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susquesus
Mad Hermit of the North Woods
USA
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September 03 2003
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 Posted - September 19 2009 : 11:42:50 PM
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Poll Question:
Everyone has a different idea of what they call camping. What's yours? Start your fire with a bow, drill and tinder- eat only your kill or watch the sunset over the lake with a glass of wine at the resorts lodge before a whirlpool and trip to the bar? What is your ideal camping method and gear. When you want to sleep closer to nature what do you do?
Vote for the style closest to your own and tell us something about it.
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richfed
Sachem
USA
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May 13 2002
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 Posted - September 20 2009 : 09:35:30 AM
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| Backpacking is the only way - or, was in my younger days. I backpacked the Grand Canyon, Shenandoah, Appalachian Trail [parts], Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Canada ... it is awesome to be alone in the wilderness with nothing but what you carry in. |
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
USA
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March 14 2005
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Posted - September 20 2009 : 5:02:42 PM
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| Now THAT sounds good Rich, - the only way to go. I do a lot of hiking or snowshoeing depending on the season. There's nothing like being "out there" - away from all the bs. Occasionally I'm the first one on a mountain after a snowfall, - with no sign of any (human)tracks except maybe deer, moose, coyote, bobcat etc. - just the fresh snow, - beautiful. |
you can keep "The Change" |
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Leah
Pathfinder
USA
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January 28 2009
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Posted - September 20 2009 : 8:21:18 PM
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I have only been camping a couple of times. It was rustic, and the campground was located near a railroad track (which we did not know about) and the train came barreling in at around dawn and scared the livin' daylights out of us. Then there was the uneven ground, bugs, cold shower (at least we had a shower).
Nah-don't think camping is for me-at least not in a tent. I wished I liked it, however... |
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winglo
Deerslayer
USA
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July 13 2007
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Posted - September 20 2009 : 8:24:07 PM
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When I think of "camping" it's got to be in a tent, with sleeping bags. You also have to have the campfire, the smores, the bugs and the flashlights.
That isn't to say that I don't enjoy some of those other methods listed--like a whirlpool! But that's not "camping." |
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Kan-Tuck-EE
Pioneer
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
December 31 2008
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Posted - September 20 2009 : 8:49:20 PM
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| About 38 years ago I spent my first and only night in a tent and swore I would never do that again. It came the worst storm of the year...we got wet and nearly froze (it was in early March) and the kids had gotten in our sleeping bags and eaten crackers so we slept in cracker crumbs all night. It was awful. I'm a city girl and the only way I like to camp is in an airconditioned/central heat RV! |
Kan-Tuck-EE |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
January 06 2009
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 Posted - September 21 2009 : 10:42:29 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by winglo
When I think of "camping" it's got to be in a tent, with sleeping bags. You also have to have the campfire, the smores, the bugs and the flashlights.
Just took my first "modern" camping trip this August and had a blast! We stayed at Cowan's Gap with a large area of camp sites. There were a lot of other campers around you so you weren't alone. The five of us had a tent with air mattresses and sleeping bags (we fit snug but comfortably). We had our little "kitchen/dining" area right out front the tent under a canopy and we had a fire pit for smores (yum!)Of course we had flashlights and party lights around the canopy b/c we had access to electricity. We didn't use the electric for anything but the christmas lights I swear! And we did have a bathhouse right across the road so we had showers (that is the one thing I can't stand-being too dirty). I'll do it again!
Kay |
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
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November 27 2002
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Posted - September 21 2009 : 2:13:24 PM
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Small tent. Small, white, military wedge tent of the French and Indian War era.
I grew up camping every summer in a big ol' heavy, center-poled, canvas tent. I have slept out under the stars, as well.
I have cooked over campfires, but never killed my own food. I have split my own wood and started my own fires, but haven't tried it with flint and steel, yet. I've sat around many campfires, talking softly, joking and laughing, listening to music, and sipping port or beer. I've been damp and chilled, and I've slept under so many warm, wool blankets, I could hardly move. I've been so hot and sweaty, I slept with my tent flaps open, laying in only my thin linen shift and not caring who saw me. And you know what??? I love it all! |
"It is more deeply stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been." |
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susquesus
Mad Hermit of the North Woods
USA
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September 03 2003
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Posted - September 21 2009 : 3:02:22 PM
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My camping experience depends on whether I am alone or not. I have found that my friends are rarely as eager to cozy up to nature as I. In general I will set up a small tent or build a small shelter with a tarp and baling twine in case of rain. Given clear weather I lay my bedroll out inches from my firepit. Fortunately i don't move around much when i am sleeping. I love nothing more than dosing off to the sound of a sizzling, crackling birch fire- stars overhead, a gentle wind moving the pine boughs around above me and the loons calling to each other from across the lake as they go on their nightly fishing excursions. Camping in northern climes makes this a little easier- as i usually spend a week in the woods in early June and again in October the insect population is usually not an issue. I did more backpacking when i was a young man with a healthy spine, unfortunately carrying a load on my back for any length of time is no longer an option. These days I head north about 5 hours from my home in St. Paul. Up to Duluth then along the north shore of lake Superior about 2/3's of the way to Canada. Then I have my pick of logging roads that head north to the border region. This is voyageur country, part of the fur trade highway. Eventually the logging roads become narrower and peter out and you find yourself on the edges of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. No motorized vehicles allowed for miles and miles encompassing hundreds if not thousands of lakes. The only sound of civilization is the occasional drone of an airplane. Catch your dinner of walleye, northern and perch fried in grease from the mornings bacon. Heaven. Wake up to the predawn light and wander down to the lake for a quick bath then start the coffee and fry some more bacon on the shore. The area is filled with moose, brown bear, grey wolf, pine marten, grouse, coons, eagles, squirrels, woodpeckers and camp robber jays amongst others. The robber jays will land on your hand if you are holding a suitably tempting morsel. There are wild blueberries in large numbers if you know where to go and tiny wild strawberries everywhere you look. Here are some pics from this spring:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180005962_1120082505_30178814_2873575_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180085964_1120082505_30178816_6275772_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180125965_1120082505_30178817_3792761_n.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180245968_1120082505_30178820_7857028_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180765981_1120082505_30178833_6382032_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077181085989_1120082505_30178841_3070039_n.jpg
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077181125990_1120082505_30178842_2485785_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/4156_1077180645978_1120082505_30178830_5753020_n.jpg
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shadawick
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
August 19 2009
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Posted - September 21 2009 : 11:37:51 PM
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| My experience has ran the gauntlet from "survival." camps using natural structure and materials the up to new motor homes. I have to say my most miserable was back in the early 70's laying for two days in wet clothes wrapped in a poncho and liner waiting to ambush a patrol of new Ranger candidates. Looking back it was the middle of December, rain occasionally mixed with snow, at about 3400ft elevation, on the exposed North face of a mountain. No open fires, cold C-rats,used up all the old hexamine tablets the first day. In retrospect, we were in much better shape then the patrol we were waiting on. They had parachuted into an old farm bottom, and hit the trail on the run, words to the wise from some old hands resulted in their "lightening their load of as much as possible, which included extra food, ammo, batteries and flares that they thought they would not need. They were expected to stage a mock raid on a hydroelectric dam and evade detection and make their way back to their camp approximately 35 miles away in two days. Just as dawn approached and they were almost within sight of their base thay ran (literally ran, we heard them coming from a hundred yards or more) into our ambush. With the rays of first light we all started to warm up a bit and take stock of ourselves, talk about a stinking dirty hungry bunch of sad sacks, but there was one thing that we all would never wear or wash off and that was the pride in taking a difficult job and not only doing it but "doing it well!" In retrospect I guess those were some of the "Best," camps and my comrades that shared the times were some of Americas best and still friends I will never forget. This is a perfect time to call to everyone's attention the incredible people that wear the uniforms of this country's military! Take the time to tell all that you encounter "Thank you for your service!" It is only through their (and their families) sacrifices that we have the safety and comfort of those big soft beds, while they lie in cold rain and mud wrapped in a poncho and liner, to keep the bad guys at bay. Thanks Troops!!!!! |
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
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July 17 2005
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Posted - September 22 2009 : 12:00:57 AM
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I try to go to, maybe, two events a month, so that means camping two or three nights each trip, always in a canvass wedge. The worst time was at Cowpens for the 225th anniversary event. I had gotten soaked to the knees is a marsh, then tried to dry around a campfire. Hard to dry out when its raining. Then we went to bed and the real rain came, along with sleet. The temperature was in the 20's and the wind was about 40 mph and gusting even higher. I couldn't leave the tent for fear it would blow down and everything inside would be ruined. So I lay there on my rope bed under every blanket I had trying to keep warm and waiting for the tent to blow down any minute. The tent held and all I lost was a jug which got smashed on a piece of wood. But I never did get warm.
Then there was the time at Martin's Station, when we looked out of the tent and everything was white, just like it had snowed. Actually it was a very heavy frost in 20 degree weather. A beautiful site, but cold! Woke up at 2 AM to find myself sleeping on top of the blankets with my clothes still on. Something to do with cognac. I never did get warm.
I have decided the best way to sleep is just to put on all my French clothes, and a capot over them, and lay beside the fire in the Indian camp. You can get really cozy that way. A friend slept that way for two nights in a drizzling rain and stayed dry under a wool blanket. But you have to find someone else's fire.
I don't like to make a fire because someone has to watch it. And if they don't, it will get out of control very quickly. So my rule is: first look really pitiful and hang around other's camps so maybe they will feed you. If that fails, see if the site has a food vendor. If not, then eat the bread and cheese you brought along "just in case". And as a last resort, there is the MRE. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
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January 06 2009
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Posted - September 22 2009 : 09:59:52 AM
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Wow Susquesus, your pictures are breathtaking! So you're from St.Paul- I have been to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Spent three weeks out in Minnesota with friends. We did spend several days in Bemidji. From there we took a day trip about an hour north to go fishing. Don't ask me exactly where we were cause I have no clue. We didn't catch fish as big as what you caught though.
Kay |
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winglo
Deerslayer
USA
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July 13 2007
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Posted - September 22 2009 : 5:15:04 PM
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| Great pictures, Susquesus. I've been camping on the Boundary Waters in MN many times and I've camped on the shores of Lake Superior! I love it because it is so quiet and far away from everything. And there is nothing like those loons. Since we've moved east we can't even begin to find anything that approaches it. |
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susquesus
Mad Hermit of the North Woods
USA
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September 03 2003
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Posted - September 22 2009 : 11:46:40 PM
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Thanks Kay and Winglo for the kind words- much appreciated.
Kay- glad you got a chance to see Bemidji and the surrounding area, a beautiful place and definitely Paul Bunyan country. You know all of our 10,000 lakes were formed when Paul and Babe were wandering the north of MN chopping down trees. The history of the fur trade and logging industries in that area are fascinating. What time of year were you there?
Winglo- Superior itself is awesome, it might as well be an ocean. I love camping it in late July or early August. You can have days where it's 90+ degrees at the top of the hill and it's in the low 70's on the shore. Great air conditioning- and crazy snowfalls in the winter. I love that the loons are the only critters making noise at night, such an eerie sad call. Did you spend any time in Grand Marais? And if so- did you find the donut shop?
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blackfootblood
Devoted Tribal Member
USA
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May 22 2007
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Posted - September 23 2009 : 1:01:17 PM
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Beautiful photos, Sus!! Especially of the night sky, how pretty!!
I voted small tent. Although I love to sleep under the stars, I have a huge phobia of bugs!! Spiders especially! So that usually does me in when plans of camping come up, "Get out the tent, honey!" After a horrible experience some years ago, right after my hubby and I got married, we went camping at Assateague Island in Virginia. Needless to say we both woke up with tons of mosquitoes, sand fleas, the occasional crab, and my favorite: spiders crawling all over us!! Never again I said!! So we have been using the tent since! (it was a still a good experience though, we got to camp right on the beach beside the water, gorgeous! And had the wild horses pass through as well) |
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!"
"Live well, love much, laugh often!" |
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Kay
Colonial Settler
USA
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January 06 2009
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Posted - September 23 2009 : 1:34:48 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by susquesus
Kay- glad you got a chance to see Bemidji and the surrounding area, a beautiful place and definitely Paul Bunyan country. You know all of our 10,000 lakes were formed when Paul and Babe were wandering the north of MN chopping down trees. The history of the fur trade and logging industries in that area are fascinating. What time of year were you there?
I went out in June of 2005. My first big road trip. We spent time in Minneapolis, Big Lake/Monticello, and several days with relatives of my friend when we were in Bemidji (I did get my picture taken with Paul Bunyan and Babe). They live in a nice log cabin that they built on several acres-first time I wandered through woods with that many birch trees and giant ferns. I had to bring some of the ferns home with me. I had never been fishing before in my life- more of a town/city girl from birth, but they took us out in their motor boat and taught me how to catch (I couldn't put the worms on the hook or take the fish off though-too many slimy/wiggly things for me). I did pretty well considering and it was so nice to be out away from everything. We did see a mother loon with her babies. The landscape of the mid-west just blew me away when I first saw it-it always will. Everything was either so flat or so spacious and BIG! I'd never seen the sky so endless! Someday I hope to get back out there!
Kay
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winglo
Deerslayer
USA
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Posted - September 23 2009 : 9:31:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by susquesus
Winglo- Did you spend any time in Grand Marais? And if so- did you find the donut shop?
I recall the name of the town, but can't place it. My husband has been up there more often than I have. I'm going to ask him. The donuts are truly unforgettable or something? |
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susquesus
Mad Hermit of the North Woods
USA
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September 03 2003
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POLL: Favorite Way to Camp
