Posts Tagged ‘nature’

Earth Friendly Camping

Posted on May 27th, 2011 by Tonia 3 Comments

Happy Memorial Weekend! Every year, my family and a big group of our close friends head out into the woods for three fun-filled days of camping. Depending on the weather, our usual activities include a boccé tournament, lots of frisbee throwing, hiking, lots of eating, singing and playing instruments around the campfire, telling stories and listening to someone read out-loud, and a swim in the lake for those who are brave enough {the water is still FREEEEEZING!}

We’re all sharing food potluck style. Most of us are preparing food ahead of time to cut down on messy cooking and clean-up at the campsite. I made a huge pot of hearty soup to bring, quiche-muffins, and supplies for Bloody Mary’s {using mason jars as glasses}. I’m already excited to gather around the picnic tables and enjoy the poo-poo-platter with everyone. Because of course camping, like the rest of life, is really all about the food for us.

I figured a fair share of you will be camping this weekend as well, or in the weeks to come, so what better time than the present to go over some reminders about how to enjoy yourself in the great outdoors while leaving as small a footprint as possible.

McLain State Park – Houghton, MI – Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Doesn’t that look like fun? It is! We have camped many places over the years, and some of my favorite spots are right here in Northern Wisconsin! And that’s the first point I’d like to make: you don’t necessarily need to go far from home to have a great camping experience. Less travel= less fossil fuel usage= a greener camping trip. Find a park near you.

Now, there’s a few different kinds of camping. “Leave No Trace Camping” is when you leave the place you camped exactly as you found it. No trace at all that you were ever there. It’s harder than it might sound, and there are actually several differing schools of thought on how to do it correctly.

Glacier National Park, MT – July 2008

If you have ever camped in the backcountry somewhere, you probably know at least some of the principals and methods of LNT. It’s  really good stuff to know and to apply no matter where you’re camping. Here are some of the basics:

  1. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces. Travel and camp on established trails and campsites, rock, gravel, dry grasses, or snow. Good campsites are found, not made. Camp at least 200 feet from lakes and streams, and focus activities on areas where vegetation is absent. In pristine areas, disperse use to prevent the creation of campsites and trails.
  2. Dispose of Waste Properly. Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your camp for trash or food scraps. Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug six to eight inches, at least 200 feet from water, camp and trails. Pack out toilet paper and hygiene products. To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap*. Scatter strained dishwater.
  3. Leave What You Find. Cultural or historic artifacts, as well as natural objects such as plants or rocks, should be left as found.
  4. Minimize Campfire Impacts. Cook on a stove. Use established fire rings, fire pans, or mound fires. If a campfire is built, keep it small and use dead sticks found on the ground.
  5. Respect Wildlife. Observe wildlife from a distance. Feeding wildlife alters their natural behavior. Protect wildlife from your food by storing rations and trash securely.
  6. Be Considerate of Other Visitors. Be courteous, respect the quality of other visitors backcountry experience, and let nature’s sounds prevail.

*Some folks are under the impression that it’s OK to bathe themselves or wash dishes in a water source {lake, river, etc.} as long as the soap they’re using is biodegradable, but that is not correct. Even biodegradable soap takes a long time to break down, and it needs to be filtered through the layers of the ground in order to break down completely. Dispensing it directly into a water source is no bueno, you guys!

Second Beach – Olympic Peninsula, WA – April 2011

On the other end of the spectrum, RV “camping” is when you drive a large vehicle into an RV park, hook it up to electricity, and hang out in it. And then there is the most common form of camping, “Car Camping”, which is when you drive to a reserved camp spot {usually in a State or National Park}, unload your tent and all your gear, and settle in to your home away from home. A fire ring, a picnic table, and a nearby bathroom/shower-house are usually in the picture. It’s not as cushy as being in an RV but it’s not exactly the backcountry either.

Arches National Park – Moab, UT – March 2009

Big Rock Campground – Washburn, WI – Labor Day Weekend 2010

This weekend we will be CC-ing on the outskirts of the Chequamegon National Forest. Car Camping is tricky, especially in a large group like the one we’ll be in, because it’s just comfy enough that some of the LNT principals can be forgotten or forgone in favor of more convenient options. A couple naughty examples: Using disposable plates and cups, because it’s easier than washing dishes. Buying plastic jugs of water instead of filtering your own into a reusable container. Throwing trash in the fire, or throwing it in the trash bin instead of packing it home and recycling it properly. Lots of people, pets, and vehicles means lots of flora and fauna disturbance and displacement…and lots of nasty DEET-filled bug spray in the air. We’ve all seen these less-than-Earth-friendly campers before, or maybe we’ve even been them.

The upside, though, is that folks are getting out into nature and enjoying it, which will hopefully in turn motivate them to help protect it so their childrens’ children can also enjoy it. And in the meantime, all of us can camp responsibly and show ‘em how it’s done.

Sylvania Wilderness Area – Land O’ Lakes, WI – August 2009

Helpful links to make your next camping trip more Earth-friendly:

Homemade natural insect repellent {there are specific recipes for mosquitoes, ants, and beetles. Citronella candles also work wonders against mosquitoes! Just keep one burning on your picnic table.}

A list of eco-camping-gear, in case you’re ready to trade in your disposable dishes for something Mother Earth would approve of.

RV’s can be green…kinda.  Tips for greening your RV, if you’re really that opposed to a tent.

A basic camping packing list {it’s a PDF, so you can print it out}

{Sorry about the fuzzy photos…in my rush to get packed up for the impending camping trip, I can’t be bothered to find the original files for them, so I pulled them off Facebook- UGH!- and they are low-resolution. I know, I know…not the outstanding-supreme-top-notch quality you’ve come to expect….but the wilderness calleth and I must hurry forth!}

Lessons in Smelting

Posted on April 23rd, 2011 by Tonia No Comments

Yaaaaaaawn! It is nearly 11 am, but I am still recovering from a very eventful Earth Day. Last night, after a full day of working around the farm, we ran into a couple friends in town who enticed us to come smelting with them.

{Image found here}

Smelting…the practice of waiting until dark, pulling on waders, strapping on a headlamp, walking out into the dark water of Lake Superior right after the ice lets out, and dragging a huge net in to the shore in hopes that thousands of tiny fish called Smelt will get trapped in it. It’s a group activity because the nets that are commonly used are so long that they require at least two people to drag them in.

Smelt only run in the shallow waters of the big lake for a few days each spring, so when we arrived at the shore, about a dozen trucks and campers belonging to avid smelters were already parked in a row, marking the ideal {sandy, shallow} smelting spots. Most of them had been camped out and smelting for two days already.

“They’re runnin’ good oh boy!” A bearded man with a Bud Light sloshed past us in camouflage waders. We hurriedly pulled on our gear and headed to the water.

There is something very counter-intuitive about walking out into a frigid, black, never-ending lake at night. You have to force your legs to take you further as your feet fox-walk along the bottom, careful not to trip on rocks, and all the while sensitive to the slow and steady descent you’re making…your thighs are under, now your hips…now your stomach.

It was raining last night- a freezing cold April rain that was somewhere between rain and snow. It pelted our cheeks as we edged deeper and deeper, the net stretched between us, our breath hanging in the air like ghosts.

“Here’s good.” We turned, dropped the net into the water and started towards shore. It’s a slow walk back; The net is heavy and the waves roll up around your body and drag on you. Headlamps and campfires struggling in the rain dotted the shoreline ahead. Cheery banter carried out across the water…”Hey! I smelt somethin’ fishy! Har har har…”

Finally we were back to shore and it took all four of us to scoop the net up in a way that would not to let any Smelt escape. Sure enough, it was sagging with the weight of about a hundred tiny fish.

“Good load!” Passing fisherman congratulated us on our success. We did about eight more runs and filled up a large cooler. A nearby group of smelters caught a large fish in their net. I went over and asked what kind it was.

“Oh he’s a big sucker,” the man replied.

“Yes, he is, but what kind is he?”

“I told you…a Sucker.”

{Image found here}

Slosh, slosh, slosh…we were wet and chilly as we loaded up our gear. “Want to come over and fry some of them up?” our friends asked. It was 11 PM, but why the heck not. We retreated to their warm home, chopped garlic, heated oil, and cleaned our fish. They’re so small that you just cut their heads off, squeeze out their organs, fry em up, and pop them in your mouth whole. They’re crunchy, tender, and tasty.

I wish I had some photos of this adventure to share, but the combination of sleety rain and pitch-black-darkness made photography pretty difficult. Plus our hands were full as it was. But please enjoy these vintage images from the prime smelting days in Duluth, MN- just an hour to the West of us. The spring tradition of netting Smelt has been going on for generations. I’m excited to have been exposed to it. Like ice fishing, it seems to be a “must” for anyone who lives on the shores of Lake Superior.

Earth Day 2011 was marked by hard work that resulted in a delicious, local and seasonal meal. We stepped out into one of Mother Earth’s greatest features: Lake Superior. We felt her breathing and we saw the twinkle in her eye. We were let in on her secret: that everything we need, she provides. We just need to learn how to be a part of the giving and the taking.