Outdoor Sports and Games

by Claude Harris Miller

You had better make sure of your camping ground before you go by writing a letter to the owner of the land. It isn’t much fun after we have pitched the tent and made everything shipshape to have some angry landowner come along and order us off because we are trespassers.

In selecting a place to camp, there are several very important things to look out for.

1. Be sure you are near a supply of drinking water. A spring or a brook is best, but even the lake or river will do if the water is pure and clean. The water at the bottom of a lake is always much colder and cleaner than the surface water. When I was a boy, I used a simple device for getting cold water which some of you may like to copy. I took an old-fashioned jug and fastened a strong string to the handle and also fastened this string to the cork of the jug as the drawing shows. The jug was weighted so that it would sink, by means of a piece of stone tied to the handle. We used to go out to the middle of the lake where the water was the deepest and lower the jug over the side of a boat. When it reached bottom we would give the string a sharp tug and thus pull out the cork. The bubbles coming to the surface showed us when the jug was full. We then hauled it on board and had clear, cold, drinking water from a lake that on the surface was warm enough for swimming.

The jug by which we obtained pure, cold water

2. The next important thing in selecting a camp is being near a supply of firewood. A week in camp will consume an amazing amount of wood, especially if we have a camp fire at night to sit around and sing and tell stories before turning in. In most sections there is plenty of dead wood that we can use for camp fires. This does not mean a lot of twigs and brush. There is no use trying to go camping unless some one knows how to use an axe. In another chapter I will tell you something about the proper use of axes and hatchets. For the present it is sufficient to say that an excellent place to practise handling an axe is on the family woodpile. You will thus combine business and pleasure, and your efforts will be appreciated by your family, which would not be the case if, like George Washington, you began your lessons in woodcraft on the favourite cherry tree.

Almost any kind of wood will burn when it is dry, but it takes experience to know the kinds of trees that will burn when they are green. If there is no dry wood in the neighbourhood, and we are obliged to cut a tree down to get our supply, it is very important to pitch our camp somewhere near the right kind of a tree and not be obliged to carry our firewood a long distance. The best “green wood” for the campers’ fire is hickory, although birch is excellent. Hickory is also the best dry wood. Other trees that will burn well when green are cedar, white ash, locust or white oak. There are comparatively few places, however, where dry wood is not available and of course it is always best to avoid such a place.

3. The camp site should be in a fairly open spot. Thick woods and underbrush are either hot or “damp” cool. If you can find a site that is shaded during the heat of the day so much the better. It is unwise to pitch the tent under a tree that stands alone on account of possible danger from lightning. If your tent is shaded by a tree be sure there are no dead limbs to blow off and wreck it during a storm.

Be sure that the drainage is good, so that in case of heavy rains, the water will run off and not flood the camp. It is very important if your camp is along some river or stream to be high enough to avoid the danger of sudden floods. This can usually be determined by talking to some one who knows the country. You can also tell it by studying the previous high water marks in the trees. In case of floods there are always some wisps of straw, pieces of brush, etc., caught and held by the limbs of trees after the water settles back to its former level. It is a good chance to practise your woodcraft by trying to find them.

Damp locations are very bad. The higher we can get, the drier it will be. We avoid both fogs and mosquitoes. Usually there is some prominent place that will give us a good outlook and where the breezes can reach us.