Stealth Camping in Plain Sight Next to a Road? (Fail)

I’d tried stealth camping close to this road before, hidden in a bit of a divot in the ground, and pulled it off quite successfully, so this time I decided to try it in plain sight instead
It was all going a bit wonky from the start..

Firstly, I bought green woodland camo netting, as I was expecting the area to be full of waist-high ferns. However, the ferns were low and sparse, so the green camo was totally the wrong colour.

Secondly, there was a red ants next right under where I wanted to run my tarp from a tree in a low plough point configuration that would be easy to blend into the ground.

But, not being one to give up easily, I gave it a go anyway, placing the shelter further toward the road, away from the ants, and using a low-ish lean-to configuration, that would be just high enough for me to be able to sit behind it unnoticed, hopefully

The camo netting being the wrong colour wasn’t too much of an issue in the end, as the texture of it allowed me to weave sticks into it and hold leaves and debris in place, making it satisfactorily blend into the surrounding colours. Once finished, I felt confident that I wouldn’t be seen by any passing vehicles, but I didn’t feel confident that I would go unnoticed by anyone walking by. But this was a country road with no paths, so I wasn’t expecting people to be walking along it anyway

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SHELTER
DD Tarp S https://amzn.to/32UeEDn
Pegs (Yellow) https://amzn.to/3p4ji6N
Pegs (Black) https://amzn.to/3PMvCqB
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One Tigris Groundsheet https://amzn.to/3N7IMPG
 
TREKKING POLES
Fizan Compact https://amzn.to/3ggE1Gj
 
CAMO
Camo Netting Woodland Camo https://amzn.to/3Cko6ye
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SLEEP SYSTEM
Sleeping Bag Rab Ascent 500 https://amzn.to/3NSMcnn
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Vango Gwent Memory Foam Pillow Go Outdoors (in green pillow case)
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Deuter Aircontact 60+10L SL Women’s Rucksack https://amzn.to/3MqRvcW
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x2 1L Bottles
 
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Music in this Video

Thank you to these amazing artists for producing such great music..
 
Brown – Jack Lineham
Cocktail – Devin Thomas Arne
Dawn Breaks - Sulyya
 
All from Filmstro and Uppbeat with license
​

All was going well. I cooked my dinner and settled for bed completely unnoticed, except by the crows that cawed loudly from above, warning each other of my presence. I really thought I was going to pull it off, until late, when something strange started to happen. Cars kept pulling up and stopping on the other side of the road, not far from my shelter. The people inside would get out, look around the nearby trees with torches, and talk in hushed tones, before driving off, soon to be replaced by another car doing the same thing. And then another. And another.

I sat in silence in the dark, reminding myself that it was likely just me that was the weirdo here, but my heart was pounding, terrified that they would come too close and see my shelter. My gut was telling me to leave. So, each time a car pulled off, I would start packing up in the dark, then I would sit quietly and wait again, and then I would pack up again, and on it went until eventually all of my things were in my rucksack, and I crept off back into the woods where I had come from, following the familiar paths back to where I was parked on the other side.
​
So this one was a fail.. I hadn’t anticipated people stopping in the road and looking around with head torches in the dead of night, but it was good stealth practice and certainly gave my nerves a good rattle haha! ​