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Activites

Bird Watching

Summary: A few years ago we purchased a book to help us identify birds. This was one of the most magical books we have found.

Day Hiking

Summary: Day hiking leaves far behind the stress of the everyday world. The sea of taillights ahead of you on the interstate is replaced by the vastness of the wilderness.

Fishing

Summary: I’ve been an avid fisherman since my youth. My parent’s love for camping led me to take up fishing.

Joys of Camping

Summary: When I’m at work or when I was in school, I always enjoyed looking out the window. I checked out the mountain tops for places to explore.

Photography

Summary: Camping provides a prime opportunity to take photos. You are already in the right place at the right time.

Wildlife

Summary: Camping puts you inside the world of wildlife. At dusk and dawn most wild animals are more easily seen.

Clothing

Camp Clothing

Summary: Layering clothing permits you to be warm in a wide range of temperature and climates. A wicking layer of long underwear worn under a protective outer layer provides the body extra warmth.

Footwear

Summary: Socks perform three vital functions. First, they cushion the feet from the shocks and the abrasions due to hiking; second, they wick sweat away from the feet keeping them dry; and third, they provide warmth and comfort.

Equipment

Backpacks

Summary: Backpacks are essential for carrying lots of equipment on a day hike or on a week long expedition. The external frame backpack is a classic hiking carryall.

Day Packs

Summary: It doesn’t make sense to carry a full pack on a day hike. The extra weight and bulk of the pack would become a burden.

Lumbar Packs

Summary: These are ideal for day hiking in warm weather with little gear. Lumbar packs come in a variety of sizes and conveniently carry the essential items.

Destination

Alpine Camping

Summary: The mountain terrain is an exhilarating place to camp. The four seasons cast their shadows uniquely in the Alpine environment.

Campgrounds

Summary: In this public campground you can spend the night in an already erected teepee. This may be an enjoyable experience for the entire family, especially the children.

Desert Camping

Summary: Deserts provide some strikingly beautiful landscapes. The harshness of the hot dry climate can be scenic.

High Desert Camping

Summary: The high desert furnishes a wide variety of camping opportunities which are close to many of us out in the American West. The high deserts are plentiful in every western state.

Rain Forests

Summary: Rain forests are unique environments. This rain forest is Cape Lookout out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Winter Camping

Summary: The two most important things to take on a winter camp are an adequate shelter and a warm sleeping system. I have pitched my North Face with its 100% bathtub floor on top of the snow cover.

Hazards

Snakes

Summary: Each year there are about 8000 poisonous snake bites in the United States. Only about ten are fatal.

Mountain Lions

Summary: Seeing wildlife when on a camp out can be a real highlight of your adventure. These sightings can be a real treat but can also be dangerous.

Bears

Summary: The chances of meeting a bear when you are hiking is extremely rare. In my 53 years of experience, I’ve encountered one bear in the 1960’s and another bear in the 1970’s.

Personal Security

Summary: I love to backpack and fish. When I was younger, I was an avid hunter.

Insects

Summary: Chiggers are known as red bugs. They are the larva of harvest mites.

Health

Health and Fitness

Summary: For the last fifty-three years, I’ve noticed a pattern in my level of fitness. When the first winter snow falls, I’m trimmer and much fitter than when the last winter storm occurs.

Personal Hygiene

Summary: Taking advantage of streams and lakes for a quick dip is all right, but don’t use a water source that you think someone will be using for drinking water, and don’t take a soapy bath. If you want to bathe or do laundry, carry water a safe distance away from the shoreline.

Physical Conditioning

Summary: It’s better to prevent injuries than to experience and treat them. Before my backpacking season I work out for four to six weeks.

Treating Injuries

Summary: Injuries are treated with RICE. R stands for rest; I is for ice; C is for compression, and E is for elevation.

RV and SUV Camping

RV Camping

Summary: RV camping allows you to bring all the convenience of home. The preferred campsite for an RV comes complete with power, water and sewer hookups.

Truck Camping

Summary: I have a GMC four-wheel drive pickup truck with an off-road package and carpet kit for the shell that I like to use for truck camping. With it I can four-wheel drive into some very remote camp sites.

Skills

Campfire Starting

Summary: This is an ideal place to safely make a campfire. I’m making this fire in an existing fire ring.

Map and Compass

Summary: My preferred map is a U.S. Geological survey contour map.

G.P.S. Global Positioning System

Summary: After the map and compass use has been mastered the next step is coordinating this with a GPS unit.

Ultra-Light Camp Food

Summary: On many weekend trips I opt to go ultra-light. I can survive on a diet of pecans, almonds, Reese’s Pieces or M&M’s.

Water

Summary: When I started backpacking in the 1950’s, I knew nothing about waterborne illnesses. But I did know to search out a water source to fill my army surplus canteen.

First Aid Supplies

Tenting

Base Camp

Summary: For a base camp I like to bring lots of equipment. At my cooking station I have a two burner gas stove that’s fueled from propane bottles.

One Person Tent Camping

Summary: I want to demonstrate one of my favorite one person tent shelters. This tent is made by Walrus; in it I have slept warmly in a heavy snowstorm.

Two Person Tent Camping

Summary: An external frame pack is designed to carry heavy loads. This pack is made by Janz Sport.

Tarp Camping

Summary: This is my lightest backpacking system. The pack is made by Go-Lite.

Weather

Hot Weather Problems

Summary: Our Center for Disease Control reports that excessive heat causes more fatalities than lightning, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are the three primary hot weather health problems.

Cold Weather Problems

Summary: Hypothermia is a subtle malady that can become fatal. It’s a dangerous reduction in the core temperature of the body.