Carry your home with you ... and camp

Camping to me always evokes images of roughing it out, living out of backpack, in the wilderness, in the middle of no where, and feels like an activity not suited for the weak hearted. But after a weekend trip to Catskills during my month stay at New York proved, I am ammazed how easy it actually is and can be!

Thanks to my friend from school, who took the initiative to get a group together, we all set out for a weekend at Catskills, close to Albany in upstate New york (New York the state - for a long time i didnt realise that both the city and state were named the same!). Lookedup campsites on the net. Booked a campsite. 3 cars loaded with loads of food. Tents. Sleeping bags. Comforters. We even had a slick looking stove - although we decided to cook food over the fire we built.

The campsite ofcourse almost had everything. Wood for the fire. A grill to cook the burgers over (since we forgot to pack it!). And decently maintained loos. It was almost a home away from home.

Our home for the night. Yippee - I finally got to see that setting up a tent was infact not rocket science.

I really marvel at the extent of organised tourism in the country. While its helpful in a lot of ways, it sort of converts the whole affair to a picnic rather than camping. I still remember the disappointment I felt when I landed in Yosemite with images of a nice long trek and was handed a map with every little detail marked out. But I guess, it just means I need to look harder to find more 'out of the way', 'un mapped' places !

Some photos from canoeing on day 2 @ North Lake