Permanent Camp. Lean-To. Open Camp
Another kind of lean-to intended for a permanent camp is in general use throughout the Adirondacks. It is built of substantial good-sized logs put together log-cabin fashion, with open front, slanting roof, and low back ([Fig. 20]). This shelter has usually a board floor raised a few inches above the ground and covered thick, at least a foot deep, with balsam. Overspread with blankets, the soft floor forms a comfortable bed. A log across the front of the floor keeps the balsam in place and forms a seat for the campers in the evenings when gathered for a social time before the fire. The roof of the log lean-to can be either of boards or well-thatched poles which have first been overlaid with bark.
Dining-tent, handy racks, and log bedstead.
One of the most comfortable and delightful of real forest camps which I have ever been in, was a permanent camp in the Adirondacks owned and run by one of the best of Adirondack guides. The camp consisted of several shelters and two big permanent fireplaces.
Over the ground space for the large tent outlined with logs was a strong substantial rustic frame, built of material at hand in the forest and intended to last many seasons ([Fig. 21]). The shelter boasted of two springy, woodsy beds, made of slender logs laid crosswise and raised some inches from the ground. These slender logs slanted down slightly from head to foot of the bed, and the edges of the bed were built high enough to hold the deep thick filling of balsam tips, so generously deep as to do away with all consciousness of the underlying slender-log foundation ([Fig. 22]). Each bed was wide enough for two girls and the shelter ample to accommodate comfortably four campers. There could have been one more bed, when the tent would have sheltered six girls.
In the late fall, the guide removed the water-proof tent covering and kept it in a safe, dry place until needed, leaving the beds and bare tent frame standing.
There was a smaller tent and also a lean-to in this camp.