Hiker Insists Cowboy Camping Is 'a Choice' Despite Tent Being Stolen by Marmot

A Continental Divide Trail hiker has spent the past three weeks cowboy camping — sleeping without a tent or shelter — claiming it represents 'a deeper connection with the wilderness,' despite trail register entries from other hikers confirming that a marmot absconded with his tent near Glacier National Park. Trail name 'Stargazer,' formerly known as 'Tent Guy,' was reportedly asleep at a campsite near Marias Pass when a hoary marmot — a species known for its attraction to salty fabrics and synthetic materials — gnawed through a guyline and dragged the single-wall shelter approximately forty meters into a boulder field, where it remains. 'I saw the whole thing,' said trail name 'Witness,' who was camped nearby. 'The marmot grabbed the tent by the vestibule and just... walked off with it. Like it had somewhere to be. Stargazer woke up, watched it disappear into the rocks, and said, I've been meaning to go tentless anyway.' Stargazer has since maintained that cowboy camping is his preferred style. 'A tent creates a barrier between you and the universe,' he told fellow hikers at a water source near Rogers Pass. 'Without it, you experience the full spectrum of the night sky.' 'He also experiences the full spectrum of mosquitoes,' Witness added. 'And rain. He experienced quite a lot of rain last Tuesday.' Stargazer's lighterpack listing has been updated to reflect 'Shelter: Stars (0g),' a modification that has received both admiration and concern in the ultralight community. The marmot has not returned the tent. Park rangers note that marmots frequently collect synthetic materials for nesting and that recovery is 'unlikely unless you want to negotiate with a marmot, which we do not recommend.'