansted airport - late night return from Sardinia.
Gatwick airport - early flight to Corsica.
Post edited at 21:51
 ben b 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Assorted ditches (out the wind and pretty good until it rains), usually behind a pub

An airing cupboard (did this for a month). Fortunately I has a 1 season sleeping bag, so I only had a core temperature of 45 degrees C when the hot water heater came on at 6am.

Barricaded in an outhouse in a particularly dangerous bit of the cocaine producing area in Peru (up the Huallaga valley in the early 90's - Shining Path central), clutching my trusty ice axe and utterly certain I was going to die horribly

various barns, sheds, cars, a trailer (reasonably recommended unless drunk mates decide you need to go for a ride), airports, bus stations, ferry terminals etc.

And best of all, a mate's wedding at a really swanky country house hotel (300 quid a night in the early 90s, when I was a student - yeah right). Oz and I took bivvy gear and at the end of the long night retired to a secluded spot in the grounds, hung up the dinner jackets in a tree (we had coat hangers and everything) and climbed in the bivvy bags. Woke up in the morning with thick frost over us, so got the XGK fired up with a priming flame that looked like something off an oil rig and settled in to breakfast. At which point we realised our secluded spot was right in front of the windows of the breakfast room and we had a very large audience looking on with interest.... The manager wasn't very happy

b


 Skol 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
In a bus shelter 28 years ago, lying on top of a Guy Fawlkes. Some bloke in a sports car stopped and gave me a tenner. He said. 'You need it more than me'! I wasn't homeless, just tired!
In reply to mypyrex:

Over a five year period in the early 80s, most weekends, variously;
Windy Ledge
Stoney Woodshed
On top of the oil tank at Stoney Garage aka The Land of the Midnight Sun
The bus shelter at Fox House
Grindleford Station shelter on the platform
Some kind of bandstand in the riverside park in Matlock Bath
The 'Stage Coach' at the Tyn Y Coed in Capel Curig
Jerry's Roof at the Cromlech
Raven Tor
Cave at the Celestial Twins Beresford Dale
Snell's Field
Lots of others

Rougher than sleeping outside
Two of the houses on Hunter House Road
The climbers' squat in Ambleside where you got in via a fire escape and over the roof. Seemed ok after an evening in the Golden Rule but not so good in the cold light of day

 Robert Durran 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
A carpark in Torbay in the rain. When it got light we found our karrimats had loads of used condoms stuck to the bottom of them. Some public toilets in Cornwall the previous night when our tent disintegrated had been luxury in comparison. Actually, toilets are often far from rough and, in my experience, the Ladies invariably smell less of piss.
Post edited at 22:22
1
In reply to mypyrex:

On a station platform in Andalucia next to a random German who had soiled himself
On the tarmac in the car park of a service station near Frankfurt
Standing up (not even leaning against anything) in a nightclub in Sheffield
In a coal shelter in the middle of nowhere in North Wales
Within 5 yards of most of the major A roads in the Highlands (usually in the middle of winter)
In the (not very flat or very large) boot of my old Astra. Parked on a hill
My finest hour, however, was falling asleep on the top deck of a bus. Not particularly remarkable in itself, but waking up in the wee small hours to find myself locked on the bus, which was locked in the bus station, and having to break out of both, was mildly diverting. Especially the bit where I nearly got run over by a train.
 Skol 15 Nov 2014
In reply to victim of mathematics:
On a train from Stockport to Wolverhampton. I was supposed to get off at Stoke, but woke up going the wrong way at Macc.
Removed User 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

grave yard Leicester town centre. I was quite young.
In reply to mypyrex:
At least once in a muddly puddle in wood in Wales

Often in the open while it is pissing down with nothing but me and my clothes

On the spare tire on the bonnet of a landrover

On the tarp over the trailer of a landrover
Post edited at 22:33
 goose299 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

The main train station of either the Slovenian/Slovakian city centre.

I'd drank a lot and 9 years later, still not sure which country I was in.
I do remember the old dear at 5am, walking around chatting shit then pissing herself on a bench though.
 Co1in H 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a phone box in Buxton.
A phone box in Stockton.
A large plastic bag by a motorway slip road near Coventry, on the way to a concert in Hyde Park.
The car on a few occasions, but I suppose that might not count.
A shop doorway somewhere in the North east, but it's too long ago to remember.
Cardiff railway station.
All many years ago.
In reply to mypyrex:
Naked on the concrete floor, in a stone barn on dartmoor surrounded be hay bales
Outside public toilets in Ambleside
Under a very large boulder near La Meije, couldn't even sit up
In a bus shelter, winter, Argentier, being woken by being struck with a frozen, dead cat, thrown by locals
Bishkek Hilton

Stuart
Post edited at 22:46
 IceKing 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Under an old bit of carpet in an outside toilet in Namche Bazaar after I'd spent many hours in an Internet cafe talking to my soon to be girlfriend only to find I was locked out of my lodge and the whole town had gone to bed.

In a layby in Glencoe somewhere after two mates had scooped me up from Lancashire saying we should climb Point 5. At the time I didn't know what Point 5 was. I do now.

Under a long wool coat that was too small to lay on and too short to cover me on a very frosty, clear NYE when I was 18 after being jettisoned from a party with nowhere to go. Probably should've laid on it rather than under it. No sleep, so so cold just lying on the frosty ground.


 Blackmud 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a rock by Malham Tarn
 Jim Fraser 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
In a trench, once or twice or ...
In the back of a 1943 AEC 6x4 wrapped in camouflage nets at Linn of Dee in February.
In the cab of a digger at Slochd summit in the middle of a snow storm. (Cool. Not in a good way.)
On a ledge on an autostrada bridge between Aosta and Turin.
In a stubble field next to Haucourt CWGC cemetery. (The sun on the white stones in the morning was beautiful.)
Strasbourg station. (Not recommended.)
Menton beach (not really a hardship).
Slumped across the tank of a 250 Yamaha with my fingers tucked in the warm engine fins on a frosty night in an A1 layby in Lincolnshire.
On a rock slab beside the lochan in Coire an t-Sneachda on Christmas Eve.
On top of An Cabar (Wyvis) and covered with snow in the morning.
Schipol.
On a bench at Inverurie station, wrapped in four editions of the South China Morning Post, in -6C. (Cool. Not in a good way.)
Under the stars in the half-constructed CIC hut extension.
Post edited at 22:57
 Brass Nipples 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:


I feel the three Yorkshiremen sketch coming on
 Trangia 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Jim Fraser:

In a coal shed - arrived at a mate's aunt's house in Edinburgh. She was out, so we went round the back and found the shed was unlocked and dossed down in it. No head torches and woke up in the morning covered in coal dust.

In a field behind a hedge when we failed to ge a lift hitch hiking.

Sitting on a tiny ledge in pouring rain with no bivy gear following an accident on Sron na Ciche.

In Economy Class on a crowded12 hour flight with BA last week

On the marble floor of Zurich air port.

In a chair next to a dying relative.
In reply to mypyrex:

Next to an FV432 with its engine hunting all night, on a frosty evening on Salisbury Plain. A toss up between getting far enough away from the hunting engine, but not so far as to be crushed like a bug by armoured vehicles that continued to move up and down the shallow valley we were laagered up in for the night.

Various concrete and metal benches at stations and airports around Europe.

Snuggled next to a toilet on a nice warm carpet.

Behind someone's hi-fi cabinet...

Fortunately, my 'beer satnav' usually gets me home, when not too far away. Admittedly, it did once take me home from riverside in Reading via Sonning. I live in South Reading, so it was about a 12km detour...
 JamButty 15 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Chin on toilet seat after throwing up.....

Shearwater 15 Nov 2014
In reply to Orgsm:

> I feel the three Yorkshiremen sketch coming on

You had three? You were lucky. Two of mine died of hypothermia during the night I spent out...
 llanberis36 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Shearwater:

Public toilet in colne
 BenTiffin 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Parents back garden.
Top of Snowdon for the sun rise. Never happened.
Nearly in a church porch near crummack water till it dawned on us that it was communion at 8am the following day. Went to an nt car park instead.
Calais ferry car park
The river bank between wasdale head and black sail pass. Shame the river flooded at 4am.
kleine scheidegg picnic tables.
Fort William Safeway shoppjng trolley verrandah.
 Banned User 77 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

hope train station.. i.e. a shed.. on a rock on the side of foel fras.. under my car.. in a car park in texas.. just on the tarmac.. various nights in the peak often very cold huddling heather.
In reply to mypyrex:

Probably doesn't count using your original criteria, but I would take any of the above over this..

On an air bed with a slow leak in Australia whilst camping.

Doesn't sound too bad does it?

Rewind a few hours.........

After hours and hours of drinking, realised I hadn't blown up my air bed, decided to do it the lazy way by starting up the ute and blowing up the mattress using the exhaust pipe. I came within a knats cock of entering the Darwin awards and probably winning. Woke up on a flat air bed with a stinking hangover with carbon monoxide poisoning thrown in........and it was about 35 degrees. Never felt so ill in my life...shudder
 Nigel Thomson 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Under a car with ropes as sleeping bag in Fort William, bus stop Wolverhampton, my parents greenhouse in winter, under a fallen tree in Glencoe ( that was to save a tenner for booze). Beach in Spain, my garage through winter while wife was divorcing me.
This was before my alcoholism which just about includes every possible place and situation. Eight years in recovery now and haven't forgotten my sleeping bag since!
 Wainers44 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In my surf board bag on the golf course at Rock after a big night on Tribute in Padstow.

After the bunnies woke me I hit the surf at Polzeath at 0530....had to get out as sitting on my board in a decent swell with a monumental hangover wasn't a good idea. Bought orange juice and ibrufen at the spar and was back in by 0700. Good day.
wish I could say it was the stupidity of youth but it was only a couple of years ago!
 Paul Troon 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
On a bus from Ioannina to Athens at night then waiting 4 hrs for my flight home to uk start to throw up got home and wanted to die

Paul
 Dr.S at work 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

A doorway in Glasgow City centre, November, wrapped in a st George's cross, woken by the police.
 NaCl 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

under a bush in the mall outside Buckingham Palace, too many train stations to count, a bus shelter (and woke up to find out I had managed to lie in dogsh*t), several airports, beside the road in various bush/tree combinations and at 3 Ways junction in Australia for 24 hrs. Thought I was actually gonna die the last one....
In reply to mypyrex:

Most uncomfortable: in shallow, rocky cave several hundred feet from top of Brandon Mountain in Co.Kerry. Couldn't lie straight. Rain came in, and water dripping on to me from sloping roof all night.
Most primitive and also very uncomfortable: On top of Green Gable with just a bivvy bag. Very cold. Even after half an hour of moving stones the ground was very uneven and rocky. Also surprisingly cold for mid summer. Had to get up at about 4 am. On top of Great Gable for sunrise.
Coldest: near the summit of Punta Allievi in Bregaglia, on snow amongst boulders, with just a polythene bag bivvy bag and feet in climbing sack with boots on - and wearing every ounce of clothing. Morale quite high because we'd done a good climb the day before, but still grim. Had to get up at about 3.30 and stumble around among the boulders to try and warm up, get circulation going again. Started to descend at v first light.
Wettest: on own with good sleeping bag and bivvy bag on top of Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn on Cuillin main ridge – but gale and torrential rain started in middle of night. Had a very serious descent in the deluge with very poor visibility at first light. Seemed to take me about three days to dry out.
Grimmest in every way: two nights out on the Big Troll Peak in Norway in 1969, injured and with just a 'space blanket' ...
 Clarence 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In my second year at Sheffield Uni, Derbyshire County Council was in the grip of corruption and my grant cheque bounced. I managed to keep going on my part time job but eventually the rent outstripped income (thanks for deregulating student accommodation Thatcher!) and I had to sleep under the steps between Pond St/Flat St and Arundel Gate for three weeks before DCC sorted their act out and I could move into a hall of residence for the rest of the year. Fortunately I had access to showers, I could study in the Polytechnic library until late and could get food through the student hardship fund and busking in my spare time but it was cold and unpleasant. It was probably character forming or something like that.
 The New NickB 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Loads as a result of going out on the beer as a youngster, usually with very little money or clue how I would get home.

On the lions in Trafalgar Square, they were hoarded at the time and I manage to find a few sets of overalls to insulate the ground a bit.

More than once in adventure playgrounds in parks.

Benches in or outside various railway stations.

A few occasions travelling. Various beaches, airports, picnic areas. These have generally been pretty comfortable and warm.

Add to that various unplanned bivvys, both with and without bivvy gear.
Pan Ron 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Clarence:

Had similar. Working for a £3.50/hr manual labour/warehouse temp agency in the late 90s, maxed out on my overdraft. They failed to pay me and interest on my overdraft kept pushing me over with £25 a month charges resulting. Landlord sold our flat and got stuck in a situation of no money/accomodation for a week in early Feb.

Ended up sleeping on doorsteps in the West London area. No sleeping back, so had to wrap up in loads of clothes and a massive plastic bag. Impossible to sleep, waking up shivering every hour or so, and pretty f'ing stressful.
 The New NickB 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Alyson:

The Hilton, you poor woman.
 Dave Garnett 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

I've done most of the usual; under motorway bridges, on verges, in ditches while hitching, Windy Ledge, a night in the cells (a climbing offence), under boulders (including the really low one the sheep crawl into near the Cromlech boulders), bus shelters, beaches etc.

A group of us slept in a small cargo container on the quayside in Stromness after doing the Old Man. Out of the rain but not very restful, partly because it was just not quite big enough to lie out properly but mostly because of the fear of waking up in a refrigerated hold en route for Rotterdam.
 Rob Exile Ward 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Most scary? Two nights by myself in Cali bus station, Colombia, when I was hitch hiking and bussing back from Peru in the mid 70s. Most uncomfortable? Top of Kinder Downfall in a storm with very poor bivvi gear - some b*stard had knocked the shelter down that I was expecting to find, and it was too late, too dark and too stormy to get back down again. Coldest? Under a bridge (yes!) in Glencoe, early 70s - I had a rubbish sleeping bag and it was so cold the stream froze.
 mockerkin 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

I slept for two months under the boathouses at Keswick while working repairing river banks.
 mbh 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a tent above PyP YHA, prior to a W3000s attempt. Doesn't count as rough, but it was pouring all night, dark when we put the tent up, the ground was a bog, and the very helpful chap at the desk insisted there was no room at the inn. Surprisingly, I woke up dry. Well done that Marmot tent.

Under a big blown down elm tree in Hove Park, late 87 or early 88, in flight from my girlfriend's mum.

On the roadside at Peterhead, waking up in the rain, thinking, what am I doing here? I'm on the way from Wiltshire and I am supposed to be going to Skye. It's a (not very) long story that involves incompetent hitching.

Hay bales somewhere on the South Downs Way. Not rough, really, and a great way to do it.

 earlsdonwhu 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

For those who have endured rough disturbed nights at airports, my tip is to doss in the chapels which are relatively tranquil.
 Trangia 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

A few years ago the Khaki Chums dug a replica Great War trench and slept out in it for several nights wearing just the uniforms and boots of the time.

They said it was very cold and uncomfortable.

And they weren't under mortar and shell fire........
In reply to mypyrex:

Under a bridge, by the river, in the middle of Derby after missing the last bus on the last leg of a trip back from the Calanques.
Even got woken by the Old Bill, asking if I'd just broken into the local pharmacy!

In a lay-by at the side of the road in the Southern Alps, Japan.

The underground car park in Fort William, before it got fenced off and locked up.

Under a hedge near Ecclefechan in January without any bivvy kit. Got benighted hitching down the A74.

The worst place I have slept was a S/C cottage in Roy Bridge! I'd swap the nights in there for almost anywhere else.
 Dave Garnett 16 Nov 2014
In reply to earlsdonwhu:
> (In reply to mypyrex)
>
> For those who have endured rough disturbed nights at airports, my tip is to doss in the chapels which are relatively tranquil.

When we used to do those tedious late night ferry crossings we found that scaring the kids out of the padded play areas provided a perfect place to sleep.
 Dave Garnett 16 Nov 2014
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:
> (In reply to mypyrex)
>
> The 'Stage Coach' at the Tyn Y Coed in Capel Curig

I think you get the prize for the most imaginative!
OP mypyrex 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Dave Garnett:

> I think you get the prize for the most imaginative!

Seconded.
 hokkyokusei 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Leeds city centre, derelict factory, open to the sky, on a pile of rubble with a hardboard 'duvet'.
 Brass Nipples 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

A barn, on a mountain top, during a rainy night storm in the Brecon Beacons. Woken by a chicken sitting on my chest.
 Indy 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Bruce Hooker:

> If you sleep it can't be that rough

You obviously weren't tired enough!
OP mypyrex 16 Nov 2014
In reply to Orgsm:

> A barn, on a mountain top, during a rainy night storm in the Brecon Beacons. Woken by a chicken sitting on my chest.

Chicken breast
In reply to Dave Garnett:

> I think you get the prize for the most imaginative!

'Actually I was very drunk at the time'
For some reason I figured it would be more comfortable than sleeping in the car. It wasn't.
Next morning I found I'd taken a salt and pepper pot, tomato ketchup and other stuff from the pub as sleeping companions.
 MikeR 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In the back of a pickup truck, bouncing along some muddy, pot holed excuse for a road in the mountains of Laos, driven by two randoms who'd appeared in the middle of the night and drank two shots of laolao, the local firewater, for their breakfast, whilst snuggled up to two pigs to keep warm.
 Babika 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Toilets at the bottom of the Avon Gorge c1983

Surprised no one else has mentioned this popular spot.....
 Ratfeeder 16 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In Eric's Barn at Tremadog - that's pretty rough, or at least it was back in the 1980's.
On a sheet of ice on the Tete Rousse Glacier. I did have a 'Z-rest' but it was useless.
In a tiny concrete bus shelter near Gretna (I was cycling back from Arran).
In the store shed of the Abruzzi Hut on the Matterhorn (the Hut was closed).
Under-the-stars bivvi outside the Gouter Hut, watching an electrical storm over Chamonix (pleasantly fascinating).
On a bench at Pau railway station, where the contents of my wallet was pilfered (they kindly left the wallet).
In a Saunder's Jetpacker on the Col du Midi (not to be recommended).
On the shore of Loch Scavaig, Skye, in the pouring rain, no tent, no bivvi bag, soaked all night.

Brings back so many memories!
 mlt 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Telephone box.
Wheelie bin.
Bin shed.
Underneath an old tractor.
1.5 years on a Thermarest by choice.
Upright in chair in a McDonalds.
Inside a car boot.
Many days lying half prone in a car.
In a cupboard.
In a thorn covered ditch by the roadside (fleeing a potential psycho).
Many train and bus stations.
Some benches sometimes wrapped in newspaper.
Toilet cubicles (including eating my lunch here).
Squatting on a wellie underground in caves.
Inside a bothy bag underground accidentally filled with explosive acetylene gas.

And, eventually if I am so lucky, the roughest place I will ever sleep above all the others I have listed will be in a cheap cardboard coffin with six feet of dirt pressing down upon my flesh. Joy.
Post edited at 00:10
In reply to Babika:

> Toilets at the bottom of the Avon Gorge c1983

> Surprised no one else has mentioned this popular spot.....

Forgot that, but slept on the roof rather than in the toilets.
 ben b 17 Nov 2014
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

The Torridon women's loos had a hot air hand dryer in the early 90's not a bad doss...

b
 Rob Exile Ward 17 Nov 2014
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Before THAT there was the old tennis pavilion in the Gorge. I slept outside it when it was deserted, the next morning the car park was full of caravans having a break from driving to Cornwall.

The story goes that Phil Thornhill slept in it one night, when an old tramp crawled in besides him and died. Phil turned over and went back to sleep...
In reply to mypyrex:

On the top deck of a ferry- which to be fair did offer some great starry skies.
In some sort of aggregate yard
School car park
A baseball dugout
A disused service station - probably the worst sleep I've ever had in my life.
Under a tree in clissold park last week.

The joys of cycle touring!
 JM 17 Nov 2014
On a park bench in Turin near a crazy tramp screaming all night.

Behind a bakery in Mammoth Mountain near the extractor fans.

In a WW2 gun outpost. Was grim enough in there before my mate decided to wake up and puke.

Under the wing of a spitfire near Christchurch airport.
 JM 17 Nov 2014
Oh yeah and in the hut at the top of kids slide in Slovenia.

 tony 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

> Vehicles don't count

What about abandoned buses inhabited by sheep, somewhere on Skye?
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> The story goes that Phil Thornhill slept in it one night, when an old tramp crawled in besides him and died. Phil turned over and went back to sleep...

Haven't seen Phil for a long time, maybe it reminded him of his house in Cwm y Glo
 jkarran 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a boat, sat on a public toilet, curled up in a cold frame (all the same night attempting to escape a biting winter wind)

In a Dinorwic puddle

In a South Stack puddle

In a Yosemite puddle/stream

On a freezing freight platform somewhere in the Pyrenees

Airports, ferries, cars, carparks, beaches, fields, stables etc all over the place, sometimes planned, sometimes not, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not.

jk
OP mypyrex 17 Nov 2014
In reply to tony:
> What about abandoned buses inhabited by sheep, somewhere on Skye?

OK
(whatever turns you on!)
Post edited at 11:39
 Trangia 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

>> In a pill box

>

Was that the pill box above the road between PYG and PYP?

If so I remember stsaying in it for several nights in the 1970s. It had several metal bunks in it, very low headroom - constant stooping and the entrance floor was thick with sheep shit. But at least it was dry and quite cosy once you had spread mats and sleeping bags on the bunks. We made ourselves quite comfortable.

I haven't been back to it since. I wonder if the bunks are still there?
pasbury 17 Nov 2014
In reply to Trangia:

I slept in a pill box opposite the PyG in a very cold December - across the road and about half way to the little lake. No bunks so we lay mats on a gradually thawing layer of compressed sheep shit - quite fragrant by morning.
Also slept in their bin shed once - much classier than the pill box.

My favourite has to be inside a plastic elephant in the playpark of a motorway services somewhere up the northerly end of the M6 - leaky trunk.
 iksander 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Under a table cloth on a patio in December
Waterloo station on cardboard
On the crypt of St Govan's chapel
Various derelict houses
OP mypyrex 17 Nov 2014
In reply to Trangia:
> >> In a pill box

> Was that the pill box above the road between PYG and PYP?

Indeed it was. Our club used to "rent" it in the late 60s and installed the bunks. They were still there about two years ago. Might use it again for old times sake.

We also put an old coke burning stove in there but there was always a risk of CO poisoning!
Post edited at 12:46
Rigid Raider 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On the roof of a girlfriend's parents' canal boat on the Oxford canal, rather precarious thanks to the camber and very small hand rails. Got woken up by two pissed-up pubgoers (or comers?) stumbling along the towpath then stopping for a loud pee in the water while comparing their sexual experiences with one "Maisy" in graphic detail.
 CĂº Chullain 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Behind the passport photo booth at Paddington Station. I had hitched back from Chamonix and had missed the last train to Bristol and was too skint to get a hotel for a few hours so found a recess behind the booth and rolled out my karimat and went to sleep with my two iceaxes pharaoh style. Well, I did not really sleep, there were loads of homeless folk singing/fighting/wailing all night.
Removed User 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Any answer that doesn't include 'in my own faeces' doesn't count.
Springfield 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On the steps outside the students union at herriott watt university
Stood under a tree on the north york moors
in various caves
On a grass verge in the pennines
In the boot of the car in north wales
In the garden shed
 graeme jackson 17 Nov 2014
In reply to Tom Last:
> (In reply to mypyrex) Literally, in the gutter. I was annihilated though.
>

You know you've had a good night out if you wake up, face down in the gutter with a used condom hanging out of your arse.
 Tom Last 17 Nov 2014
In reply to graeme jackson:

I've wondered for years who that 'tall dark stranger' could have been Graeme!
 omerta 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:



> On a band stand in Shrewsbury

I had my first snog in there

 Guy 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Back door step of friends house. I got home first, fell asleep and didn't hear her come back. She didn't check the back door, so there I stayed.

Dallas, St Louis, Gatwick, airports.

Gare de Lyon sidings.



 chris fox 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a Grit box at the top of Terminal 3 carpark at Heathrow !
Sat on my ropes with my feet in my backpack at the base of "The Ramp" on New Zealand's Mt Aspiring after topping out at 10pm and too bad to descend
In reply to mypyrex:

Four of us in a Ford Anglia on Dartmoor in a gale.

Me and my best mate, in a photobooth, on Paddington Station, having missed the last train home to Wales,following a Uriah Heep gig.

Remembering both of those make s me feel very old now.
In reply to mypyrex: I've slept tucked between the summit rocks on Goatfell on Arran.

T.

 mikej 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In the disused railway tunnel between Llanberis and Cwm Y Glo (several times in 1970s)

Inside a cable drum next to Plan de L' aiguille telefreque station (1970)

In a derelict cottage opposite the Pen Y Pass hotel (1966)

On top of a dry stone wall near Bewerley Park (1962) as the Fell Rescue Team searched for me on Pock Stones Moor.
 LP 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
A bench on the platform of Telford train station in February after an Ocean Colour Scene gig. Stupidly me and my mate had pissed in the rather large phone box just before we realised it was quite warm in there. Karma flashed her smile though as while we were busy pissing the train to Birmingham and home arrived and left.
Post edited at 21:21
 Chris Murray 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In a field at Grange in Borrowdale (drunk)
In a disused sewage works we managed to climb into near Aviemore
At the visitor centre near North Stack on Holyhead Mountain. The attendant was most displeased the next morning
 Chris Murray 17 Nov 2014
In reply to graeme jackson:

> You know you've had a good night out if you wake up, face down in the gutter with a used condom hanging out of your arse.

Each to their own....
 omerta 17 Nov 2014
In reply to LP:

Serves you right for going to see Ocean Colour Scene
OP mypyrex 17 Nov 2014
In reply to omerta:

> I had my first snog in there

Was it in May 1988?
OP mypyrex 17 Nov 2014

I should have said In a pill box X2. Many years ago, when I was an enthusiastic private pilot I was walking home at about midnight after a night in the club bar. My route took me past a disused army barracks where there was a pill box. Having a concrete floor covered with straw it was actually quite dry and cosy and I thought I would just rest inside for about half an hour. I woke up at seven o'clock.
I did also sleep once in the back of an Auster light aircraft wrapped in a parachute.
Post edited at 22:17
 beardy mike 17 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Sat outside Glasgow Central station, talking to a smack head for the entire night about how he sits in the same spot at the weekends watching people get knifed. We didn't dare sleep.
 Chris_Mellor 18 Nov 2014
In reply to victim of mathematics:

Under cromlech boulders after peeing on my brother in the dark who was also there.
In telephone box at Maerdy hitching to N Wales
In peat bog in Strath Mulzie in rain on way to Corrie Mor bothy
In shelter at Sligachan Hotel
On slopes of Elidyr Fawr
In shower block at NT campsite in Lake District to escape flooded tent

What fun, what slow misery
Wiley Coyote2 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Tower Hotel, London. Most noisy, overheated place I've ever tried (and failed) to kip. Next night slept like a top in a field in Langdale
 Morgan Woods 18 Nov 2014
In reply to tony:

> What about abandoned buses inhabited by sheep, somewhere on Skye?

Are we talking about a night out or a night in?
abseil 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In various UK Travelodges ha-ha-ha doesn't get rougher than that.

I've done many of those given above but one strange wakeup I've done was - a bunch of us slept on a building site in a half-finished house [no roof]. At about 6.30 AM we groggily see a huge very stern annoyed-looking guy, a builder, storming towards us... his first words were "Good morning lads. Would you like a cup of tea?" (Which he then made for us).

PS to some above sleeping in airports is not sleeping rough, it's [as Monty P. would say] "LUXURY!!"
 felt 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Rosebush in Tangiers Customs.
 Dave B 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Central Park in New York... I survived... It was day time, in the family area.
OP mypyrex 18 Nov 2014
In reply to abseil:

> In various UK Travelodges ha-ha-ha doesn't get rougher than that.

Agreed. Had a night in the Manchester Airport one a couple of years ago. Plastic furniture, people coming and going at all hours. It mad the Emirates flight to Dubai even more enjoyable.
 omerta 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

> Was it in May 1988?

No. A bit ambitious for an 8 year old. Try 1995, September.
OP mypyrex 18 Nov 2014
In reply to omerta:

> No. A bit ambitious for an 8 year old. Try 1995, September.

Not me then!
1
In reply to Wiley Coyote:

> Tower Hotel, London. Most noisy, overheated place I've ever tried (and failed) to kip. Next night slept like a top in a field in Langdale

A Holiday Inn Express in Belfast about 20 years ago. Which was fine up until about 2am when a bunch of guys started kicking and hammering on the door yelling "Come out you fenian b***", "UDA", and threats to smash my kneecaps.

It turned out there was a stag party at the hotel and the (catholic) groom's mates thought it would be an amusing prank to scare the crap out of him by pretending to be protestant paramilitaries but were so drunk they got the wrong room.
In reply to mypyrex:

a night in Birmingham Digbeth Coach Station. It is rough as arseholes... 'nuff said

I also lived in Wolverhampton for three years, does that count?
 Neil Williams 18 Nov 2014
In reply to markh554:

Digbeth is rather posh now, they've done it up. Where "done it up" means "knocked the whole sorry mess down and started again". Nicer than New St now.

Neil
In reply to Neil Williams:

I am going back to 2002-5...
 Neil Williams 18 Nov 2014
In reply to markh554:

Yeah, it was a right hole back then...
OP mypyrex 18 Nov 2014
In reply to markh554:



> I also lived in Wolverhampton for three years, does that count?
OK then.

OP mypyrex 18 Nov 2014
Interesting how this thread has run. There've been some really interesting and amusing submissions many of which have made my own efforts pale into insignificance.

Keep them coming if you can.
OP mypyrex 18 Nov 2014
When I'm travelling, particularly if I'm trekking, I seem to keep an eye open for possible "dossing points" in case I need one. For instance, if I'm passing a bus shelter, I will weigh up its potential for a night's sleep. I've been in towns and villages in the Pyrenees and found myself thinking "Now, if I need to doss, that a reasonable park bench; doorway; bus shelter; bridge etc..."

Anyone do likewise?

On arriving home after a Pyrenean trip the Mrs was horrified when I told her I'd bivvied in the open on a lovely patch of grass under a beautiful beech tree. "What would you have done if something had crawled over you?" she asked.

I'm still pondering that one.
paulcarey 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Milan Garibaldi station in 1985. I was 12...

Family holiday to Italy by coach and on the return leg the coach didn't turn up until the next day.
 lithos 18 Nov 2014

in the fast lane of the M25 bridge over the M20 at Swanley , not in a vehicle, on the road surface








ok so the bridge wasn't yet connected to the rest of the M25 but we did build a shelter from breeze blocks
and leg it the next morning when the workmen turned up !
 Bwox 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

A quiet corner of Hiroshima castle.
In reply to mypyrex:

Thought of another.

I drank far too much for a 16 year old before my school prom.
At some point I vomited in the school fountain (much to the bemusement of the head teacher) and then wandered off to find a quiet corner to sober up.
Woke up at about 3 in the morning in the school athletics sand pit, and commenced a very cold, lonely walk home. My date was not best pleased. It was another year before I would get a chance at losing my virginity - although given my date was often referred to as 'bucket barrett' I probably dodged a bullet.
 Rick Graham 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

> When I'm travelling, particularly if I'm trekking, I seem to keep an eye open for possible "dossing points" in case I need one. For instance, if I'm passing a bus shelter, I will weigh up its potential for a night's sleep. I've been in towns and villages in the Pyrenees and found myself thinking "Now, if I need to doss, that a reasonable park bench; doorway; bus shelter; bridge etc..."

> Anyone do likewise?

Yep. Always easier to find good doss spots in daylight. In our quest to avoid contributing to the Swiss economy, used to have a black book of good locations. Sweeping into one late at night ( this only happened once) we were upset to find a car already there, GB reg of course.

Of climbing bivis, the wildest was stuck in a thunderstorm at the "third Bonatti Bivouac" on the Capucin.
Most strangely, everybody else I've talked to about the route has had the same experience, be warned.
 BStar 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

After a cold March night out on the booze in Dublin, I came back to my hostel to find the building had flooded due to a burst pipe. We were told to try and find somewhere else to spend the night, but it was 3am and I could barely see straight anyway. A man that worked at the hostel told me and a couple of friends that he had a van we could get out the cold in. The van was full of loaves of bread ready to be delivered the next day, it was quite a cold but comfortable night sleep however I did feel sorry for the people that was getting squashed / half eaten bread in the morning!
 Andy Fielding 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a street bench in Fresno. Woke up and thought I was being mugged. Turns out I was sleeping on some hobos bench and he wanted it back.
 jcw 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
In etriers tied on to protection above a buttock width ledge slipping off all night with 300m of space below in the Dolomites and a storm brewing.
Tim Chappell 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

How about--on a luggage trolley outside Inverness Railway Station? Not recommended. At least it was warm weather. During the long, long night I slept for approximately 14.7 seconds.
Removed User 18 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
Great thread!

In or under countless bushes around Europe and N Africa when hitching, grimmest was in a tent awash with pish in Glen Feshie. Long story. Had a cold wretched and inebriated night in the bendy once but like the European bushes it was still enjoyable.

Also trying to sleep with two ruptured discs and my mates rottweiler lying on top of me crying and refusing to move is not something I want to repeat.

Most amusing; many years ago I worked for a short time in a well known outdoor shop on the strand. After a particularly epic nights drinking, rather than spend money on taxis home, the manager unlocked the shop at about 2am and we all crashed out in various sleeping bags. I have absolutely no recollection of getting into a top end down bag and sleeping on a thermarest inside a quasar but this was my situation when I was woken by two customers unzipping the tent door in the middle of the shop floor at about 10oclock the next morning.
Post edited at 22:57
 Kean 19 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

On a bizarre, perfectly flat rock up on the Aig Verte side of the Argentiere glacier.

In a bracken-filled crack in bivvy sack behind a large boulder in Italian mountains with my Collie dog on top of me. Think she wanted to protect me.

In a cave with my then girlfriend in the Rockies, in sleeping bags totally soaked from the waist down after a thunderstorm, the night before a climb: Me (feeling rather guilty, around midnight) "if we start walking now, we'll be back at the car in two hours". Her "you don't know me yet. Night night" We climbed the climb next morning. She's now my wife...solid gold...there's romance for you right there...

Under a carpet in a disused doctor's surgery (!)

My regular bush by my hitching spot after the pubs chucked out.

Stoned out of my gourd riding on the back of a motorbike...kept thinking we were going round a very long bend, then realised I was falling off...again and again...
 Kean 19 Nov 2014
In reply to kean:
So many great replies! Great thread! So many people I'd happily share a beer with...or a bush...or haystack...or skip...or...
Post edited at 06:49
 Dr.S at work 19 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

Under a cornice on Ben Alder
 JohnBson 19 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:

In an open (though not fixed and still swinging) doorway of an indian train rushing through the desert, feet hanging out.

Sitting in an observation post in a bog during a storm with water up to my neck. Trying desperately not to let too much water into the bivi bag.

In a man planted wood atop a hill in November in a jungle weight sleeping bag. Waterbottles froze.

 colinakmc 19 Nov 2014
In reply to mypyrex:
On a trolley on top of my rucksack, outside Geneva Airport. Having climbed Mont Blanc (3M's route) and got the last train from Sion to Geneva. Thought I'd stay in one of those wee glazed waiting areas on a platform until the first train out to the airport next morning, but the station seemed to be full of skinheads lurking in the shadows. Sharp retreat by taxi , only to find the airport doors locked. I could see folk moving about working inside, but it was nae body's job to open the door for latecomers! So I dozed draftily til about 5am when someone took the initiative to open the door.

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