Camping In The Wild: Doing It The Hard Way
The vast majority of us live in a metropolitan environment and much of our live are controlled with dials, pushbuttons and switches. We go about each day following rules and guidelines that are designed to keep us safe within a system designed to keep us secure. This is the world modern that man finds himself in and at times we feel the need to go and get away from it all.
Camping is a universal pastime and there are those that seek the convenience of designated campgrounds and others who truly want to leave it all behind and meet nature in the raw. Taking camping to the extreme means getting away from the crowded recreational areas and seek out places that have not been impacted by man.
Many wilderness areas and backcountry in national forests can be reached on dirt tracks and forest service roads with the proper vehicle. Four wheel drive camping makes it possible to carry a great amount of rustic conveniences, water, food and outdoor equipment.
Backpacking is camping in its purest form and allows the hiker to get to areas that are inaccessible to vehicles. Backpackers carry everything they need on their back including lightweight tents, miniature stoves, camp tools and freeze dried foods.
For a true man in the wilderness experience, bush planes can transport the adventurer into extremely remote areas of virgin trout streams and high alpine lakes. Bush plane operators will often provide all the camping equipment, but when the plane leaves, you are on your own.
One of the most pleasurable camping experiences is to travel deep into wilderness areas with packhorses. A pack train can access areas unreachable by any other means and transport the explorer back to country of lakes and streams and populated only by elk, deer and bears.