1. Organization of parking

Travelers spend about two-thirds of their hiking time at rest stops, that is, most of the route is spent in stopovers.

A tourist bivouac is a halting place where travelers rest, eat, spend the night, and prepare for their further journey; this is the base camp for a radial route organization; it is a shelter from bad weather, it is a fire, a hearth, a center for communication, reflection on what has been passed and planning the path ahead. The bivouac is the house in which we live during the hike.

The duration is divided into small stops (for rest, changing clothes, repairs), lunch stops, overnight stays, and days.

On one-day hikes, only short and lunch breaks are arranged. On two-day and longer hikes in bivouacs, they also spend the night, and also have days when they do not move further along the route: they rest, swim, pick berries, mushrooms, fish, take walks, and excursions.

Organizing a halt is, first of all, the correct and competent choice of location, good preparation of the site, distribution of work, setting up tents, lighting a fire or lighting stoves or stoves and, most importantly, ensuring the safety of the parking lot from natural forces and troubles created by man himself.

At rest stops, in addition to resting and eating, they repair clothes and equipment, observe nature according to a certain program, and keep diary entries (observations, sketches, notes about the route, nature, surroundings). At rest stops they sing songs, have fun, play sports or practice. During halts and days, they pick mushrooms and berries, fish, get to know the surrounding area in more detail, and go on walks and excursions.

In short, most of camp life is spent at rest stops.

Small rests - the shortest and simplest pauses and stops along the way - are made mainly for rest after 1-2 hours of travel. Therefore, the place for small stops is determined primarily by the time of transitions. Of course, it’s good if short rests take place on fairly flat and dry areas in clearings, forest edges, and the sides of roads and trails. It is good to be located near a source of drinking water - a well, a spring or a clean stream. When it is windy, it is good to stop in a shelter (a forest strip, bushes, a coastal slope, etc.). If the time and place are conducive to mosquitoes and other midges, then it is better to stop in ventilated areas. In winter it is better to stay in the sun, and in summer when it is hot - in the shade.

At a small stop, it’s good to eat sour candy, take vitamins, refresh your face, rinse your mouth with cold water; You can drink a few sips of hot tea or coffee from a thermos. You can relax while hiking on dry ground, fallen trees, and stumps.

On water trips, on the contrary, it makes sense to do physical exercise, run, jump, and warm up. If possible, a place for a short rest on a water trip is chosen in a place convenient for mooring ships, with a dry area on the shore.

In winter, before stopping, you need to slow down the pace of movement, if it was fast, in order to cool down somewhat. In cold weather, after stopping, you need to put on a warm jacket and sweater. The backpack can be lowered onto plastic wrap, hung on a branch, placed on a log, or placed on your skis. It is advisable to load backpacks in such a way that you can sit on them, if necessary, without crushing any items of equipment or food.

The time of small rests can vary from several minutes to half an hour.

Lunch stops are longer stops for rest and food. The place for a lunch stop is chosen more carefully than for a small one.

In summer, it is good to choose a flat area on the bank of a river or lake, where there is dry fuel - brushwood, dead wood, windfall, dead wood. It is advisable to stop on the river above villages, livestock farms, watering places, and fords. The ideal situation, which it is advisable to strive for, is a calm stretch with convenient descents to the water, with a sandy bottom, without snags.

One of the main conditions for choosing a place to stop for lunch is the availability of clean drinking water: a well, a spring, a spring. Water from most rivers in the densely populated part of the country is now unsuitable for drinking (effluent from industrial enterprises, livestock farms; runoff from fields treated with mineral fertilizers).

In water trips, the same conditions: a convenient pier, a flat, dry area, protected from the wind or, conversely, a ventilated place (if there are midges).

Good fuel is especially necessary at a winter halt site. Having a source of drinking water (stream, spring, well) is desirable if you are preparing hot food, but water can also be obtained from snow.

When stopping for lunch, one or two people go to fetch water, several people prepare fuel, and one person sets up a fire pit and lights the fire. Those on duty are cooking lunch, the rest are free - resting, fishing, swimming, picking mushrooms and berries.

In sunny weather, at this time you can dry clothes, tents, and other things.

The duration of the halt in summer is at least an hour. In winter, with short daylight hours, they try to make the lunch break shorter. Its duration depends on the speed of building the fire and cooking. Responsibilities (procuring fuel, making a fire, cooking) are already distributed in advance. All tourists participate in bivouac work in winter so as not to freeze.

If you have lunch without a fire (tea, coffee from thermoses, sandwiches, dried fruit), which often happens in winter conditions, especially on multi-day hikes (due to saving daylight hours), then lunch lasts less than an hour.

Parking for overnight and overnight stays

Many years of practice have made it possible to develop the criteria that the average parking lot must meet. The parking lot should have the following “fantastic” characteristics:

1. To be deserted and located as far as possible from villages (“we went on a hike to be in nature, and not to be jostled among...”);

be near the village (“milk would...”, “apples would...”);

2. There should be enough fuel in the parking lot, and not just any fuel, but dry spruce fuel.

3. There should be a dense forest nearby (well, no further than 20 m).

4. This is a place where you could put up a tent so that during the day it would be in the shade, and in the morning it would be illuminated by the sun (do not wait for it to dry from the dew in the wind).

5. Nearby there should be a river with clean water and a sandy beach, as well as a high bank covered with pine, and under it there is a lot of fish.

6. There should not be a high mountain nearby with the threat of a landslide, so that in case of rain or loud excitement about the caught roach, nothing happens.

7. Nearby is a spring, in the worst case a stream with cold water; but so that in case of heavy rain it does not turn into a raging river.

8. Berries are a must!

9. Mushrooms - definitely!

10. Nuts - of course!

11. Bushes - it’s bad without them!

12. But so that no mosquitoes, no midges, no gadflies, no flies, no ticks, tarantulas, phalanges, no king cobras or vipers.

13. The view from the parking lot should please the eye and caress the soul.

And there should be 113 such points.

Let’s not hide the harsh truth: the ideal parking lot that would satisfy all the points is difficult to find, and maybe even impossible.

Therefore, if you come across a parking lot with 77 points, choose it without hesitation, 41 points - and this one will do. You shouldn’t neglect the thirteen-point line either. Finally (which never happens) a parking lot may turn up that does not satisfy any of the points - stop, because you still need to spend the night...

It is clear that the given “conditions” are an unattainable ideal, to some extent a cartoon, a joke, but nevertheless in every joke...

In the central zone of the country, the main requirement for a bivouac site - safety - is almost always easily satisfied. It is more difficult to choose a place that is convenient and, if possible, picturesque, with water and firewood available. In summer, water is more important in the middle zone; in autumn, winter and spring - firewood, since at this time it is easier to get clean water (any forest puddle is cleaner than a river). It is undesirable, as already noted, to be located on the river bank below large settlements, near industrial enterprises, roadways, power lines, and near bodies of standing water.

The camp site must first be dry.

In mossy taiga forests, finding such a site can be difficult. It is best to be located near a stream or river, in open areas. A breeze blowing through the campsite will protect against midges. In steppe and desert places, on the contrary, it is advisable to set up a camp where there is any vegetation. It is better not to place tents under a tall, spreading tree, as during a thunderstorm it can easily be struck by lightning. When a thunderstorm is approaching, there is no need to stop on ridges, hilltops, or passes. You should not set up camp on flooded river banks, in the beds of dry streams, or on low-lying islands.

The bivouac is located very well if the camp is set up in a picturesque place, with convenient approaches to water, if there is good firewood nearby, the place is protected from the wind in winter and ventilated in summer (in hot weather or in the presence of mosquitoes). It’s not bad if the bivouac site is sheltered and the tents can be stretched between the trees. There should be no tall, rotten trees near the bivouac - they can fall down and fall on people, a fire, or tents. It is good if the camp is illuminated by the sun in the morning (eastern slopes of the hill, eastern edge of the forest, river bank, etc.). Here condensation and dew on tents dry out faster. Of course, it’s nice to stay in a picturesque place and where you can also swim.

The main thing in winter overnight stays is protection from cold, wind, and moisture. It is important to ensure normal rest and sleep. You can spend the night in tents, near fires, in snow huts or caves.

A place for bivouac, especially in the mountains, must be chosen before dark. If you are forced to stop in the dark or in fog, it is necessary to inspect the area within a radius of 200-300 m to ensure its safety. Before going to bed, you need to check how the tents are strengthened and how your property is protected from wind and rain.

In winter, the bivouac is located where there is fuel and dead wood. The best firewood is dried standing spruce and pine. Good hardwood sushi is rare, as it rots quickly. Dry coniferous trees are protected from rotting by resin. However, it is easy to make a mistake with dead wood from conifers: dead pine may not have time to dry and will burn poorly. In a deciduous forest it is more difficult to find good firewood for a large fire, which is necessary in winter for a warm overnight stay.

In winter you need to stop before dark to choose good sushi and cut them in the light. It is good if the winter bivouac site is protected from the wind by dense undergrowth - preferably a spruce forest.

In winter, snow is often cleared down to the ground for making a fire, or less often for setting up tents; make passages to the fire and toilet, build a windproof wall from snow, etc.

After choosing a place for bivouac, immediately decide where the fire will be, if it is planned: then the places for tents will immediately be determined. Tents are placed no closer than 4-5 m from the fire so that sparks do not fall on them.

Fires, of course, should not be lit on peat bogs, under the crowns of trees and on their roots, near stacks of hay or straw, or near buildings. It is advisable to make a fire in the place of an old fire pit. Fires cannot be lit in forest parks and suburban areas, recreation areas, or on the territory of nature reserves and nature reserves.

Organizing an overnight stay in summer and winter takes up to two hours; Therefore, you have to choose a place before dark. This is especially important in the mountains, since at dusk and at night it is impossible to determine the avalanche danger of the place chosen for bivouac. In a forested area in the mountains, you need to stay away from avalanche clearings. In an open treeless valley, a bivouac can be set up under the protection of rock walls, on a side terrace under rock ridges or on southern rocky slopes free of snow, on the middle part of the glacier away from avalanche-prone northern slopes, under a snow-free slope. If you stop on a closed glacier, you need to fence off the area where cracks are possible. It is better not to be located in crevices with a narrow entrance between stones - it can be blocked with snow in a blizzard. To protect from the wind, it is good to place the tent under a large stone or rock, but without an overhanging snow cornice.

In the mountains, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the terrain and weather in order to avoid falling under rockfalls, avalanches, landslides, and mudflows. You cannot set up a bivouac on protruding parts of ridges, under cornices and steep slopes, in couloirs and mouth parts of their cones, on fresh (or lying on ice slopes) screes, between seracs and in glacier cracks in the zone of active ice movement.

The bivouac must be designed for sudden deterioration of weather. On the eve of a thunderstorm, all metal objects must be placed in 25-30 m of storage.

It can be very tempting to protect your tent from the wind by placing it under a steep slope or the bank of a stream or river. However, look, is there a snow cornice hanging over the slope? In bad weather, in conditions of poor visibility, the desire to shelter from the wind dulls caution. It is better to build a snow protective wall in an open place, in the wind, during a snowstorm, than to be crushed by a collapsed cornice.

In treeless northern regions, in the tundra, on ice (the Polar Urals, Bolshezemelskaya tundra, etc.), when sleeping in tents, you always have to build a windproof wall around the tent from snow blocks (blizzards often begin suddenly). Therefore, there is no need to stop in places where the snow has been blown away or its depth is not sufficient to obtain snow “bricks”.

There are different opinions about the distance of the wall from the tent. Still, a wall installed close to the tent better protects it from the wind (Fig. 1), while it will be shorter, but on the windward side you need to lay out an additional wall to protect the entrance of the tent.

In the mountains, when choosing a place to spend the night, the most heated southern and western slopes during the day are preferred. Here you need to choose a relatively flat area, preferably in a forest, sheltered from the wind. In the forest during cold times, the temperature is several degrees higher, and the wind force is less than in open places. By morning, the difference in temperature and humidity in the forest and in open areas is even greater.

Rice. 1. Windproof wall made of snow blocks

Cold air accumulates in all depressions at night. It is better to place tents, awnings, huts on elevated areas so that the tent does not flood when it rains.

You should not spend the night in the river floodplain. The strip that is filled with flood waters can be identified by a pile of logs, branches, roots, and grass polished by water. The islands between the channels spreading across the wide floodplain are especially dangerous. In mountain gorges, debris from trunks, branches, and roots can form. The water accumulating behind them breaks through the blockage and rushes down in a shaft several meters high. The rate at which the water level rises even in the lower reaches of the gorge is such that it is impossible to escape the flood, especially when setting up an overnight stay on the island.

If you are forced to choose a place to spend the night on the slopes, you must stick to areas on the ridges, but not in the hollows, where fallen stones may fall off. In winter, these places are dangerous for avalanches. Places where rocks fell are usually marked by dents in trees, marks of impacts on executions with stone chips and dust around.

Before a thunderstorm (development of striped cumulonimbus clouds, stuffiness, calm), do not stop on the crests of ridges and under tall trees protruding above the forest background.

In a dense forest, it is better to avoid places where many tree trunks are burned by lightning; More often than other trees, lightning strikes oaks and chestnuts, much less often - beeches, hornbeams, and maples.

It is necessary to carefully examine the trees near the site of the proposed bivouac, identify dry and unstable trunks, dry overhanging branches. Strong gusts of wind can break branches, branches, and trees.

The water source should be close to the bivouac site. In dry times (July - September), the springs may be dry. During prolonged drought, the middle and lower reaches of mountain rivers in places of gravel and pebble deposits can dry out completely, the water flows in the thickness of the sediment.

Water can be found in shady gorges where stream beds are made of rocky soil. More often the sources are located at the sources of the hollows.

Rice. 2. Collection of adsorption water

The place where groundwater seeps - a hole can be dug out with a sharp object (ice pick) and wait for the water to settle.

Near the source, the brightness of the foliage is greater. Water-loving plants - reeds and cattails - can indicate water.

If the water level is lower than what can be reached, then the adsorption water can be collected using a film (Fig. 2).

When choosing a bivouac site for water trips, it is desirable that the river bank be convenient for mooring and taking out ships, and that there be an area for placing ships, tents, and a fire. It is advisable to look for a site in ventilated areas (if there are midges) and at a sufficient height (3-4 m) above the water level, if its rapid rise is possible. This must also be taken into account if you want to stay on the island. The duty officers begin choosing a place for a bivouac half an hour before the planned end of the working day, inspecting the place from the shore. It is advisable to use old sites and fire pits.

Even following all the advice given, in order to avoid misunderstandings and false insults, you need to remember that the desire for a better parking lot will haunt you throughout your entire tourist life, but achieving the ideal is almost impossible.

The fact is that when choosing a parking lot, several absolute laws discovered by Felix Quadrigin [17] apply. The basic law of parking is harsh and simple, just as all the laws of nature are harsh and simple: the best parking is five hundred meters away.

There are several more minor laws that also cannot be neglected. The first of them is the “Half past six” law, which means that the best parking is found at half past seven in the evening.

The law has two more conclusions: a parking lot that comes across at half past seven will be slightly worse, and after half past eight parking disappears altogether.

And again, this “law,” like the sketch below [17] of a water voyage, is not only a joke, but also reality, albeit somewhat exaggerated. In life it happens both this way and that way.

"It has already been repeatedly noted that the time from five to half past eight in the evening is a real luxury. The sun shines and even warms, but does not bake. There is no wind - what is there wind, a breeze! - not the slightest. The water is a mirrored showcase of the central department store. The river straightens and flows smoothly and calmly. There are already gadflies, but there are no mosquitoes yet. Thick evening smells roll in from the banks in waves. Only now do you fully feel bliss kayak trip!

Therefore, we agreed at home, before the hike, and then confirmed it with repeated oaths during the hike: every evening we go from five to half past nine. Do not mention stopping earlier than half past eight. Don't even hint! Until half past nine, the word “parking” does not exist in our language at all. No - that's all!

But the law is the law. And at 18.30 you notice that the first kayak begins to wag its rudder lasciviously. Those walking ahead naturally saw a parking lot. And what a one! There are no words! Can't describe it! This is the kind of camp you dreamed of when you were discussing your future hike on long winter evenings.

Meanwhile, the captain of the first kayak, previously warned and intimidated by the Admiral, calmed the crew’s excitement with a stern jerk, judiciously keeping silent about the fact that he himself was also experiencing spiritual vibration. The kayak moves forward decisively. Oscillations stopped! Temptation overcome! But here a second kayak spots a potential anchorage. The opening is accompanied by the grinding sound of striking oars, the ship turns across the current, and the rest of the flotilla collides with the kayak. The reason for the failure is obvious. After not very friendly, but loud and inspired exclamations, a conspiracy spontaneously arises against the Admiral, who, as a rule, comes in the last kayak.

The admiral, who has lost his vigilance due to the extraordinary beauty of the landscape, does not have time to maneuver and crashes into a cluster of ships.

- What's the matter? — he plays out the misunderstanding of this moment not very successfully.

With joyful shouts, they explain to the Admiral that only completely irresponsible leaders with too high an opinion of themselves can miss such a parking lot. Thus, the conversation immediately begins in terms of harsh and irreconcilable contradictions between the boss and subordinates.

- No, just look, there in the depths, you can even see from the water, the berries are turning red, the mushrooms are crowding, and the source, no, just admire the source - what is your “Samson” there!

Admiral. But today we still have twelve kilometers left. People (convincingly and insincerely). Tomorrow we'll get up at five and catch up!

Admiral (laughs bitterly). You? Will you get up? At five? The people understand that the case is lost. The admiral gives the command:

- Forward!

An hour later, two worse sites appear one after another. The kayak captains, casting interested glances at the Admiral, remain silent and continue on their way. Meanwhile, the landscape is steadily deteriorating. First it recedes to the horizon, and then the forest disappears. The bush is disappearing. The temptingly gentle banks begin to rise, and finally the river finds itself between two ribbons of completely bare rocks. At half past eight the landscape becomes completely ominous. True, put the right bank, but from the water you can see that there is a black quagmire. On the rocks of the left bank, let alone pulling kayaks out, they are “frosting” for an experienced climber to look at.

The admiral sends his kayak forward with strong strokes, and the whole group watches with sadness how, about three hundred meters away, he fussily sticks to one bank, then to the other, how he gets stuck in a coastal swamp or, at best, drives away a herd of cows with a loud bass voice, which came from nowhere, vaguely shakes his head, gets into the boat and rushes on. At a quarter to ten, the admiral’s silhouette clearly emerges against the backdrop of a huge cold month, and a victorious cry is heard: “Ze-e-blah-ya!” The cavalcade slowly and wearily approaches the place chosen by the authorities.

The parking lot is really nothing. The forest, however, is not visible, nor is the fuel. The nearest bushes, no, bushes, are about two hundred meters away. But there are very, very many traces of cows, horses, geese and some other unknown, but, judging by the specific signs, very large herbivores.

But you don't have to choose. Let’s quickly put up tents, light a fire and cook something!”

On bicycle trips, if the group is provided with tents, the bicycles are placed next to the tent in one tight group. The second car leans against the first one so that the rear wheel of the second one is next to the front wheel of the first one, etc. In inclement weather, cars can be covered with film.

For safety, bicycles must be locked with special locks. You can also stretch a chain between the trunk risers or the frames of the outer cars and hang a lock on its ends.

If a city excursion is planned, it is better to spend the night in the countryside, before reaching the city. In the morning you can already be in the city, and then, after seeing the sights, leave it to spend the night “in nature” again.

On motorcycle trips, it is advisable to choose a place to stay overnight. so that after the rain you can get out on the road without outside help. Hillocks in a pine forest are preferred, where the soil is usually sandy and always dry. It is advisable that when leaving the road it is not necessary! had to overcome the clay rise. It's good to relax away from the noisy highway around the clock. It is better to avoid fords, no matter how attractive the place on the other side may be; It may rain at night and in the morning it will be difficult to overcome the water.

On road trips, if a group travels in 4-5 cars, you can stop for the night anywhere, setting up a guard. You can stop near housing, on the territory of a road repairman, a school, a police station, or a fire station. It is best to stay in campsites where there is security and a number of amenities - a fireplace for cooking, a shower, a toilet. The campsites have inspection pits and car washes.

You need to light a fire, stove or stove further from the car, so that the wind blows from the car to the fire.

It is better to explore the city on foot, leaving your cars for storage.

Work on the bivouac

Work on the bivouac should take the minimum possible time. The sooner they are completed, the more time will be left for rest and movement, that is, for the hike itself. There is no need to save time at the expense of quality of work, ease of rest, or reduction of sleep.

It is highly advisable to carry out all the work at the bivouac (procuring firewood, water, setting up tents, making a fire, lighting a stove or primus, cooking food) in parallel, that is, simultaneously.

Once the fire is lit, buckets of water are hung over the fire. If the bivouac is without a fire, but with stoves or stoves, then pots or buckets are immediately placed on them.

Each of the works at the bivouac is performed by the participants who are assigned to do so. Individual jobs are usually entrusted to those who “specialized” in them, and who do them better and faster. But if one type of work is harder than others, then it is better to do them in turn, for example, preparing firewood for a winter night by the fire. On multi-day hikes, when the conditions are approximately the same, it is better to distribute the work in advance so that all participants “go through” all types of work. For example, today two people are on duty - lighting and maintaining a fire, working with a stove or primus stove, preparing food; tomorrow they prepare fuel (“loggers”), and the day after tomorrow they set up tents (“house builders”). Thus, everyone does everything, is trained in all tourist work, no one has a reason to be offended. Naturally, women should not do heavy work such as felling, cutting and carrying trees.

With good organization, work at the bivouac is usually completed by the time dinner is ready. This leaves enough time for rest and sleep.

Work at the bivouac must be distributed immediately upon arrival at the site or even earlier. The order of work depends on the type of tourism and specific conditions, on the number of people in the group and their experience. In a similar group, the leader does not particularly need to distribute and manage work; experienced tourists immediately see what needs to be done first in each case.

If there is little dead wood and fallen trees at the bivouac site, then more people prepare firewood; If it is approaching or already raining, then immediately set up tents.

On ski trips in treeless areas, first of all, snow bricks and blocks are prepared for a windproof wall, a tent is set up and a wall is built around it, taking into account the expected weather (on the windward side or surrounding the entire tent with it to the maximum height). In winter taiga hikes, the priority work is procuring fuel and setting up tents or equipping a place to spend the night (setting up a camp - compacting a site for a tent, preparing a fire and paths for it and a toilet, installing awnings, flooring, etc.). On water trips, the first thing to do is unload the ships and take them ashore.

In a similar group, all work proceeds without unnecessary fuss and as if slowly. Nevertheless, setting up camp from the moment of stopping until the end of all evening work takes no more than two, and sometimes one and a half hours, which is quite good. The same amount of time should be spent winding down camp in the morning (from getting up to leaving). In such a group, people do not sit idle while others are working, but look for it, helping others until the work is finished. You need to make it a rule not to rummage through other people’s backpacks (you’re unlikely to find the thing you need anyway), but to return what you take from a friend into his hands.

Those on duty who prepare food in the morning (preferably the same ones who cooked it the night before) get up half an hour (or more) before the general rise. Everything that is needed to make a fire or light a primus stove and stove (kindling, firewood, water, food) is prepared in the evening. Firewood must be protected from rain or dew at night; If it’s winter, prepare the water in the evening, and if the source is far away, then in the summer too.

It makes sense to assign people on duty “to a given bivouac,” then both in the evening and in the morning they know where everything is and how best to use it. It’s better to start your duty with lunch and end with breakfast.

All participants, except those on duty, can be almost “assembled”, and the camp is basically collapsed before the start of breakfast. When breakfast is ready, all work is interrupted so as not to delay the attendants and the exit in general. It is advisable that the buckets after meals are washed by past or future people on duty, since today’s people on duty already have a lot to do.

Leave the bivouac in such a way that others will want to stay here and they will not have to look for another site, build a fire in a fresh place and re-equip everything. Burn the trash, bury the burnt cans, put the tent pegs and remaining firewood near the fire. After cleaning the bivouac, be sure to fill the fire with water or cover it with earth, even if the fire was lit far from trees and forests. This rule cannot be violated, because, having violated it once, it is easy to allow yourself to violate it again.

Unextinguished fire in the forest is a criminal offense.

When leaving, inspect the bivouac to see if things have been forgotten. The bivouac is inspected by those on duty or those assigned to do so, otherwise everyone can rely on others.

Accommodations

In summer they usually spend the night in tents or under awnings, in winter you can sleep by the fire, under a canopy or awning, on a fireplace, in a tent without a stove, in a tent with a stove for heating, in a tent with primus stoves for cooking (in treeless areas).

Each of these sleeping methods has its own advantages and disadvantages.

When spending the night by the fire, the weight of the equipment for the night is small (tent, axes, saws, buckets), but the work of setting up a winter bivouac is very labor-intensive - preparing thick logs for the fire requires a lot of effort, and the overnight stay is not very comfortable and warm.

Spending the night in a tent with a stove adapted for heating and cooking provides the best rest and greatest comfort, but requires special equipment - a stove, which not everyone can make. Preparing firewood will not take much time and effort: one medium-sized sushi is enough to provide the stove with fuel for the evening, night and morning.

In treeless areas there is nothing to make a fire from and there is nothing to “feed” the stove. This can happen not only in uninhabited tundra, steppe or desert areas, but also vice versa, in densely populated places where, on the banks of picturesque rivers, lakes and reservoirs near large cities, numerous vacationers have long burned all the dead wood, dead wood and dry tree branches (and in some places even the living trees themselves). In these cases, tourists have to take with them camp stoves (“bumblebee”, “tourist”) with a supply of gasoline, and less often - gas stoves.

For a group of 9-11 people, two “bumblebee” Primus stoves and gasoline are enough at an approximate rate of 1 liter per day in winter and 0.7 liters in summer and autumn. If you cook food on primus stoves in a large tent, then even. In winter, when it’s frosty, the tent will have a positive temperature while the primus stoves are working. In the tent there is a special corner for primus stoves - the kitchen, under which it is advisable to have a small threshold on the top and sides. In the tent where the stove is heated or primus stoves are used, a hole is made in the upper part for ventilation, smoke and water vapor to escape. When lighting, installing and removing buckets, the stove always smokes a little; buckets and pans, when water boils in them and food is cooked, always steam a little, especially with the lids removed. Therefore, if you do not make holes, the tent will be smoky and the walls will sweat.

Some designs of tents, including large collective ones, and stoves for heating and cooking are described in the section on bivouac equipment.

When using stoves and primus stoves, safety precautions must be observed. The pipe from the stove passes through a hole in the roof or wall of the tent. Around the pipe, the tent fabric is replaced with 15-20 cm of non-flammable asbestos or fiberglass. A spark arrestor-deflector is placed on the pipe outside the tent. You cannot use stoves in tents made of nylon fabric: despite the presence of spark arresters, a small part of the sparks can get on the nylon fabric and burn it.

Primus stoves and gas stoves need to be carefully adjusted before going on a trip. Along the route, their work is always monitored by one participant who has studied them well and adjusted them before the trip. He must teach everyone else how to properly handle primus stoves and gas stoves.

It is advisable to light primus stoves outside the tent or, in extreme cases in winter, in the “kitchen”, behind the canopy.

A word about the day

What could be better than a day on a hike? A day trip attracts any tourist. Everyone has their own plans and hopes connected with her. The fisherman will finally find a use for his gear, mushroom pickers and berry pickers will be able to satisfy their desires, women will prepare a demonstration of outfits, do laundry, repairs, and prepare exotic, “holiday” dishes; Pathfinders can look for “traces of unseen beasts.”

To satisfy the wishes of all participants, the day must meet some additional requirements beyond the normal parking requirements.

The main one is the “reserve” of the day. It is advisable that the camp be set up in a place where “no man has ever set foot.” This requirement is sometimes quite difficult to fulfill. There is only one thing left: to find a place fenced off from the whole world by “impassable” mountains or swamps.

No less important is the quality of the day, such as uniqueness. This refers to features unique to this place that will be remembered forever: some relief features, a picturesque landscape, a high mountain with a “panoramic” peak that reveals distant distances, a cozy river, a pine forest...

But, naturally, with all this, it is not the poignant moments or the exotic that leave the greatest impression. Not with your mind, but with your heart, you remember the quiet reach of the river near your bivouac, the nightingale night, the sensitive silence of the sleeping forest and the first rays of the sun, which at first hesitantly, and then more and more boldly burst out from behind the thick bushes. This is what you will dream about on winter nights, this is what will make your heart skip a beat when you hear the word “day”, this is what will call you on your next hike, despite all the administrative, family and other obstacles and circumstances.

Your day should be such that you feel sorry to leave here, so that you leave a part of your soul here.

Forced days don't have to be bad. Let it rain continuously for several days, let the blizzard rage endlessly. But nothing will prevent you from comprehending and thinking about problems that are important to you. You will never have any other free time. In addition, working in a camp in the rain, making a fire, for example, will remain exciting.

An unexpected day can be both reserved and unique, because a natural disaster can force you to set up bivouac where “a gray wolf cannot run and a black raven cannot fly.” And the memory of her will not be erased.

But the very next day after “sitting” this memory will acquire light and lyrical tones; Is it necessary to convince that as you move away from the place of the day, it will seem more and more attractive and sweet?