_Night is a dead monotonous period under a roof;
but in the open world it passes lightly with its
stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are
marked by changes in the face of Nature. What
seems a kind of death to people choked between
walls and curtains, is only a light and living
slumber to the man who sleeps a-field. All night
long he can hear Nature breathing deeply and
freely; even as she takes her rest, she turns and
smiles; and there is one stirring hour unknown to
those who dwell in houses, when a wakeful
influence goes abroad over the sleeping
hemisphere, and all the outdoor world are on their
feet. It is then that the cock first crows, not
this time to announce the dawn, but like a
cheerful watchman speeding the course of night.
Cattle awake on the meadows; sheep break their
fast on dewy hillsides, and change to a new lair
among the ferns; and houseless men, who have lain
down with the fowls, open their dim eyes and
behold the beauty of the night._
_At what inaudible summons, at what gentle touch
of Nature, are all these sleepers thus recalled in
the the same hour to life? Do the stars rain down
an influence, or do we share some thrill of mother
earth below our resting bodies?... Towards two in
the morning ... the thing takes place._
_Robert Louis Stevenson_
_From "Travels With a Donkey."_
Woodcraft in the beginning was the first science of man. As applied to
camping we most frequently think of it as anything which pertains to the
woods or forests and as a turning away from the more artificial side of
camping, and as in pioneer times learning to do everything ourselves,
which is after all the keynote of real joy in camping.
[Illustration: THE LEAN-TO GOING UP]
To acquaint ourselves with the woods we can begin with our immediate
surroundings. Short walks to search for flowers or ferns and to know the
different varieties of trees, or early morning trips to a bit of swamp
land where we can study the coloring and habits of birds or sit quietly
while patiently listening to distinguish them by their songs.
We can lie out on the grass when the stars have come out, and study the
heavens or take trips at night with an experienced woodsman, who perhaps
shows us that Nature by night is very often different from Nature by
day, or of how we can find a trail through a dense wood by the light of
a star--the North Star.
Woodcraft includes what we may merely for convenience classify as
campcraft, which is to know all there is to know about camping in the
open.
For most purposes a good knowledge of how to make out-door fires; (both
from the standpoint of heat and the kind of food to be cooked) cooking;
trailing; and how to make and break a camp, are sufficient.
Beginners in this lore would do well to get a thorough knowledge of
campcraft by going about it one step at a time. For instance, it is
advisable to confine oneself to short trips at first and learn about the
sensing of directions, trail cutting and blazing, cooking, pitching
tents or building lean-tos; thus taking the various branches which are
preparatory to the actual experience and real adventure of a camping-out
party, and it is then and there that our real knowledge is tested.
The topics to be considered either when learning about campcraft or when
actually doing it, are briefly:
1. _Trip Planning_
Use of maps
Provisions
Clothing
Railroad connections
2. _Trail Making_
Survey for trail
Blazing trail
Cutting a trail
3. _Selection of Camp Site_
Location as to supply of fuel, water and fairly high,
well-drained land.
Shelters, tents or lean-tos
Bed-making
[Illustration: The complete lean-to, showing fire place, wood pile and
table to right. Cache is in back.]
4. _Camp Discipline_
Working squad
Toilet facilities
Exploration parties
The basis for quite a comprehensive knowledge of woodcraft in all its
branches, camping and Nature Study, is to be found in the Girl Scout
Handbook, "Scouting for Girls."