Teatime in the Woods

When I am going to spend a day in a remote area – hiking, mapping, fishing, or searching for some rare plant, I often carry a compact kit that allows me to prepare cups of hot tea, accompanied by pieces of chocolate. This is a great way to rescue yourself, especially your mood, while working or playing on a cold damp day.

My real motive for doing this, and my reason for mentioning it today, is that going through the process of finding water, selecting a location for a mini-camp, selecting fuel, maintaining a tiny fire, etc., slows me down and makes me more attentive to the landscape, revealing things I might not have otherwise noticed.

The stand nesting onto the cup.

The cup on the stand, ready for fire.

My secret for being able to do this conveniently involves a straight-sided stainless steel camp cup with a wire handle. I made a stand for the cup from thin stainless steel rod. In use, it holds the cup above a tiny fire, which can be built in a variety of settings (details follow). And when stowed, the stand goes on upside down with its legs grasping the cup and takes up no more space in my pack than the cup.

The three-legged stand lends considerable versatility to where you can support the cup over a little fire. If soft soil is available, just push the wire legs in a bit, keeping the top of the stand level for the cup. In rocky areas, find a flat rock about the size of a dinner plate, level it from below with a couple of pebbles and set the stand on top. A flat-cut stump works fine and if necessary a low leg can be shimmed with a flat chip of rock.

A slab of ice melting along the shore of a pond or stream can be removed and leveled in the snow, a couple handfuls of wet sand spread on the slab and the legs of the stand pushed through to rest on the ice. A raft of green twigs on the sand will support the fire.

The cup on its stand, over a little fire on a flat portion of an old stump.

The rest of the supplies are stowed in the cup, including tea bags and chocolate in a plastic bag, sugar in a film can, a little box of waterproof matches, and a cotton handkerchief stuffed in to keep all from rattling – and useful for handling the hot wire cup handle.

When being carried, the complete cup kit is wrapped inside a plastic bag, tied with a spare boot lace. When placed on the flames, the cold cup becomes sooty, and having the plastic bag to carry it in keeps the rest of the gear in my pack clean.

So if you enjoy camping as a means of getting more intimate with nature, this is a miniature version that you can fit into one day or even one evening. Bur Oak Land Trust properties are available, and if you want to venture further, there are the numerous parcels that comprise Shimek State Forest in counties to the south of us.

The cup stand is not necessary of course – glowing coals avoid the soot – you can bring your own water, substitute instant coffee for tea, and design your little excursion to what you enjoy and appreciate. And if you have limited camping experience, these can be practice runs.