Getaway Guide

BY T. EDWARD NICKENS

y wife and I knew

Mwe’d done at least one thing right when our daughter hollered down from her upstairs bedroom: “Mom! Am I going to potty outside or inside?” She was maybe 8 years old, and we were all packing our clothes and personal gear for a weekend away. And she needed to know: Was she sleeping in a tent, or in a hotel room? When nature called, would she trudge to a certain tree, or have access to a real toilet and running water? She could handle either option.

“In the woods, sweetie!” Julie sang out. “Pack for camping.” Our eyes met and we grinned. “That’s just good parenting,” I said.

In fact, Markie and her younger brother, Jack, have a lot to do with my love of camping — a passion that has added new levels of possibility to my hunting and shing exploits. The fact >

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that they grew up loving to camp meant that our family slept under the stars frequently on summer vacations, spring breaks and long holiday weekends.

Camping is woven into our family identity. We share memories from camp res that ickered from Florida Keys beaches to Rocky Mountain lakeshores to sequestered campsites in the rainforests of the Paci c Northwest. Markie and Jack never complained when their friends went to Disney World while we ew to the middle of nowhere to drive even deeper into the back of beyond, all for the pleasure of sleeping on the ground and waking to a wild world scented with fresh sh frying for breakfast. I hope they’ll agree with me about the most wonderful aroma in the world: pajamas that smell like wood smoke.

I’ve pitched tents from the Arctic to equatorial Central America. I camp on shing, hunting and canoeing trips and just for the heck of camping itself. I think there’s great value in learning to be comfortable in the cold, to go a few days without an honest shower, to know how to cook a meal on a re of your own making, to rig a tarp and tie a trucker’s hitch — and to potty in the woods, if there’s no bathhouse nearby.

More and more people are discovering the astonishing possibilities that await those willing to pitch a tent or hammock — or park a pop-up camper or an RV with satellite TV and air conditioning. Public lands are a portal to some of the most inspiring landscapes on the planet with world-class shing and hunting opportunities, and they are yours for free, or rarely more than $20 a night. You might not get turned-down sheets and a mint on your pillow, but you’ll warm yourself in your own personal beam of sunshine coming through the treetops, and season each meal with views of woods and streams and mountains. And fresh sh and game.

Sound good? I sure think so. Let’s start prepping. >

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE For more information about camping on public lands, visit nps.gov, usda.gov, fws.gov or blm.gov

This land is your land — national forests, national parks and other national treasures that comprise the 640 million acres of federal land in the United States. Camping on public lands is an American birthright. It’s inexpensive, and often free. It’s your gateway to the wildest corners of the country and the best hunting and shing on the continent. And it’s yours, so act like you own it.

National parks. There are more than 85 million acres in the U.S. National Park Service system, and while hunting is limited, most parks are wide open to shing.

While the wilderness experience is a huge draw, most national parks offer superb frontcountry camping and shing for those who like their nature with a side dish of electricity and running water. A shing/camping combo trip in a national park is a formative experience for many, kicking off a lifelong quest for adventure. And the variety of shing experiences is as vast as the landscapes. You can surf sh from the Outer Banks beaches of North Carolina, go deep into the Yellowstone backcountry or plug for bass in ponds and streams.

National forests. U.S. national forests make up the biggest backyard of all: 193 million acres, most of which are open to camping, shing and hunting.

While there are designated campgrounds in numerous national forests, many of the system’s 4,300 campgrounds are dispersed through the forest unit, offering an opportunity for self-suf ciency. A major draw of national forests is the ability to pitch a tent outside of an established campground — along old forest roads and in primitive campsites tucked into the woods. You won’t nd staf ng and activities as you would at a national park. But you can nd yourself in blissful solitude — and in most national forests, you won’t have to pay a dime.

Think of the nation’s 13 national seashores and lakeshores as national parks at the beach, where you can wake up within two steps of casting your line for saltwater species or freshwater trout and bass.

National seashores preserve some of the most wildlife-rich coastlines in the country, so there are plenty of opportunities to sh for dinner and try your hand at duck hunting. Run by the National Park Service, national seashores and lakeshores offer a mix of designated campgrounds and deep wilderness backcountry.

National monuments. While national parks are created by the U.S. Congress, national monuments can also be created by the president to preserve important natural and cultural sites. National monuments can be managed by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, among others, so you’ll need to check with the appropriate agency for camping opportunities and regulations about hunting and shing.

Bureau of Land Management. If you don’t live in the American West you may not be familiar with the Bureau of Land Management, but this federal agency manages 245 million acres of public lands for outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development and energy production.

The biggest draw to most BLM properties is the chance to strike out and make camp far from the next nearest human. There’s almost as much BLM land as there is in national parks and national forests combined, and just about all of it is open to hunting and shing.

Now that you’ve decided to get away from it all, allow me to offer some tips to keep you comfortable.

The speci c placement of the tent is critical to a good night’s sleep. Prep the ground where your sleeping bag will be. >

First, make your bed. Pace off the ground that will be under the tent and clear it of rocks and sticks. Then ll the divots. Scrape leaves or loose soil into any divots and small holes under the tent space. Now dig a “booty hole.” Dig or tamp down a slight depression in the ground — a couple inches are plenty — where your pelvis will be once you lay down. If you sleep on your back, this reduces painful pressure points on the small of your back. If you’re a side-sleeper, your hip will nestle in the hole, keeping your spine aligned for a more restful snooze.

Also called the wagoner’s hitch, this is a “tension hitch,” great for cinching down a load and for maintaining or adjusting any kind of tight line. Use it for tying anything down to vehicle racks or when rigging guylines for a tent. Although this hitch lets you tighten down a load with cracking force, it’s fast and easy to untie.

To start, twist a loop in the standing part of the rope, above the point of anchorage (for instance, the bar of a vehicle rack, a bumper or a saddle ring). Form a bight in the standing part of the rope below the loop, then pass the bight through the loop, pulling it tight to form a knotted loop in the standing line. Pass the working end of the line under the anchorage point, up through the loop and back down. Pull down on the line to get the pulley effect, and cinch the load as forcibly as you like. Lock the hitch in place with two or three half hitches to a solid point of anchorage.

There’s nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night with the shivers, so do what you can to make sure your sleeping system is toasty for the long haul. Here are ve ways to sleep like a warm log all night long:

Bottle service. Place a hot water bottle in the sleeping bag 30 minutes before you turn in.

Fleece your feet. Stash soft, dry clothing such as long underwear and a eece vest in the sleeping bag’s foot box. The garments will absorb foot moisture throughout the night and insulate your lower body. Bonus points: You’ll have warm undies in the morning.

Establish ground control. The cold ground can chill an air mattress, which, in turn, chills you. Add a layer of protection by covering your sleeping pad with a blanket before laying your sleeping bag down.

Pull on a jacket. Zip up your winter coat and pull it over the end of the sleeping bag to keep your feet warm.

Don’t hesitate — insulate. Don’t wait until you’re shivering to pull on a layer of long underwear or dig your beanie out of the pack. Layer up before lights out. l

— Excerpted from Field & Stream’s The Total Camping Manual, one of Hunt & Fish guest editor T. EDWARD NICKENS’ two new books out this summer. The other is The Last Wild Road: Adventures and Essays from a Sporting Life, a gripping, often hilarious and deeply meditative journey through the heart of the outdoors in the modern world. The collection includes the best of Nickens’ nearly 20 years of work for Field & Stream.