Camping ground

“ Rise early, fare simply, and travel far enough to appreciate whatever offers for a camping-ground, though it be no more than the grudging shadow of a wall at mid-day, or a n'zala not overclean, when from north, south, east, and west the shepherd boys and girls are herding their flocks along the homeward way. ”

“ I think it is likely to be very damp there, and to be so enclosed on every side that the life grows dull. I like a camping ground on the shore of a pond, or on a hill side with a big outlook, or at the mouth of a river. ”

“ Fires were lit and enough food cooked to last till the next day, for the camping ground where the night was to be spent was known to be bare of fuel. On the most frequented routes the muleteers have regular camping grounds where wood, water and grass can be found together. ”

“ And the stricken camp is a melancholy sight. The woods have been despoiled; the stumps are ugly; the bushes are scorched; the pine-leaf-strewn earth is trodden into mire; the landing looks like a cattle-ford; the ground is littered with all the unsightly débris of a hand-to-hand life; the dismantled shanty is a shabby object; the charred and blackened logs, where the fire blazed, suggest the extinction of family life. Man has wrought his usual wrong upon Nature, and he can save his self-respect only by moving to virgin forests. ”

“ When I go to the woods with a partner, and we arrive at our camping ground, I like him to get his fishing rig together, and start out for a half day's exercise with his favorite flies, leaving me to make the camp according to my own notions of woodcraft. If he will come back about dusk with a few pounds of trout, I will have a pleasant camp and a bright fire for him. ”

“ We have seen motorists camping in a meadow by the side of a stream below a road skirting the foot of a precipitous hill. We have even seen such a camping site pictured as ideal. Ideal it would be in fine dry weather, but a heavy summer shower, particularly at night, would endanger the camp and its occupants. Such streams often rise with great suddenness, and if nothing more the campers would be put to extreme discomfort by having to move in haste, and in the wet, to higher ground. ”

“ The exact locality of the winter dwelling may vary, but the camping-ground does not. Indispensable conditions are, that it be as much as possible protected from the cold, deadly, north and east winds, that the yurt can be erected on a sunny spot, that fixed houses may be built without much difficulty, that the necessary supply of water be certain, and that sufficient pasturage be available within easy distance. ”

“ If the desire is to camp elsewhere than in a municipal motor camping park certain conditions must be considered in making the selection of a camp site. Considering that the motor camper will tent and have a regular camp fire, wood and water are prime essentials. Seek high, well-drained land. Avoid stony or rocky ground or shallow soil. Do not camp in a pine or hemlock grove, at least in summer, as fire is liable to creep and spread in the fallen pine needles and hemlock leaves. ”

“ The large parties have a number of attendants who generally go ahead to prepare the camps for the night, while the tourists loiter along the way to inspect the marvels or to botanize. The small parties we saw, pitched their tents when practicable, near a trout stream, several of which furnished fine sport. Throughout the Park we noticed that at and about localities usually chosen for camping ground, warnings were nailed upon the trees, "Put out the fires." Destructive forest fires have resulted from carelessness of campers. ”

“ Camping out to-night is not so agreeable as it might be, in consequence of the ground being very wet and muddy, and our blankets (our only bedding) thoroughly soaked; but we expect to encounter greater difficulties than these ere long, and we do not murmur.
A description of the formation of our camp may, perhaps, not be amiss here. The party is divided into messes of eight men, and each mess is allowed a separate tent. The captain of a mess, (who is generally an "old hand," i. e. an experienced forester, hunter, or trapper,) receives each morning the rations of pork, flour, &c. ”

“ If, when you are at home, you live on land that is low, and high land is accessible for [74] your expedition, I think you cannot do better than camp on the hills or the mountains. On the other hand, if you are ordinarily accustomed to living among the hills, a camping ground on low land by sea or lake will bring you the greatest change. Some girls might prefer to camp deep in the very heart of the woods. ”

“ But, they are sound on the bonfire. They pile on the wood in the usual way, criss-cross and haphazard. It makes a grand fire, and lights up the forest for fifty yards around, and the tired youngsters turn in. Having [Pg 53] the advantage of driving a team to the camping ground, they are well supplied with blankets and robes. They ought to sleep soundly, but they don't. The usual drawbacks of a first night in camp are soon manifested in uneasy twistings and turnings, grumbling at stubs, knots, and sticks, that utterly ignore conformity with the angles of the human frame. ”

“ There is an admirable camping-ground within easy distance of the valley, and engineers say that at small expense a good trail, and even a wagon-road, can be built along the face of the north wall, making possible a fine view of the magnificent lake. ”

“ Never, for instance, pitch your tent in a hollow or basin of ground, unless you want to wake up some night slopping around in a pool of water. Do not pitch your tent near a standing dead tree; it is liable to fall over and crush you in the night. Avoid camping under green trees with heavy dead branches on them. Remember the real camper always has an eye to safety first, not because he is a coward, but because the real camper is as brave a person as you will find anywhere, and no real brave person believes in the carelessness which produces accidents. ”

“ It is presupposed that people who intend to spend their vacation in camp are lovers of the beautiful; consequently, in selecting a camping-place, a spot should be chosen which gives the finest possible view of mountains, lakes, or rivers, even if some inconvenience must be suffered in the selection. The camp must be dry and well-drained, so that in case of sudden storms there will be no danger of the water flooding the tents, wetting the bedding or spoiling the food. A gentle sloping ground is best. ”

“ A gentleman, who with his wife and a Chevrolet coupé, the rear of which was modified into a large box about 5 feet square and 2 feet deep, who has “gypsied” across the United States several times from east to west and from north to south, says the problem of a camping ground for an average town is simple. Only a small tract is needed, and if it is properly looked after he thinks the tourists will not complain of a modest charge that will make it self sustaining. The average tourist would prefer the small charge and clean surroundings. ”

“ Where the camper prefers to do his sleeping in a tent, he has the choice of the tent floor for a bed, a bed made for the occasion by laying blankets over [144] straw, leaves, cedar boughs, hemlock fans, or other browse, or, finally, a camp cot.
If the ground is dry with a gravel or sandy foundation a sleeper can be quite comfortable lying on a canvas spread directly on the ground itself. This is true particularly during July and August in those regions where the nights are warm. ”

“ Even when you take it wet from the ground, instead of stripping it from a tree—and you can always get an inner layer of dry birch-bark from a tree—it will burn and kindle a good fire. A box of matches is a natural possession for a boy, but I am not so sure that this is true with a girl. Every camper should have a hard rubber box of matches in his possession, should know where it is—always in an inside pocket if possible—and should take good care of it. But to go back to that wet day and the shining little tin baker on the West Branch at the foot of Katahdin. ”

“ Shelters of boughs, arranged A fashion from a ridge pole make good temporary shelters and are first rate as wind brakes at night.
If you have to sleep on the ground, you should have a poncho, that is a blanket faced with rubber on one side, to keep the body from too close a contact with the wet earth. The ideal camping place is near a good spring or beside a stream of pure water, in a natural grove with plenty of dry dead wood in the vicinity. The dry wood should be protected from rain if you are camping in the same place for some time. ”

“ At regular intervals along the rivers are the camping grounds, each under the control of a camp agent, who arranges for the comfort and convenience of the travelling host of tent-dwellers. Each "base" is properly organised and supplied, and visitors can purchase necessaries, in addition to the fish and birds which fall to rod and gun. Ladies and children are among those who enjoy the pastime most keenly, amusing themselves by the river and among the woods while the husbands hunt or fish. ”

“ Now, so far as a substitute for a comfortable tent is concerned, there is a wide range for choice. When traveling rapidly on foot, with as little impedimenta as possible, a simple square canvas, furnished with loops at two sides and large enough to shelter a man, will amply suffice. When the time arrives to make camp a (27) pole is lashed across two trees or supported on crotched sticks, the canvas is thrown across it and pinned down by the side loops and the camp is ready. If you wish to shut up one end cut some evergreen boughs and stick them thickly in the ground at that end ”

“ Camp kept moving from creek to creek in the valley of the Tongue, always finding abundant pasturage, plenty of fuel, and an ample supply of the coldest and best water. The foot-hills of the Big Horn are the ideal camping-grounds for mounted troops; the grass grows to such a height that it can be cut with a mowing-machine; cattle thrive, and although the winters are severe, with proper shelter all kinds of stock should prosper. ”

“ As the chinking is excelsior, you can imagine what one of those cedar sparks would do if it snapped onto a bit of the excelsior. Cabins not chinked with excelsior are usually chinked with moss, which is almost as inflammable. With woods that snap, the camper can never be too careful, and no fire made of snappy wood should ever be built near a cabin or a tent. One spark, and it might be too late to check the quickly spreading fire.
There is another thing about which the camp cook and all girls camping need to be very careful, and that is the drinking water. ”

“ We had put up a little tent, made out of our old wagon-tilt, to cover us; and the place we called by the name which is in use among the backwoods farmers—that is to say, a ‘sugar camp.’ We found this out-of-door life very exciting and agreeable, camping thus in the thick shady woods with the great majestic trees towering over and around us—listening at times to the light breeze, as it rustled their golden leaves—or lulled into a pleasing tranquillity by the songs of a thousand birds. ”

“ The sighing of the wind in the forests, the susurrant pines and spruces, the drowsy hum of insects, the ripple of water on the shores of a lake, and the myriad sounds of nature—half heard, half felt—conspire to make up the sum of the camper’s pleasure; though in a manner so vague and indescribable that they must needs be experienced to be understood.
Nor are all the experiences of camp life attended by pure enjoyment alone. Mountain adventures comprise a multitude of pleasures, mingled many times with disappointment and physical suffering. ”

“ On these shooting and fishing trips I was nearly always alone, and many times experienced ridiculous scares. Camping perhaps in a deep cañon, a rapid stream rushing by, the wind blowing through the tall pines, the horses tethered to tree stumps, a menagerie-like smell of bears frequently quite apparent, your bed on Mother Earth without tent or covering, if your sleep be not very sound you will conjure up all sorts of amazing things. Perhaps the horses take fright and run on their ropes. ”

“ Along these automobile trails camps are in strong demand. Many trail tourists do not mind patronizing the hotels a part of the time, but for the rest they greatly prefer the tent and the camp fire. To meet their needs the Forest Service has laid out and equipped a large number of camps. These are always located where good water is available, and usually a practicable wood supply is an item of the equipment. Simple provisions are made for sanitation, and cement fireplaces are often installed. ”

“ For a time, camping-days are over for the sportsman, and continue only for the lumberman, the trapper, and the merciless crust-hunter, who makes his secret lair in the depths of the forest. [14] In the chill days and evenings that fall first in the interim between winter and summer camping, the man who makes his outings for sport and pleasure must content himself by his own fireside, whose constant flame burns throughout the year. ”

“ We were camped on a dusty, brush-covered flat, with jungle on one side, and on the other a shallow, fetid pool fringed with palm-trees. Huge land-crabs scuttled noisily through the underbrush, exciting much interest among the men. Camping was a simple matter, as each man carried all he had, and the officers had nothing. ”