Regarding Steve Lubet’s July 14 commentary (“Camping: A unique form of madness,” Op-Ed, July 14):
As a former scout and scout leader, I am in favor of camping. All campers have had bad experiences, but they are usually outweighed by the good ones. I admit that there were times I, too, questioned the value of these experiences.
All this became clear last year when I was leading a nature walk in Ottawa Trail Woods for the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
After the walk, one fellow came up to me and said, “You don’t remember me, but when I saw your name in the paper as leader of this walk, I had to come and say thanks.”
I asked why. He said, “The things you scouters taught us about camping out and sleeping on the ground sure saved my life in Korea and the lives of others when I passed on the things you taught about winter camping.”
