Everyday Nature: Camping
The Great Outdoors
What do you think of when you think of camping? Maybe it’s pitching a tent in your parents’ backyard, or staying in a cabin, or driving in your parents’ RV or camper to the state or national parks… or taking a week long trip with your Girl or Boy Scout troop on the Appalachian or Pacific Crest trails. Camping is all of this and more!
Possibly you have never been camping. And possibly you go every week with your scout troop. Whatever your level of experience, there’s always more to learn. As the most experienced of woodsmen knows, this is one trail that need not have any final destination!
We’ve listed a number of different kinds of camping. Obviously there’s a lot of difference between camping in an RV at a public campground and camping with a tent and backpack in the “back country.” How can all these different things be camping? What is camping?
Camping is sleeping away from home, outdoors, in a way that somehow makes you feel closer to nature. Some forms of camping will get you closer to nature than others, but that doesn’t make any of them better than the rest. How many of the comforts of home do you find important to take with you? How close to nature is too close for you? How much are you ready for? These are some of the questions you need to ask when you are planning a camping trip.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.
— Henry David Thoreau, WALDEN
Some Guidelines for Camping
No matter what form your camping may take, all camping comes down to a common philosophy. Sometimes you may hear it called “Leave no Trace”, sometimes “Pack In, Pack Out”.
We go to the woods because we find the woods beautiful, and because we often feel disconnected from nature in our modern world. But it is very easy to love the woods to death! Our most popular national parks receive millions of visitors each year. It is inevitable, then, that the forest will look a little the worse for wear! But there are a number of things we can do to minimize our impact.
We can keep our campfires small, or better yet, fore go a campfire entirely and use a portable stove. We can remember to take all of our trash away with us, and “tidy up” our campsite before we leave. When we do need to leave waste behind, “when nature calls”, we remember to bury it at least four inches deep, where animals can’t so easily reach it. A small plastic trowel is a very handy tool for doing this!
When we walk in the woods, we can stay on the path and avoid creating our own shortcuts. Our guiding concern is to leave no sign that we have passed this way. If we treat the forest with respect, then it will still be there for our children, and for our children’s children.
Camping Safety
If the forest can be breathtakingly beautiful, it can also be harsh and uncompromising.
Unless we have our camper nearby, we can’t simply go inside when it starts to rain or when the wind starts to blow too bitterly cold. Unlike our homes, nature is not climate controlled. If we forgot to bring along a sweatshirt or a rain jacket, if our tent has a leak we forgot to patch, that is our problem. Nature does not care.
Nature can be unforgiving, too. If we are foolish enough to go swimming in a lake or walking across an open field during a thunderstorm, then we run the risk of being struck by lightning. If we try to climb up a steep rock face and we slip, nature will not catch us.
All of this may sound like common sense. Most of the time it should be. But even experienced people make mistakes. One experienced camper we know was crossing a swiftly moving stream, about 20 feet across. Three times he fell down in the water and had trouble getting up again. Any of those times he might have been swept away on the current.
Camping doesn’t need to be dangerous at all, so long as, once again, we treat the forest with respect. Don’t go camping on your own, and don’t wander off on your own. Always let someone know where you are. Carry a first aid kit with you. Be prepared for sudden changes of weather. With these simple precautions protecting you, you’ll have a great time!
Learn More!
Online Resources
- Kids and Camping
A great set of pointers on how to help children get the most out of their camping experiences.
- Go Camping America – Kid’s Page
Another set of pointers on how to go camping with your children.
- The Canoe Camper – Canoe Camping with Kids
An absolutely terrific site with information on safety, food, etc. Good as a general camping reference, and it shows how young is never too young if you do it right.
- Camping Fanatic
Tips on pre-trip planning, cooking, safety, snakes, insects, etc., with a good archive of camping stories, a place where you can compare your experiences.
- Kids & Camping… Do They Mix?
An editorial that gives an enthusiastic “yes”!
- American Camping Association
Home page of the association of summer camps.
Books
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LESSON 8:
Backpacking and Long-distance Hiking
Concepts:
Your children will be introduced to one rather extreme form of camping, long-distance hiking.
Lesson:
Perhaps you’ve already gone on a long-distance hike with their scout troop for a week. Or perhaps in this lesson the germ of an idea will be planted for you to try it out someday! We will discuss long-distance hiking mainly in the context of the Appalachian Trail, a 2,170-mile footpath that stretches along the eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. It follows the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.
Each spring some 4,000 or more hikers start out from Georgia intending to hike the entire path to Maine in one season. About one in ten of them make it, taking an average of four to six months. The ages of these “thru-hikers” range from people just finishing high school to retirees.
In addition, many school, scout and church groups use the trail for weeklong hikes in popular areas like Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Over three million people visit the Appalachian Trail each year.
There are other long-distance paths besides the Appalachian Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through California, Oregon and Washington on its way from the Mexican border to Canada. A little way to the east, the Continental Divide Trail follows the crest of the Rocky Mountains. Cutting across the top of the United States from New York to North Dakota is the North Country Trail.
In addition to these “granddaddies” of long-distance hiking paths, there are short- to medium-distance paths all over the country, suitable for a weekend or weeklong hike. You can probably find some not far from your neighborhood!
Long-distance hiking has a few considerations to add to the ones we’ve discussed above. Weight is a major one: the usual rule-of-thumb is never to try carrying a backpack that weighs more than a third of what you weigh. A quarter is a better target to aim for. What would your “maximum backpack weight” be?
If you are going to be on the trail for more than a weekend, you need to consider how you will restock your food. It’s unlikely that you can carry more than a few days’ worth at a time. You need to think about equipment wearing out, and what you can do to replace it.
Long-distance hikers will tell you, though, that the greatest obstacle to a really good long-distance hike is the mental one. Hiking a 2,000-mile path like the “AT” requires a major commitment to carry you through the inevitable bad days, when the rain has not stopped for a week or your feet have blisters on their blisters or you get to the trail shelter for the night only to find it full.
Use the Internet to research the answers to this ‘Appalachian Trail questionnaire’ about the history and legacy of the Appalachian Trail.
1. On what mountains will you find the southern and northern endpoints of the Appalachian Trail? Since the trail begins and ends on the top of a mountain, how do you get to it?
2. The Appalachian Trail originally was to end on what 6,500-foot mountain in New Hampshire, home to a famous cog railway?
3. Where does the Appalachian Trail cross the Susquehanna River? How does one get across the Kennebec River in Maine?
4. What will you find spaced about every seven miles along the Appalachian Trail to provide overnight accommodation?
5. What organization is charged with the oversight of the Appalachian Trail? Who actually maintains the trail?
6. The Appalachian Trail is itself a unit of the National Park System. What National Parks does it pass through?
7. What was the act of Congress that designated the Appalachian Trail as a National Scenic Trail and led to federal funding to protect the trail, by buying tracts of land from the private landowners over whose land the trail passed?
8. Who is credited with coming up with the idea for the Appalachian Trail? When did the Appalachian Trail begin construction?
9. The Appalachian Trail incorporated part of what pre-existing long distance footpath in Vermont?
10. Who was the first person to “thru-hike” the Appalachian Trail in a single season? How many people in total have “thru-hiked” it?
11. What is “Rusty’s Hardtime Hollow,” and where will you find it?
12. Appalachian Trail hikers have a language all of their own. What is “trail magic”? What is a “blue blazer”? What is a “mail drop”? What is a “ridge runner”?
13. Are mountain bikes allowed on the Appalachian Trail? Are dogs allowed?
14. Appalachian Trail hikers sometimes talk of hiking the “Triple Crown”. What do they mean?
15. What does it mean to ford a river? In what state do Appalachian Trail hikers need to ford rivers?
Answers
1. The southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail is on the summit of Springer Mountain in Georgia. The northern terminus is on the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine. Because both ends of the trail lie in remote areas, you must reach them by access trails. The southern terminus is reached by an access trail from Amicalola Falls State Park. The northern terminus is reached by access trails from Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park.
2. The trail was originally planned to end on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The trail through the White Mountains here passes above the treeline for a dozen miles along the Presidential Ridge.
3. The Appalachian Trail passes through the town of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and crosses a highway bridge over the Susquehanna River at Clark’s Ferry before climbing Peter’s Mountain. To get across the Kennebec River in Maine, you need to use a boat. A free ferry service is provided from mid-May to mid-October.
4. Trail shelters, usually three-sided shelters known as “Adirondack shelters”.
5. The Appalachian Trail Conference, headquartered in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The trail is maintained by members of more than 30 local Appalachian Trail clubs that belong to the Appalachian Trail Conference and by week-long volunteer work crews that work on the trail each summer.
6. The Appalachian Trail passes through Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina/Tennessee and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. It also passes through Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania.
7. The National Scenic Trails Act, passed in 1968 and signed by President Lyndon Johnson.
8. The idea for an Appalachian Trail was first proposed by federal employee Benton MacKaye, who wrote about it in a journal article in 1921. The first portion of the footpath was opened in Bear Mountain State Park in October 1923.
9. The Appalachian Trail made use of the southern 100 miles of the Long Trail in Vermont. The Long Trail, begun in 1912, is the oldest long-distance footpath in the United States. It runs from the Massachusetts border to the summit of Mount Jay on the Canadian border.
10. Earl Schaffer of Pennsylvania, who passed away in May 2002 at the age of 84. A veteran of World War II, he hiked the path from end-to-end in 1948. According to official records at the Appalachian Trail Conference, 6,500 hikers have reported hiking the entire trail, either in one season or over several seasons.
11. Rusty’s Hardtime Hollow is a hiker hostel located near the Appalachian Trail, near Waynesboro, Virginia. Although accommodations are rustic (no electricity, no phone), they are a considerable step up from the three-sided trail shelters that hikers are used to. Hikers drop in for a night and often stay for a week!
12. Trail Magic. From FAQ and Gear List: “When something great and unexpected happens out here, we call it trail magic. Thru hikers from past years like to surprise us with sodas, food, or even rides to town. Today we met an older man named Pops who was trying to walk off a heart problem. I had been craving an ice cold Coca-cola all day, but the nearest town was 5 miles down the mountain. Pops offered us a ride in his truck and even took us back up to the trailhead after we picked up a huge meal at Burger King. He told me that if he could live long enough, he’d like to ‘start from Springer Mountain and see how far I can go.’ I wished him the best of luck and we hiked on.”
Blue Blazer. No, it’s not a piece of clothing! From Wondergimp’s Appalachian Trail Journey: “Blue-Blazer: Someone who takes easier trails to bypass going over all of the mountains on the AT…. Most side trails on the AT are blazed ‘blue’.” (The Appalachian Trail itself is marked with white blazes.)
Mail Drop: A place, usually a post office, where you have arranged in advance to collect food and other supplies.
Ridgerunner: A caretaker for a section of the trail, usually hired as a summer employee by one of the partner organizations that manage the trail. From Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club’s FAQ: “Ridgerunners hike assigned sections of the A.T., meet and greet hikers, provide trail brochures and literature to inform those unfamiliar with the Trail about the A.T., its location, regulations and traditions, and take steps to encourage the best behavior on the part of hikers.”
13. Mountain bikes are not allowed on the Appalachian Trail, which is a footpath. Dogs are allowed, except for Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina/Tennessee), Baxter State Park (Maine), and parts of Bear Mountain State Park (New York).
14. The “Triple Crown” means hiking the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail: all three. So far only a few dozen hikers have completed the Triple Crown, and only one hiker has done it in a single year!
15. To “ford” a river is literally to walk across (or rather through!) it. In the southern part of the Appalachian Trail, all of the rivers and streams have bridges. But in Maine, most of the rivers and streams must be forded.
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