by L. Woodrow Ross

Created on: April 03, 2008

Camping can be extremely comfortable even though you might be sleeping in a tent. It can also be a challenging experience if you decide to "rough" it.

Camping in an organized campground can provide a relaxing outing. Some campgrounds even have bathhouses. With a large tent, cots, or air mattresses and a good sleeping bag, you can be quite comfortable.

As examples of the two extremes, I will describe two experiences a year apart that will illustrate the differences.

In February of 2007, my best friend and I backpacked into the Joccassee Gorges of South Carolina and camped for a week. Our wives dropped us off at the trail-head, and we hiked over a range of hills and dropped into the gorge. It was a grueling hike due to the rapid change in elevation. We had everything on our backs to spend a week in the mountains.

This is a very remote area and there is no telephone service since cellular phone signals are blocked by the high mountains surrounding the gorge. We would be out of contact for a week. If there was a medical emergency, one of us would have to hike out to get help.

We set up camp on an elevated site near the Eastatoe River. It was a primitive campsite that had been used before. There was a rock fire ring, but it was piled high with ashes and debris left by other campers. We dug a hole and cleaned out the fire pit and buried the ashes and covered the area over with forest litter to naturalize the area.

We found the most level spot for our dome tent and pitched it. We stretched an auxiliary rain fly above the tent in case of heavy rain. We also trenched around the highest side of the tent and two sides to carry away excess water.

It was the coldest week of the year and we gathered in a large quantity of firewood. We cut the dead, fallen timber for firewood with a saw and a light axe. We stacked it and covered it with plastic to assure a dry wood supply.

We cooked with one burner stoves and over the open fire. I made a tripod of green wood and secured it at the top with wire. We could hang the coffee pot from its bail and perk coffee over the fire and we also had a pot that we used to boil water. The stream was clear and cold, but the risk of drinking unpurified water even in a remote area is great.

We had snow one day and the wind was ferocious. On another occasion we had a violent thunderstorm that rattled the peaks above us, and the lightening flashed brilliantly even through the tent walls. The rain fell in buckets and we were thankful for the extra rain fly

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