WITNESS the conduct of the seasoned woods traveler. His camp comfort is ever uppermost in his mind and although with meager outfit he so employs the artifices of woodcraft that his nights are spent in pleasant surroundings and refreshing sleep.

After the day’s tramp he must get a warm meal and into comfortable repose as soon as possible. Hence toward evening he chooses a suitable camp site near good drinking water. The latter is often of questionable quality and yet of considerable importance from the point of view of health. If in doubt about its purity boil the drinking water for half an hour, cool and strain through cotton or cloth. Most mountain streams are pure. Caution is especially necessary in regions where stagnation and germ life are prevalent, in valleys where camping parties or inhabitants have contaminated the watershed or where the water has flowed over poisonous mineral deposits.

If on a fishing trip the nearer the camper is to the trout stream the better, if on a shooting foray his field for selecting a site is greatly broadened. He must look out to be near plenty of firewood and leanto material.

The exact spot where one’s bed is to rest and shelter erected should be on a slight elevation where the ground is dry and which falls away from the tent on all sides, providing perfect drainage in possible wet weather. A windbreak of heavy tree growth is desirable but never get near trees that may blow down in a storm.

Now go about pitching the tent, placing it so the entrance will be to leeward of the prevailing winds; avoid these by keeping away from the high hills. Select two trees ten feet apart with a flat place between and proceed to level the tent floor by removing browse and rocks, smoothing dirt mounds, etc. Now proceed to make your shelter which may of necessity be the Indian emergency bivouac or the shelter cloth camp. (See chapter 7 “Efficient Cruising Shelters.”)

Next clear a living space in front of the tent providing room for the fire. In no way does the camping tyro proclaim his greenness more than when he attempts to make a fire. The white man nearly always builds a fire of a size that is out of all proportion to his needs while an Indian usually builds a very small fire—a habit acquired possibly from his former necessity of concealing his whereabouts from possible enemies but probably because of his good sense in woodcraft in doing only those things which are really necessary. A good knowledge of fire building is always essential for the preparation of meals and for night heating purposes. We must master, in keeping with the above needs, the making of the small cooking fire and the larger “friendship” or night fire for warmth.

THE COOKING FIRE

The cooking fire should be made quite systematically and quite apart from the heater. If one simply wishes to boil a pot of water or toast a piece of bacon the fire may be made of small material such as dry short twigs picked from a standing tree. For the regulation cooking fire it should be kept so small that one can approach without having his eyebrows singed. There is no need to have a lot of flames but replenish often and keep it going steadily, thus forming a good bed of coals to send heat in all directions.

Several methods are used for supporting the cooking utensils over the fire:—(a) dig an earthen trench 6 inches deep and slightly narrower than the fry pan bottom. Along either side lay a 3 foot small green pole and build the fire between. The pan and kettle may rest on these poles or may be suspended by hooks attached to a dingle stick whose other sharpened end is thrust in the ground at a slight distance and pressed to slant over the fire. Again they may be attached by crotched sticks from a cross pole which rests in notched stakes driven in the ground at either end and at a proper height from the fire, (b) A couple of small green logs, hewn flat on top, laid five inches apart and pegged into place to prevent rolling, are also serviceable. At one end the distance between logs may be widened to accommodate the different sized utensils. Flat stones may be used to build the little fireplace. If your fire does not draw well you can raise one end of a log a little off the ground by putting a small stick thereunder. Wait until the fire of clear wood has burned down to coals and then cut off your draft and cook over the coals, using the log supports as though they were a range. Your cooking fire is little larger than your hat and throws off very little if any smoke.

THE FRIENDSHIP FIRE FOR WARMTH

This is the heater for comfort as you while away the evening in cheerful reminiscence of the day’s happenings, as you watch the lurking mysteries of night approach, and which will warm you before you roll in fluffy blankets for the night’s repose.

The fire for heat must needs be larger than the cooking, yet too big a roaring fire is what you don’t want. Something moderate which will be safe in a change of wind and which will throw heat into the tent will be found adequate. To enhance its value one should build the night fire before a reflector which borrows the principles of the old fashioned fireplace for throwing heat forward. It is located about six feet in front of the tent’s entrance and may be composed simply of a big boulder, a small flat faced cliff or a regularly made wall of green logs.

In making the log reflector cut two stout stakes long enough to project three feet above the ground after they have been driven down sufficiently to hold well, placing them one yard apart with their protruding ends slanting away from the tent. Now take a four foot green log, say a foot thick, and place on the ground against the stakes. Pile upon this three logs of lesser diameter, the difference in size will hold them in place. Then cut two short green logs to act as fire dogs and place them on the ground end on against the back log reflector. Across these lay several dry logs for burning, put your small starting twigs or trash stuff beneath and ignite.

In building a fire secure, if possible, for kindling the bark of the birch which is easily accessible if one goes to the North woods where most camping is done. It is torn in strips and rubbed dry to a fray. In other regions you will be driven to the use of dry grass or other highly inflammable material. Over this put twigs or the choppings from the cores of dead trees, laying them in pyramidal shape with open air spaces within. Now touch off the pile with one of the matches which you have been careful to pack in a waterproof matchbox. When well aflame put on carefully the branches of successively larger sized sticks allowing plenty of air supply to the flames.

In wet weather the task of the inexperienced fire maker is more difficult unless he is well supplied with birch bark which has plenty of oil in it. Without the bark one must get enough fine shavings of the dry insides of decaying logs and pile them up and carefully add small fuel as needed.

For larger fires purely for heating purposes start a small fire and add larger wood until you get the big blaze which will then likely consume even wet wood. It is important to know what kind of wood to choose for fuel. In general standing dead timber is always drier than down timber. You may be surprised at the good wood one can garner from dead stumps which are decayed on the outside but have a sound core which splits easily and burns to perfection. Always use these woods in preference to a growing tree.

One unfailing sign of the good camper is his use of just as little wood as is possible. It should be gathered before night and placed near the shelter.

In the woods always be careful about spreading fire, a forest fire may result and destroy not only the camp but your hunting and camping grounds and deprive others of their rightful enjoyments and heritage. Such carelessness is considered a crime among woodsmen and in some states is a direct violation of the law. Bear in mind several simple rules for fire prevention:—never throw a match in dry leaves: never leave a fire burning when there is no one to watch it, for a gust of wind may start a bad fire from a bed of half dead embers. In locating camp always build the camp fire in the open if possible or on sand or soil but never on forest loam. Note the direction of the wind and try to build the fire just to windward of a brook, road or green grassy plat which would act as natural barriers to a spreading conflagration. In fighting fire, pour water on the flames themselves, soak it, drown it or cover with earth. If the ground is of loam or peaty nature souse it also. If it is spreading use boughs dipped in water to beat flames with or use a wet blanket or even a shirt if necessary rather than let the fire leap from your control.

Having properly started your cooking fire you are now ready to unpack the grub bags. The cook kit is to be rinsed out well, the kettle filled with water and put over the fire; fill the fry pan with meat ration and start your batter for cakes. At the conclusion of the meal clean up the dishes at once so that the hours of relaxation before sleep may be unharassed by the drugery of undone scullion’s work. The dishes are wiped with tufts of grass, washed in clear water and thoroughly dried before the fire.