Part 17 (2/2)

The Pack

The most practical and inexpensive pack is the one manufactured for the Boy Scouts of America. Price, sixty cents. It is about 14 by 20 inches square, and 6 inches thick, made of water-proof canvas, with shoulder straps, and will easily hold everything needed for a tramping trip.

A few simple remedies for bruises, cuts, etc., should be taken along by the leader (see chapter on ”Simple Remedies”). You may not need them, and some may poke fun at them, but as the old lady said: ”You can't always sometimes tell.” Amount and kind of provisions must be determined by the locality and habitation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hiking Pack]

The ”Lean-to”

Reach the place where you are going to spend the night in plenty of time to build your ”lean-to,” and make your bed for the night. Select your camping spot, with reference to water, wood, drainage, and material for your ”lean-to.” Choose a dry, level place, the ground just sloping enough to insure the water running away from your ”lean-to” in case of rain. In building your ”lean-to,” look for a couple of good trees standing from eight to ten feet apart with branches from six to eight feet above the ground. By studying the ill.u.s.tration below, you will be able to build a very serviceable shack, affording protection from the dews and rain. While two or more boys are building the shack, another should be gathering firewood, and preparing the meal, while another should be cutting and bringing in as many soft, thick tips of hemlock or balsam boughs as possible, for the roof of the shack and the beds. How to thatch the ”lean-to” is shown in this ill.u.s.tration.

If the camp site is to be used for several days, two ”lean-tos” may be built facing each other, about six feet apart. This will make a very comfortable camp, as a small fire can be built between the two, thus giving warmth and light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Frame of Lean To]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Method of Thatching.]

The Bed

On the floor of your ”lean-to” lay a thick layer of the ”fans” or branches of balsam fir or hemlock, with the convex side up, and the b.u.t.ts of the stems toward the foot of the bed. Now thatch this over with more ”fans” by thrusting the b.u.t.t ends through the first layer at a slight angle toward the head of the bed, so that the soft tips will curve toward the foot of the bed, and be sure to make the head of your bed away from the opening of the ”lean-to” and the foot toward the opening. Over this bed spread your rubber blanket with rubber side down, your sleeping blanket on top, and you will be surprised how soft, springy, and fragrant a bed you have, upon which to rest your ”weary frame,” and sing with the poet:

Then the pine boughs croon me a lullaby, And trickle the white moonbeams To my face on the balsam where I lie While the owl hoots at my dreams.

-J. George Frederick.

What G.o.d puts in the blood is eliminated slowly and we are all impregnated with a love for the natural life which is irresistible. That was a great saying of the boy who was taken from the city for the first time on an all-night outing. Snugly tucked up in his blankets he heard the wind singing in the pines overhead. As the boy looked up, he asked, ”Wasn't G.o.d blowing His breath down at us?”--Dr. Lilburn.

Hot Stones

If the night bids fair to be cold, place a number of stones about six or eight inches in diameter next the fire, so they will get hot. These can then be placed at the feet, back, etc., as needed, and will be found good ”bed warmers.” When a stone loses its heat it is replaced near the fire and a hot one is taken. If too hot, wrap the stone in a s.h.i.+rt or sweater or wait for it to cool off.

Night Watchers

Boys desire adventure. This desire may be gratified by the establishment of night watchers, in relays of two boys every two hours. Their imaginations will be stirred by the resistless attraction of the camp-fire and the sound of the creatures that creep at night.

Observation

Many boys have excellent eyes but see not, and good ears but hear not, all because they have not been trained to observe or to be quick to hear. A good method of teaching observation while on a hike or tramp is to have each boy jot down in a small notebook or diary of the trip the different kinds of trees, birds, animals, tracks; nature of roads, fences; peculiar rock formation, smells of plants, etc., and thus be able to tell what he saw or heard to the boys upon his return to the permanent camp or to his home.

Cameras

One of the party should take a Brownie No. 2 or small folding kodak.

Photos of the trip are always a great pleasure and a memory reviver. A practical and convenient method of carrying small folding cameras is described in ”Forest and Stream.” A strap with a buckle having been attached to an ordinary leather belt is run through the loops at the back of the camera-case. The camera may be pushed around the belt to the point where it will be least in the way.

Lamps

A very convenient lamp to use on a hike is the Baldwin Camp Lamp, made by John Simmons Co., 13 Franklin Street, New York City. (Price, $1.00.) It weighs only five ounces when fully charged with carbide, and is but 4-3/4 inches high. It projects a strong light 150 feet through the woods. A stiff wind will not blow it out. It can be worn comfortably in your hat or belt.

The ”Rocky Mountain Searchlight,” made of a discarded tomato can, a candle, and a bit of wire for a handle, is a camp product that will be found to be very useful in an emergency.

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