More Comment (or, let's talk about Camping)
Thanks to one and all for the 22+ comments my latest post received. I'm overwhelmed. I'm also interested - which was the one thing keeping me from posting long ago. I find myself returning several times a day to see who's posted what (I don't set the feature that auto-emails me when I get posts else I'd get NO work done).
So - in order to keep people from having to go to the bottom of the old post - let's continue here.
Topic of the day: CAMPING!
As previously noted, we've begun camping and I imagine will do more of it throughout the summer and now on. Some have already expressed disinterest in the ... sport? hobby? pasttime, and I'm interested why. Was it Raza who said that he lives rurally enough to NEVER need to camp? And yet - do you cook your entire meal over an outdoor stove? Or sleep outside so you can hear the sounds of nature all night long? Or start a fire that you can poke and prod and watch and cook s'mores over? These are just a few of the things I realized I really missed about it. And to me they have little to do with where you live, but rather WHAT you do there. And about leaving one's comfort zone to try a completely new thing. And about hotdogs cooked outside, as nature meant them to be.
In any event - I'm interested - your best/worst/notable camping experiences? Can any of our California readers recommend their favorite camp spots? What are you top 5 most important camping tools/gear/supplies (excepting the obvious). What are your favorite camp recipes? Is there ANYthing about camping that you think we should know?
Junior issue #1: I wonder if Scott reads my Blog?
Junior issue #2: I have decided I don't like Macadamia nuts. I thought I did, but now, I don't think I do.
Junior issue #3: Is "t" Tritia?
Junior issue #4: I wonder how many people Blog because they are bored with their jobs?
So - in order to keep people from having to go to the bottom of the old post - let's continue here.
Topic of the day: CAMPING!
As previously noted, we've begun camping and I imagine will do more of it throughout the summer and now on. Some have already expressed disinterest in the ... sport? hobby? pasttime, and I'm interested why. Was it Raza who said that he lives rurally enough to NEVER need to camp? And yet - do you cook your entire meal over an outdoor stove? Or sleep outside so you can hear the sounds of nature all night long? Or start a fire that you can poke and prod and watch and cook s'mores over? These are just a few of the things I realized I really missed about it. And to me they have little to do with where you live, but rather WHAT you do there. And about leaving one's comfort zone to try a completely new thing. And about hotdogs cooked outside, as nature meant them to be.
In any event - I'm interested - your best/worst/notable camping experiences? Can any of our California readers recommend their favorite camp spots? What are you top 5 most important camping tools/gear/supplies (excepting the obvious). What are your favorite camp recipes? Is there ANYthing about camping that you think we should know?
Junior issue #1: I wonder if Scott reads my Blog?
Junior issue #2: I have decided I don't like Macadamia nuts. I thought I did, but now, I don't think I do.
Junior issue #3: Is "t" Tritia?
Junior issue #4: I wonder how many people Blog because they are bored with their jobs?
posted by Gregg Lander at 5:06 PM
7 Comments:
t is not Tritia. t has a wife and a job and some adopted cats. I'll let him tell any more if he wants.
To my knowledge, Scott does not read your blog. Do you read his?
I have two memorable camping events:
1. I stepped on a log that had a bees' nest in it. The bees swarmed all around me and I stood there like and idiot, waving my arms frantically. My dad had to pull me out of the swarm. It was very interesting because the bees didn't follow me. I just sort of stood there and watched as they swirled around nothing. I was only stung twice!
2. While hiking up to Kearsarge Pass (it's near Mt. Whitney,) my dad and I set up camp at Charlotte Lake. That evening, we sat by the lake and looked up at the stars. Living in the city, there are so many bright lights coming from Earth that only the brightest stars shine in the sky. When you're so far away from civilization, the sky is so full of points of light that it becomes overwhelming. I look forward to that sort of a view whenever I'm away from L.A. (which is not very often at all!)
Food: I liked having King's Hawaiian Rolls in my backpack while hiking up Mt. Whitney. I kept them near the top of the pack and the heat from the sun kept them nice and warm! For dinner we took white rice and cooked it over the campfire. On top of the rice went a microwavable Dinty Moore chicken soup... thing. We just warmed the whole thing up over the campfire and ate it. I thought it was quite enjoyable!
Camping rocks. I have done it nearly every year since i was 8 years old. I go to one site regularly in Cornwall, england on the south coast. It is called Trewan Hall. We know the site owners. We go on beach trips during the day and drink in the local village at night, playing old tunes on the Juke Box and getting drunk on cheap booze. Then we stagger back up the hill and pass out in our tents. It rules.
Now THAT'S camping!!!
My favorite camping spot in California to date is on the banks of the Kern River. If you go to the main little rafting town and take the northbound backroad that runs along the river, you pass several pay campsites. Eventually you get to where the campsites are sporadically placed along the river and FREE, though they offer no facilities save secluded bushes and rudimentary campfire rings.
There are several spots that are on river sand right at the banks, so you can sleep on soft ground (if you don't own an air mattress) and fall asleep under the myriad stars, to the snowy sound of rather gentle rapids. With California Sierra foothills and lots of trees and no one else around (until morning, when some rafters may be seen going by).
Who needs a shower stall when you've got a bar of soap and a river?
Doug -- I'll be hiking up Mt. Whitney in August!!! Any helpful pointers?
I lost my virginity on a camping trip in the Smoky Mountains. Ah, memories.....
Dried sheep turd!!!!! That's hysterical!!!! t, that was a beautiful post and I'm sorry that that's the first thing I acknowledged.
I know what you mean about the stars. When I stepped into the Joshua Tree night sky when I was 13 or so, I almost ran back into the car because it was so overwhelming and scary, how many stars there were.
MJ: I went up Whitney twice. The first time I spent the night at the base camp to get acclimated, and the second time we just started up the mountain as soon as we got there. The first time was much better. Other than that, it was like a long hike where you have to carry all your camping gear.
-I once camped in a site where they found a dead body a couple weeks later.
-Pistachio is the only worthwhile nut.
-I blog for rivalry reasons. And because I think I'm really funny.
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