Witness the conduct of the seasoned woods traveler. His camp comfort is ever uppermost in his mind and although with meager outfit he so employs the artifices of woodcraft that his nights are spent in pleasant surroundings and refreshing sleep.
After the day’s tramp he must get a warm meal and into comfortable repose as soon as possible. Hence toward evening he chooses a suitable camp site near good drinking water. The latter is often of questionable quality and yet of considerable importance from the point of view of health. If in doubt about its purity boil the drinking water for half an hour, cool and strain through cotton or cloth. Most mountain streams are pure. Caution is especially necessary in regions where stagnation and germ life are prevalent, in valleys where camping parties or inhabitants have contaminated the watershed or where the water has flowed over poisonous mineral deposits.
If on a fishing trip the nearer the camper is to the trout stream the better, if on a shooting foray his field for selecting a site is greatly broadened. He must look out to be near plenty of firewood and leanto material.
The exact spot where one’s bed is to rest and shelter erected should be on a slight elevation where the ground is dry and which falls away from the tent on all sides, providing perfect drainage in possible wet weather. A windbreak of heavy tree growth is desirable but never get near trees that may blow down in a storm.
Now go about pitching the tent, placing it so the entrance will be to leeward of the prevailing winds; avoid these by keeping away from the high hills. Select two trees ten feet apart with a flat place between and proceed to level the tent floor by removing browse and rocks, smoothing dirt mounds, etc. Now proceed to make your shelter which may of necessity be the Indian emergency bivouac or the shelter cloth camp. (See chapter 7 “Efficient Cruising Shelters.”)
Next clear a living space in front of the tent providing room for the fire. In no way does the camping tyro proclaim his greenness more than when he attempts to make a fire. The white man nearly always builds a fire of a size that is out of all proportion to his needs while an Indian usually builds a very small fire--a habit acquired possibly from his former necessity of concealing his whereabouts from possible enemies but probably because of his good sense in woodcraft in doing only those things which are really necessary. A good knowledge of fire building is always essential for the preparation of meals and for night heating purposes. We must master, in keeping with the above needs, the making of the small cooking fire and the larger “friendship” or night fire for warmth.