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Show tfm TTBn Cant's -plPa jsainmais HV J by Randy Hanskat Twelve legs in a sleeping bag Why do people like camping? Why do they like to fight with man-eating bugs, sleep on rock-hard ground, go traipsing off in search of firewood and do other such seemingly unnecessary deeds? After all, most of us live in what can hardly be thought of as an urban environment in Park City anyway, so why go camping? I tried to discern the true reasoning behind the tents and all this past weekend on a trip to the Mount Timpanogosarea. Even though it was Friday the 13th, we set off after my Friday evening Softball game a friend, myself, her black lab Terra and my cat Ernie. We headed to the Timponeekee Campground, which is the highest camp you can stay in without having to hike. About backpacking: It's not really for me. When I go camping I don't go to KOAs or other neon-lit trailer parks; I frequent state parks, or national forest campsites, but I don't pack it. Why not backpack? Because I like to drink wine and vodka when camping, and I like to have real food, not the instant "just add water" variety that backpacking dictates. Sure, I cquld still have all of that on a weekend backpacking trip, but I like the national forest sites. Plus, you get a picnic table! When we pulled our packed Toyota into site number 14 it was just after sunset. As soon as I got out of the car I knew why camping is such an addicting preoccupation the stars were out in mass, a stream was gurgling over the hillside down the way, the wonderful smell of campfires wafted through the air. Heaven! The dew was out and heavy, as if it was falling out of the sky. The days heat, in the upper 80s, was being quickly replaced by the 40s, with the resulting dew almost measurable in inches. At 1:30 a.m., after a couple of Cape Codders, the four of us finally hit the three-man dome. Ernie went in first and immediately started head butting the sides of the tent in search of a way out. Terra plopped down on one side, leaving not much room for two more bodies, but we all fit somehow. And the hard ground, the double sleeping bag,' the roaring stream, the stars (and later on the bright full moon) made for a wonderful evening. Oh yes, this is why people like camping, 1 remembered. The next morning at about 10 the other side of the coin buzzed into the picture. Sure, you've seen the Off commercials that show how to protect against bugs in the "deep woods" and similar vignettes. But through years of camping, going back to my days as a young tyke, bugs haven't really been a nuisance. Well, usually. There was this one time in Rangely, Maine, where we camped near a lake. My brother, sister and I all went off in search of trouble, which we found in the form of no-see-ums. In case you don't know what no-see-ums are, my mom would explain to you how we arrived back at the campsite covered with blood from the bites. And we hadn't even known we'd been bitten ! Back to the modern era. Saturday, all day long, was not a dog day (even though the temperatures were hotter than I like them ) , it was a bug day : a deer fly day, to be exact. Squadron after squadron droned down onto the helpless campers in a daring daylight raid, biting, working their way into hair and buzzing the enemy. A total blitzkrieg! We tried to escape to the stream, thinking they wouldn't like such dampness. But as soon as we sat in our low riding chairs in the middle of the current, the second wing of the attack ranks homed in on us with heat-seeking stingers. It was "The Birds" in capsule form. Finally we managed to escape down to Deer Creek Reservoir where the enemy radar couldn't find us, but the deer flies were enough to put all four of us in bad moods (even though Ernie wasn't much affected while sleeping in some tall grass near our tent, she agreed in principle). Later on, back at the camp at 6 p.m., the bugs were waning, but were still battling. Just in time, as we were both eyeing the can opener and our wrists at the same time, the sun set and the deer flies hit the road. Then came no less than another glorious night, clear, cool and totally bug free. Shortly, with the help of a couple of stiff Cape Codders, the strafing of the deer flies was out of our minds, replaced by a toasty fire and a double sleeping bag. 1 fell asleep, again remembering why people enjoy camping. |