Under The Stars And Under The Radar

A handy guide to camping on forbidden turf

- J.D. Tuccille

SOME YEARS AGO, when I lived in Flag staff, Arizona, I answered a knock on the door of my house to find my buddy Bryan and a fellow I’m almost willing to swear was the backwoods character Gabby Johnson from Blazing Saddles. It seemed they’d been cut off by a wildfire from their unauthorized long-term camp at the head of Sycamore Canyon. Did I have any gear to loan them so they could squat elsewhere in the forest?

The two ended up living in one of my tents for a couple of months.

Several of my friends have been known to throw down a sleeping bag under the radar, often in a place or at a time that violates various regulations. But Bryan, a sometimes computer analyst who would work and live in town only long enough to top off his bank account before disappearing again into the wilderness, took it to a bit of an extreme. Technically, people are allowed to stay in many of the places he camped, but not for long enough to actually use the site as an address, as was his habit. It’s hard to say whether he spent more time under a roof or under the sky.