Sunday, March 23, 2014

Camping Skills

 This weekend, during a very brief warm-weather spell, we went camping to the Pilot Mountain. Monkey was very excited. He wanted to go camping ever since our last trip last October. Except this time he wanted to do it "survival style" which meant "not sleeping in a cabin" and "not buying food at a grocery store".
 So we did stay in the tent. Not the little "Minecraft tent" in the picture. But a larger red and grey Coleman tent. But Monkey was busy working on his DIY.org Camping badge. So he wanted to build a little shelter for himself (with Papa's help)
 Then we hiked the trail all the way to the top. Couldn't go no further from there but down. Let me tell you, it was a tough trail - 2 miles (each way) of steep incline, uneven ground, roots, rocks, lots of climbing. The park brochure says "strenuous".
 The view from the top was amazing. We watched the birds, ate sandwiches, said hi to mountain climbers.
 Back to the camp - another opportunity to work on the badge. Trying to make fire with some tinder and a magnesium block.
 Well, that didn't work so well (the tinder caught fire, but the kindling got stubborn).

Papa used the matches and some time later we were grilling hotdogs (and other, more gourmet food).

Then there was lots more exploring around the campsite and watching the fire until it got too cold and Monkey got too sleepy. And the next morning the weather turned bad with a heavy cold rain. So we went home. But we'll be back for more of the good stuff!


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