I am covered in mosquito bites. Wearing long pants to cover my sizzling sunburn. And my camping equipment is hanging out to dry on the back porch. The trip to Assateague, the Maryland island known for its wild horses, was not the typical camping trip.
While we did see the wild horses, camp 15 feet away from a white sand beach, spend Friday night drinking beer around the embers of someone else’s beach bonfire and scarfed down a crab feast, our Assateague adventure was one disastrous camping trip.
Besides booking your trip early through the National Park Service website (We reserved our spot in January), here are three ways you should prepare before spending a weekend camped on the island.
Trouble #1: Mosquitoes. I was warned the mosquitoes were bad on Assateague, but it’s nearly impossible to overstate how bad they were. Within 30 seconds of leaving the car — before I had the chance to coat myself in bug spray — we were swarmed by a cloud of these bugs. After a day on the island, our neighboring campers had to head back into town for a second can of repellent. I now have six bites on my left arm alone.
Solution: Bring plenty of DEET and long, loose clothing (it was far too hot for the jeans and sweaters I packed alongside my shorts and tanks.) Try to secure a camping spot near the water; some spots are in the bushes in the road. The ocean breeze blows the bugs away; the bushes provide a place to live and breed.
Trouble #2: The sun. There is no shade at Assateague. There is no where to hide from the sun, not even a picnic pavilion or some scraggly trees. Even with my 60 SPF sunblock, I still got toasted.
Solution: It’s obvious. Bring a beach umbrella. And a hat. And a shirt with sleeves.
Trouble #3: The rain. It does rain at the beach. At Assateague, you camp on the sand. Your weight inevitably causes depressions — perfect for water to gather in. At 3 am, we were woken up by pouring rain and thunder. While I was preoccupied by a terror of being struck by lightning, I failed to noticed that water was streaming into the tent. The tent is old, and the rain tarp doesn’t fit correctly. Something that only matters in torrential downpours like this one. Within minutes, I was sitting in a pool of water. All the run off had been collected in the depressions made by my sleeping body and soaked through my sleeping pad. We spent the rest of the night in the car.
Solution: When it rains, it pours. Invest in a tent with a decent rain fly and enough room to keep belongs away from the edges.
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One Comment
We went camping at Assateague on August 9, 2009. The mosquitoes were unworldly; they ignored the OFF sprayed on our skin and 100% Ben’s DEET that was sprayed our clothing. They bit through our long sleeve shirts and pants leaving splotches of blood on our long clothes. They were overactive 24 hours a day with no relief. I wore a raincoat with the hood clinched tight (despite the heat) over my head and received bites all over my scalp and body through the coat and of course they swarmed my eyes, mouth, and nose constantly.
I think that the solution to #1 maybe planning your camping trip for May or early June, when the mosquitoes aren’t in full swing.
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[...] Assateague – Although camping on the beach sounds romantic and relaxing – think: falling asleep to the sound of the waves and taking an early morning swim — the reality is that you are camping in a hostile environment. Sand is everywhere, mosquitoes swarm and the sun beats down without mercy. I wanted to love Assateague. But Assateague didn’t love me. After a weekend of being eaten, burnt and drenched, I submitted. See our post here. [...]