my. weekend plans

[terasec]

I will be taking my nieces age 9 and 12 up to my land and do some backwoods camping,
Today I had them calculate how much fabric I need to build a 10'x10' baker tent.
Breaking down sections to triangles and rectangles for them
Didn't expect younger one to get it, but was surprised 12 year old who is straight a student had no idea . Learned the formulas in school but no idea what they were.
Tomorrow am going to have them put together their own first aid kit and emergency carry on kit.
For the trip first day before we even get to the trail am going to have them help me build a stick foot bridge over a marshy ditch, just 10' or so, but will create a shortcut to the trail.
When we get to the site, will have them use my tent, and I'm going to try making a hammock tent.
Hopefully can get my canvas tent framed out friday and canvas up on saturday.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: my. weekend plans

Sounds like a good one. I am due to take the little girl camping. Last weekend, the Boulder County Park Rangers put on a class about building an emergency survival shelter, and she really enjoyed it.

[Mike]

Re: my. weekend plans

Sounds like you are pretty hard-core: build your own tent, build your own bridges. Maybe bake your own bread and grind peanuts into peanut butter.

I used to be like that, but found myself camping alone more often than not

Sigh..... So I build my own tent by myself, build bridges myself, make the cheese by myself all ahead of time then invite people to enjoy it and brag it up without shame

[terasec]

Re: my. weekend plans

Sounds like a good one. I am due to take the little girl camping. Last weekend, the Boulder County Park Rangers put on a class about building an emergency survival shelter, and she really enjoyed it.

I have gone to similar here, gives me an idea on something to do on a hike with the kids,

[terasec]

Re: my. weekend plans

Mike: i also do majority of my camping/outdoor stuff alone, but when i get the chance to bring kids along and expose them to it i like to take advantage of it,
hog: never know which kids will gravitate to what, my nephew wants nothing to do with it, although his father(my brother is a trucker, hunter, lives in PA,) would think the country boy tough outdoor family would be more inclined to such, just not happening,
yet my nieces which are girly girls and live in NYC love it, i have taken them on day hikes, and some back woods day trips, this trip is an escalation of previous trips we have done,

the bridge i am building is just a footpath over wet marsh/swamp land, ground level, nothing fancy, just will cut about 1/2 mile trek through rough terrain to get to the trail,
the tent/basecamp is something i've been planning/working on for a while, and while i wont bother the kids with every aspect of it, do want them involved in it,
since i will let the girls use my tent, instead of carrying second tent will try the hammock idea i saw posted here,

this is a work in progress and will see how it goes,

[terasec]

Re: my. weekend plans

well didnt quite go as planned
being rough woods, landscape changes with every trip,
when i reached where i intended to cross the swamp, holy cow, cattails as far as i can see, was too much to try to even make an attempt to cross,
decided to go use another spot,
was tough crossing, have to give the girls credit for getting through it,
didnt build a better crossing as i intended as this spot was just a 1 time crossing,
so we laid logs down to cross, without any lashing and such,
tougher crossing than i anticipated.
when we finally got to my back land, landscape changed again,
where i originally wanted to set up camp, last time i was there was nicely wooded with good clearings, yet this time it was an overgrown mess, tough to get even 100 yds.
settled on a back up spot, where i have camped before.
we set up and was a great spot,
i decided to try my hand at setting up hammock tent,
[IMG][/IMG]
while this was a rough quick setup
i really liked the set up and feel,
think i will change my future plans of a larger tent, and set up a covered hammock tent that i can leave up year round, thanks to this forum for the idea,
after spending the day at the site, had dinner, smores, cleaned up, hung our bear bags,
one of the girls got home sick, she was crying and wanted to go home,
it was 7pm and expected to get dark around 8-8:30,
had to make a quick decision and decided to pack it up and head out before it was dark,
figured staying could have been a miserable night for her if we tried to tough it out.
girls did great in breaking down camp without instruction, by the time i took down and packed up my hammock tent all their gear was packed, fire was out,
we got our bear bag and headed out,
before i started our 5 hr drive back decided to rest up first as we did, it started to downpour,
while i was prepared for rain, was thinking i made the right call, as it rained all night and morning,
homesick and raining would have really miserable for her.
nevertheless they loved the trip and are already planning the next trip,
1 thing they are changing is access to the trail, they prefer longer and easier over short and rough.