CAMPING
=Camp Sites. Water. Wood. Tents. Shelters. Lean-Tos. Fires. Cooking.
Safety and Protection. Sanitation. Camp Spirit.=
=Information=
Whether your camp is to be for one day, one week, or a longer period of
time, the first question to be decided is: "Where shall we go?" If you
know of no suitable spot, inquire of friends, and even if they have not
personally enjoyed the delights of camping and sleeping in the open, one
or more of them will probably know of some acquaintance who will be glad
to give the information. Write to the various newspapers, magazines,
railroads, and outdoor societies for suggestions. The Geological Survey
of the United States at Washington, D. C., will furnish maps giving
location and extent of forests and water-ways, also location and
character of roads; you can obtain the maps for almost any part of every
State. Most public automobile houses supply maps of any desired region.
Send letters of inquiry to these sources of information, and in this way
you will probably learn of many "just the right place" localities.
Select a number of desirable addresses, investigate them, and make your
own choice of location, remembering that the first three essentials for
a camp are good ground, water, and wood; the rest is easy, for these
three form the foundation for camping.
=Location=
Wherever you go, choose a dry spot, preferably in an open space near
wooded land. Avoid hollows where the water will run into your shelters
in wet weather; let your camp be so located that in case of rain the
water will drain down away from it. Remember this or you may find your
camp afloat upon a temporary lake or swamp should a storm arise.
=Water=
Pure drinking water you _must_ have, it is of _vital_ importance, so be
sure to pitch your camp within near walking distance of a good spring, a
securely covered well, or other supply of pure water.
Henry David Thoreau's method of obtaining clear water from a pond whose
surface was covered with leaves, etc., was to push his pail, without
tipping it in the least, straight down under the water until the top
edge was below the surface several inches, then quickly lift it out; in
doing this the overflow would carry off all leaves and twigs, leaving
the remaining water in the pail clear and good. But you must first be
sure that the pond contains pure water under the floating débris.
Always be cautious about drinking water from rivers, streams, ponds, and
lakes though they may appear ever so clear and tempting, for the purity
is by no means assured, and to drink from these sources may cause
serious illness. Unless you are absolutely sure that water is free from
impurities, _boil it_; then it will be safe to use for drinking and
cooking.
Next in importance to good water is good fire-wood and woodsy material
for shelters and beds. Bear this in mind when deciding upon the site for
your camp.
=Companions=
Because your companions can make or mar the happiness in camp, it is
safer to have in your party only those girls who will take kindly to the
camp spirit of friendly helpfulness, those always ready to laugh and
treat discomforts as jokes. This means that though fun-loving and full
of buoyancy and life, each girl will willingly do her part and assume
her share of responsibilities.
=Safeguarding=
You should also count among your companions two or more camp
directors--possibly mothers of the girls, teachers, or older friends of
whom the parents approve--who will enter heartily into all phases of
outdoor life and while really being one with you in sport and work, will
at the same time keep careful oversight and assure protection.
Avoid localities where there is a possibility of tramps or undesirable
characters of any description, and do not wander from camp alone or
unaccompanied by one of the directors. If your camp is in the forest it
will be the part of wisdom to secure also a reliable guide who knows the
forest ways.
=The Start=
The day before you leave for your camping-ground, have everything in
readiness that there may be no delay when it is time to go. Be prompt,
for you want to play fair and not keep the other girls waiting, causing
them to lose valuable time.
The stimulating exhilaration which comes with trailing through the
forests to camp, the keen delight of adventure, the charm of the
wilderness, the freedom and wonder of living in the woods, all make for
the health and happiness of the girl camper, and once experienced, ever
after with the advent of spring comes the call of the untrammelled life
in the big outdoors.
=The One-Day Camp=
Even a one-day camp fills the hours with more genuine lasting enjoyment
than girls can find in other ways; there is a charm about it which
clings in your memory, making a joy, later, of the mere thought and
telling of the event.
That every moment of the day may be filled full of enjoyment for all,
have a good programme, some definite, well-thought-out plan of
activities and sports previously prepared, and if possible let every
girl know beforehand just what she is to do when all arrive at camp.
With an older person in charge, the party could be divided, according to
its size, into different groups, and as soon as the grounds are reached
the groups should begin the fun of preparing for the camp dinner.
If the party consists of eight, two can gather fire-wood, two build the
fireplace, two unpack the outfits, placing the provisions and cooking
utensils in order conveniently near the fire, and two can bring the
drinking water and cooking water.
Provisions and cooking utensils should be divided into as many packs as
there are campers, and every camper carry a pack. Count in the outfit
for each one a tin cup, preferably with open handle for wearing over
belt.
In the one-day camp very few cooking utensils are needed; they may
consist of two tin pails, one for drinking water, the other for boiling
water, one coffee-pot for cocoa, one frying-pan for flapjacks or eggs,
one large kitchen knife for general use, and one large spoon for
stirring batter and cocoa.
=Camp Dinner=
Counting on a keen outdoor appetite for wholesome substantials, the
provision list includes only plain fare, such as: Lamb chops, or thinly
sliced bacon packed in oil-paper. Dry cocoa to which sugar has been
added, carried in can or stout paper bag. One can of condensed milk,
unsweetened, to be diluted with water according to directions on can.
Butter in baking-powder can. Dry flour mixed with salt and baking-powder
in required proportions for flapjacks, packed in strong paper bag and
carried in one of the tin pails. Bread in loaf wrapped in wax-paper.
Potatoes washed and dried ready to cook, packed in paper bag or carried
in second tin pail. Pepper and salt each sealed in separate marked
envelopes; when needed, perforate paper with big pin and use envelopes
as shakers. One egg for batter, buried in the flour to prevent breaking,
and one small can of creamy maple sugar, soft enough to spread on hot
cakes, or a can of ordinary maple syrup.
=The Clean-Up=
While resting after dinner is the time for story-telling; then, before
taking part in sports of any kind, every particle of débris, even small
bits of egg-shell and paper, should be gathered up and burned until not
a vestige remains. To be "good sports," thought must be taken for the
next comers and the camping-ground left in perfect order, absolutely
free from litter or débris of any kind.
When breaking camp be _sure_ to soak the fire with water again and
again. It is criminal to leave any coals or even a spark of the fire
smouldering.
Be _positive_ that the _fire is out_.
[Illustration: A permanent camp.]
=Shelters and Tents. Lean-To=
For a fixed camp of longer or shorter duration your home will be under
the shelter of boughs, logs, or canvas. The home of green boughs is
considered by many the ideal of camp shelters. This you can make for
yourself. It is a simple little two-sided, slanting roof and back and
open-front shed, made of the material of the woods and generally known
as a lean-to, sometimes as Baker tent when of canvas.
There are three ways of erecting the front framework.
The first is to find two trees standing about seven feet apart with
convenient branches down low enough to support the horizontal top cross
pole when laid in the crotches. Lacking the proper trees, the second
method is to get two strong, straight, forked poles of green wood and
drive them down into the ground deep enough to make them stand firm and
upright by themselves the required distance apart. The third way is to
reinforce the uprights by shorter forked stakes driven firmly into the
ground and braced against the uprights, but this is not often necessary.
Having your uprights in place, extending above ground five feet or more,
lay a top pole across, fitting its ends into the forked tops of the
uprights. Against this top pole rest five or six slender poles at
regular distances apart, one end of each against the top pole and the
other end on the ground slanting outward and backward sufficiently to
give a good slope and allow sleeping space beneath. At right angles to
the slanting poles, lay across them other poles, using the natural pegs
or stumps left on the slanting poles by lopped-off branches, as braces
to hold the cross poles in place (Fig. 18).
[Illustration: 18
21 19
20
Outdoor shelters.]
When building the frame be sure to place the slanting poles so that
the little stumps left on them will turn _up_ and not down, that they
may hold the cross poles. Try to have spaces between cross poles as
regular as possible. A log may be rolled up against the ground ends of
the slanting poles to prevent their slipping, though this is rarely
necessary, for they stand firm as a rule.
You can cover the frame with bark and then thatch it, which will render
the shelter better able to withstand a storm, or you may omit the bark,
using only the thatch as a covering. Put on very thick, this should make
the lean-to rain-proof.
With small tips of branches from trees, preferably balsam, hemlock, or
other evergreens, begin thatching your shelter. Commence at the bottom
of the lean-to, and hook on the thatch branches close together all the
way across the lowest cross pole, using the stumps of these thatch
branches as hooks to hold the thatch in place on the cross pole (Fig.
19). Overlap the lower thatches as you work along the next higher cross
pole, like shingles on a house, and continue in this way, overlapping
each succeeding cross pole with an upper row of thatch until the top is
reached. Fill in the sides thick with branches, boughs, or even small,
thick trees.
The lean-to frame can be covered with your poncho in case of necessity,
but boughs are much better.
=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.
[Illustration: 23 24
22
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.
[Illustration: A forest camp by the water.]
The dining-table, contrived of logs and boards, was sheltered by a
square of canvas on a rustic frame (Fig. 23). The camp dishes of white
enamel ware were kept in a wooden box, nailed to a close-by tree; in
this box the guide had put shelves, resting them on wooden cleats. The
cupboard had a door that shut tight and fastened securely to keep out
the little wild creatures of the woods. Pots, kettles, frying-pan, etc.,
hung on the stubs of a slender tree where branches and top had been
lopped off (Fig. 24). The sealed foods were stowed away in a box
cupboard, and canned goods were cached in a cave-like spot under a huge
rock, with opening secured by stones.
The walls of the substantial fireplace, fully two feet high, were of big
stones, the centre filled in part-way with earth, and the cook-fire was
made on top of the earth, so there was not the slightest danger of the
fire spreading.
The soft, warm, cheerful-colored camp blankets when not in use were
stored carefully under cover of a water-proof tent-like storehouse, with
the canvas sides dropped from the ridge-pole, both sides and flaps
securely fastened and the entire storehouse made proof against
intrusion.
This camp was located near a lake in the mountain forest and its charm
was indescribably delightful.
=Tents=
Tents in almost endless variety of shapes and sizes are manufactured and
sold by camp-outfitters and sporting-goods shops. The tents range from
small canoe-tents, accommodating one person only, to the large
wall-tents for four or more people. When using tents, difficulties of
transportation and extra weight can be overcome by having tent poles and
pegs cut in the forest.
If you purchase tents, full instructions for erection go with them.
Write for illustrated catalogues to various outfitters and look the
books over carefully before buying. Your choice will depend upon your
party, length of stay, and location of camp.
You may be able to secure a discarded army-tent that has never been
used, is in good condition, and has been condemned merely for some
unimportant blemish. Such tents are very serviceable and can be
purchased at Government auctions, or from dealers who themselves have
bought them from the Government.
[Illustration: In camp.]
A large square seven by seven feet, or more, of balloon silk,
water-proof cloth, or even heavy unbleached sheeting, will be found most
useful in camp. Sew strong tape strings at the four corners and at
intervals along the sides for tying to shelters, etc. The water-proof
cloth will serve as a drop-curtain in front of the lean-to during a hard
storm, or as carpet cloth over ground of shelter, also as an extra
shelter, either lean-to or tent style; any of the three materials can do
duty as windbreak, fly to shelter, or dining canopy, and may be used in
other ways.
=Camp-Beds=
To derive joy and strength from your outing it is of serious importance
that you sleep well every night while at camp, and your camp-bed must be
comfortable to insure a good night's rest.
A bough-bed is one of the joys of the forest when it is _well made_, and
to put it together properly will require about half an hour's time, but
the delight of sleeping on a soft balsam bed perfumed with the pungent
odors of the balsam will well repay for the time expended.
[Illustration: 25 26
The bough-bed, the cook-fire, and the wall-tent.]
=Bough-Bed=
Tips of balsam broken off with your fingers about fourteen inches long
make the best of beds, but hemlock, spruce, and other evergreens can be
used; if they are not obtainable, the fan-like branches from other trees
may take their place. Of these you will need a large quantity, in
order to have the bed springy and soft. Always place the outdoor bed
with the head well under cover and foot toward the opening of shelter,
or if without shelter, toward the fire. Make the bed by arranging the
branches shingle-like in _very_ thick overlapping rows, convex side up,
directly on the ground with _thick end_ of stems _toward_ the _foot_.
Push these ends into the ground so that the tips will be raised
slantingly up from the earth; make the rows which will come under the
hips extra thick and springy. Continue placing the layers in this manner
until the space for single or double bed, as the case may be, is covered
with the first layer of your green mattress. Over it make another layer
of branches, reversing the ends of these tips from those underneath by
pushing the _thick ends_ of branches of this top layer slantingly into
the under layer _toward_ the _head_ of the bed with tips toward the
foot. Make more layers, until the bed is about two feet thick (Fig. 25);
then cover the mattress thus made with your poncho, rubber side down,
and on top spread one of the sleeping blankets, using the other one as a
cover. Be sure to allow plenty of time for this work and have the bed
dry and soft.
=Bag-Bed=
When the camp is located where there is no material for a bough-bed,
each girl can carry with her a bag three feet wide and six and one-half
feet long, made of strong cloth, ticking, soft khaki, or like material,
to be filled with leaves, grass, or other browse found on or near the
camp-grounds. Such a mattress made up with poncho and blankets is very
satisfactory, but it must be well filled, so that when you lie on the
mattress it will not mash flat and hard.
=Cot-Bed=
For an entire summer camp army cots which fold for packing are good and
very comfortable with a doubled, thick quilt placed on top for a
mattress.
The sporting-goods stores show a great variety of other beds, cots, and
sleeping-bags, and a line to them will bring illustrated catalogues, or,
if in the city, you can call and see the goods.
Any of the beds I have described, however, can be used to advantage, and
I heartily endorse the _well-made_ bough-bed, especially if of balsam.
=Pillows=
Make a bag one-half yard square of brown linen or cotton cloth, and when
you reach camp, gather the best browse you can find for filling, but be
careful about having the pillow too full; keep it soft and comfortable.
If there is no browse, use clean underwear in its place. Fasten the open
end of the bag together with large-sized patent dress snappers.
One of the pleasantest phases of a season's camping are the little side
trips for overnight. You hit the trail that leads to the chosen spot
located some two or three, perhaps six or seven, miles distant; a place
absolutely dry, where you can enjoy the fun of sleeping on the ground
without shelter, having merely the starry sky for a canopy. Each girl
can select the spot where she is to sleep and free it from all twigs,
stones, etc., as the smallest and most insignificant of these will rob
her of sleep and make the night most uncomfortable. When the space is
smooth mark the spot where the shoulders rest when lying down and
another spot immediately under the hips, then dig a hollow for each to
fit in easily; cover the sleeping space with poncho, rubber side down,
and over this lay a folded blanket for a mattress, using the second
blanket as a cover. Your sleep will then probably be sound and
refreshing.
=Guards=
Establish watchers, for this temporary camp, in relays to keep guard
through the night and care for the fire, not allowing it to spread, grow
too hot, or die down and go out.
If there are eight in the party, the first two, starting in at 10 P. M.,
will keep vigil until 12 midnight. These may chance to see a porcupine
or other small wild animal, but the little creatures will not come too
near as long as your camp-fire is burning. The next two watchers will be
on duty until 2 A. M., and will doubtless hear, if not see, some of the
wild life of the forest. The third couple's turn lasts until 4 A. M.;
then the last two will be awakened in time to see the sun rise, listen
to the twittering and singing of the wild birds, and possibly catch a
glimpse of wild deer. With 6 A. M. comes broad daylight, and the
ever-to-be-remembered night in the open is past and gone.
These side trips bring you into closer touch with nature, quicken your
love for, and a desire to know more of, the wild; and, much to the
delight of the campers keeping guard through the hours of the night,
there comes a keen sense of the unusual, of novel experience, of
strangeness and adventure.
[Illustration: Soft wood.]
=Exercise=
While wholesome camping calls for sufficient physical exercise to cause
a girl to be blissfully tired at night, and yet awaken refreshed and
full of energy the next morning with a good appetite for breakfast,
until you become accustomed to the outdoor life, it is best to curb your
ambition to outdo the other girls in strength and endurance. It is best
not to overtax yourself by travelling too far on a long trail at one
stretch, or by lifting too heavy a log, stone, or other weight.
=The Camp-Fire=
The outdoor fire in camp bespeaks cheer, comfort, and possibilities for
a hot dinner, all of which the camper appreciates.
=How to Build a Fire=
Choose an open space, if possible, for your fire. Beware of having it
under tree branches, too near a tent, or in any other place that might
prove dangerous. Start your fire with the tinder nearest at hand, dry
leaves, ferns, twigs, cones, birch bark, or pine-knot slivers. As the
tinder begins to burn, add kindling-wood of larger size, always
remembering that the air must circulate under and upward through the
kindling; no fire can live without air any more than you can live
without breathing. Smother a person and he will die, smother a fire and
it will die.
[Illustration: Hard wood.]
Soft woods are best to use after lighting the tinder; they ignite easily
and burn quickly, such as pine, spruce, alder, birch, soft maple,
balsam-fir, and others. When the kindling is blazing put on still
heavier wood, until you have a good, steady fire. Hard wood is better
than soft when the fire is well going; it burns longer and can usually
be depended upon for a reliable fire, not sending out sparks or
sputtering, as do many of the soft woods, but burning well and giving a
fine bed of hot coals. The tree belonging exclusively to America, and
which is the best of the hardwoods, comes first on the hardwood list.
This is _hickory_. Pecan, chestnut-oak, black birch, basket-oaks, white
birch, maple, dogwood, beech, red and yellow birch, ash, and apple wood
when obtainable are excellent.
=Cook-Fire=
Make the cook-fire _small_ and _hot_; then you can work over it in
comfort and not scorch both hands and face when trying to get near
enough to cook, as would be the case if the fire were large.
When in a hurry use dry bark as wood for the cook-fire. Hemlock, pine,
hickory, and other bark make a hot fire in a short time, and water will
boil quickly over a bark fire.
=Log-Cabin Fire=
Start this fire with two good-sized short sticks or logs. Place them
about one foot apart parallel to each other. At each end across these
lay two smaller sticks, and in the hollow square formed by the four
sticks, put the tinder of cones, birch bark, or dry leaves.
Across the two upper sticks and over the tinder, make a grate by laying
slender kindling sticks across from and resting on top of the two upper
large sticks. Over the grate, at right angles to the sticks forming it,
place more sticks of larger size. Continue in this way, building the
log-cabin fire until the structure is one foot or so high, each layer
being placed at right angles to the one beneath it. The fire must be
lighted from beneath in the pile of tinder. I learned this method when
on the Pacific slope. The fire burns quickly, and the log-cabin plan is
a good one to follow when heating the bean hole, as the fire can be
built over the hole, and in burning the red-hot coals will fall down
into it, or the fire can be built directly in the hole; both ways are
used by campers.
=Fire in the Rain=
To build a fire in the rain with no dry wood in sight seems a difficult
problem, but keep cheerful, hum your favorite tune, and look for a
pine-knot or birch bark and an old dead stump or log. In the centre of
the dead wood you will find dry wood; dig it out and, after starting the
fire with either birch bark or pine-knot, use the dry wood as kindling.
When it begins to burn, add larger pieces of wood, and soon the fire
will grow strong enough to burn wet wood. If there happens to be a big
rock in your camp, build your fire on the sheltered side and directly
against the stone, which will act as a windbreak and keep the driving
rain from extinguishing the fire. A slightly shelving bank would also
form a shelter for it. A pine-knot is always a good friend to the girl
camper, both in dry and wet weather, but is especially friendly when it
rains and everything is dripping wet.
You will find pine-knots in wooded sections where pine-trees grow; or,
if you are located near water where there are no trees, look for
pine-knots in driftwood washed ashore. When secured cut thin slices down
part way all around the elongated knot and circle it with many layers of
shavings until the knot somewhat resembles a toy tree. The inside will
be absolutely dry, and this branching knot will prove reliable and start
your fire without fail. Birch bark will start a fire even when the bark
is damp, and it is one of the best things you can have as a starter for
an outdoor, rainy-day fire.
Take your cue from the forest guides, and while in the woods always
carry some dry birch bark in your pocket for a fire in case of rain.
=Camp Fireplace=
One way to make the outdoor fireplace is to lay two _green_ logs side by
side on the ground in a narrow V shape, but open at both ends; only a
few inches at one end, a foot or more at the other. The fire is built
between the logs, and the frying-pan and pail of water, resting on both
logs, bridge across the fire. Should the widest space between the logs
be needed, place two slender green logs at right angles across the V
logs, and have these short top cross logs near enough together to hold
the frying-pans set on them (Fig. 26).
When there are no green logs, build the fireplace with three rectangular
sides of stone, open front, and make the fire in the centre; the pots
and pans rest across the fire on the stones.
If neither stones nor logs are available, dig a circle of fresh earth as
a safeguard and have the fire in its centre. Here you will need two
strong, forked-top stakes driven down into the ground directly opposite
each other, one on each side of the circle. Rest the end of a stout
green stick in the forked tops of the stakes, and use it to hang pots
and pails from when cooking. A fire can also be safeguarded with a
circle of stones placed close together. Another method of outdoor
cooking may be seen on page 81, where leaning stakes are used from which
to hang cooking utensils over the fire.
One more caution about possibilities of causing forest fire. Terrible
wide-spread fires have resulted from what was supposed to be an
extinguished outdoor fire. Do not trust it, but when you are sure the
camp-fire is out, pour on more water over the fire and all around the
unburned edge of surrounding ground; then throw on fresh earth until the
fire space is covered. Be always on the safe side. Tack up on a tree
in the camp, where all must see it, a copy of the state laws regarding
forest fires, as shown in photograph frontispiece.
[Illustration: Bringing wood for the fire.]
On forest lands much of the ground is deep with tangled rootlets and
fibres mixed in with the mould, and a fire may be smouldering down
underneath, where you cannot see it. _Have a care._
The permanent-camp fireplace, built to do service for several seasons,
is usually of big, heavy, _green_ logs, stones, and earth. The logs,
about three and one-half feet long, are built log-cabin fashion, some
twenty-eight inches high, with all crevices filled in and firmly padded
with earth and stones. Big stones are anchored securely along the top of
the earth-covered log sides and back of the fireplace, raising these
higher than the front. The space inside the walled fireplace is very
nearly filled up with earth, and the fire is built on this earth.
Surfaces of logs which may have been left exposed where the fire is to
be made are safeguarded with earth (Fig. 27).
Such a fireplace is big, substantial, firm, and lasting. Many of them
may be seen in the Adirondacks. They usually face the camp shelter, but
are located at a safe distance, fully two yards, from it. Fires built in
these are generally used as social cheer-fires, but you can have the
cheer-fire even though the substantial fireplace be _non est_, if in the
evening you pile more wood on the cook-fire, making it large enough for
all to gather around and have a good time, telling stories, laughing,
talking, and singing.
An excellent rule in camp is to have always on hand _plenty_ of
_fire-wood_. Replenish the reserve stock every day as inroads are made
upon it, and have some sort of shelter or covering where the wood will
be kept dry and ready for immediate use.
=Camp Cooking. Provisions=
In the woods one is generally hungry except immediately after a good
meal, and provisions and cooking are of vital interest to the camper.
The list of essentials is not very long and, when the camp is a
permanent one, non-essentials may be added to the larder with advantage.
Bread of some kind will form part of every meal, and a few loaves
freshly baked can be taken to camp to start with while you are getting
settled.
The quickest bread to cook is the delectable flapjack, and it is quite
exciting to toss it in the air, see it turn over and catch it again--if
you can.
=Flapjacks=
Mix dry flour, baking-powder, and salt together, 1 good teaspoonful of
Royal baking-powder to every 2 cups of flour, and 1 level teaspoonful of
salt to 1 quart (4 cups) of flour. To make the batter, beat 1 egg and
add 1-1/2 cups of milk, or 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water;
unsweetened condensed milk diluted according to directions on can may be
used. Carefully and gradually stir in enough of the flour you have
prepared to make a creamy batter, be sure it is smooth and without
lumps; then stir in 1 heaping teaspoonful of sugar, better still
molasses, to make the cakes brown. Grease the frying-pan with a piece of
fat pork or bacon, have the pan hot, and, with a large spoon or a cup,
ladle out the batter into the pan, forming three small cakes to be
turned by a knife, or one large cake to be turned by tossing. Use the
knife to lift the edges of the cakes as they cook, and when you see them
a golden brown, turn quickly. Or, if the cake is large, loosen it; then
lift the pan and quickly toss the cake up into the air in such a way
that it will turn over and land safely, brown side up, on the pan.
Unless you are skilled in tossing flapjacks, don't risk wasting the cake
by having it fall on the ground or in the fire, but confine your efforts
to the small, knife-turned cakes. Serve them "piping hot," and if there
are no plates, each camper can deftly and quickly roll her flapjack into
cylinder form of many layers and daintily and comfortably eat it while
holding the roll between forefinger and thumb.
Keep the frying-pan well greased while cooking the cakes, rubbing the
pan with grease each time before pouring in fresh batter.
Flapjacks are good with butter, delicious with creamy maple-sugar soft
enough to spread smoothly over the butter. The sugar comes in cans.
Ordinary maple-syrup can be used, but is apt to drip over the edges if
the cake is held in the hand.
Well-cooked cold rice mixed with the batter will give a delicate
griddle-cake and make a change from the regular flapjack.
=Biscuits=
Biscuits are more easily made than raised bread and so are used largely
in its place while in camp. The proportions of flour and baking-powder
are the same as for flapjacks. To 4 cups of flour mix 2 teaspoonfuls of
Royal baking-powder and 1 level teaspoonful of salt; add shortening
about the size of an egg, either lard or drippings. Divide the
shortening into small bits and, using the tips of your fingers, rub it
well into the dry flour just prepared; then gradually stir in cold water
to make a soft dough, barely stiff enough to be rolled out 3/4 inch
thick on bread-board, clean flat stone, or large, smooth piece of
flattened bark. Whichever is used must be well floured, as must also
the rolling-pin and biscuit cutter. A clean glass bottle or smooth round
stick may be used as rolling-pin, and the cutter can be a baking-powder
can, or the biscuits may be cut square, or 4 inches long and 2 inches
wide with a knife. The dough may also be shaped into a loaf 3/4 inch
thick and baked in a pan by planting the pan in a bed of hot coals,
covering it with another pan or some substitute, and placing a deep
layer of hot coals all over the cover. The biscuits should bake in about
fifteen minutes. For a hurry meal each camper can take a strip of dough,
wind it spirally around a peeled thick stick, which has first been
heated, and cook her own spiral biscuit by holding it over the fire and
constantly turning the stick. Biscuits, in common with everything cooked
over a hot wood-fire, need constant watching that they may not burn.
Test them with a clean splinter of wood; thrust it into the biscuit and
if no dough clings to the wood the biscuits are done.
=Johnny-Cake=
Served hot, split open and buttered, these Kentucky johnny-cakes with a
cup of good coffee make a fine, hearty breakfast, very satisfying and
good.
Allow 1/2 cup of corn-meal for each person, and to every 4 cups of meal
add 1 teaspoonful of salt, mix well; then pour water, which is _boiling
hard_, gradually into the meal, stirring constantly to avoid having any
lumps. When the consistency is like soft mush, have ready a frying-pan
almost full of _hot_ drippings or lard, dip your hands into cold water
to enable you to handle the hot dough, and, taking up enough corn-meal
dough to make a _large_-sized biscuit, pat it in your hands into a
3/4-inch-thick cake and gently drop it into the hot fat; immediately
make another cake, drop it into the fat, and continue until the
frying-pan is full. As soon as one johnny-cake browns on the lower side
turn it over, remove each cake from the fat as soon as done, and serve
as they cook.
Corn-meal must be thoroughly scalded with boiling water when making any
kind of corn bread in order to have the bread soft and not dry and
"chaffy."
For baked corn bread add 2 full teaspoons of baking-powder and stir in 2
eggs, after 4 cups of meal and 1 teaspoonful of salt have been
thoroughly scalded and allowed to cool a little. Pour this corn-meal
dough into a pan which has been generously greased, and bake.
Corn-meal needs a hot oven and takes longer to bake than wheat-flour
biscuits.
=Corn-Meal Mush=
Corn-meal mush does not absolutely require fresh cream or milk when
served. It is good eaten with butter and very nourishing. Many like it
with maple-syrup or common molasses.
Time is required to make well-cooked mush; at least one hour will be
necessary. To 2 quarts of boiling, bubbling water add 1 teaspoonful of
salt, and very slowly, little by little, add 2 cups of corn-meal,
stirring constantly and not allowing the water to cease boiling. Do not
stop stirring until the mush has cooked about ten minutes. It may then
be placed higher up from the fire, where it will not scorch, and
_boiling_ water added from time to time as needed to keep the mush of
right consistency. The cold mush may be made into a tempting dish, if
sliced 1/2-inch thick and fried brown in pork fat. Many cold cooked
cereals can be treated in the same way; sprinkled with flour these will
brown better.
=Kentucky Bread=
Kentucky bread is made of flour, salt, and water. It is generally known
as beaten biscuit. Mix 2 scant teaspoonfuls of salt with 1 quart of
flour, add enough cold water to make a _stiff_, smooth dough and knead,
pull, and pound the dough until it blisters; the longer it is worked and
beaten the better. Roll out very thin, cut round or into squares and
bake. These biscuits may be quickly made, are simple and wholesome.
=Cocoa=
Good cocoa may be made by substituting cold milk and cold water for hot.
Follow directions on the can as to proportion, and add the cold liquids
after the cocoa is mixed to a smooth paste; then boil. Either
unsweetened condensed milk or milk powder can take the place of fresh
milk.
=Coffee=
For every camper allow 1 tablespoonful of ground coffee, then 1 extra
spoonful for the pot. Put the dry coffee into the coffee-pot, and to
settle it add a crumbled egg-shell; then pour in a little cold water and
stir all together; when there are no egg-shells use merely cold water.
Add 1 cupful of cold water for each camper, and 2 for the pot, set the
coffee-pot over the fire and let it boil for a few moments, take it from
the fire and pour into the spout a little cold water, then place the
coffee where it will keep hot--not cook, but settle.
=Tea=
Allow 1 scant teaspoonful of tea for each person, scald the teapot,
measure the tea into the pot, and pour in as many cups of _boiling_
water as there are spoonfuls of tea, adding an extra cupful for the pot.
_Never_ let _tea boil_.
=Boiled Potatoes=
Wash potatoes, cut out any blemish, and put them on to cook in cold
water over the fire. They are much better boiled while wearing their
jackets. Allow from one-half to three-quarters of an hour for boiling,
test them with a sliver of wood that will pierce through the centre when
the potato is done. When cooked pour off the boiling water, set off the
fire to one side where they will keep hot, and raise one edge of the lid
to allow the steam to escape. Serve while _very_ hot.
=Baked Potatoes=
Wrap each potato in wet leaves and place them all on hot ashes that lie
over hot coals, put more hot ashes on top of the potatoes, and over the
ashes place a deep bed of red-hot coals. It will require about forty
minutes or more for potatoes to bake. Take one out when you think they
should be done; if soft enough to yield to the pressure when squeezed
between thumb and finger, the potato is cooked. Choose potatoes as near
of a size as possible; then all will be baked to a turn at the same
time.
=Bean Soup and Baked Beans=
Look over one quart of dried beans, take out all bits of foreign matter
and injured beans; then wash the beans in several waters and put them to
soak overnight in fresh water. Next morning scald 1-1/2 pounds salt
pork, scrape it well, rinse, and with 1 teaspoonful of dried onion or
half of a fresh one, put on to boil with the beans in cold water. Cook
slowly for several hours. When the water boils low, add more boiling
water and boil until the beans are soft.
To make soup, dip out a heaping cupful of the boiled beans, mash them to
a paste, then pour the liquid from the boiled beans over the paste and
stir until well mixed; if too thin add more beans; if too thick add hot
water until of the right consistency, place the soup over the fire to
reheat, and serve very hot. To bake beans, remove the pork from the
drained, partially cooked beans, score it across the top and replace it
in the pot in midst of and extending a trifle above the surface of the
beans, add 1 cup of hot water and securely cover the top of the pot with
a lid or some substitute. Sink the pot well into the glowing coals and
shovel hot coals over all. Add more hot water from time to time if
necessary.
Beans cooked in a bean hole rival those baked in other ways. Dig the
hole about 1-1/2 feet deep and wide, build a fire in it, and keep it
burning briskly for hours; the oven hole must be _hot_. When the beans
are ready, rake the fire out of the hole; then sink the pot down into
the hole and cover well with hot coals and ashes, placing them all over
the sides and top of the pot. Over these shovel a thick layer of earth,
protecting the top with grass sod or thick blanket of leaves and bark,
that rain may not penetrate to the oven. Let the beans bake all night.
=Bacon=
Sliced bacon freshly cut is best; do not bring it to camp in jars or
cans, but cut it as needed. Each girl may have the fun of cooking her
own bacon.
Cut long, slender sticks with pronged ends, sharpen the prongs and they
will hold the bacon; or use sticks with split ends and wedge in the
bacon between the two sides of the split, then toast it over the fire.
Other small pieces of meat can be cooked in the same way. Bacon boiled
with greens gives the vegetable a fine flavor, as it also does
string-beans when cooked with them. It may, however, be boiled alone for
dinner, and is good fried for breakfast.
=Game Birds=
Game birds can be baked in the embers. Have ready a bed of red-hot coals
covered with a thin layer of ashes, and after drawing the bird, dip it
in water to wet the feathers; then place it on the ash-covered red
coals, cover the bird with more ashes, and heap on quantities of red
coals. If the bird is small it should be baked in about one-half hour.
When done strip off the skin, carrying feathers with it, and the bird
will be clean and appetizing. Birds can also be roasted in the bean-pot
hole, but in this way, they must first be picked, drawn, and rinsed
clean; then cut into good-sized pieces and placed in the pot with fat
pork, size of an egg, for seasoning; after pouring in enough water to
cover the meat, fasten the pot lid on securely and bury the pot in the
glowing hot hole under a heap of red-hot coals. Cover with earth, the
same as when baking beans.
=Fish=
Fish cooked in the embers is very good, and you need not first remove
scales or fins, but clean the fish, season it with salt and pepper, wrap
it in fresh, wet, green leaves or wet blank paper, not printed paper,
and bury in the coals the same as a bird. When done the skin, scales,
and fins can all be pulled off together, leaving the delicious hot fish
ready to serve.
To boil a fish: First scale and clean it; then cut off head and tail.
If you have a piece of new cheesecloth to wrap the fish in, it can be
stuffed with dressing made of dry crumbs of bread or biscuits well
seasoned with butter, or bits of pork, pepper, and a very small piece of
onion. The cloth covering must be wrapped around and tied with white
string. When the fish is ready, put it into boiling water to which has
been added 1 tablespoonful of vinegar and a little salt. The vinegar
tends to keep the meat firm, and the dressing makes the fish more of a
dinner dish; both, however, can be omitted. Allow about twenty minutes
for boiling a three-pound fish.
The sooner a fish is cooked after being caught the better. To scale a
fish, lay it on a flat stone or log, hold it by the head and with a
knife scrape off the scales. Scale each side and, with a quick stroke,
cut off the head and lower fins. The back fin must have incisions on
each side in order to remove it. Trout are merely scraped and cleaned by
drawing out the inside with head and gills. Do this by forcing your hand
in and grasping tight hold of the gullet.
To clean most fish it is necessary to slit open the under side, take out
the inside, wash the fish, and wipe it dry with a clean cloth.
If the camping party is fond of fish, and fish frequently forms part of
a meal, have a special clean cloth to use exclusively for drying the
fish.
_Provisions for One Person for Two Weeks. To be
Multiplied by Number of Campers, and Length of
Time if Stay is over Two Weeks_
=Essential Foods=
Outdoor life seems to require certain kinds of foods; these we call
essentials; others in addition to them are in the nature of luxuries or
non-essentials.
=List=
_Essentials_
Wheat flour 6 lbs.
Corn-meal 2-1/2 lbs.
Baking-powder 1/2 lb.
Coffee 1/2 lb.
Tea 1/8 lb.
Cocoa 1/2 lb.
Pork 1 lb.
Bacon 2-1/2 lbs.
Salt 1/2 lb.
Pepper 1 oz.
Sugar 3 lbs.
Butter 1-1/2 lbs.
Milk, dried 1/2 lb.
Lard 3/4 lb.
Egg powder 1/4 lb.
Fruit, dried 1 lb.
Potatoes, dried 1-1/2 lbs.
Beans 1-1/2 lbs.
Maple-syrup 1 pt.
Vinegar 1/4 pt.
=List=
_Non-Essentials_
Rice 2-1/2 lbs.
Lemons 1/2 doz.
Erbswurst 1/4 lb.
Soup tablets 1/4 lb.
Baker's chocolate (slightly sweetened) 1/2 lb.
Maple-sugar 1/2 lb.
Ham 5 lbs.
Nuts 2 lbs.
Marmalade 1/2 jar
Preserves 1 can
Citric acid 1/8 lb.
Onions, dried 1 oz.
Cheese 1 lb.
Potatoes, fresh 14
Codfish 1 lb.
Vegetables, dried 1/2 lb.
=Sanitation=
_Keep your camp scrupulously clean._ Do not litter up the place, your
health and happiness greatly depend upon observing the laws of hygiene.
Make sure after each meal that all kitchen refuse is collected and
deposited in the big garbage hole, previously dug for that purpose, and
well covered with a layer of fresh earth.
[Illustration: 27
ANOTHER WAY OF HANGING THE CRANE OUT OF DOORS
28 29
Camp fires and camp sanitation.]
_Impress upon your mind that fresh earth is a disinfectant and keeps
down all odors._
Erect a framework with partially open side entrance for a retiring-room.
Use six strong forked-topped poles planted in an irregular square as
uprights (Fig. 28), and across these lay slender poles, fitting the ends
well into the forked tops of the uprights (Fig. 28). Half-way down from
the top, place more cross poles, resting them on the crotches left on
the uprights. Have these last cross poles as nearly the same distance
from the ground as possible and over them hang thick branches, hooking
the branches on by the stubs on their heavy ends. Also hang thickly
foliaged branches on the top cross poles, using the stubs where smaller
branches have been lopped off as hooks, as on the lower row (Fig. 29);
then peg down the bottom ends of the hanging branches to the ground with
sharpened two-pronged crotches cut from branches. The upper row of
branches should overlap the under row one foot or more. Make the seat by
driving three stout stakes firmly into the ground; two at the back, one
in front, and on these nail three crosspieces.
Never throw dish water or any refuse near your tent or on the camp
grounds.
_Burn_ or _bury_ all trash, remembering that earth and fire are your
good servants, and with their assistance you can have perfect camp
cleanliness, which will go a long way toward keeping away a variety of
troublesome flies and make camp attractive and wholesome.
=Camp Spirit=
Thoughtfulness for others; kindliness; the willingness to do your share
of the work, and more, too; the habit of making light of all
discomforts; cheerfulness under all circumstances; and the determination
never to sulk, imagine you are slighted, or find fault with people,
conditions, or things. To radiate good-will, take things as they come
and _enjoy them_, and to do your full share of entertainment and
fun-making--this is the true camp spirit.