Thursday, September 3, 1998
Entertainment/The Great Outdoors
Section B·Page 5
Camping can be wild trip
Great outdoors is perfect escape for KU students
By Angela Johnson Kansan staff writer
When Chad Kemper went camping two years ago, he looked up and saw a clear night sky above him. Not a chance of rain, he thought, so left the rain fly, flaps which help keep out rain, off his tent.
The next time he looked up, it was 3 a.m. and rain was coming through the tent.
"I was wearing only my shorts, and the rain fly was outside the tent," said Kemper, a manager of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 844 Massachusetts St. "I went out to get it, and chickgers had gotten all over it, and they got all over me. I was a mess."
Wendy Schwab, Stillwell junior and Sunflower employee, said she was going to Current River in Missouri over Labor Day.
"A friend and I are going canoeing down the river for three days, and we'll be camping alongside the bank," Schwb said.
An experience such as this has not stopped Kemper and many other University of Kansas students from going camping. Some students will spend their upcoming Labor Day weekend in the great outdoors.
Schwab said that the best tip for camping was to pack lightly and to be
Kristi Elliott / KANSAN
comfortable.
conform to.
"Don't bring too much," she said.
"Be sure to have comfortable shoes and a lot of water."
Kemper said that he and a couple of friends would be camping at a private lake just outside of Stull, a town west of Clinton State Park.
"I always take a tent now, and I always leave the rain rain on," Kemper said. "It seems every time I go camping, I end up in a huge storm."
Mike Fine, program coordinator for the Kansas and Burge units, operates Wilderness Discovery, a group that rents camping equipment to KU students and faculty, on the first level of the Kansas Union in the Jayflower.
Fine said they provided everything needed to go camping; tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, cook stoves, backpacks and ice chests.
"We price our equipment reasonably," he said. "Two people could go camping over the weekend for $25 and have everything they need."
Camping areas within an hour drive from Lawrence are Clinton Lake, Perry Lake, Pomona Lake and Lone Star Lake, Fine said.
Jerry Schecher, park manager for Clinton Lake, said there were two types of camping sites at Clinton Lake: improved and primitive.
The improved areas are for motorhome camping and are water- and electricity-ready, Schecher said. The prim$^{+}$ive areas are for campers who bring sleeping bags and tents.
Besides the usual mosquitoes and chiggers, campers also should be aware of snakes, Schecher said.
"Venomous snakes lurk in the warm areas, like rock lodges, asphalt and in or around bathrooms," he said.
Trail mixed for hungry hikers
By Melody Ard
Kansan staff writer
Students looking for a change of scenery in their walks or jogs can drive 20 miles south of Lawrence to find a 33 mile-long rail trail that winds its way through eastern Kansas.
The first phase of the Prairie Spirit Rail Trail, running from Richmond to Welda, opened in 1996. The second phase, from Ottawa to Richmond, opened Tuesday.
"We have more than exceeded our expectations of traffic on the trail, and we expect that it will increase with the opening of the second phase," said Joyce Martin, president of the Friends of the Trail club. "Hope
fully next year they will start on phase three. I think that would interest a lot of bikers who like the longer trails."
The third phase of the trail would begin at Welda and end in Iola, extending 50 miles south and creating a continuous path between Ottawa and Iola.
The town of Garnett is the center of most activity on the trail because it houses the local office of the Wildlife and Parks Department and was instrumental in starting the trail.
we are right in the middle of the trail," said Stacy Schulte, Garnett Area Chamber of Commerce director. "We see a lot of people come through."
Trail heads have restrooms, picnic areas, vehicle parking and posted trail information. They are in Ottawa,
Princeton, Richmond, Garnett and Welda.
Towns can add amenities to the trail inside their city limits. Ottawa and Garnett have landscaped the trails with native vegetation and have made the trail asphalt, rather than crushed limestone.
Daily permits, which are $2.50, and annual permits, which are $10.50, cover use of the trail. Permits are sold at the Garnett Area Chamber of Commerce, Garnett City Hall, the Franklin County Clerk's Office and Country Mart at Ninth and Main streets in Ottawa.
The trail is open during daylight hours. Groups may contact the Garnett Chamber of Commerce to schedule special events or times for use.
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