Survival Camping

[monkeygirlcooks]

Was out with a good friend who grew up in the area and we were talking about camping. He was telling me about camping as a kid and the only thing you brought with you was a fishing pole, a couple of knives, a pan, sleeping back, and various knick knacks. Basically, light travel camping with very little gear and living off what you can come up with. I'm kind of interested in this, but I'm trying to figure out where can one do this? I don't want to be around a camp site, but I want a fairly wooded area with somewhat easy access. Preferrably in Washington State and in the Pierce, Thurston, King county areas. I don't mind paying to camp but it would need to be a place I could either chop my own wood or have my car nearby to haul it. Any ideas? Oh, must be near fishing too. Girls gotta eat at some point.

[chrome_chasin]

Check out the Skate creek area out towards Paradise. Great spots to camp with a great little stream to fish.

[natetreat]

Pick a logging road and drive! That's how we grew up "camping", but I gotta say, make sure you bring a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and jelly in case you get skunked. Some places that we hung out were the 1000 line out west of Centralia, the Black Hills, Willipa Hills, around the Nemah river down south. If it's true wilderness you're looking for, head towards the cascades or the Olympics. You're going to want to get into backpacking, because the best wilderness camping is away from the roads. Packwood Lake was always a favorite hike of mine, the Staircase trail on the upper Skokomish is fun too. Goat Lake in the Glacier View wilderness is a very nice hike, you start out high, so not as much gradient up and down to get there. As for "car camping", national forests are good places to start. Skate Creek is a good place to go as well, and they used to stock it with rainbows. If you're going full on survival style, you may want to take a class or two, they have some wilderness schools around here that can get you started. It's really cool the first time you make a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Give me a knife and I'll survive in the wilderness just fine. Oh, and if you're really wanting to make backpacking light camping work, take the 3rd beach trail on the Olympic National Park. right on the beach, there are bottomfish a plenty to eat, we've feasted on ling cod caught right off the rocks. And a lot of the little creeks have cutthroat in them, Goodman, Mosquito. Easy hikes and you camp right on the beach.

[Bodofish]

That used to be my modus operandi. Many years camping with nothing more than a tarp a bag some cooking gear a little fishing gear and a 22 rifle. Sometimes if I was going to be gone more than a week I would bring a small bag of rice. Lots to eat out there just be careful, if I was a girl going out camping, I'd sure be packing heat and not a 22. But your best bet is to get on a trail and head in. One of my favorite places to go was Cora lake, very short, steep hike in, good enough fishing to keep you fed. You can go from their to Granite lake and Bertha May lakes. Bertha may Lakes had the worlds best latrine, perched on a small bump giving you nearly 360 degree view or Rainier and surrounding area, none better anywhere, you'll think you're Queen of the world. Bertha May lakes are also excellent fishing and even better crawdading. The lakes are high enough to discourage much traffic (weekdays would be best) and low enough to have enough food for the fishes. I've pulled some dandies out of all of them. A float tube would be the best, I used to travel with a small rubber boat, it increases your odds of eating by a measurable amount.