“What Is An Overnight?” The “Loon” issue from 1965 had an article that attempted to answer that question by an unknown author—“Some people can hardly wait for an overnight at camp. They have never been on one and wonder what it is going to be like. But, we experienced campers know. First, you are all excited because you want to ride in the truck. After you are on your way, your foot goes to sleep. You can’t move because you are so crowded. So, you just sit and grit your teeth. Then when you turn a corner, everyone piles into one corner. When you hit a bump someone’s foot goes into your stomach. Finally, you get to your destination and hurry to get out. When you try to stand up straight, you feel stiff from being cramped in one position for so long. Now, it’s time for supper, “ and the article heads into the direction of the actual campout. (We will return to the ending later–to be continued.)
An early twenties camper, Meg Dahlem, recalled her truck trip to the AuSable, where they would sleep on the ground on a hill. Nancy Michelson had a similar campout in the sixties when they trucked somewhere not far from Maqua. “We slept outside on the ground with tarps. I remember waking up to the dew and loving it, despite the wetness and coldness. I loved sleeping under the stars.”
Lucille Greenwald (1947-50) did not share the feelings of excitement for her campouts. “I never understood the overnight camping trips,” she said. “Inevitably, it would rain, and there we were sleeping on sticks and stones with soggy bedding in the woods. Then, back we would go to our huts with sopping wet bedding.”
Another camper shared an entry with the “Loon” in 1947 and it read; “Last night I went on an overnight hike, but I waited till today to tell you about it. Boy, did we have troubles. First of all, it rained the day before, so the wood was wet. Then, after we got the fire going, the pop was warm. And on top of all that, the bed was hard, the mosquitoes bit, and we practically froze to death when we woke up in the morning. I was taken back to camp wrapped in a blanket. P.S. I’m all tired out.”
“I took two overnight trips,” said Missy Plambeck (1968-78). “We walked into a big clearing with our sleeping bags and would sleep on top of plastic outside. One trip, where we had many younger kids, it rained and rained. I was a junior counselor and our tents would not stay up. I slept in the outhouse, which wasn’t as bad as it sounds, since it was fairly new and had space for my feet in the gravel. We were soaking wet. When it wasn’t raining, it was fun to look at the stars.”
Minette Immerman (1938-41) remembered the campout when she slept on the sand at Lake Huron in blankets and counselors cooked breakfast over a barrel with a grate. “One morning when I was waking up, I lifted my blanket up to ants. I did not like that one bit.”
Some girls happened to get lucky, like counselor Sue West (1975), who hiked for three days and was totally dry. The eight girls slept on the ground near some power lines and plotted their trails using compasses.
What kind of overnight camping experience did you have that did not involve a canoe trip?
