I camped a lot as a kid with my family and with Boy Scouts. I pretty much tired of the whole thing by the time I was 17 or so, preferring to do my exploring and life experiencing in my city and cities around the world. I went camping (to Killbear Provincial Parik) exactly once in my 20s, and never again, though staying at anyone's cottage always feels a bit like camping.
And, yet, though it's not something I do today, some of my happiest memories of childhood were camping. Killbear Provincial Park tops the list for me, with its stunning views over the lake, clean warm sandy beaches, granite rock everywhere, random pine trees growing out of the granite, the smell of conifers everywhere (their needles creating a consistent bed across the park), rattle snakes, bears, chipmunks, deer, the marina, toasting marshmallows, reading Marvel comics, playing board games while it rained for three weeks solid (we would occasionally camp that long), catching my first fish on Grundy Lake (another Provincial Park nearby).
I have a small desire to get back to Georgian Bay and am thinking of taking a bus up to Killarney (where I've never been) to stay in Killarney Lodge one of these days.
I also had great times camping at Arrowhead with my friend Barry; camping at Presqu'ille (with my family and Barry), Serpent's Mound, Bon Echo, Balsam Lake, The Massassauga (with friends in high school), The Pinery, and throughout New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.
