[Illustration:

"We may live without friends, we may live without books,
But civilized man cannot live without cooks"]

[Sidenote: Aluminum Baker]

This is no exaggeration. I have been there myself. Until this very year
I carried a Dutch oven on my pack trips. Then I made one more try,
purchased an aluminum baker of Abercrombie & Fitch, and have had good
bread at minimum trouble.

I realize that I seem to be recommending this firm rather extensively,
but it cannot be helped. It is not because I know no others, for
naturally I have been purchasing sporting goods and supplies in a great
many places and for a good many years. Nor do I recommend everything
they make. Only along some lines they have carried practical ideas to
their logical conclusion. The Abercrombie & Fitch balloon silk tents,
food bags, pack harness, aluminum alloys, and reflector ovens completely
fill the bill. And as they cannot be procured elsewhere, I must perhaps
seem unduly to advertise this one firm.

Their aluminum baker, then, I found to be a joy. I put the bread in the
pan, stuck the reflector in front of my regular cooking fire, and went
ahead with dinner. It required absolutely no more attention. By the time
I was ready to dish up grub, the bread was done. That was all there was
to it. The angles are correct, and the aluminum is easily kept bright.
When not in use it folds to an inch thick, and about a foot by a foot
and a half. It weighs only about two pounds. A heavy canvas case
protects it and the bread pan. I pack it between blankets, and never
know it is there; whereas the Dutch oven was always a problem. The cost
was three dollars.

[Sidenote: Food Bags]

Food is best transported in bags. Cotton drill, or even empty flour
sacks are pretty good on a pack horse; but in canoe and forest traveling
you will want something waterproof. Even horseback a waterproof bag is
better, for it keeps out the dust. Again I must refer you to Abercrombie
& Fitch. Their food bags are of light, waterproof, and durable
material, and cost only from a dollar to a dollar and a half a dozen,
according to size.

[Illustration: _Use of Parallel Logs._]

[Sidenote: Fire Irons]

Of course on a tramp you will carry no extra conveniences in the way of
fire irons, but will use as cooking range two green logs laid nearly
parallel, or rocks placed side by side. But with a pack horse, there is
no reason why you should not relieve yourself