TOP 10 TIPS FOR QUEERY GOOD CAMPING

TOP 10 TIPS FOR QUEERY GOOD CAMPING Words and photos by Molly McCormick C

We can’t all be masters of the trail, but we can all learn and join in!

Here are a few, not-so-straight tips for how to have a fabulous time outside, regardless of ability and skill level.

Pick your campsite and location

ahead of time. As a wildlife and nature photographer, there are plenty of times I “wing it” and let the adventure come to me as I go. However, when it comes to my sleep, there’s just some things I don’t mess with. (My fiancé can attest to this; if I don’t get at least five hours of decent sleep, she puts me in the dog house.) I try to always plan ahead. Do I want to stay in a reservation-only site? A firstcome, first-served? Are dogs allowed? Is their access to water? Is it BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before I put my tent up. There’s really nothing worse than arriving at your destination late and not having a spot to sleep.

Make sure you bring the right equipment, and no, I’m not talking about White Claws.

Do you have a tent? Do you have a sleeping bag? Do you have a sleeping pad? Does your tent have a footprint? Do you have some sort of water filtration system? Have you tried out your equipment? Is it comfortable? A dear friend of mine worked at a rafting company one summer and needed a tent to camp for two months; we decided to pick one up at Walgreens on the way up to Buena Vista. A tent is a tent, right? WRONG! The thing disintegrated in the sun after about three weeks.

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Not to plug myself, but I also work at REI; come visit us, and we can set you up with what you need ... and don’t buy tents from Walgreens.

Bring an extra day’s worth of food, water, and extra layers

of clothing. Colorado is known for its beautiful mountains, ever-flowing microbrews, and insanely unpredictable

weather. One day it’s 80 and sunny; the next, it’s snowing. Maybe you leave in the morning for a hike, and by the time you get back to your tent, a storm rolls in. As Scar from Lion King always says, “Be preeeeepared!” Pack snacks that you enjoy eating; make sure you have extra water or a way to filter water if that’s your jam. Bring extra socks, warm layers, cool layers, and a hat and gloves. I always have an extra pair of warm socks in the bottom of my sleeping bag; they live there. That way, if the pair I’m wearing gets wet or dirty, I have a nice, clean pair to throw on before bed. If it gets super cold, you can boil water, toss it in a Nalgene, and toss the Nalgene in the bottom of your sleeping bag. Boom! Instant heater. Eatin’ good! Did you know you can camp and eat like the true queen that you are? I love dehydrated food, but after day three or four, I want a little more variety. I’m a huge fan of car camping. Why, you ask? Because you have a ton of control over what to cook up in the camp kitchen. You can have a field day meal prepping for a good car camping trip. Open up Google on your device; type in “great camp cooking recipes,” and be prepared to have your mind, and stomach, blown. Car camping also allows you to bring a cooler or two to keep your produce fresh. You can still eat gourmet meals while backpacking; it just takes a little more preparation and fine-tuning. One of my favorite backpacking meals is “Backpacker’s Thanksgiving Feast.” You can find the recipe at freshoffthegrid.com, or linked to this story online at oufrontmagazine.com. Pack in, pack out. Don’t be the person who leaves all your trash at your site. I repeat, do not be that person. This is incredibly important and an absolute must not only when you camp but when you do any activity outdoors. One thing I always have in my backpack is a garbage bag or two; they make great ponchos, and that way, I always know there’s somewhere to put my trash. You want to leave the site exactly how you found it, assuming it was clean as a whistle when you arrived.

Keep an eye on fire bans and fire

restrictions. If you’re anything like me, you love a good campfire, but you love s’mores even more. As I mentioned previously, Colorado weather can throw you for a loop. When you are researching spots to camp, make sure you find out what the current restrictions (if any) are for campfires.

Were you planning on boiling water for your dehydrated meal? Well, you may be SOL if you can’t have a fire. Fires aren’t just great entertainment while camping; they also provide heat, can deter unwanted animal friends, and are used as a fuel source. Also, make sure your fire is completely out before you leave to do anything. Only you can prevent forest fires.

Bear spray?? But bears are so cute! Yes, bears are cute, especially at Denver Sweet. Knock on wood, I have yet to encounter any serious bear issues while camping. That doesn’t mean I don’t carry bear spray with me; it’s a must in my pack. It’s way better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. I also do a lot of solo camping, mainly because my fiancé doesn’t like sitting around for hours on end waiting for animals to “maybe” appear, which means I like to be extra vigilant on safety measures. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we don’t just have to worry about bears; people can be a threat as well. A little bear spray to the face of a creeper, and you’re good to go.

Bring a first-aid kit; safety is

sexy! Nothing gets me going like a DIY first-aid kit. Hold your comments, and don’t knock it till you try it. This is another must-have in my pack. There’s a great list of 10 essentials I love sharing with my fellow outdoorsbians. A first-aid kit is one of them, and the neat thing about building your own is, you can cater it to your individual needs. I always get blisters, so I make sure I have a little extra mole skin and Band-Aids. I also have a digestive system that literally hates me; therefore, I bring copious amounts of Tums and medications I know I will always want on hand. You can purchase first-aid kits, but if you make one yourself, you can easily restock it with bulk items; it’s cheaper, more fun, and it makes you look like Macgyver, which is a definite win. It’s about as fun as an intimate dinner with Donald Trump. When planning for your camping adventure, make sure you have water, water, and more water. There are numerous water filtration systems out there that work just fine.

My personal preference for backpacking is the Sawyer water filter (pro tip: they work great on a Smart Water water bottle). If I’m going balls-to-the-wall glamping, I love the Katadyn Gravity BeFree filter. There’s a ton of options, all depending on what your situation is and what you’re expecting. The most important thing is, making sure you are hydrated, especially when changing elevation, and we all know altitude is kind of a big deal in Colorado. It’s yuuuuuuuuuge. (See what I did there?)

The Ten Essentials Theeeeese are a few of my favvvvvorite things! Man, I wish Julie Andrews would come camping with me. Any way, the last piece of advice I’d like to share with you is the lovely list of 10 essentials you should consider bringing. They are as follows: 1.Navigation (map, compass, personal locator beacon): Please remember, smartphones are great, but they aren’t so smart or great when they die on you and you’re in the middle of The Hills Have Eyes territory. 2.Headlamp (with extra batteries) 3.Sun protection (sun block, sunglasses) 4.First-aid kit (oOoOo talk dirty to me.) 5.Knife (this is optional, but never a bad thing to have, or some sort of multi-tool) 6.Fire starter swag (matches, lighter, tinder, and no, I’m not talking about the app.) 7.Emergency shelter (I love a good bivy; if you don’t know what that is, I challenge you to Google.) 8.Extra food

9.Extra water