For many campers the cooking is the best part of the camping trip. And while camping we often we get the urge try recipes we wouldn’t normally try in the kitchen. Something like camp fondue could satisfy the camp cooks ambition for something different.  

Ingredients
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar
2 Cups of Shredded Swiss Cheese
1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
1 Clove Garlic
1/2 Cup Beer or White Wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions
Mix together cheese and cornstarch. Rub bottom of pan or pot with garlic and add beer (or wine). Heat over low heat or coals until hot, add cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper, additional garlic if desired. Stirring with wooden spoon until completely melted.

Do not cook this over hot fire or coals. Do cook over low heat or cooler coals. Use sternos or single burner stove to keep fondue warm.

Serve with French Bread Cubes or whatever you like.

Discover more camping recipes.

Lehigh River Clean-Up

5/17/2008

Meet in the Jim Thorpe Train Station parking lot, at the Packerton Dip outside Lehighton, or at the 248 cloverleaf at Palmerton. Dumpsters at three locations. We’ll supply the bags. Wear old clothes, work gloves and bug spray!
Light refreshments provided afterwards.

 Click here for more volunteer information.

The Pennsylvania State Parks offer great opportunity for outdoor recreation. If you are interested fishing, camping, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, wildlife viewing, environmental and historical education, hunting, hiking or even star gazing, you can find it at a Pennsylvania State Park. For many Pennsylvania residents, state parks are one of the few sources of outdoor recreation.    

And when it comes to water activities at a state park most people think of flatwater boating. But the Pennsylvania State Park system offers much more than you may think. Many parks such as the Leonard Harrison State Park offers a canoe trip on Pine Creek running straight through one of Pennsylvania’s most scenic locations. And the Ohiopyle State Park offers some of the best whitewater paddling in the Mid-Atlantic region.

It’s a new satellite messenger product from Spot, Inc.. It uses a GPS satellite network to acquire coordinates, and then sends its location with a link to Google Maps. All you have to do is push a button. And because it’s satellite technology, SPOT works around the world. 

It’s something any paddler, hiker or hunter should consider having. Check it out here.
  

It may be Pennsylvania’s best kept paddling secret and maybe one of the top canoe camping rivers in the Mid-Atlantic region. The West Branch of the Susquehanna River is one great canoe camping river because of its range, access, scenery, and remoteness. Average canoe camping trips on the West Branch can range from under 20 miles to 80 miles, and if you are feeling really adventurous you could put in somewhere near Shawville, Pennsylvania and paddle all the way to the Chesapeake Bay.

The West Branch is a mostly a tame flatwater river with occasional waves and riffles that are just enough to add some paddling excitement without too much risk, making it a perfect canoe camping trip for a family with younger children. There is one short section of barely a class two rapid called the Moshannon Falls which can be a great ride when water levels are just right. Don’t take the river lightly though, it is a fast high volume river and should be avoided when the levels swell due to flooding or a dam release.

The best time to paddle the river is during the period of April through early June. Normally the river levels are too low after June, although there have been recent years where the water levels were adequate throughout the entire year. The weeks before and including Memorial Day weekend are when paddlers are most active on the West Branch and you’ll possibly have plenty of campsite competition with the locals. However if you choose to paddle the river in early May or several weeks after Memorial Day you likely encounter only a few, if any paddlers.

For more information on canoeing and camping the West Branch and other rivers in Pennsylvania go the Website.