Vandals in The Night
My familys’ first foray into the wilds of the Catskill Mountains was a camping trip to Woodland Valley State Campsite near Phoenicia, New York. Dad obtained a small one wheel trailer and loaded the army surplus tent, some cots, a dining fly and all of the other necessities to sustain the family for a week. With great excitement and expectation Fuzzy hopped in the rear seat in the small space that was left for him. Not everything fit in the small trailer. Off we drove as Dad headed the car for the forests of the Catskills. We were to meet another family, Margaret, Fred, daughter Janette and son John at the campsite.
Everybody arrived and the adults set to work putting up the tents and the dining fly over the picnic table. Fuzzy and the other kids headed for the stream with admonitions to not get our shoes wet. Fuzzy didn’t think that would be a problem since as soon as we got to the stream shoes and socks would quickly come off and pant legs were rolled up for wading. Soon we were being called for lunch. We gathered up our shoes and socks and headed for our camp sites. What a surprise. Here was home with lunch all ready for us. Under the fly Mom was heating a pan of soup on a Coleman stove. There was a Coleman lantern hanging from a pole that held up the center of the fly, ready to provide us with light after dark.
The afternoon was spent walking through the campground finding the water spigot and where the bathrooms were. All the luxuries of home, well almost. The bathrooms were pit toilets back then and there were no showers or hot running water. It was going to be scrub downs with a pan of water heated on the stove to get the dirt of the day off us kids. Fuzzy really didn’t see the point of it since we played in the stream almost all day. How dirty could I have gotten playing in the water?
Dinner was cooked by Dad and Fred in the fireplace. Dinner was a large hamburger patty with pieces of vegetables all wrapped in aluminum foil. Fuzzy can still remember the aroma and the taste of that first dinner. We ate it right out of the foil thus saving plates and cutting down on the dish washing. Once explained it made perfect sense to Fuzzy because you would have to take a pail and go to the closest tap to get the water and then you had to lug the dishwater off into the woods to dispose of it. So this is what is meant by roughing it.
On a stroll around the campground after dinner we noticed other campers were putting the largest rocks they could lift on top of their sites’ garbage cans. Because this was universal throughout the camp ground, Dad and Fred did it also but were not sure why. We would certainly find out later.
The evening was spent around the campfire with the lantern hissing in the background as it provided light. Margaret and Mom made hot chocolate and we roasted marshmallows. Now this, for us kids, was living. When the clock advanced towards bedtime, as it always does, we brushed our teeth, washed up, and made that last trip with flashlights to the bathroom. It was a beautiful moonlit night with so many stars in the sky that it was just amazing. Tired kids tucked into their sleeping bags. We were immediately fast asleep.
Then the vandal horde descended upon us. They arrived with their masked faces and scampered all around finding whatever they could to open and gain a snack. They caused a terrible din and awoke all in the campsite. Flashlights quickly revealed there were raccoons everywhere. They would work as team to push over what garbage cans they could. Once the can was on its side, the teamwork went out the window and it was every critter for himself to get the goodies held inside. A garbage can would go rolling down a hill with them snarling and fighting inside. They took our cups from the hot chocolate and disappeared with them. Finding the odor of toothpaste left on toothbrushes too inviting, they ate the bristles off each and every one. Fred and Margaret had a white tent and Margaret spied one of the bandits just outside the flap. A good swift kick through the tent only angered him and he turned and growled at her. She jumped back into her sleeping bag and didn’t get up until it was way past daylight when assurances convinced her they were gone.
The rest of the week was spent every morning searching for tins and other items the vandals had taken during the night. We learned to be sure and not leave any food out for them and every night Dad would lock the tempting items in the trunk of the car. Live and learn as the saying goes. A wonderful week camping in the Catskill Mountains was had by both the humans and the denizens of the Mountains..