outdoor campingIt's too hot to go outdoor camping close to home, so we are heading up to the mountains to spend four days and three nights. We have all our gear ready to go except for the food, so Friday after work, we'll be piling in the van and heading to our outdoor camping spot. The last time we were there we encountered some hungry wildlife, after a few days in the woods, so we're putting all the food in a metal cooler with a tight latch and storing it in the van. It's amazing what the animals can smell. We camp in bear country in the summer because it's cooler, but in the winter, we can camp in deer and desert bighorn sheep territories. It is so wonderful to sit quietly in a canyon where we have set up our outdoor camping spot and watch for an occasional herd of deer to pass by. These animals are far less agressive than bears so we do not have to take all the precautions of camping outdoors when we are around these wild critters. Everything that the experts at the Forest Service says about taking precautions around bears when outdoor camping is true. Bears will come to a campground for food, and they can be seen day and night. Carrying bear spray, a loud whistle, and tightly sealing the food at night are the best precautions to avoid a confrontation with a bear when outdoor camping.