Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

TOMAHAWK SHELTERS 235spring branch and the solitude of that north sidewould be attractive to blockaders looking for a newlocation; but if they picked on it, they would erecttheir still on the branch itself, low enough downfrom the spring so that they could run water througha spout to the worm of the still. Spies searching forsuch gentry would go along the branch, and, findingno sign, would waste no more 'ime there.A man camping in that thicket would have to havesome way of getting in and out. It would be much toowearisome to go a new way every time, crawlingthrough the laurel. That means he will make atrail of his own. He leaves the regular trail andsteps into the creek not far from a pointopposite the mouth of the spring branch, andup that branch he v/ades a short distance until outof sight of the creek. Here he turns out into thethicket to the left and trims a trail to the spring,starting a few yards back from the branch so thatno marks are visible from it. Directly below thesprmg he starts similarly a trail to the camp site,where he trims out as much space as he needs. Deadtrees wind-thrown from the cliff supply him withalmost smokeless fuel, and dead laurel, of whichthere is plenty in every thicket, gives him an abundanceof excellent kindling that is really smokeless.When he chops, it will be so early in the morningthat nobody else will be within sound of it, for it isan hour's w^alk, at least, from any house.Whenever he goes to the spring, or returns fromIt, he drops a dead laurel bush at the entrance tothe side trail leading to camp, the sprangling forksof the bush being thrown outward, which woulddeter any stranger from pushing through just atthat point. The entrance to this side trail, like theone near the mouth of the branch, is ''blind" ; i. e.,not visible from the branch, as you have to partsome bushes to find it.