Camping with Kids can be a Fairy Tale

Most grown ups I know are scared of sleeping in the woods - bears, serial killers, pooping sans porcelain - so how do you go about making young children feel at home away from home and foster a love of the outdoors? There are likely tons of successful strategies that have been employed over time by parents, like me, who hope that their kids will someday also be hiking partners, but here's what I used which worked wonders: Fairies!

I started by explaining to Fiona (6) and Isley (4) that wood fairies live deep in the woods in the most beautiful places in the world. You see, these little delicate fairies need clean air and water and are afraid of the loud noises and crowds of cities and towns where people live (excepting of course tooth fairies who are very brave). That, I explained, is why you need to head for the mountains, where the woods are deepest and quietest to find fairy habitat.

One of the biggest problems encountered by parents of young children on camping trips is that they get bored - QUICKLY. Food can be used to distract to a point, but most kids don't know how to entertain themselves around a campsite without some guidance. So I introduced a little story from my childhood which provides, excitement and wonder, fodder for exploration and creativity, and hours of busy activity. I explained to my girls that some children (including their dad, a long time ago) have learned that fairies are always looking for a new and wonderful place to sleep each night. When they find a house that really pleases them they've been known to leave a gift for whoever built it when they leave in the morning. The kids immediately set out to find the best rocks, the strongest sticks, the prettiest leaves, and the widest bark with which to build a fairy house that would be pleasing enough to a family of wood fairies that they might find a gift in the morning.

Beyond entertainment and creative play, this little story also provides an opportunity to discuss the principles of Leave No Trace (LNT). In their mindset of seeking to please the fairies, kids re very receptive to hearing about how we only use fallen branches, that we should never litter the fairies beautiful forest with trash, and that fairies won't come if we make a mess of the ground around their woodland home. My kids wanted to use pieces of plastic and rubber bands that they'd found in the fairy house, but I explained that those things belonged in our trash bag and not in the woods and the fairies would be even more proud of us if we left the woods cleaner than when we came.

Now, your kids will want to see the fairies, but of course you can explain that fairies are so small and so fast that they can't be seen during the day. However, on summer nights, fairies like to play by pretending to be fireflies -although you can tell which ones are actually fairies in disguise if you look closely because they move a little faster than the real fireflies. Despite all this, my kids are quite certain they saw at least one fairy who they named "the blueberry fairy"because she was a blue tint and was around the bushes I'd previously identified for them as blueberries.

The fairy story also helps to alleviate anxiety about going to sleep in a strange place. Just like Santa, the fairies won't come visit to check on the house you built unless you're asleep. Being preoccupied with a forest full of fairies prevents the worries about lions and tigers and bears from creeping into little minds.


Grownups need to have some foresight to bring along a little prize to stash in the fairyhouse during a mid-night pee break (i used ring pops, but anything out of those quarter vending machines or a dollar store will work).

My girls can't wait to go camping again (at a place with fairies of course) and are already planning architectural improvements to their fairy houses.

For backpacking trips with hiking involved, my plan is to get bags of gold-foil chocolate coins and toss them ahead on the trail suggesting that friendly wood gnomes hide their treasure along the trail. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Hiking!

The Best Laid Plans...Get Eaten by Bears

"One of the best things about trip planning is having something on the horizon to look forward to and daydream about - makes the desk job a little more bearable. But as the saying goes, "even the best laid plans often fall through," and this week that aphorism slapped me twice like my pimp.

This week I'm headed to Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a 3-day, 3-night gear testing, GPS-mapping backpacking trip with good buddy Zack. The smokies pose a greater trip planning challenge than some other destinations due to the Park Service regulations therein: specifically that, like Yellowstone, Glacier and others, backcountry camping can only occur at designated sites and shelter, some of which require permits. I had several guiding thoughts as I analyzed the maps: First, my partner on this trip had never been to the smokies so I wanted to hit some cool spots as well as highlight the diversity of the landscape; Second, Zack's full-timer as a teacher at sea-level in Alabama rendered him mileage-shy and so I had to consider his plea for sub-ten-mile days. Upon identifying a trip that fit the bill with both Fontana Lake and Gregory Bald as scenic anchors I booked reservations for three sites in the southwest, "Twentymile" region of the park well over a month ago.

Original Itinerary

BUT, Friday afternoon I received a voicemail message from the NPS at the Smokies' Backcountry office indicating that my reservation would have to be cancelled as my destination for Sunday night, Sheep Pen Gap Campsite (#13), had been closed for an undetermined amount of time due to "aggressive bear activity." Two thoughts immediately crossed my mind: 1) Great, now I've got less than one week to re-plan, and re-reserve this trip, and 2) BEARS? COOL!



I worked quickly to identify no fewer than four additional 30-mile loop trips that did the Smokies justice: Cosby to Tri-Corner to Walnut Bottom, Elkmont to Double Spring to Miry Ridge, Chasteen Creek to Pecks to Cabin Flats, and Pin Oak Gap to Mt. Sterling to Petty Hollow. Each of these trips worked on 10 or fewer miles per day and offered great variability in terrain touching both lush, bio-diverse stream valleys as well as lofty mountain ridges. Monday morning at 8am I was on the phone with Buck at the Backcountry office rattling off campsite numbers and dates like I was relaying coordinates for a bombing run - ALL FULL, back to the drawing board.

I analyzed the five trips that had been shot down for any potential reversibility, knowing that Sundays are easier to score campsites than Saturdays - was it possible that I had a more popular site as my Saturday destination that could be swapped with my Sunday pick? Not really, mileage became the issue here and I didn't want to have a super-short first day and then have to rush to get out on Monday. But then I saw it: Cosby to Walnut Bottom to Tri-Corner and out via Snake Den Ridge. Mileage total is 29 with 10 and 10 Saturday and Sunday and 9 out on Monday. Stream bottoms and ridgelines galore! With my heart in my throat I called Buck back for the 3rd time of the morning and asked tentatively, "Hey, Buck it's Peter again - Is Tri-Corner open on Sunday?" He responded with a bit of a snort and, "I doubt it!" but then quickly rescinded his skepticism and rejoiced along with me as the reservation was locked and loaded.

So now all I had to do was satisfy my own curiosity: What happened at Sheep Pen Gap Campsite that required it being closed to Camping? I asked Volunteer Buck, but he didn't know. I checked on the GSMNP website under News, but found nothing. The campsite is listed as closed under the backcountry closures sections, but again no details. Finally I got ahold of Ranger Randy who was able to shed some light. Apparently the bears in the area had been conditioned enough by accessible human food that they were now taking things to a new level. Bears in the area were robbing tents in broad daylight and refusing to leave the site even with humans present and making a bunch of noise. A grizzly not being intimidated by humans is completely natural, but a Black Bear turning up its nose when confronted means one thing: habituation.

While Randy couldn't provide any further details on what had led to these bears being habituated,the duration of the closure, or whether the bears would have to be relocated, it was abundantly clear that my plans had been shut down due to the carelessness and irresponsibility of other backcountry visitors. So what can be learned from this:

1) Hang or store your food appropriately when in bear country. Bears have noses that are 2100 times more powerful than a humans and they are VERY motivated by their appetites. Don't leave anything that smells good laying around and certainly don't sleep with it.

2) Keep a clean camp. Learn and practice Leave No Trace Principles.

3) If you see a bear in the distance do not approach it. Keep wild things wild.

4) If you have a face-to-face encounter with a Black Bear do not run. Back away slowly, make yourself seem big and make lots of noise. The goal is to scare the bear away and that should not be difficult.

5) In the VERY rare event that you are attacked by a Black Bear, FIGHT BACK! Hit it with everything you can grab. Remember, you are 160,000 times more likely to die in a car accident that at the hands (er, paws) of a bear.

So now the plan is to explore the far Northeast section of the park instead of the far Southwest corner. I am reminded frequently by this pastime that flexibility is very important in life. Even now that out itinerary is set (let's hope) there are a lot of outside factors in backpacking that can have a big impact on a trip's outcome (see my article: Anatomy of a Beatdown to see what weather did to our recent Wind Rivers, WY trip). Hopefully we won't be eaten by bears as I'd look pretty stupid after offering all of this unsolicited advice.

While I'm at it, here's some trip planning advice: When planning a trip with others form a distance one really great way to share information with friends, family and trip partners is by making a map and itinerary in the form of a .jpg file which you can e-mail to people. If you don't have any fancy mapping software, simply search around the web until you find a map of where you want to go. Then you can use that button on your keyboard "Print Screen", that you, if you're like most people have likely always wondered, "What does this do?" When you push the "Print Screen" button it copies a photo of whatever's on your computer screen onto the clipboard (screenshot). Then open up whatever generic drawing program comes with your computer - for PC users it "Paint" stored on your Start Menu under Accessories. Now click paste and voila - your screenshot appears, map and all. Now move your screenshot around until only what you need is on the screen and reduce the width and height (image attributes) to fit your map. Use the drawing and text tools to edit your proposed routes and make notes and then save as a .jpg file. You can now e-mail this .jpg to friends as a small e-mail attachment.

Have I mentioned I'm available for trip planning for a small fee...?

Happy Hiking!

Do-it-Yourself Ultralight Pot Coozie: Hey, it works for your beer…

Whether you’re the kind of camper who brings a folding chair, a bottle of wine, and a ribeye to the campsite or a ounce-counting, Ray-Way ultralighter, everyone appreciates an addition to their base-load that serves several purposes, saves weight, time, and effort without sacrificing comfort, and best of all costs nearly nothing.

What’s a Coozie?
A pot coozie is an insulated cylinder with a base and a lid cut to fit your cookware. It serves 3 basic purposes:
1. A place to store your cookware: Protects your cookware against damage from impact during falls and muffles rattling of pots/pans within your pack (you’re never going to spot Sasquatch if he can hear you coming from a mile away).
2. Cooks your food without fuel: Maintains your meal at cooking temperature so that pasta rice and other meals that require boiling or simmering can continue to cook after the stove is shut off.
3. Allows you to keep food/drink warm if you’re not going to eat or drink it all at once (cold coffee s no fun in December).

So how is wrapping up your cookpot going to save you time, weight and money?

Whether you’re using Fuel Canisters, Liquid fuel, denatured alcohol or (God forbid) Esbit tabs, fuel has 3 basic properties: it has weight, costs money and you generally don’t want to run out of it during a trip. A coozie costs nearly nothing to make and allows you to save up to 2/3 of your normal fuel consumption cooking dinners. Weight is a no-brainer as all fuels have weight to them and you’ll be able to leave a bunch of it at home. And you’ll save time in camp because you’ll be able boil your water and then set your pot inside the coozie to cook and go do other things rather than constantly stirring and adjusting the flame control on your stove to prevent boil-over or burning.

So what do you need to make your very own?

-A Closed cell foam pad. The best bet is the standard blue foam pad sold in the camping section of your local mega-mart. These are usually in the neighborhood of $10 and you’ll get a lot more than one Coozie’s worth out of it (in fact you’ll still have enough for a ¾ length sleeping pad when you’re done).
-Duct tape.
-Scissors or box-cutter.
-A measuring tape.

The first step is to make the lid and base of the coozie. These will be circles of equal size, one of which will be attached to the cylinder of the coozie (base), the other stays separate (lid). Mark and cut the lid and base by placing you pot or lid down on the foam and tracing ½” wider than the widest part of your cookset (lid, or pot rim).
Next you’ll need to mark out a rectangle of foam. To find the length, measure the circumference of the base you’ve cut and mark off that length on a straight edge of the blue foam. To find the width, place your pot with the lid on atop the base cutout and measure the height of the pot, lid, and base foam and add one inch. Cut this rectangle out and tape the sides into a cylinder by running a piece of duct tape up the outside of the joint, back down the inside, and around again with ½ of the duct tape on each side of the seam. Next wrap the entire
Now attach the base to the cylinder by making an “X” across the base (outside) with overlap onto the outside of the cylinder. Next wrap the circumference of the lower rim of the cylinder, securing each of the four ends of the “X” and folding over to seal the seam with the base.

That’s it! The only trick is that what we’ve been referring to as the “lid” is actually the base. Place your pot on the unattached circle of foam and slide the body of the coozie over the pot (with folded or removed handle(s)). (see top picture) The reason for this is that this way you can use gravity to pull the pot out of the bottom of the coozie rather than having to lift the pot out of the top of the coozie. This way its much easier to use and doesn’t require cutting a slot for the pot handle(s) which does not work out so well (trust me, I’ve tried it).
A bonus is that the “lid” doubles as an ultralight foam seat for around camp.

Happy hiking!

Don't Smoke the Hobblebush

Throughout the Appalachians and pervasive in the mountains and foothills of the Southeast are three members of the plant family Ericaceae (Heath) that all wilderness travelers should be familiar with. Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, and Azalea are all known for their evergreen foliage, and showy summer blooms, but also can pose a danger to both humans and animals: all three are toxic.

Rhododendron, also referred to by some locals as "Hobblebush" due to its nebulous branches and roots that make for nightmarish bushwhacking and near-guaranteed turned ankles, blooms in June in the Southern Appalachians and makes for breathtaking swaths of color at destinations such as Roan Mountain, Shining Rock, Linville Gorge, Mount Rogers, Grandfather Mountain and the Smokies. The long, waxy leaves have historically been used as a holistic, topical treatment for sore, inflamed joints.

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Mountain Laurel is the little brother to Rhododendron with smaller branches and leaves and blooms that are said to resemble peppermint candies. Similar to Rhodys, Mountain Laurel bloom in May and June and often grown in large thickets, covering the mountain floor.

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Azalea is commonly used as a landscaping plant, but due to its low need for direct sunlight it also thrives in the understory of Appalachian Mountain Forests. Known for is brilliant spring blooms in various colors ranging from white to yellow, red, orange, pink, and purple azalea is generally even more slight than Mountain Laurel in stature and in leaf size.

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So beyond the pretty pictures and botany lesson, what does this have to do with wilderness adventure? Like I said, all three of these species are TOXIC. And not just sorta toxic - every part of these plants are toxic. In addition to ingestion, the other method of experiencing the toxicity of these plants is by inhaling their smoke. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen fire-rings in the Appalachians with half-burnt Rhody, Laurel or Azalea wood left behind (insert obligatory plug for Leave-No-Trace practices). Still not convinced? Ok, time for scare tactics - symptoms include: Salivation, watering of eyes and nose, abdominal pain, loss of energy, depression, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, difficulty breathing, progressive paralysis of arms and legs, coma. So don't smoke the Hobblebush. I rest my case.

Supplemental Seam Sealing for Single Wall BD Superlight Tents

One of the most significant advances in tent technology recently has been the use of waterproof-breathable (WPB) fabrics to produce single wall tents which breathe batter and weigh less than their double-wall competitors. Black Diamond is one of the leading innovators in single-wall tent technology and their Superlight Series (One-Shot, Hi-Light, Firstlight, Lighthouse, Skylight, and Guiding Light) use EPIC by Nextec body fabric and Sil-Nylon floors to create superlight, freestanding, waterproof-breathable, 3-Season tents.

Each tent in this series comes with a seam sealer application as well as instructions.

As an addendum to the seam-sealing instructions provided by the manufacturer of such single-wall tents, I'd offer the following:

• Waterproof-breathable fabrics are being asked to perform to conflicting jobs: let moisture out from inside the tent to prevent condensation while keeping all moisture outside the tent from passing through.


• These lines of single-wall tents generally use an internal pole set-up which results in the waterproof-breathable fabric being stretched tight across a frame created by the poles.
  

When these two factors are combined, the result is that there are some areas on these tents where the tension on the WPB fabric causes some degree of permeability. Therefore, there are a few additional areas of application I'd recommend for these tents to ensure a waterproof barrier from the most brutal of downpours.

1. Apex where the poles cross.

2. On the diagonal (where the poles lie) from the apex to below the top square seam.

3. At the first Velcro fastner joint and first pole joint below the tops square seam on front and back.

The pictures should help to identify exactly how to apply the supplemental seam-sealer. Basically, these are the spots that see the highest amount of tension in a taught pitch aside from the actual seams themselves. Hitting each of these spots may add a half an ounce, but that weighs a lot less than a soggy tent, sleeping bag, clothes, pack, boots.....

Thanks to Steve for the tip and Zack for the tent....

Enjoy.

#2 in the Woods

My brother is very funny. Enjoy.