| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 3643.1 | | AXEL::FOLEY | http://axel.zko.dec.com | Mon Feb 03 1997 15:06 | 17 |
|
There's lots of resources..
EMS-Eastern Mountain Sports, a store in the Pheasant Lane Mall
should be able to give pointers to equipment and some classes.
The AMC - They offer classes in hiking and camping and such.
My first choice. http://www1.shore.net/~mmady/amc_bos.htm
The Backcountry Home Page http://io.datasys.swri.edu/Overview.html
The Hiking Notesfile
It's all very dependant on what you are trying to accomplish.
Is it hiking into the woods and living off the land or driving
to a campsite and having most of the comforts of home?
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| 3643.2 | | MKOTS3::MACFAWN | My mother warned me about you... | Mon Feb 03 1997 15:22 | 21 |
| Terri,
I'll teach you! No, never mind...
At places like Shaw's and Shop and Save they usually have free
brochures on camping in the area. Actually I think they might have
some in the MKO Cafe.
You might want to call Campers Inn about renting equipment. Either
that or call all your friends and borrow theirs!
If you're just starting out, I would try to do an overnight thing in
the area. Greenfield State Park is in Greenfield (other side of
Wilton) and is really nice. It's close enough to home, yet far enough
away.
Let me know if you need any help!
Love,
Me
|
| 3643.3 | Start small and easy | FOUNDR::DODIER | Double Income, Clan'o Kids | Mon Feb 03 1997 17:04 | 17 |
| Probably the best way to get started is tenting in your backyard.
If you don't have a yard, then a friend or relatives. You can probably
borrow most of the stuff you need to try this and see if you'll like
it. Try to be as self-sufficient as possible (within reason) and make
note of all the things you'd need if you didn't have your (or friend/
relative's) house right there.
Next would be to try a campground close to home for an overnighter
or a weekend. Most have electricity, cold running water, and firepits
on the sites with showers, washers and dryers. This gives you most of the
common ammenities.
There's got to be a bazillion books available on camping too. You
can also check out the GENRAL::RV and STUBAI::HIKING notes files for other
ideas and general information.
Ray
|
| 3643.6 | | WLDBIL::KILGORE | How serious is this? | Tue Feb 04 1997 07:41 | 7 |
|
RE: learning how to camp...
If you have a son, get him into the Boy Scouts, then volunteer to help
on a campout. Better yet, become an adult volunteer and take some of
their training.
|
| 3643.7 | | APACHE::KEITH | Dr. Deuce | Tue Feb 04 1997 08:22 | 5 |
| I'll 2nd .3, camp in your back yard 1st. Camping my be a fantasy and
the kid(s) may not really like it. Gradually get more primative in your
camping until you find the most comfortable level.
Steve
|
| 3643.8 | Thanks! | BRAT::JEFFREYS | | Tue Feb 04 1997 09:19 | 5 |
| Thanks for all the answers! I don't have a backyard, nor a son. I'll
give a "close to home" campground a try! I found the HIKING notesfile
and found lots of information. Thanks again!
Terri
|
| 3643.9 | Don't forget these rules :-) | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Feb 05 1997 14:22 | 60 |
|
Subject: UNIVERSAL LAWS OF CAMPING (Humor)
UNIVERSAL LAWS OF CAMPING
o Any stone in a hiking boot migrates to the point of maximum
pressure.
o As twilight approaches, the distance to a given campsite remains
constant and the uphill slope of the trail increases.
o The number of mosquitoes at any given location is inversely
proportional to the amount of repellent that remains.
o The amount of level ground tends to decrease as the need to make camp
becomes more urgent.
o Waterproof clothing isn't. (However, it is 100% effective at
retaining sweat).
o The width of backpack straps decreases with the distance hiked.
To compensate, the weight of the backpack increases.
o Average air temperature increases with the amount of clothing
brought.
o There are always fewer tent stakes than the number necessary to stake
down a tent.
o Propane/butane tanks that are full when they are packed, will
inexplicably empty themselves before you can reach the campsite.
o Even the most "waterproof" matches will eventually find a way to get
wet.
o Your side of the tent is the side that leaks.
o All foods assume a uniform taste, texture, and color when
freeze-dried.
o Divide the number of servings by two when reading the directions
for reconstituting anything freeze-dried.
o The weight in a backpack can never remain uniformly distributed.
o All tree branches in a forest grow outward from their respective
trunks at exactly the height of your face.
o Enough dirt will get tracked into the tent on the first day out,
that you can grow the food you need for the rest of the trip in rows
between sleeping bags.
o The sun sets soonest and fastest on the day you are trying to set up
camp.
o Tents never come down as easily when you're leaving a site as
when you are trying to set them up.
|
| 3643.10 | Die-hard campers! | MILKWY::JACQUES | | Tue Feb 11 1997 10:40 | 51 |
|
I have been camping for over 25 years. I used to go camping on a
motorocycle with sleeping bag and pup-tent. This is definately
roughing it even if you get into a full-service camping area. I
remember waking up in one camping area in the midst of monsoon
weather. We had to pack up all of our soaked gear, get onto our
motorcycles and truck home in the rain over 200 miles.
After I got married, my wife and I wanted to go camping but wanted a
little more comfort so we got a large cabin tent, Coleman stove/
lantern, air-mattresses, double sleeping bags, etc. We had several
years experience before my son was born. By then we were veteran campers
and started my son off very young. We have pictures of him bopping around
the campground in a walker, smeared with mud of course.
We rented large motorhomes on 2 occasions and had a blast. We decided a
few years ago that we wanted to get out of the tent and into some type
of RV. Last year we took the plunge and bought a pop-up tent trailer. We
camped several times last summer and I doubt we will ever go back to
tenting, but we still have many fond memories of sleeping in a tent with
our two children sluggled up in their sleeping bags. We had one occasion
in the White Mnt where a large black bear visited our site. It was tough
sleeping in a tent after seeing the bear face-to-face.
The White Mountains is our favorite place to camp. We have camped the
Eastern Slopes as well as the Franconia area. My wife and I went camping
in Glenn NH last October (sans kids) and had a really nice weekend getaway.
We did not bring much food with us that weekend and ate most meals in
restaurants. The temp the first night we were there was 15� (burrrrrrr).
It was cold in our little trailer but somehow we managed to keep warm ;^)
My advice to new campers it to buy a Woodalls camping directory.
They have several differant versions. There is one for the Eastern
part of the US, one for the North-east, and one giant one for the
entire country. I'm sure there are many other versions for other
parts of the country as well. I bought a copy of the NE directory
at an RV show last month for $5.00.
I can offer more advice, but it would help if I knew more about
your family. Do you have children? If so what are the ages and
interests of the kids? Do you like fishing, hiking, white-water
rafting, etc?
Tenting is by far, the least expensive way to go. There are
2 basic types of tents..Domes and cabins. Dome tents are the
easiest to set up. Cabin tents are usually large and allow you
to stand up inside, but they are generally harder to set up.
You can buy large dome tents but these are usually very expensive.
Mark
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