Campers Info Source

Do you get thirsty in a hurry when hiking or exercising?  While paddling a canoe or Kayak, have you ever thought to yourself, there’s plenty of water to drink, right?  This brings us to Tip #3.

Tip #3 – Stay Hydrated.

Stay hydrated! You have probably heard from others that if you find yourself thirsty, you are already dehydrated so do not get to that point.  Fill your water bottles or bladders every chance you get so you are hydrated during those long trails.  This backpacking tip is the most important tip to remember because staying hydrated is more important than remembering to feed your belly.  Also, do not drink water directly from a lake, stream or river no matter how clean it looks.

I’ve been fishing and hunting on many lakes in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and believe me, I’ve thought about drinking the water directly from the lake many times.  I swim in the lake and have accidentally swallowed water many times without getting sick so why can’t I drink it?

It’s because there is a risk that the water contains giardia, a parasite that causes severe diarrhea requiring medical treatment.   The decision is yours but I highly recommend you follow my recommendation and the Forest Service recommendation which is to filter, boil or chemically treat water before drinking.

A good alternative is to get a Hydration backpacking pack.  Simply put some water in your backpack and drink from the tube that extends outside of the backpacking pack.  This will help you stay hydrated and prevent the temptation to drink directly from the water in the lakes, streams and rivers.

Now that you’ve decided the location where you are going backpacking and you’ve made sure you have a site reserved and permission to navigate the territory, we recommend you follow Tip #2.

Tip #2 – Bring a GPS Device and/or a Compass

Study maps of the campground and the surrounding area before you go on your big backpacking trip.  Select routes you would like to explore.  Determine if you’re going to navigate the territory by just hiking or whether you will also be canoeing, biking, climbing, or four wheeling.  If you’re new to the area or traveling with kids, don’t try to go too far.  Remember, less-popular camp grounds usually mean you’ll see fewer people and have an easier time finding a campsite.  When choosing a route, consider your ability, and length of time you’ll be out.  Don’t over extend yourself and others; especially if you or any of your family and friends with you is new to backpacking.

One great way to learn the lay of the land is to get a Garmin 400I Inland Lake Topo GPS.  This GPS includes a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD card slot, color display, picture viewer and more.  Depending on the region of coverage you decide to get with the GPS, it  has built in maps of every hill and valley for your next great adventure,  includes terrain contours, topo elevations, summits, parks, coastlines, rivers, lakes and geographical points.  The TOPO maps are ideal for hiking, hunting, camping, cycling and communing with nature.

One of the things I like to do and that you might want to try is visiting the campground well in advance of your planned trip.  Scout the area and make decisions in advance about which areas you will be navigating 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  It’s funny how you see different things and think differently when your not rushed and excited.  Bring a camera and take pictures of the area in advance so you can refer back to them and share them with others later.  And don’t forget to bring your Garmin 400I Inland Lake Topo GPS with you.

If you can’t afford to buy a GPS device, always bring a compass.

I have lived most of my life and done most of my camping in Minnesota so my Top 10 tips for you are based on my experiences in Minnesota. However, I believe these tips apply to backpacking regardless of your preferred location.  This is the first in a 10 part series that will provide one backpacking tip every day for the next 10 days starting today (April 29, 2010).  Enjoy!!!

Tip #1 – Plan your trip in advance and get permission to backpack on the the desired property

The United States is packed with tons of great backpacking opportunities and locations where you can pitch your backpacking tent.  You can camp in the Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains or Colorado Rocky Mountains and never cover all the territory in your lifetime of hiking.  The same holds true for hiking the trails in Minnesota where pristine lakes, tall pine trees, rippling rivers and streams and the sound of a cackling pheasant or the haunting call of a loon are bountiful. 

All of these areas are available to you but you should always check ahead to make sure you have permission to backpack in the desired area.  Some wilderness areas or national forests may require a permit.  You may have to reserve a campsite or pay a small fee depending on where you are going.  Don’t be caught off guard and not be prepared.  There is nothing more depressing than arriving at your final destination and learning you can’t do what you wanted to do.

Make sure the location where you are going to camp has available sites for you to pitch your backpacking tent.  If you are going with friends, inquire as to whether or not the campgrounds allows two tents on one site.  If you reserve your site in December or January for the following spring or summer, you are likely to get a good site.  However, if you wait until later than March, you may find the more popular campgrounds are filled up.

One of the things you can do for mom this Mother’s day is take her bird watching.  First, get some Range Finder binoculars for her.  While they are more expensive than regular binoculars, they are worth the price because it’s really nice to know just how far away objects are when you are viewing them.  Range Finder binoculars provide a digital readout on the inside of the lens while you are viewing an object.  

After you get your Range Finder Binoculars, get a book on birds that also provides a log sheet so mom can log what she sees, look up the bird type and learn a little bit about it.  Lastly, take your mom to a wooded area or to a nearby lake shore or river and just watch the birds.  Bring a portable camping grill and cook her some dinner while she is bird watching.  Don’t forget to take the Range Finder binoculars on your next camping trip as well.  The time you spend together on a trips like these will establish memories that will last a lifetime.  Remember, “The Joy is in the Journey”.

Note that Mom can also use the range finder binoculars when camping to keep close tabs on her youngsters in order to make sure they don’t stray to far away from the camp site.  She will be able to tell exactly how far away they are.

Mom’s like to camp just like anyone else.  But what they like even more is when they receive a gift from a loved one and when they are able to spend quality time with their loved ones.  Mother’s Day is fast approaching so now is a good time to prepare and get mom that special and memorable gift.   Check out some of my previous BLOG posts to identify a good camping location and just go.  Take mom and you set up the tent and do all the cooking while she relaxes in a camping chair around a campfire.

Get mom a bird feeder this year and let her add the food to the bird feeder and she’ll enjoy watching birds flock to the bird feeder while she relaxes around the campfire.  If mom already has a bird feeder, consider getting her a bird house or some beautiful wind chimes.  Don’t forget to tell mom you love her and remember, “The Joy is in the Journey”.

Before you go camping with your family you will spend lots of time making sleeping arrangements because everyone knows that if you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you’ll be cranky in the morning.   The first decision you want to make regarding camping beds is whether you want to sleep on the ground or off the ground.  If you are okay with sleeping on the ground, a good sleeping bag will make a decent camping bed and consider a bivy which houses your sleeping bag and will keep the ground critters away.  If you want to be off the ground you have three basic choices for camping beds.

Choice #1: Sleep in a Hammock.  Hammocks aren’t for everyone but if you get a really wide one that doesn’t feel real tipsy, they can be really comfortable and you’ll get a good night’s sleep.  I suggest trying one at home first before making this your choice for camping beds.

Choice #2: Sleep on a cot.  Cots are available in various widths and lengths and they fold up nicely when traveling.   Some cots come with pads and if you put your sleeping bag on top of the pad, you’ll feel really comfortable.

Choice #3:  Sleep on an air mattress.  Most people think of an air mattress as a plastic blown up mattress you lay on in the water.  A Camping Bed air mattress is much different.  Air mattresses for camping are available in the same sizes as regular beds i.e. twin, full and Queen.  And they are available with build in electrical pumps that blow them up in less than 5 minutes with the turn of a knob and push of a button.  They can also be deflated just as quickly and packed away easily for your next camping trip,  A camping bed air mattress often comes with a felt top for softness and can be fitted with the same sheets you use at your own home.  And the most cool camping bed air mattress is the ones that blow up to a thickness of about 2 feet so it’s as high as your regular bed at home.  The Coleman Queen Quickbed Pillow Top with Pump is an excellent camping bed. 

If you have a large family tent, one or more of the Coleman Quickbed Pillow top air mattresses will make you feel right at home i.e. a home away from home.

I still have my old Coleman Outdoor Gas Grill that runs on Coleman Fuel instead of propane.  Remember having to buy a half gallon of Coleman fuel, a lot more than you needed and probably enough to last you five years.  You would pour about a pint of the fuel through a small funnel into a cylindrical canister of the Coleman fuel and normally spill a little on the canister.  After filling up the canister, you would push a compressor nozzle on the canister repeatedly to get pressure build up in the lines of the Coleman grill so you could start the fire.  Then you had to use a match instead of an automatic igniter to get the fire going and this often caused some of the Coleman fuel that spilled on the outside of the canister to start on fire.  You’d have to quickly put ot the fire with a small rag.  My Coleman grill is so old, it now feels like an antique and it’s not very safe anymore.  I’m going to have to upgrade to a new portable outdoor gas grill this year and the one I’m really looking hard at is the Weber Q 200 Gas Grill.

The Weber Q 200 Gas Grill has a compact cast aluminum body and a tubular stainless steel burner with a push-button igniter.  This outdoor gas grill provides 12,000 BTU-per-hour input and it has  plenty of room to cook lots of meat on the cast-iron cooking grate.  The part I like most is it has two fold-out work tables; one on each side of the grill to store the meat before cooking.  You can also store other dishes, seasonings or the grilling utensils.  It’s safe, easy to use, and very convenient.  Maybe it’s time for you to upgrade too.  If so, consider this outdoor gas grill but also consider whether you want a 2 burner or 3 burner outdoor gas grill or whether you want charcoal for fuel?

My wife Kay and I will be waking up early on Sunday morning April 25th, 2010 to attend a baptism in southwestern Minnesota.  The baptism will be for my 8 week old grand daughter McKenna Kay.  My son Ryan will be the godfather and my daughter Lisa will be the god mother.  This is an important event for our family.  One of many we will be attending this spring and summer.  Every time we host an event lik this or go to an event like this we end up spending time in an Event Tent.  They are available in various colors, sizes and styles.  Some are used to provide protection from the sun or rain while others provide protection from insects or serve as a play area for small children.

The Dual Identity 12′ x 12′ Screen House and Canopy Tent from Gigatent provides both protection from the sun and rain and protection from insects because it has a ‘Dual Identity’.  When you want shade you can just put up the gazebo and when you want sun and bug protection you can simply combine the gazebo with the durable screen. You can even use the screen all by itself to create a bug-free zone for sunbathing or a children’s play area.

If you are like me and McKenna and planning to attend lots of events this spring and summer like baptisms, high school graduations, confirmations, wedding receptions, birthday partys etc, consider getting an event tent instead of renting one and also give some thought to getting a Dual Identity 12′ x 12′ Screen House and Canopy Tent.  You won’t regret it.  And remember, The Joy is in the Journey.

When my kids were teenagers they frequently used the word “gay” to refer to something as being bad and it bothered me.  They’d say something like “that car is so gay” which meant the car was bad.  So I looked up the word gay in Wikopedia and learned that the word originated in 1697 as meaning “joyful, cheerful”.  Wikopedia went on to say the word evolved into referring to ones sexual orientation and because so many people think a gay sexual orientation is bad, the word evolved into a more general meaning of other things being bad or negative .  It bothered me until I realized this happens all the time. 

When my parents were teenagers they had dome tents but they frequently used the word “cool” to refer to something as being really good or nice.  It must have really confused their parents because they always thought the word “cool” referred to a temperature like the opposite of warm or hot so they obviously must have wondered why their kids thought dome tents we not hot because they were very hot in the summer.

I even remember using the word “Bad” when I was a teenager to refer to something that was really good.  For example, me and my friends might say “that car is really baaa…d”  which meant the car was actually really good, or cool or gay.  So here is my final thought.  I think Dome tents are all three; they are cool, gay and baaaa…d so if you don’t have one, go get one ASAP and enjoy camping this spring.  And remember, “The Joy is in the Journey”.

I live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and when I stepped outside of my house yesterday (mid April 2010), I could not believe my eyes.  Cotton was falling off the trees and blowing in the wind.  This doesn’t normally happen in Minnesota until mid to late May.  I know because that’s when I do a lot of pan fishing and the cotton gets caught in my fishing reel.  The winter in Minnesota was very mild this year and it’s been unusually warm through March and April.  So we’re almost 1 full month ahead of schedule weather-wise.  I fully expect the pan fish to be biting much earlier this year and spawning much earlier as well.  The water is warmer and the air is warmer than usual to.

What does this all mean?  It means you should get your boat cleaned up and tested.  You should get your fishing gear ready.  This includes getting your tent and camping gear out and testing it.  If you don’t have a boat, I suggest you look at a kayak, canoe or raft.  One really nice water craft to use for fishing pan fish on a small lake is the Sea Eagle 12 Foot FoldCat Catamaran Pro Angler Package.  This water catamaran plus kayaks and canoes are a lot less expensive than a fishing boat and are perfect for pan fishing.  What are pan fish?  Sunfish, blue gills, crappies, rock bass, and brim.  These are all different specifies of pan fish; the best tasting and hardest fighting fish on the planet for their size.  Go camping this spring, catch some pan fish and eat them.  Fillet them into small slices, toss them in a small baggie with some Frying Magic then deep fry the fillets for about 5 minutes.  The fresh caught fish tastes so good that you’ll think you’ve gone to heaven.  Enjoy your next fishing expedition and camp out and remember, “The Joy is in the Journey”.