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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Outdoors blog

Educational benefits of camping are free for all

Kris Crocker says camping is not her favorite thing. (Staff illustration by Ralph Walter)
Kris Crocker says camping is not her favorite thing. (Staff illustration by Ralph Walter)

CAMPING -- TV weather reporter Kris Crocker, full of honesty and good humor, says she's lost the itch to go camping.  We forgive you, Kris.

But as I explain in today's outdoors column, the occasional misery involved in tenting under the stars is worth the educational benefits, especially when you have kids.

I like a warm shower as much as anyone, but our daughters also LOVED to go skinny dipping in mountain lakes and streams.  It's a life skill every kid should learn before being booted out of the nest.

From what I hear, the girls, in their 20s, still LOVE to go skinny dipping. That worked out to the educational benefit of a Boy Scout pack that hiked by at the most opportune time in the Glacier Peak Wilderness a couple of years ago.

Question: Do Boy Scouts have an app that helps them navigate toward skinny dipping girls in the wilderness?



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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