CHAPTER XXII 



camping for all seasons 



Camping in the Cold 



He who camps during the warm summer months 

 finds comforts in abundance and drawbacks scarcely 

 noticeable ; he who chooses the bright cool days of 

 the waning year finds many things to enjoy, and 

 only when the cold rains come does he meet with 

 any of the disagreeable features of the fascinating 

 simple life in the woods ; but of all seasons for 

 camping perhaps none offers the peculiar fascina- 

 tions that are to be found when the land is clothed 

 in its unspotted winter garb. Then the air is clean 

 and clear, the woods are even more silent than when 

 they are dressed in green, and the trees and shrubs 

 are transformed by their wonderful white overcoats. 

 On a bright day all things ghsten, and the sparklmg 

 crystals seem to dance and laugh in the crisp cold 

 sunlight, which illumines, but does not warm. The 

 tree-top bends with its load of snow, and should the 

 cold be very intense the strange, sharp sound of a 

 frost-burst tree rings up the forest echoes. Then 

 all is again silent, absolutely silent. To give up 

 the warmth and other comforts of a home and take 

 oneself off to the cold northern woods does not 

 sound alluring to those who have not tried it. The 

 inducements appear few indeed to the uninitiated, 

 and he asks derisively where the pleasure comes in. 



X 2 



