On the stove, it all depends on what kind of camping your doing. Jennmonkey mentioned elsewhere contemplating some backpacking. Most of my camping is on a motorcycle, some in a car. On the bike, I use a single burner Coleman Dual Fuel 533 stove (gas), and actually we manage fine. For backpacking there are even smaller single burner stoves available. When we go in a car, we use a dual burner propane stove, and I'd agree if you can manage the weight and space, it has definite advantages. Occasionally, we've used both to have a total of three burners, and/or used a portable grill. I personally prefer a propane stove to the gas stove that I usually use, and prefer two burners to the one that I usually have available, but what can be carried depends on how one is camping, and we always manage fine with what circumstances dictate.

Well, this is a bit off the subject, but, when i was a kid of ten or so, my Dad and Grand-father would take me and my brother on a camping trip, up to Pymatuning Reservoir, in North-western Pennsylvania, for a week of fishing and row-boating, and seeing the sights. (This was around 1933 to 1940.) We had two old WW I Army tents, and cots, blankets, a gasoline stove, cooking utensils, plates, etc. We didn't have an ice chest. My Dad would dig a hole in the creek bank, and we'd keep the perishables there, in the cool water, in a bucket, with a lid. We'd rent a row-boat, and Daddy and me and my younger Brother would go out on the lake and fish. We'd spend a week there, and had lots of fun. We'd turn in at dusk, since we didn't have a big lantern. One night, there was a great commotion outside our tent, and the head-lights of our car were shining into our tent and the horn was blowing loudly! (Around 3 a.m!) I awoke, and asked what was happening. Daddy shouted:"There are skunks in your tent"! Uh-Oh!? "Be very still"! I didn't move, and could hear rustling under my brother's cot, so i managed a peek. And there were two skunks worrying an old half empty can of fish-bait! WOO-HOO! Well, they finally "licked the platter clean", so to say, and ran off. Daddy finally quit blowing the horn, and it all cooled down then. Also, when my wife and i went up to Hammonasset State park, in connecticut, we set up the camper, then went in to town to buy some groceries. As we drove back into the park, we saw 3 skunks walking into a tent that was set up nearby. We watched to see if anybody came running out, but no one did. Then, a car pulled in and four girls got out and started for the tent!! I hollered and told them about the skunks---woo-hoo, they hollered, ran out, got into their car and drove madly away! Don't know if they ever came back! Hammonasset was a nice park to visit. We went there several times. It was close to where our son lived. We went there one 4th. of July when the holiday fell on a Saturday. This was on Wednesday. the park management said we could camp there, if we left on Thursday, as the weekenders would need the space. We agreed, and we left.

A friend of mine and I are headed up through New England (NH, VT, and Maine in particular) for a week of tenting in mid august. any suggestions on good areas to do some non-campsite / fee-free / ranger-free camping? we're looking to do some backwoods hiking, a bit of mountaineering and want to stay away from any crowds or other people in general. any suggestions for some secluded sites?

What I'd do first is figure out how I want to store the stuff--do I want all the hiking gear in one place, all the skiing gear in one place, or do I want all footwear in one place, all outerwear in one place, all the skis and poles and assorted gear in one place? I suspect that the clothing and gear for hiking/camping/climbing overlaps a bit--what is the best way for you to store all this so that you can get ready for the next adventure quickly and easily? I might get a shoe rack or shoe cabinet that could hold all the shoes and boots you have. Maybe a rack for the skis and poles. Plastic bins for the camping and hiking and climbing gear. Although if you go with plastic bins, make sure everything is completely dry before you store it away. And label the bins, so that you don't have to open four of them to find your sleeping bag and tent. You might also look into buying an armoire or wardrobe. Ikea has some at reasonable prices, and you can customize the insides. If you skip the usual bar for hanging clothes, you could create a tall space for storing the skis, have some hooks on the walls and the inside of the doors to hang stuff, and then some shelves or drawers to store smaller things. This would be a good use of vertical space, and might look a bit nicer than a pile of plastic bins in the corner of the room. If the skis didn't fit inside (I have no idea how long skis are), you could put the wardrobe near a corner and slide the skis in between the wardrobe and the wall. Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea wardrobe