Love-Hate Relationship With Camping
I have a love-hate relationship with camping. There are so many aspects which I dislike: the constant closeness that you have with members of your family, the mile long walks to the toilet in the middle of the night, the fact that you wake up cold no matter how snug you were when you drifted off to sleep, the unwavering ability to hear everything that is going on in the campsite at every time of t
Continue ReadingThe Day the World Ended
In the summer of 1972, my two sisters and I were three wily adolescent girls, all on the brink of trouble. So our father, Eugene Porter, dragged us camping to the most remote spot that he could find – the Gila Wilderness in western New Mexico. Daddy struck camp there and we found ourselves stuck out there for two weeks in the middle of a glorious nowhere with our tent-loving, bean-cooking, story
Continue ReadingHow to Clean a Fish When Camping
This is part two on How to Clean a Fish When Camping. This section mainly covers how to descale, gut and prepare your fish for cooking. If you missed part one on "What You Need to Clean Your Fish" you can read it here. De-Slime Your Fish It’s important to clean and prepare the fish for cooking shortly after being caught so as to maintain its freshness. First wash off the layer of slime on the
Continue ReadingWhat You Need to Clean a Fish When Camping
If you’ve caught a fish, and you’re not going to cook it immediately, then at least bleed it while waiting to catch more for dinner. You can do this by cutting the main artery leading to the gills so the “blood” drains out and doesn’t get into the meat. It’s safe to keep UN-cleaned fish on a stringer in a cool river for a short time, but avoid putting already-gutted fish back into the
Continue ReadingPoem: Camping is the Life for Me
Oh Camping is the life for me, camping by the sparkling sea, under the mangrove tree Oh Camping is the life for me, being with the family, singing songs and playing happily Oh Camping is the life for me, going outside to have a pee, experiencing nature free Oh Camping is the life for me, hot and tasty food for tea, sleeping soundly like a baby Oh Camping is the life for me, flooded by the
Continue ReadingCamping Cues
Camping is in my blood. From the time I was just an infant, my parents took me camping, along with my two younger brothers as they joined the family. We lived in the near-wilderness of Northwestern Montana, where the emerald pines stretch as far as the eye can see, and the sky is so close it seems you could dip your finger in it and taste the fresh mountain air. Now I have my own children, aged
Continue ReadingBeing Rocked to Sleep by a Bear While Camping
One of the many camping trips my family took every summer was especially memorable. It's not every time you encounter with a bear while camping. Each time we would try various campgrounds all over Minnesota; the only prerequisite being that the sites we pitched our tent had to be within walking distance to a lake for fishing and swimming. Encounters with a Bear while Camping at Potato Lake in
Continue Reading21 Uses for a Pashmina Scarf While Camping
Four years after spending £3 on a humble pashmina scarf from a street seller in my local town, I have come to realise that they were 3 of the most sensible pounds I have ever spent. In those years I have found the pashmina to be the most invaluable camping multi-tool; and I have learnt to never, ever consider throwing it away, even when it's cold, wet and smelly. Allow me to expand my argument
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