When we first developed our Tepee Outhouse Tent in 1997, the standard reaction from most folks was a smirk and a comment about 'not needing to shower while camping.'  I guess many folks felt that showering while camping, or having a tent solely for restroom or shower use was, well, wimpy.  That it would somehow detract from the feeling of 'roughing' it when out camping.  "I don't need a shower when I'm camping" was the standard reply.

So that got me to thinking about how we define 'roughing-it' nowadays.  Assuming that if you like to 'rough-it', you've already dispensed of the Ipads, portable TV's, and other modern amenities, and you have an affinity for the rigors and hygiene of camping.  You love the smell of a campfire, cooking over open flames, finding a convenient tree when nature calls, and sleeping in a tent.  And your own Eau de' B.O. serves as a personal reminder that 'hey, I'm roughing it, I can go days without a shower when I'm camping'.

What we call 'roughing-it' today was simply a matter of survival a hundred years ago.  Without the camp conveniences of today, campers of a century ago were not making a conscience choice to 'rough-it', they were simply using the tools available at the time to make camping as enjoyable, or tolerable, as possible.  So if we are basing our definition of roughing it on the rigors of camping in the past, the question that begs asking is;  would not those campers of a hundred years ago have greatly appreciated, and utilized, all the great equipment that we have at our disposal nowadays? Would they not have traded their leaky canvas tent for a modern tent, or their creaky wagon for a modern camping trailer? 

And if we take advantage of these modern conveniences, are we somehow cheapening the 'roughing-it' experience of camping?  Although our modern lanterns and stoves are easier (and safer) to use, our tent materials are lighter and more waterproof, and our sleeping bags are filled with man-made fibers rather than duck down or wool, the bottom line is that you are still sleeping in a tent, out of doors, battling the elements.  No matter how badly you smell at night, when you are snug in your sleeping bag or bed roll, the experience is exactly the same as it was in 1912.  By the way - that is the year that Titanic sank.  

The firelight flickering on your tent at night, the wind blowing the tent around, and the sound of rain falling on your tent has not changed much in a hundred years, nor is it likely to.  But if you're thinking about up-grading your gear, or taking shower in camp, go ahead - in the end you're still roughing it!

Jeff Basford

Paha Que' Wilderness, Inc.

THE MARCH NIGHT SKY

Meteors

March is a great month for viewing meteors as the Virginids make their annual showing.  The Virginids are a vast complex of a dozen or so radiants that become active in late January and persist until mid-April, without reaching a definite peak. Meteors from this stream appear at a slow speed (about 20 miles per second) from a large radiant that measures 15° by 10° in size.

Throughout March, the radiant is located in the northwestern part of Virgo and rises around 9 P.M. local daylight time. However, it is best placed for observing well after midnight, when activity should pick up. Several meteors per hour may be seen and the later you wait to begin observing, the more meteors you will see.

Meteors are about twice as common after midnight because the Earth's rotation is carrying us forward, in the same direction asthe Earth's motion in its orbit. In other words, before midnight the meteoroids that the speeding Earth runs into must catch up to observers, for the world is turning us back away from them. Consequently we see fewer meteors (many fail to catch us), and those we do see appear to be moving slower.

After midnight the Earth's rotational velocity is added too, not subtracted from, the orbital velocity and in the early morning we are at the front edge of our planet, meeting the meteors as head-on as possible. Those morning meteors therefore are faster and, as a result, brighter on the average.

Some meteors do not belong to any known shower. These are the sporadic meteors, caused by random bits of comet debris spread throughout the inner solar system. They appear randomly across the sky all year long.

In this month's night sky careful observers can expect around eight sporadics per hour during the morning hours and two during the dark evening.

Celestial Calendar for the rest of March:

March 20 - The Vernal equinox occurs at 1:14 A.M. EDT, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. This is the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

March 21 - Mercury is in inferior conjunction with the Sun.

March 22 - New Moon at 9:37 A.M. EDT.

March 24 - Uranus is in conjunction with the Sun.

March 25 - The Moon is 3.4° north of Jupiter at 6:57 P.M. EDT.

March 26 - The Moon is at apogee, the point in its orbit when it is farthest from Earth. The Moon is 2.1° south of Venus at 1:21 P.M. EDT.

March 27 - Venus is at greatest eastern elongation, 46° east of the Sun in the evening sky. The Moon is 3.9° south of the Pleiades at 3:56 A.M. EDT.

March 30 - First Quarter Moon at 2:41 P.M. ED