264 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



THE CHOICE OF A CAMP* 

 By John Knox McLean 



Let it be in the deep and solemn woods, a place of great 

 trees, where the fir grows, and the sugar pine, queen of the 

 forest ; the yellow pine, prince consort to the queen, and noble 

 cedars. Let it be among the mountains. If it be where some 

 great ice-dome dominates the lesser peaks, so much the better. 

 Not to stay in sight of the great monarch always, but where 

 on occasion can be caught, all on the sudden, the face of him ; 

 and where he is seen in partial disclosure rather than in full. 

 Let there be a river; not too large, but of full banks, clear, 

 cold and impetuous ; a river that would drown you, and cheer- 

 fully would, if it got the chance ; there must be some spice of 

 danger, else no true sense of solitude. Let this river be fringed 

 with azaleas ; outside of these, the great-leaved shield-saxi- 

 frage and ferns in shady spots. Before your abiding place let 

 sun and shadow mingle in equal parts. Be near a spring of 

 water. Let the camp be somewhat environed with shrubberies ; 

 vine-maple, dogwood, hazel bush, — their brighter green in most 

 grateful contrast with the deeper tones. 



Do not go utterly alone ; one or two with you, who can with- 

 out embarrassment sometimes be silent ; long silent if occasion 

 may require, but who can talk, too, when the mood is on. A 

 good Indian serves well on some accounts. He understands 

 the art of silence and can practice it without burden to his 

 feelings. He can give you points in wood lore, and introduce 

 you to some fine features of the solitude other guides might 

 miss ; besides, he is himself a son of the solitude and fits in 

 well with the surroundings. If not an Indian, then a poet, if 

 you know a sane one. There was such an one once,^ who by 

 the sunshine of his presence illuminated the atmosphere of this 

 Club; and whose presence made the sunshine brighter every- 

 where. What a comrade he was ! How with him one could 



*From an unpublished essay entitled "Multitude and Solitude." One of these 

 extracts, together with others from unpublished writings of the late Dr. McLean, 

 appeared in a biography by John Wright Buckham. 



* Edward Roland Sill. 



