After conducting some field research, We’ve got a few pointers for those of you planning on doing some camping this season.
- Buy yourself a nice, but simple, cabin — or acquire a friend or family member with one. Make sure there are no major cities within 120 miles, and no small towns within 10 miles. The Allegheny National Forest is a prime location.
- Bring at least a case of quality craft beer per camper. Some of our favorite selections have recently included Great Lakes’ Edmund Fitzgerald, Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale as well as their Hop Slam, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, and of course Straub.
- Make an enormous fire pit. Burn fires bigger than you could have imagined. Start your fire with bacon grease, build it up to the point where it’s hard to look at it, and don’t let it go out the whole time you’re there.
- Hike for a few hours, but not long enough to really break your tight schedule of fire-gazing. Cut some walking sticks. Find some caves. Climb some rocks. Leap. Sing. Et cetera.
- Bring a couple of guns, for recreational shooting and of course protection from wildlife. Know how to use them responsibly. Shooting is a good way to blow off steam and relax at the same time.
- Sleep in a bit, but not so much as to waste the day.
- Make coffee in a french press first thing in the morning.
- Always include farm-fresh eggs, thick-cut peppercorn bacon from a local market, and/or crispy corned beef hash in your breakfasts. When in doubt, take the leftovers from the previous night and fry ‘em up. Add garden-fresh garlic to everything. Make reuben and pizza mountain pies.
- Bring appropriately backish-woods stringed instruments to strum and some buckets to bang on. Make some noise, but also enjoy the peace and quiet.
- To complete your stay, clean up and leave the place the same way you found it. Don’t produce more than one small grocery-bag of non-compostibles.
