Favorite Hobbies - Camping
By Peter Jay, Fri Dec 9th

One very popular hobby for many people is camping. I have gonecamping many times throughout my life, in rain or snow, desertor forest. I have also camped on the banks of rivers, in snowcaves, and in cabins. No matter where you go camping, yourcamping necessities may change a little, but the basics remainthe same. You will need to stay warm. You will need shelter. Youwill need food to eat and a means to cook it.

The only places I have gone are in Utah, but there issuch diversity in Utah's climate and landscape, that Iexperienced a variety of different experiences. Acamping hobby is greatin Utah and other outdoor states. As I boy scout, I used to goon the Klondike every year. This was a winter campout in theUtah Mountains. It would get freezing up there at night. Acouple of times when I went, I slept in a tent. The tent wasfreezing. A nice sleeping bag kept me warm, but the air was toocold to breathe. By morning my lungs felt like they had sand inthem. My scout leader, another scout, and I got up a littleearly to make a fire, because we were so cold. The scout keptcomplaining about how his feet hurt all morning, until the suncame up and then we realized he had his boots on the wrong feet.I think every year that I went to the Klondike, I fell throughthe ice on the lake and got wet. The warmest I have been at theKlondike was when I built a snow cave to live in. You just makea large pile of snow and pack it down. Then you dig out theinside large enough for a couple people to sleep in there. Ifyou just have a candle, it will stay very warm inside the cave.The snow acts as insulation to the cold air outside. Snowcavingshould definitely be added to your hobbies list.

I have camped in the high Uintah Mountains of Utah. Mygrandparents have a cabin up there that we have stayed in often.Now that I am older, I am a much bigger fan of cabin camping.You can just light the wood burning stove to keep the wholecabin warm.

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We had an electric generator to have electricity inthe cabin. It might not sound much like to some people.We were up in the mountains alone though, and cooked our food ona campfire and got our water from a spring.

I have also camped in other areas of the High Uintah Mountains,without a cabin. Once I went on a fifty mile hike through themountains. It took us five days going ten miles a day. We had tocarry our tents, sleeping bags and all of the necessary suppliesfor food and other things, through the mountains for five days.Which reminds me; do not ever let your mom pack your backpack ifyou are going on a trip like that, unless you want to carrywhole boxes of cereal and other things that are not useful on along hike. When I hiked to King's Peak, the highest peak inUtah, my mom packed my backpack and once I got to our base camp,I found in my pack a large iron skillet to cook on that weigheda ton, a whole loaf of bread, a large jar of jelly and a largejar of peanut butter. To say the least, I was not a happy camperafter I realized I had just lugged a cast iron frying pan up themountain.

I have also camped in the deserts of Southern Utah. There is noend to the scenery and variety of landscape there, from archesto the Grand Canyon along with Goblin Valley to Lake Powell.There are also the large canyons with the Green River and theColorado River carving through them. Find your gear atyour online hobby storeand more.

Peter Jay is the Owner/President and CEO of Variety Access -Your online hobby store and more. For more information abouthobbies, hobby products, or Variety Access, go towww.VarietyAccess.com.

About the author:Peter Jay is the Owner/President and CEO of Variety Access -Your online hobby store and more. For more information abouthobbies, hobby products, or Variety Access, go towww.VarietyAccess.com.