Camping's Forgotten Skills: Backwoods Tips from a Boundary Waters Guide

Camping out has changed considerably from the good old days of pine bough beds, bonfires and fresh-cut trail shelters. No longer is it ethical to shape the land to suit our whims. There are just too few wild places and too many of us. As an unfortu-nate result, the days of the wise old scoutmaster who could sniff a coming storm and rig a tight camp in a driving rain seems to have succumbed to the age of the tech-weenie. Skills have taken a back acre to equipment. It's important to have high tech equipment, but what if you can't afford it? What if you become separated from your stove in a capsize? What if a large tear develops in your tent in canyon country or a remote northern river? Are you prepared? Are your skills honed? Do you have the skills it takes to survive the mosquitoes, the rain, or the cold food in the event of a disaster?