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Posts about camping.

Taking care of your camping gear: Part two – laundry day

Part one of this series talked about the fabrics. Today we cover washing them. Using the proper settings to wash and dry your clothing and other gear will help it last longer, keep colors brighter and avoid damage. Some clothing has tags that tell you to wash in cold water and hang to dry while others might just have a series of symbols.

Of course, these are actual hieroglyphics, but unless you understand laundry care symbols, it’s not any different.

Taking care of your camping gear: Part one – fabrics

Taking care of your camping gear (and other items) means it will last longer and work better. It is more sustainable and will save you money. This is the first in a series about caring for your gear. Today, I am going to cover fabrics and insulators. Knowing what the material is will help you care for it properly.

Perfect end to a day in the woods

Walt and I love to backpack and hiking in the fall is so beautiful. The evenings can be a bit chilly, so a campfire and a warm drink make for a good way to relax before bed.

What Is Your Favorite Outdoor Place, and Why?

As some of you may know, I work at the local REI store, selling camping equipment. When you hire on at REI, they ask you to name your favorite outdoor place, and they have it engraved on your name tag, below your name. The other people in my hire group were naming off all the big-name, big-deal destinations. You had Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, The Smokies, and so on.

When it came my turn, I didn’t have a good answer. I’d never been to the places the other folks mentioned, though I wanted to see them all.

Why I love backpacking, Part 8: Butterflies and Moths

We’ve covered a number of different things you see when out in the woods. Today I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of butterflies and moths from our trips in southern Indiana.

A Difference of Nine Days

Springtime utterly transforms the forest. The colors shift from browns to greens, and the silence is shattered by the sounds of birds, insects, and frogs. The air is redolent with the scents of a hundred species of flower. It’s an amazing change, and it happens quite rapidly.

This spring I was fortunate enough to do two backpacking trips, nine days apart. I had taken some pictures on the first trip, and I though it would be fun to take a new set of the same shots on the second trip, just to compare.

A springtime backpack in Hoosier National Forest

When you spend time backpacking, you get close to nature. We’ve shown you some of the wonderful things we’ve seen out in the woods in other posts. Here’s a look at the variety of critters and plants we saw over a few days this spring.

Early spring brings new green growth with the trees leafing out. These pictures were taken from the top of Frank Grubb Ridge in Deam Wilderness in southern Indiana. It was a grey, misty morning, but you can see the green just starting to show.

More about hungry hikers – a table full of food!

I’ve discussed cooking in camp in several different posts (you can see them by searching with the camp cooking tag). When it comes to packing food for a backpacking trip, you have to balance the weight, bulk, and calories to suit your needs.

Breakfast of champions – or maybe just hungry hikers

When you are on the trail, food is important. You want to have energy for the hiking, but you don’t want the food to be too heavy (you have to carry it after all!) or elaborate to prepare. I’m a slow starter in the morning anyway, so one of my favorite trail breakfasts is Logan bread with coffee and a bacon bar. It can be eaten cold and munched while packing up the camp.

Why we love fishing – Black Hills in South Dakota

Despite rumors to the contrary, we don’t spend all of our time outdoors backpacking. We also go fishing!

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