The whole family went with Abby’s Girl Scout troop to French Creek for an overnight camping trip. I’ve always suspected that Girl Scouts, at least at Abby’s level if not through the whole thing, was “camping light”, since every time that Abby and Berta had gone before, they had stayed in hotel-like cabins.
I remember some “luxurious” camping accommodations in my scouting days, like a cement-floor cabin with metal spring bunks (no, no mattress, just the springs) and a fireplace. But nothing with real furniture. Unlike the reports I’d gotten from Berta upon their return from Abby’s scout trips.
So the tent camping was a new thing for Abby’s troop. But even there, I’ve discovered levels of camping.
The very last time I was camping prior to this was a very long time ago. I hiked the Appalachian Trail for four days with all my equipment on my back, sleeping in a tent, and cooking my food over fires. I was 12. So my most recent camping conditioning was for a pretty high level of “rough”. About the only thing we didn’t do on that trip was hunt for our own food.
But there’s still a few strata of tent camping in addition to totally roughing it. I’ll give Abby’s troop credit in that they were able to sleep through a pouring rain storm and suffer through a wet tent floor – and the resulting soaked sleeping bags. Still, there were too many weird amenities.
The apple cobbler was good, but it was cooked in a dutch oven. There’s no way I’m going to pack in a dutch oven. They’re insanely heavy. There was also charcoal and a charcoal chimney. These are nice amenities when camping. And I’ll give you that if you’re using a camp as accommodations to something else, they’re nice to have. I mean, if you are able to back your car up to the camp site, these things are great. But they don’t really simulate a rustic camping experience.
Sure, it’s no pop-up camper, but it’s not picking berries in the woods for sustenance, either. Not that I expect a troop of 9-year-old girls to do that, but I’m noticing that I would like Abby to at least experience what the world might be like without all of the modern conveniences, rather than experiencing camping as something you do out of the back of a car that powers a TV so you can watch the first game of the Stanley Cup. (Yeah.)
Hopefully we’ll have time to plan a short trip this summer or next, and I’ll be able to take both kids out with some packs and live off our backs for a day or two. Berta too, for that matter. I think that would be fun for me and educational for them. Or we could all die of exposure. Which would also be an unusual experience.
