A Woman Tenderfoot | Page 6

a
modest supply of condensed soups and vegetables, a box or two of
meat crackers, and three or four bottles of bouillon, to be brought out
on occasions of famine. Anyway it is a comfort to know that you have
provided against the wolf. So much for your part of the eating; now for
the sleeping. If you do not sleep warm and comfortable at night, the
joys of camping are as dust in the mouth. The most glorious morning
that Nature ever produced is a weariness to the flesh of the owl-eyed.
So whatever else you leave behind, be sure your sleeping arrangements
are comfortable. The following is the result of three years' experience:--
A piece of waterproof brown canvas, 7 by 10 feet, bound with tape and
supplied with two heavy leather straps nine feet long, with strong
buckles at one end and fastened to the canvas by means of canvas loops,
and one leather strap six feet long that crosses the other two at right
angles.
One rubber air bed, 36 by 76 inches (don't take a narrower size or you
will be uncomfortable), fitted with large size double valve at each end.
This bed is six inches thick when blown full of air. Be sure that sides
are inserted, thus making two seams to join together the top and bottom
six inches apart. If the top and bottom are fastened directly together,
your bed slopes down at the sides, which is always disagreeable.
A sleeping bag, with the canvas cover made the full 36 inches wide.
This cover should hold two blanket bags of different weight, and if you
are wise you will have made an eider-down bag to fit inside all of these
for very cold weather. The eider bag costs about $16.00 or $18.00, but
is worth it if you are going to camp out in the mountains after August.
Do without one or two summer hats, but get it, for it is the keynote of
camp comfort.
Then you want a lamb's wool night wrapper, a neutral grey or brown in
color, a set of heavy night flannels, some heavy woollen stockings and
a woollen tam o' shanter large enough to pull down over the ears. A
hot-water bag, also, takes up no room and is heavenly on a freezing
night when the wind is howling through the trees and snow threatens.
N.B.--See that your husband or brother has a similar outfit, or he will

borrow yours.
The sleeping bags should be separated and dried either by sun or fire
every other day.
Always keep all your sleeping things together in your bed roll, and your
husband's things together in his bed bundle. It will save you many a
sigh and weary hunt in the dark and cold. The tent and such things, you
can afford to leave to your guide or to luck. If one wishes to provide a
tent, brown canvas is far preferable to white. It does not make a glare of
light, nor does it stand out aggressively in the landscape. You have
your little nightly kingdom waiting for you and can sleep cosily if
nothing else is provided. Whenever possible, get your bed blown up
and your sleeping bags in order on top and your sleeping things
together where you can put your hands on them during the daylight, or
if that is impossible, make it the first thing you do when you make
camp, while the cook is getting supper. Then, as you eat supper and sit
near the camp fire to keep warm, you have the sweet consciousness that
over there, in the blackness is a snug little nest all ready to receive your
tired self. And if some morning you want to see what you have escaped,
just unscrew the air valve to your bed before you rise, and when you
come down on the hard, bumpy ground, in less time than it takes to tell,
you will agree with me that there is nothing so rare as resting on air.
Nimrod used to play this trick on me occasionally when it was time to
get up--it is more efficacious than any alarm clock--but somehow he
never seemed to enjoy it when I did it to him.
For riding, it is better to carry your own saddle and bridle and to buy a
saddle horse upon leaving the railroad. You can look to the guides for
all the rest, such as pack saddles, pack animals, etc.
My saddle is a strong but light-weight California model; that is, with
pommel and cantle on a Whitman tree. It is fitted with gun-carrying
case of the same leather and saddle-bag on the skirt of each side, and
has a leather roll at the back strapped on to carry an