SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD

_Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune--I myself am good-fortune; Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Strong and content, I travel the open road...._

_Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons, It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth._

--_Walt Whitman._

A Girl Scout likes to hike and camp. She learns to know the stars, and becomes acquainted with the plants and animals about her. She gains independence from her ability to help herself, and health and strength from exercise in the sunshine and fresh air.

These are the good things of camping. The bad things are catching cold from damp ground, or insufficient bedding, uncomfortable nights, and weary feet. But a wise Scout does not rough it. She knows how to make herself comfortable by a hundred little dodges. The aim of camping is to make things simpler for the Camper. She must make up her mind whether she is ready for an overnight hike, a week-end trip or a good vacation in the open air, and plan accordingly.

For a walking trip a Girl Scout must travel light and learn to do with a minimum amount of clothing, utensils and food. On the other hand, if she is going to spend the week out, why not be as comfortable as possible?

This requires more of an outfit, but it is worth it. To know how to do this one must, of course, have first learned the simple rules of camping in Girl Scout training.

Hiking

Hikes are a good way to get this training. Extreme heat, or a downpour of rain is the only kind of weather which should interfere with a hike.

Soft rains or snowstorms are very pleasant to hike in.

Skirts are dangerous for cross-country travel on account of brambles, rock work and climbing over brooks. Knickerbockers or bloomers should be worn.

_In the city_ when starting off for a hike use squad or double file formation through the streets, railroad stations, ferries, etc. Silence is maintained in this formation.

_Hiking Order_--In the country, even along unused roads, hike in single file on the left side of the road. The advantage of this formation is that all danger from pa.s.sing traffic in any direction is averted. It is _not_ necessary to keep step, and talking, laughing, singing, etc., may be indulged in. Permission to break this order is only given when in woods, or fields, where there is no danger.

When returning home use Scout's Pace if weary. This helps to make the distance seem shorter.

_Scout's pace_ is a walking and running device which serves to increase endurance when covering a long distance. It consists in taking a certain number of walking steps followed immediately by the same number of running steps, returning to the walking steps, and so forth. The number of steps may vary, according to the place, nature of the road and object of the walk. Fifty steps walking, fifty steps running and alternating steadily for twelve minutes will take one a mile, and this is one of the measures of distance that is useful to know. For ordinary use on hikes the use of twenty steps running and walking is preferable.

Feet

With a little knowledge as to the care of her feet the city girl can make a good showing at her first camp. Prepare feet by brushing vigorously with a dry flesh brush. Strengthen muscles by standing on toes in bare feet, raising body gradually fifty or seventy-five times.

Frequent changes of stockings, bathing of tired feet in hot water at night and cold water in the morning, will overcome most of the hiker's troubles. The cold water hardens the skin. Boric acid powder is good for naturally damp feet. Blisters should be cleansed with iodine, then carefully p.r.i.c.ked with a sterile needle to let out the water (hold the needle in the flame of a match), then washed with iodine and covered with a few layers of sterile gauze fastened with adhesive plaster.

It is desirable to change the stockings every day. Wash them at night and hang them out to dry and keep them well darned. Two pairs at least are necessary. Never risk your health by putting on stockings even slightly damp with dew. A hole will cause a blister. Woolen stockings are preferable. For very long hikes it helps to wear two or three pairs, and to lather the outside of the stocking with a cake of soap slightly moistened.

Shoes

Shoes should be the shape of the feet and have low, wide heels. It rests the feet to take the shoes off once or twice during a long tramp.

Grease the shoes every few days with mutton fat or other grease. There is no such thing as waterproof leather, but it can be made so by being greased. After being wet, shoes should be well dried and greased, but should not be dried in a hot place, for this would ruin the leather.

These may seem trifling details, but remember, "no army is stronger than its feet."

Things to Remember

Keep the feet straight when walking. If a Girl Scout notices the tracks of an Indian, the first hikers in this country, she will find them invariably straight forward. Scientists have agreed that the dancing school habit of turning out toes is one of the causes of flat feet, which disqualified so many men for army service.

Start the walk slowly. Keep the pace of the slowest of the party. "Slow and easy goes far in a day." Practice deep breathing. Inhale for five steps, hold your breath for five counts, and let it out, again counting five.

Take short steps when climbing. Do not run down hill. It causes stiffness, for which a hot bath and another walk the next day are the best cure.

When lunch is carried it should be divided among the troop. Each Scout should carry her knapsack on her back, to leave the hands free. It is a great mistake to start on a hike with one's arms laden.

Do not plan to go too great a distance in the time at your disposal.

Remember that aside from the time you need for going and coming you expect to enjoy yourselves cooking and eating, and you need time for both. For an over-night hike, when you carry your equipment select a spot not more than two miles distant.

Good things to carry in one's pocket are a drinking cup, a geological survey map (ten cents), a small pocket compa.s.s, a camper's knife, a small soapstone to sharpen it, a match box, and a note-book and pencil.

Plan a definite object for the hike. Note how many kinds of trees, wild flowers or birds one can find.

Practice building fires for cooking, or getting material for a bed such as balsam, etc. Inquire for points of historical interest and make them the goal of the hike. There is hardly a town that has not some place connected with the early history of the nation.

Personal Equipment

Spending the nights under the stars is one of the great fascinations of camping. Each person requires two waterproof ground cloths or ponchos, two pairs of light wool blankets, safety pins, heavy cord, sleeping garments, rain coat, and toilet articles, including such things as soap, toilet paper, sewing kit, electric flashlight, mirror, first aid kit, provision for mosquitoes or flies, five yards of bar netting, and oil of citronella.

In order to ensure protection from the rain spread one waterproof covering or poncho on the ground using half underneath so that the upper half may be folded over the head in case of rain. Put blankets _under_ as well as _over_ you, and a second waterproof covering over the blankets.

Clothing

When living out of doors, one may make shift for shelter, or even go hungry for a s.p.a.ce, but there is no subst.i.tute for comfortable clothing that is safe to use if one would keep well. Horace Kephart, the master camper, devotes much s.p.a.ce to this subject, and we can do no better than to follow his advice from Camping and Woodcraft.

"* * * One soon learns that the difference between comfort and misery, if not health and illness, may depend on whether he is properly clad.

Proper, in this case does not mean modish, but suitable, serviceable, proven by the touchstone of experience to be best for the work or play that is in hand. When you seek a guide in the mountains, he looks first in your eyes and then at your shoes. If both are right, you are right.

"The chief uses of clothing are to help the body maintain its normal temperature and to protect it from sun, frost, wind, rain and injuries.

_To help_, mind you--the body must be allowed to do its share.

"Perspiration is the heat-regulating mechanism of the body. Clothing should hinder its pa.s.sage from the skin as little as possible. For this reason one's garments should be _permeable_ to air. The body is cooled by rapid evaporation, on the familiar principle of a tropical water bag that is porous enough to let some of the water exude. So the best summer clothing is that which permits free evaporation--and this means all over, from head to heel. In winter it is just the same, there should be free pa.s.sage for bodily moisture through the underclothes, but extra layers or thickness of outer clothing are needed to hold in the bodily heat and to protect one against wind; even so all the garments should be permeable to air. * * *"

"Underclothing, for any season, should be loosely woven, so as to hold air and take up moisture from the body. The air confined in the inters.p.a.ces is a non-conductor, and so helps to prevent sudden chilling on the one hand, and over-heating on the other. A loose texture absorbs perspiration but does not hold it--the moisture is free to pa.s.s on to and through the outer garments. In town we may indure close woven underwear in summer, if thin enough, because we exercise little and can bathe and change frequently. In the woods we would have to change four times a day to keep * * * as dry.

"_Wool versus Cotton_--Permeability also depends upon material. Ordinary cotton and linen goods do not permit rapid evaporation. They absorb moisture from the skin, but hold it up to the limit of saturation. Then, when they can hold no more, they are clammy, and the sweat can only escape by running down one's skin.

"After hard exertion in such garments, if you sit down to rest, or meet a sudden keen wind, as in topping a ridge, you are likely to get a chill--and the next thing is a 'bad cold' or lumbago, rheumatism, or something worse.

"Wool, on the contrary is permeable. That is why (if of suitable weight and loose weave) it is both cooler in summer and warmer in winter than cloth made of vegetable fibre. 'One wraps himself in a woolen blanket to keep warm--to keep the heat _in_. He wraps ice in a blanket to keep it from melting--to keep the heat _out_.' In other words, wool is the best material to maintain an equable normal temperature."

Camp Site

"The essentials of a good camp site are these: