Thus far, it sounds like I'm the only one who likes roughing it out in the wilderness. I love to go out hiking and camping, though it's been over a year since I've done any. My favorite place to hike is the Jersey Pine Barrens, which is actually a national park in South Jersey. The simple trails tend to be a mite well-travelled during the summer, but there are many more secluded treks one can take, too. Just remember to bring along your deet, wear wool socks and steer clear of the Pineys who live out there.
Camping-wise, I prefer Lake Wawayanda up along the NJ/NY border. The area is just beautiful and the surrounding hills make for a challenging hike (the Appalachian Trail makes its way along the lake.) One would think that with its closeness with NYC that it would be like a resort, but I'm always surprised by how it never seems to be crowded with campers.
I've roughed it out in the woods a number of different ways, from staying in a nicely furnished cabin (with satellite TV) to laying on lumpy ground in a sleeping bag in a tent. I hate the RV types of campgrounds--it makes me feel like I'm vacationing in a trailer park. My best experience was a true deep woods trip to Mill's Pond in North Carolina about ten years ago. It was a real "roughin' it" trip--about an hour's hike to the site, light food supplies that had to be stored hanging in the trees, fishing for some of our meals (fresh trout and baked potatoes--Yum!), and crowding ourselves with our sleeping bags into our "sleeps two" pup tents. And, of course, we had to do our pooping in the woods. It was a very spartan trip, but also a very fulfilling and spiritual one. I would love to do something like that again someday.
