I received several emails about Newsletter 237 on the CCC camps and especially after it appeared in the Bristlecone Tribune newspaper. Thanks Teresa Stewart, owner of the paper. Most of them asked what we did that night and the next day.
I had written that we set up tents and went to bed in them. However, most of the time, if it didn’t look like rain, we slept outside on the ground. Most of us liked the outside best, so we could stargaze, especially after the campfire died out and the Coleman lanterns were turned off. Some of the scouts knew several of the constellations and would point them out to us.
Someone always had a spooky story to regale us with. As the darkness settled on our area it was easy to imagine all sorts of monsters lurking in the dark bushes. As the cold air from the mountains came down the canyon pushing the warmer air out causing some bushes and branches to move, the monsters became more realistic. Bigfoot came alive in our imaginations. However, the babbling of the creek and the rustle of leaves, along with the clean pine scented air quickly put us into la la land.
As the darkness of the night moved out of the way, to let the early light of the dawn to descend on our campsite, this in turn, triggered the various birds to start their cheerful chirping. A better alarm clock is yet to be made.
We stuck our heads out of our warm bags, took a large breath of cold air and was soon wide awake. We unzipped our bags, put on the warm socks we stashed under our pillows, wiggled into some cold pants and shirts, put on some cold boots and were soon ready for the day.
Next stop was a quick wash in the cold creek to further come to life.
Fires were started in the CCC stove and firepit. The aroma of Hills Bros. coffee brewing in the blue and white speckled pot soon arrives to spur us on. A griddle, (made at the KCC foundry), was sizzling with bacon. Some Bisquick biscuits were starting to brown in the Boy Scout reflective oven near the campfire coals. These biscuits with REAL butter would soon be on the table to be enjoyed.
With the bacon out of the way we cooked our own eggs the way we liked them and then sat at the CCC table and devoured breakfast. The taste of everything is enhanced in the outdoors, which leads to a ravenous appetite.
With our heathen bellies full of good grub, dishes done, fires out, sleeping bags rolled up, we get ready to do some hiking. Canteens are filled, a note of where we are hiking is left under a rock on the table, and we soon are hiking up the South Fork of Timber Creek. Next—the hike, our favorite lunch and dinner.
The feeling of being alive never gets better.
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