Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

CAMP MAKING 213get well above the flood-marks left by previousfreshets or overflows. Observe the more or lesscontinuous line of dead grass, leaves, twigs, mud,and other flotsam or hurrah's-nests left in bushesalong the water-front.Precautions as to elevation and drainage areespecially needful inare subject to cloudbursts.those parts of our country thatI have seen a ravine thathad been stone-dry for months fill fifteen feet deep,in a few minutes, with a torrent that swept trees andbowlders along with it; and it is quite common inmany parts of the West for wide bottoms to beflooded in a night. When I was a boy in Iowa, a'*mover " camped for the night on an island in CoonRiver, near our place.He had a bag of gold coin,but was out of rations. A sudden flood left himmarooned the next morning on a knoll scarce bigenough for his team and wagon. He subsisted fora week, like his horses, on the inner bark of cottonwood,and when a rescue party found him he waskicking his bag of gold over the few yards of dryground that were left of his domain.Bottom lands, and deep woods where the sunfor they are damp lairs at best, and in warmrarely penetrates, should be avoided, when practicable,weather they are infested with mosquitoes. Keepthey are stifling andaway from thickets in summer :" buggy."A ravine or narrow valley between steep hills istrap for fog, and the cold, heavy air from the headof the hollow pours down it at night, while an undertowof warmer air drawing upward now andthen makes the smoke from one's camp-fire shiftmost annoyingly. Besides a ravine gets too littlesunlight.New clearings in the forest are unhealthy, forthe sun gets in on plants that are intolerant of stronglight, they rot, and poisonous gases arise from theirdecay, as well as from the recently disturbed soil.a