Best Campsite Award
Lean & Green is the Winning Scene!
Long gone are the days when the biggest, most elaborate spread took the prize for the best campsite. The prize now goes to the campsite that takes up the smallest piece of real estate with in the most creative way. So be thinking LEAN AND GREEN! Everyone who camps at Grey Fox is in the running. The award is selected by our lean, green Recycling Crew leaders, who scour every inch of the Walsh Farm in search of that one, deserving "spatial triumph."
If you're camping on the Walsh Farm at our upcoming festival, say goodbye to big, sprawling fancy campsites and turn your home-sweet-home into an efficient, environmentally-compatible space. Think small. Think green. And YOU could win a pair of tickets to next year's festival.
The winner is announced on Saturday by our eco-friendly judges. The winner's name (and street location) will be posted at the Information Booth by 6:00 pm, and we'll announce the winner on stage during Saturday night's show.
So plan ahead, get creative and go green! Good luck!
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The 2012 Best Campsite Award winner is "Stoker the Accordion Guy."
And here is a letter from him on how to maximize your camping experience at Grey Fox. We'll post a photo of his winning campsite soon! Stoker writes:
My campsite was selected for Best Campsite 2012, and if it’s of any interest, I thought I’d provide some info about it here in case you have a place to post such things on your website.
Camping at Grey Fox is always a balancing act between comfort and keeping good camping practices. Thankfully, over the years I’ve developed strategies that allow both.
Most of it comes down to managing the sun and the heat. The smaller the site, the easier it is to shade. The more shade, the lower the temps in camp. Cooler temps mean more comfort, less ice, and less food lost to spoilage.
Anyone who likes cold beer as much as I do knows that keeping your cooler cold can be a challenge. Here are some simple tips: a few days before you leave for the festival, freeze gallon jugs of spring water to put in your cooler. Repurposing milk jugs works fine too. Be sure to leave a couple of inches at the top of each jug for ice expansion. Don’t want the hassle? Just buy block ice: it lasts far longer than cubed. Freeze food items you plan to eat later. Food that can’t be frozen should at least be well-chilled before you throw it in your cooler. Starting cold helps things stay cold.
Eventually, ice melts. If you use frozen water jugs, you’ll now have drinking water without having to run to the taps. If you use block ice, drain the cold melt-water and pour it into a second cooler for pre-cooling sodas and beers before restocking your main cooler. Do this in the AM, while stuff is still relatively cool from the night before. This may sound like a lot to keep track of, but after a day or so you’ll get into the rhythm and hardly think about it.
Most modern coolers are already well insulated, but you can significantly boost their efficiency by making a cover out of bubble wrap foil insulation, available at any hardware store or lumber yard. You basically want a box with no bottom, with plenty of clearance at the sides for easily getting the cover off and on. (This material can also be cut into heat shields for car windows.) Use 3”-wide foil adhesive tape; duct tape will fall apart. If you want to go all out, drape the cooler in a slow drying material like canvas or wool and soak it with water. The evaporative cooling will drop your ice consumption even further.
For extra points, collect recyclables in a milk crate. Also think about outfitting your site with cast-off furniture: everything in my site was found in the trash at GF or on the street in my home town, most of it in good or at least serviceable condition.
My site has the added feature of a raised platform. This keeps my tent and camp kitchen off the ground at a comfortable working height, and minimizes soil compaction under tent and feet. It pops together in about 10 minutes, all without tools. Two 12’ 2x6 rails support three 3/8” ply panels, each measuring 4’ x 7’. The panels are framed underneath with 1” rough-sawn pine, spaced 12” on center. End panels have 2x4 headers supporting the outside edges. The 3/8” ply panels are light enough for one person to move yet thick enough to walk on (no jumping!). All joints were assembled with treated deck screws and exterior glue (Titebond III).
I’m sure there are many other techniques for camping lightly (shower with a good-looking “friend”?), and hopefully we’ll all continue to share these tips going forward. For now, I hope the ideas above prove helpful.
Stroker
The Accordion Guy
PS
My congrats for running yet another fab festival!
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