traditional camping and why I like it

[Sturgen]

You all seem to think you cant take a Dutch oven on a hike, when did this happen? I backpack about five miles two or three times a year with my 14 cast iron oven. There are also cast aluminum ovens available at a relatively low cost that weigh little more than an average stew pot. On another note, why is a hike not traditional, do you think Jim Bridger or John Colter, or for that matter any member of the Corp of Discovery just drove up to camp dumped their duffle bag out of a covered wagon and started playing knot games and building mini-towers for kicks. No, they hiked, cannooed or crawled to their next destination, built a fire where they could and hoped not to die over night. Now this is traditional camping, now for those of you who doubt that I have done any of this, the past two fifty mile hikes I have gone on, I did with a light weight pack or a blanket roll. One blanket, one tarp, pound of rice, pound of flour, pound of corn meal, 2 pounds of jerky, pound of trail mix, a bit of coffee, fishing gear in a film canister, a dozen matches, a large knife, an old coffee pot, and a hundred feet of rope. Now I must admit that we werent completely authentic as that our blanket was fleece, and our clothing wasnt made of buckskin, but I think you get the point.

As to having patrol activities, skills, etc. on trips, could you please explain to me why this cant happen on a hike? Lets say a 4 or 5 mile hike, that shouldnt take more than 2.5 hrs maybe 3 even with brand new scouts. So if you hit the trail head at 1000 hrs you should be in camp by 1300 hrs, tarps up, bags down and rings built by 1430 at the latest (all of which are important skills by the way) that gives you about 4 hours until dinner needs to be started, more than enough time to work on skills, scouts cook, another skill, then sleep, next morning they have several hours to work on skill presuming tear down takes an hour and hike takes the same amount of time. How is this trip less advantageous than tossing a tent, canvas or otherwise out of the back of a pickup and tying knots all day, at least with the hike you get out into real nature, get some exercise and get the experience for the boys of not having the ability to run to the car when they forgot something, it forces them to think, plan, and most importantly, lead.