This e-mail was recently sent to me:

Wilderness Bear Campout
Bears, Cubs and Admirers
Willits, California at Camp and Son’s
A Private Clothing Optional Campground
June 1-3, 2007
$100 US
Wildernessbear.org
dickdaniel2000@yahoo.com

A bear camping experience like no other, this amazing
weekend is located in the tranquil beauty of
California's Mendocino County. Camp and Son's
campground is located on the edge of the Mendocino
National Forest, the only one of California's 18
national forests not crossed by a paved road or
highway. Straddling the eastern spur of the Coastal
Mountain Range in Northwestern California and just a
3-hour drive north of San Francisco and Sacramento,
and only 2 hours from Guerneville, Northern
California's gay resort area, paradise eagerly awaits
you.

This private campground is extraordinarily different
for it’s self-sustained using solar power. Very rustic
and majestic, the property offers 1 solar heated hot
tub, 2 wood burning hot tubs, fresh spring water
fountains, terraced English Gardens that you can get
lost in, a swimming pond with beautiful water lilies,
a stunning green lawn for lounging, wonderful
campsites, some with spectacular valley views, a fire
pit that you can grill on, a communal kitchen with
seven refrigerators, two stoves, a professional range
and grill, a stage area, hiking, showers, and toilets.


This campout will be run very differently than other
bear event. Producers are volunteers and will make no
money. The event will have a small profit margin to
cover expenses, which are minimal. All left over money
will be given to The Alexander Hamilton Post 448.

We are trying to create a collective experience. Food
will be potluck style with everybody sharing and
eating together. This is an all-volunteer campout and
campers will be needed for various duties from kitchen
coordinators, and gate greeters to DJ’s, and
entertainment. All campers decide the weekend’s
activities. Anyone who volunteers for duties will be
allowed to come a day earlier and stay a day later.

About The Alexander Hamilton Post #448
The Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion
is the only post whose membership is, predominantly,
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans-gendered honorably
discharged veterans who have successfully served in
the United States Armed Forces during a period when
our nation was at war. Organized in 1984, they are
recognized locally, statewide and nationally for their
activism pertaining to the welfare of all veterans
and, especially, their efforts to end the present
homophobic discrimination of the United States
Military.



Mr. Lone Star Saloon 2007
Dick Daniel


Wildernessbear.org
A bear, cub, and others campout in Mendocino County, California June 1-3, 2007

News-Leader.com | Local News:

The owners of a gay men's campground in Douglas County have sued their neighbors for alleged harassment that ranges from shooting at campers to raising hogs in order to oust the campground.

Cactus Canyon Campground owners Charles Franzke and James Thideman's suit further alleges that the harassment violates Missouri's hate crime law, which includes crimes based on sexual orientation.

'That is the whole crux of the harassment: that we are gay and that we run a successful gay business,' Thideman said.

...The court filing states that the defendants shot at, threw rocks at, threatened and circulated petitions against the campground owners. It also states that they vandalized campground property, trespassed and started a hog farm on the property line 'with the specific intent of creating an environmental degradation and to create hazardous runoff.'

'What I want is for my clients to be able to live their life and be free of threats and to not have hog waste running down their hill,' said Russ Schenewerk, a Branson attorney representing Thideman and Franzke...

From the Cactus Canyon Legal Page

Cactus Canyon Campground is a campground that is fully legal in its operation, but now is under scrutiny by individuals that believe that homosexuality is a sin.

The News Articles that have been in print recently are:
Springfield News Leader June 24th, 2005, March 19, 2006

Other media articles or discussions:
365Gay.com , Advocate.com , Siruis OutQ, PinkNewsUK, New York Blade

...Cost of litigation is expensive, but litigation is necessary. We urge you to help defray the cost of litigation and show that we will not tolerate our civil rights being trampled on. We are accepting donations and you may call us at 417-683-9199. We can take donations currently via MC/VISA at that number or thru this special Pay Pal Account that was set up for donations"...

News Article : Out in Charleston: W. VA. HILLS TO COME ALIVE FOR GAY FESTIVAL


Photo from Longfork Campgrounds longfork.com

WALTON, W.Va. - StoneWall Society Network has announced the first Pride In The Arts Festival to be held in Walton, W.Va., at Longfork Campgrounds and Resort...

The Pride In The Arts Festival will take place June 16-18 in conjunction with Longfork Campgrounds and Resort's Pride celebration...

A continually updated entertainment and event schedule for the Pride In The Arts Festival will be maintained at www.stonewallsociety.com, www.outvoice.net, and www.longfork.com.

The Memorial Garden
Friday night of Illumination - Hillside, 2004

I'd like to make Gaycamping.org a community blog, and I'm looking for several people who would be interested in blogging on a recurring basis. Campers, outdoors enthusiasts, hikers... I am especially interested in hosting blog posts from camp owners or caretakers and leaders of gay camping and outdoor groups who want to tell us what's going on with their groups. But I also want to host individual campers with sharp opinions. Please send me an email if you are interested.

Contestants prepare for Naked Twister at Hillside Bears II, 2005.

Camping with Bearnaked Joe has always been a personal site about my experiences camping and a resource for other gay campers. With that in mind, I'm going to look through my photos from camp and start posting them here.

I'd like this to be your site for camping experiences, too. If you have an interesting photo you'd like me to post on gaycamping.org, send me an email.

A Blogger who goes by "CSCFON" has a great story about sex in the woods.

There is something exciting about having sex in the woods. And not just in the woods, but in the woods with a storm brewing. As things were getting going, the sprinkling of raindrops falling through the trees, jumping from branch to branch, leaf to leaf, lightly plunking on the ground could be barely heard over the growing whistle of the wind.

Gaycamping.org wishes Camp Camp campers happy camping!

Houston Voice Online: It's Not Just Camp, it's Camp Camp

Camp Camp is a week long camping event near Kezar Falls, Maine, that starts this Sunday August 21. This is Camp Camp's ninth year! From the website:

There is a theater, a recreation and weight-training center, five tennis courts, a basketball court, a sand volleyball court, studios for crafts and creative and performing arts, a large sports field and two sand beaches. At the center of camp is the Main Lodge with two levels of open interior space and a massive stone fireplace where we gather for meals and some evening activities.

Sounds like a blast!