Oh Yes, The Simple Life

As best as I can figure this is my fifteenth weekend camping this summer. My first was April 1st in the Black Hills where I got snowed on, and now it is August 5th I am in the Bighorn Mountains at 8,200 feet and there is the first hint of fall in the air.
This week’s camping spot is a few miles off highway 14 and a few hundred yards off FS Road 31. The established campgrounds I checked were full, so this week is very quiet and isolated. If not for a couple pick-ups kicking up dust on the road, it would be only the sounds of nature, Barley chasing little critters and the XM radio on channel 110, “XM Classics”.
We have already explored the area by hiking a trail for a couple miles then finding an old road and following it back along an open meadow and through the pine forest. I have picked out a spot to return to for the sunset photo of Cloud Peak. There is not water, thus not fishing, so we will call this a photo expedition.
With all this camping, I believe I have found a couple secrets to comfort and simplicity. First, a comfortable chair, not one of those that squish you when you sit in em, but a folding director’s chair; this can make anyplace comfortable. Next a $15 collapsible table, the one I found at K-Wall is about 2 feet square, plenty room for cooking and eating for one. No need for a picnic table. Cooking equipment is simple, a little Coleman stove and a small fry-pan and a 1 litter Jet Boil just for water. When it is cold out it takes a while for water to boil with the Coleman, but the Jet Boil is quick, just what an impatient guy like me needs. There is also a rather pricy stainless French press and a Stanley Thermos, but well worth it for hot coffee. I think you all know what I mean. Meals are simple too, soups, cereal, dried fruit Raman, parboiled rice, Lipton noodles and tortillas with eggs, cheese and/or sausage or lunch meat, ya know stuff like that, nothing fancy for me, just food that is easy to cook and easy to clean up. It all fits nicely in an 18-gallon storage tote with room for fishing gear, a fanny pack, a tarp, and other necessities.
Another requirement is the scotch, the good stuff. Don’t bother with junk like Sheep Dip or Pig’s Nose, or anything that refuses to state its age, instead a Glenfidich or Dimple Pinch or Chivas. Consider it one of the luxuries and use it in moderation or semi-moderation, or drink as much as you wish, its not like anybody is going to drive home tonight, right?