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RideCamp@endurance.net
Can you say tent?
k s swigart katswig@earthlink.net
>And some of us are going to rides as a family affair with small children.
>Any idea what a drag it is to get up in the middle of the night, get your
>own shoes on and a small person's shoes on and then drag and/or carry that
>small person for what seems like a mile or two to the bathroom and back again
>while listening to him or her cry and snuffle about how cold he or she is?
This is, actually, where I learned to camp...being taken camping
with my parents when we were small children, where we learned
such important things as, "If you are going for less than a
week, you don't need to bring a change of pants," and how to find
the bathroom in the cold and the dark by ourselves. Oh yeah,
and how to pee outside. :) No need to go looking for the bathroom
in the middle of the night, you can just pee where the horse pees. :)
This may be why my Dad comes along on many of my trips with me.
He is, after all, the one who taught me how to camp. :)
And yes, he sets up the tent while I am out on the trail...if
we need it. No rain at Renegade...so we just slept outside. And
when I go by myself...and have to move camp each day, I never
bother with the tent...I just sleep in the truck if it's raining
or the ground is too hard,
and sleep outside if it's not--takes absolutely no time what-so-
ever to throw a groundsheet down and climb into a sleeping
bag. Don't set up a stove, I either eat what RM provides, or
we have cold turkey & cheese :) If I come by myself, I don't
even bring a stove....like I have time to cook.
Still sleeping in the same sleeping bag/s that I was 25 years ago
when we were camping all over Europe (so no investment there).
Still using the old "Boy Scout tent" that I got when I was
backpacking as an Explorer Scout (which is where I learned
to travel light).
And, I find I have more time to take care of my horses than all
the people with their campers and living quarters. Since I
don't waste any time with things like cooking food, taking
showers, setting up the awning, messing with the generator or any
of the other powered equipment that is on board :).
I am not saying that this is the only way to endurance ride, and
if you want to bring many of the comforts of home with you to
a ride, because it makes the ride more fun...go right ahead...
but it is possible to actually camp AND do endurance; and _I_
find it to be not only cheaper, but less work (both before, during
and after the ride); I take my shower when I get home, or in the
Duck's shower trailer, or at Escalante race track, or at Panamint
Springs.
And, of the almost 2000 miles I rode last year, only 300 of them
were in Southern California. And I would say at more than
half of them (including the 200 miles in Death Valley) the
temperature dropped below freezing overnight, and we had
to break ice off the water buckets in the morning.
...and we get snow in June in
California too (I refer you to a previous post about what I
learned at the 100 milers I didn't finish...which is "come
prepared for snow, even if the ride is in San Diego in June." :)
Campers or living quarters aren't necessary equipment for
endurance riding. And if you actually like camping, not having
one sure makes things a lot easier.
The best of both worlds, however, is to camp on your own, and
"mooch" other people's accommodations if the whole camping
experience becomes too unpleasant :) (Been there, done that too.) I figure I earn it by rounding up all the loose horses
in camp before they go galloping off into the desert--because
I am the only one who heard them :).
kat
Orange County, Calif.
>Or to have to reassure them because it's raining and windy and the tent has
>started to blow away with them in it and then have to leave before the ride
>ever starts because they're so freaked?
We were just told to "quit whining" :) :)
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