Camping and Hiking Tips « Goldie Silverman, Writer

Camping and Hiking Tips

Our Annual Three Generational Camping Trip, Jesse M. Honeyman State Park

I can’t remember how many times we have camped at our favorite camp, Jesse M. Honeyman State Park in Oregon. Sitting around the campfire this year, we tried to remember our history in the park. I know we stopped by the park in 1958, when Oldest Son was an infant, but we didn’t camp then. We returned with two small children in 1964, and again in the mid-70s with Youngest Son. Our first Three Generational trip to the park was in 1995, we think, when our first granddaughter was thirteen. Those were outstanding visits; we couldn’t remember the others.

This year there were eight of us, Oldest Son and his Grown Daughter and her Boyfriend; Youngest Son and his Wife and Two-year-old; my Husband and Me. (Youngest Son did not want names used to protect their privacy, so I’m doing this Asian style.) We set up four tents in two side-by-side camp sites, and used Oldest’s side as our cooking and socializing area, so Two-year-old could nap quietly. Her schedule determined all of our activities. We hiked up and ran down the dunes, some of us swam in the lakes, we cooked and ate and enjoyed the company. Oldest Son, Daughter and Boyfriend had an exhilarating ride over the dunes on a dune buggy. One night, when everyone else was asleep, Oldest Son walked out on the dunes to enjoy the full moon. (“Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked him.)

We had wonderful meals, “grillables” on two nights (steak, hot dogs, sausages); Mexican rice with black beans, warm tortillas, and guacamole; pasta with pesto and/or caponata. Lunches were cheeses, bologna, crackers, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and fruits. We had oranges, bananas, blueberries, Bing cherries, cantaloupe and watermelon, and two kinds of zucchini breads and two kinds of homemade cookies. Also nuts, chips and the makings of s’mores.

On our last day, we did something foolish, something we should have known better than to do. We packed up our food and left it on the table while we went to the dunes. When we came back, two squirrels were enjoying a bag of tortilla chips. The last six peanut butter cookies and the pistaccio nuts were gone, the open pack of Graham crackers and the marshmallows were ruined. We should have locked the food in a car.

It was a long drive from Seattle to Honeyman. The younger campers suggested that next year we find a camp closer to home, but the two sons didn’t agree. They have their own childhood memories of playing on the dunes, and they’re not about to give that up.

Camping With Kids / Camping and Hiking Tips / Seattle / Urban Hiking / Winter Camping and Hiking — 1 Comment
9
Aug 10

More About Urban Camping, Seattle

I should have put these pictures of a cabin at Camp Long in Seattle on the post that I posted last May, but I confess, I don’t know much about computers and I didn’t know how to add the pictures. Now I know how, I think, so here they are, two shots of a cabin at Camp Long showing the fireplace, fire pit, and picnic table:

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9
Aug 10

TEN ESSENTIALS FOR BACKPACKING WITH BABIES AND SMALL CHILDREN

(I wrote the following article for the July+August issue of WASHINGTON TRAILS, a Publication of the Washington Trails Association.)

In keeping with the tradition of creating lists of ten essentials, I offer my own ten here.

Preparation: Set up your tent indoors or out so your child can help put it up and get used to crawling in and out. Take a nap in the tent. Make a “pretend campfire” of a flashlight and colored tissue paper; eat lunch by this fire.

Safety: The most dangerous part of your backpack trip is the drive to and from the trailhead. Use the proper car seat; don’t pile supplies around or behind the child that could crash into him/her in a sudden deceleration. A safe place for your toddler to play, while you cook or do other camp chores, is inside your zipped-up tent.

Transportation: On the trail, a safe child carrier, either front or back, should be comfortable for both parent and child. Check often to be sure your child is not too warm or cold, legs not pinched, neck not cramped. Wear both a back and a front carrier. Small babies ride in the front carrier; when he/she graduates to a backpack, fill the front carrier with baby’s supplies. Toddlers may want to walk part of the way; allow time for them.

Nutrition: Not a time to introduce new foods to young children. Pack their favorites, including some special treats that don’t appear often at home.

Hydration: Especially if it’s hot, make sure everyone drinks lots of fluids. Water from home is safest; next is boiled or filtered water. Iodine-treated water may not be safe for youngsters.

Lactation: Nursing mothers need be especially vigilant about staying hydrated, but a nursing baby is the easiest child to take camping.

Shelter: Use a tent with sides and a closable door, not a fly; be sure it is rainproof. Some children feel safer when they are enclosed. Some are night wanderers.

Sanitation: Take plenty of clean-up materials and diapers, and carry the used ones out along with your other garbage. Carry spare clothing in case your child gets wet, but otherwise relax your standards for cleanliness, except for clean hands for eating.

Weatherization: Your child in his/her carrier should be prepared for both good and bad weather. If the carrier doesn’t have a shield to keep sun, rain and wind away, improvise with a snap-on patio umbrella or draped shawl. Carry and use sun hats and sunscreen.

Attitude: Perhaps the most essential of the essentials: Don’t expect the same experience of adventure or distances covered that you had BBC (Backpacking Before Children). Reduce your expectations, be flexible, and enjoy your child’s company.

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9
Aug 10

An International Menace, Firewood From Home

I used to tell campers to bring firewood from home, but I don’t do that anymore. I used to say it would be less expensive to bring firewood than to buy it in or near camp, but that advice is no longer common sensible or responsible. You might save a few pennies, but the cost to the environment could be horrendous. On our cross-country drive this summer, stopping at national, provincial, and state camps along the way, we saw signs all over warning campers DO NOT CARRY FIREWOOD FROM ONE AREA TO ANOTHER. In New York State, the signs said, “Love New York,” and told campers to leave fallen wood at home. In Michigan, a brochure was headlined, “You May Be Carrying Unwelcome Cargo.” At a state park in Minnesota we took a picture of a big red sign that read, BURN IT WHERE YOU BUY IT. In North Dakota, Montana, and up in Ontario, too, there were similar signs, to warn campers to burn wood where it was bought or where it was found if it came from home. Last summer, driving through British Columbia, we saw signs with the same message: don’t transport firewood from one area to another.

What is the international menace that all these states and provinces are worried about? Living in the bark of trees, there are a lot of different insects that are serious threats to the forests of these states and province. In British Columbia, we drove by miles and miles of dead pine trees, killed, we were told, by the population explosion of a pine beetle that lays its eggs in the bark of affected trees. In the eastern quarter of the United States, New York and Pennsylvania to North and South Dakota, Illinois and Indiana, it’s the larvae of a little insect, the Emerald Ash Borer, that lays its eggs under the bark of pine and other trees. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a special project, Slow the Spread (STS) is intended to slow the advance of the gypsy moth that lays its eggs on trees. Here in Washington State, where I live, the daily paper just this morning, August 7, had an article warning people to look out for the gypsy moth; it said 22,000 green cardboard traps had been set out in the state. According to this article, the gypsy moth is considered the worst forest pest in the United States, but let’s not argue about whether my pest is worse (or not as bad) as your pest. An infestation of any of these insects could be started by a camper unknowingly transporting infected logs from an infested area to an un-infested area.

You can learn more about these pests at these and other websites: www.stopthebeetle.info or www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/gypsy_moth/index.shtml

But meanwhile, back to your campfire. What can you use if you can’t bring wood from home? First thing you might consider is not having any campfire at all. We rarely build a fire anymore when we camp; our gas stoves cook very efficiently, and we enjoy the night sky and the stars that you can’t always see when a big fire lights up the night. When we do decide to have a fire, on a night for S’mores, for example, we don’t try to build the biggest fire in camp. A small campfire cooks marshmallows just as easily, maybe with kids along even more safely, than a big fire. Then we bring from home scraps of wood left from old woodworking projects, lumber from planks that were cut wrong, mock-ups for bigger projects, etc. I’m talking about lumber with no bark on it, not pieces of trees. Sometimes you can find this kind of discarded lumber at a construction site; ask first before you take anything. I have seen some campers using old shipping pallets, broken up into usable pieces; again, ask before you help yourself from the heap outside the store. If you need the fire for cooking, buy charcoal instead of wood; it heats hotter and more evenly, and the coals last longer. If your fire is just for sociability, buy pressed wood “logs” designed for outdoor use; these products use materials that used to go to waste, burned at the sawmill because there was no market for it. There are lots of ways you can have a fire without endangering the environment. What else can you do besides carrying logs from home? I’d like to know about it.

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30
Jul 10

How to Pee In The Woods

At many trailheads, the park or forest service or other authority has provided a toilet of some kind, because it’s a basic truth that many people feel the need to go before they start. But what if there isn’t any kind of facility? In that case, people wander off discretely into the brush or behind a tree to take care of business. Some hike directors will instruct their crew: “Gentlemen, forward, Ladies, back!”

On a recent hiking trip, when I followed several other people down an abandoned road, I realized that the people who had gone ahead of me had left souvenirs behind. There was fresh toilet paper scattered on the ground. Leaving toilet paper, even burying it, even if the toilet paper is supposed to be biodegradable, is no longer acceptable behavior. Carry it out. When you pack your rucksack for a hiking trip, tuck a small plastic bag into the same pocket where you put the toilet paper. Use the plastic bag to contain the used toilet paper until you get home. Remember the good hiker’s adage: Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. That includes toilet paper.

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26
Jun 10

RV Camping, Without An RV

Tent Campers: Have you ever considered camping in an RV campground, excuse me, RV park? Many RV parks welcome tent campers. In addition to the sites where you can set up your tent, many RV parks offer weather-proof cabins or yurts where you can lay out your sleeping bags in comfort. Maybe it’s raining and blowing really hard and you’d like to get out of the weather for a while. Or, perhaps you want to stay close to a city, where there are no conventional natural parks nearby and you don’t feel like paying for a motel. Find an RV park! Many of them offer amenities far beyond those of a natural campground, like a swimming pool, laundry, grocery store, and planned activities for the whole family.

When I was writing Camping With Kids (see my page called Goldie’s Camping and Backpacking books), I discovered three great resources for RV camping that are also welcoming to tent campers. One of my favorites is the Jellystone Parks group. They have a Yogi bear theme with friendly bear-characters and great planned activities for kids. A stay at a Jellystone Park is like a stay at a Disney-type resort, but less expensive. For Fourth of July and Labor Day they organize special themed activities, and many of them have additional themed weeks or weekends throughout the summer. There are Jellystone Parks in many states and in Canada, too.

KOA Kampgrounds of America is another association of RV parks. We visited the KOA Kampground outside of Seattle while doing research for Camping With Kids. They had several tent sites in addition to the RV sites, and also a small grocery store, an off-leash area for dogs, a large laundry with washers, driers, and ironing boards, and a spacious womens room with showers and a baby’s bathtub. They also have planned activities for the whole family. No cabins here, but other parks in this group do have small cabins available for rental.

My last resource is Woodall’s.

Woodalls’ is not a campground itself, but a wonderful source of information about campgrounds all over the country. They publish directories of campgrounds which tell you almost more than you need to know about the campground, anywhere you plan to go. Their web site also has a special listing for tent campers. If you get yourself on their email list, you regularly get lots of good tips for camping. For example, we recently bought a new inflatable mattress for camping, and before we bought it, we found a discussion of various brands of mattresses that was very helpful to us. I’m going to write about an inflatable mattress on my next blog. Wait for it!

Camping and Hiking Equipment / Camping and Hiking Tips — 2 Comments
31
May 10

My Favorite Hat, the Sequel Hat, from Durango, CO

For many years, I had a Sequel brand hat, a wonderful hat, made in the USA–actually, I owned two of the same model. The first one had a mesh body with a round foil patch on the crown to reflect the sun from my head, and a stiff solid bill lined with black, so the sun wouldn’t be reflected on my face. A cotton knit shawl or scarf attached with Velcro covered the back of my neck to keep the sun off when it was hot, and wrapped around the front when it was cold. When I wore that hat on a raft trip down the Grand Canyon, the red soil in the Colorado River turned it pink and it wouldn’t wash clean, but I wore that hat until the foil crumbled away and the Velcro stopped holding. Then I bought myself a new Sequel hat, startlingly white, with a rectangular foil patch and an adjustable chin strap, but with the same mesh body and soft scarf. I loved those hats! When the foil in the second hat began to peel away, I went shopping for the third one, but no luck! The manufacturer’s web site said he was closing up shop. He was going hiking! No more Sequel hats. I tried other hats, but none really worked. When I visited Machu Picchu, I saw a woman wearing a Sequel hat, and I tried to buy it from her, but she refused. What a disappointment. Then I saw a friend wearing a billed hat with a bandanna handkerchief pinned on with little safety pins all around the bottom. I thought, I could do that!

The beloved old hat, soft scarf, foil crown

The beloved old Sequel hat, soft scarf, foil crown

I found a mesh hat. That was easy. It wasn’t made in the USA, it isn’t white, it’s tan, and it has a solid crown, no foil, but the bill is lined with black. Then I had to find a bandanna that would match it, and that wasn’t easy. I brought home lots of bandannas (I can always use another bandanna, that’s a topic for another post), and that became the project for my travels in the summer of 2009, to stop at every shop that carried bandannas to try to find one that was tan. Bandannas come in every color and eventually I found the right one. Then I had to try to attach it. I wanted to put Velcro on the hat and on the bandanna so I could separate or attach them easily. I asked my dear friend J.K. for advice before I cut the bandanna, and she took hat and bandanna away and came back a week later with the job done. The bandanna is folded in half and has deep pleats that drape around my neck. I pinned a shoe string inside to use as a chin strap.

New Hat, Bandanna Attached with Velcro

My friend did a wonderful job. Now I have a fake Sequel hat, an adequate, but only adequate, copy of the original. I can’t say that it’s a pale copy, because it’s darker, but if ever I get to Durango, CO, I’m going to find that old factory, haunt the used clothing stores, and find myself another Sequel hat.

Camping With Kids / Camping and Hiking Tips / Family / RV Camping / Seattle / Travel / Urban Hiking / Winter Camping and Hiking — 3 Comments
5
May 10

Urban Camping, in San Francisco, Seattle, and… your town’s name here?

I read recently in the San Francisco Chronicle that a new campground has been opened in San Francisco’s Presidio. Rob Hill Campground, located on 4 acres at the top of the Presidio’s highest hill, is the only campground in the city of San Francisco. Reservations are open to groups and families, and according to the newspaper, the managers hope to create first time experiences in the out-of-doors that will inspire campers to make further exploration beyond the city. Rob Hill has paths that lead to 24 miles of hiking trails, some built to accommodate wheel chairs. Its situation 384 feet above a Pacific beach provides views of ocean and bay, with migrating birds passing overhead. The Presidio of San Francisco has a long history: it was occupied by Ohlone Indians until Spanish explorers in 1776 decided to build their Presidio, their fortified camp, on the site. It was subsequently a military garrison of Mexico and then the United States. Most recently, as the military has turned many of its properties to peaceable uses, the Presidio has been governed by a trust. The newspaper said that reservations for camp sites can be made with the Presidio Trust, 415 561 5444 or at www.presidio.gov.

When I read about this campground in a city, I thought immediately of Seattle’s Camp Long in West Seattle, a 68 acre park that offers visitors an opportunity to enjoy nature, hike in a forest, learn about natural history, and camp overnight in rustic cabins. Camp Long has 10 cabins, each with 6 double bunk beds, to sleep a maximum of 12 persons. Just outside the cabin there is a stone fireplace and a picnic table–what more would you need for a first camping experience? And a bonus for young first-timers: an electric light. Camp Long was a little used corner of the West Seattle Golf Course until 1937 when Seattle Park Board member Archie Phelps, Judge William Long, Ben Evans of the Seattle Park Department, and Clark Schurman, a Scout leader and wilderness camp developer, determined to acquire the land and make it into a place for organized groups to learn camping skills. Dedicated in 1941, Camp Long has continued ever since to bring people close to nature and provide safe and enjoyable outdoor camping and climbing experiences. (The park boasts a man-made climbing opportunity, Schurman Rock, to train climbers, but there are strict rules about its use.) The rental fee for one night in a cabin is $40, and reservations can be made at 206-684-7434 or at camplong@seattle.gov.

Thinking about these urban campgrounds, I began to wonder about other camping opportunities that may be close to home. I went on line to investigate my county. I typed King County, Washington, camping into my browser, and I found the Tolt/MacDonald Park & Campground, just 40 minutes from downtown Seattle. This 574 acre park at the confluence of two rivers, the Tolt and the Snoqualmie, provides tent and RV sites (which the two urban camps do not have), and in addition to the usual forests and hiking trails, there are bicycle paths. There are also six yurts at Tolt, which come furnished with two double futons, a double/single bunk bed, night stand, heat, electricity, deck, picnic table and fire ring. Two yurts have wheelchair accessibility. Each yurt sleeps up to seven people. All the yurts and many of the tent sites are located on the side of the park across the Snoqualmie River, and require walking across the park’s 500-foot suspension bridge. It’s no big deal. I’ve been hiking at this park–crossing the bridge is part of the adventure. Daily fees depend on your campsite, whether you walk in, drive in, hook up or not. The yurts are more expensive. The camp is open all year round, and reservations can be made by calling 206-205-5434. If you want more information, this is where I went: http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/rentals/camping.aspx

Now some of you people reading my blog don’t live in San Francisco or Seattle. What about your city? Does it have opportunities for overnight camping? Find out! Google or call your park department and ask! And if your city doesn’t have a campground, what about your county? Do what I did, tell your browser you want county name, state name, camping. You might be surprised at what you find. And let me know. I would love to hear from you that you had found camping opportunities close to home.

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25
Apr 10

Rainy Days in Camp, Plan B, and C, and D…..

My son just made reservations for a three-generational camping trip to our favorite Oregon State Park, Jesse M. Honeyman, this summer. It made me think of another trip to Honeyman, many years ago, when it rained and rained. We didn’t go home. We drove into Florence, Oregon, the nearest town, and to Newport, where there was an aquarium with a whale who has since moved on. I don’t remember exactly what we did, beyond seeing the whale and a movie, but after two days the sun came out and we had five good days in the week to spend on the giant sand dunes that make this park so remarkable. The point I’m trying to make is that rain won’t necessarily spoil a camping trip if you plan ahead for that eventuality. Check out the towns within driving distance of your camp to see what amenities they might offer–a museum, a historic site, a fast food shop with an indoor playground. Tourist towns often have features like an arcade with games, electric carts, and so on. O.K. It’s not exactly a camping-outdoors-with-nature experience, but it is an opportunity for kids to have their parents’ undivided attention, and that’s what many students that I interviewed for Camping with Kids said they liked best about camping.

What if you’re camping at an isolated campground, with no town nearby? Then you have to prepare in advance some indoor–excuse me, in tent or in RV–activities to keep the kids occupied. Pack a new age appropriate board game, but don’t bring it out until you need it. Think back to the word games and alphabet games you played back in the days, and teach them to your kids. Sing together. My two-year-old grandchild loves the teapot song, the itsy bitsy spider, the wheels on the bus–we sang them over and over on our camping trip last summer. Bring out coloring books and crayons. Make up a story–create imaginary characters who have adventures. If your kids are old enough for string games, get a book from the library and practice all together making cat’s cradle and other constructions. Don’t forget to pack the string! What else can you think of? Put on your rain gear–you did pack rain gear for everyone, didn’t you?–go for a walk in the rain. Then come back to camp, drink hot chocolate, and write in your journal about the rain.

All of this assumes that your tent is waterproof and/or you have a good rain fly over it. If your tent leaks, then it’s another story. Check into a motel or go home.

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10
Apr 10

Odor Beaters, Stinky Tents, and Urethane

One big tent, hanging in the garage

We own three tents. In recent years, as backpackers, we have been using only two of them. (See the larger of the two, the red tent behind me in the picture at the About Goldie page, taken at Crystal Lakes in Mt. Rainier National Park.) The third tent, an orange 5′ x9′ nylon camping tent coated with urethane waterproofing, remained rolled up and dry on a shelf in our store room. Last summer we took it out for two nights of car camping with our youngest grandchild. Ugh! The smell was awful, like stale urine! We set the tent up in the backyard in the sun for a few days, which helped a little, but it still stank. Not feeling like investing in a new tent, we took it with us, left all the vents open and spent as little time in it as possible. (Grandchild wouldn’t set foot in it, but stayed in her parents’ tent.) Now the grandchild wants to camp again next summer. Don consulted some sporting goods store clerks who said it is not the urea that smells but mildew under the urea. Don said he is familiar with mildew, and he’s sure the odor is urea. So he went on line, looking for products that get rid of dog and cat urine odors, and asked, “Is your product something that can remove this odor and make our tent livable again?”

Jodi Cole from BioFOG answered that their product SCOE10X will eliminate the urea odor from our tent, but if it is a mildew odor SCOE10X is not formulated to treat mold/mildew odors. The best treatment for that is to use a solvent like denatured alcohol.

Don wrote back. If he decided to treat for urea odor and mildew odor both, which should he do first? And Jody answered, SCOE10X will always need to be used as a pre-treatment to any other product.

So Don ordered the BioFOG product and soaked our big tent in a plastic tub for 45 minutes . Then he hung it up to dry in our garage, where it is still hanging, and might be hanging until we go camping next summer. See the picture. And it doesn’t stink anymore! Yea, Don! Yea, Jodi! Yea, BioFOG! You can find the product at: http://scoe10x.com.

Goldie Silverman, WriterWritings on Backpacking and Camping With Kids