company. This year, the Province stated, “each girl would learn to row a boat.” As the organization of the camps became more sophisticated, the campers’ experiences changed from just rough-and-ready living to structured days and opportunities to learn new skills for badges.
The Burnaby Company, as Phyl learned, was very industrious and prepared everything from scratch. Amy Leigh told Phyl about how her Guides purchased second-hand canvas fabric to make their own tents. They drew paper template patterns for the roof, sides, ends, and door flaps, then placed them on the heavy canvas and cut the patterns into the fabric. It was difficult work that required sharp knives. They then tacked the canvas together with loose basting stitches and took these pieces to a local shoemaker, who double-stitched the pieces together and cut eyelets in the fabric for the ropes that, when anchored in the ground, would hold the tent sides taut and support it. The tents required uprights and a ridgepole for assembly, so at each site, the Guides cut down saplings to make these poles. “Doing it yourself” was to become a basic precept for Phyl in her mountaineering days. Camping equipment was too expensive and scarce to come by, so everyone just created home-made solutions.
The Guides packed all their food in with them, and each year they learned a little more about what quantities and varieties of foods worked best, were within a budget, and could withstand the time outdoors. One never could predict the weather. It could be cool, and therefore the milk might not curdle before camp ended, or it could be hot, without a breath of air, and meat would putrefy. Camping taught the girls to adapt to all aspects of living outdoors. Perishables such as butter, milk, and eggs they kept cool by placing them first in boxes, and then wedging the boxes safely in the stream by piling rocks around them. The meats, fruits, and vegetables they kept in larders – mosquito netted platforms – suspended in the air by ropes anchored over tree limbs, out of reach of animals and insects.
The Guides dug their own latrines in the forest soil, often making stick fences to create privacy; they also dug grease pits to receive grey water from cooking and washing. Over the grease pit they lashed stripped branches together to form a woven grid supporting freshly cut bracken fronds. As the grey water was poured onto the bracken, the ferns caught any errant spoons or solid pieces when the liquid passed through the fronds and down into the pit. The Guides then retrieved the spoons (important implements for their daily porridge) and buried the solid pieces to avoid attracting rodents.
At camp the girls divided into groups of six to a tent, and each group was responsible for the good order of their tent and campsite. The canvas tents did not have floors, so it was important that they be tightly pitched on a well-drained site in case of rain. The Guides dug trenches following the perimeter drip line to take away run-off rainwater from the sloping canvas roof. They created wash areas behind each tent by building camp furniture of sticks lashed together with twine. Rickety tables held enamel bowls for face-washing, teeth-brushing, or laundry. Pocket mirrors hung suspended from forked twigs, and towels flapped in the breeze from clotheslines stretched between trees.
Part of the fun for girls at Guide Camp was creating their own special home-away-from-home. Competition was fierce as the tents underwent daily inspection by the leaders, who gave marks for cleanliness and good order of the sleeping bags, clothing, and personal items in the tents. Guides swept the platforms or dirt floors of the tents, straightened guy-wires and tent posts, and rolled the tent flaps with precision.
Inevitably each Guide camp had its own special dynamics and events. One year the girls experienced an unwanted tension when a nearby farmer’s field became home to Boy Scouts camping for the week. Not only was mischief in the air, but the girls felt they had lost their privacy and freedom. Having Boy Scouts camped so close managed to spoil the spontaneity at Guide camp because there was always just, the chance that the boys might be watching.
Above all, Guide camps stressed real camping. Phyl bragged to some friends: “You know we don’t wear white shoes and fancy dresses, we live and work hard in the wilds. You can’t imagine how free it feels to sleep on a dirt floor under a canvas tent, warm and cosy, hearing the rain as it bounces off the canvas and slides down into the trenches. We stay warm and cosy because we know all about pitching tents and keeping dry. We are prepared as Guides should always be.”
Understanding the environment and learning wood-lore was an important part of Guide camp, but not all Guides felt as comfortable camping as Phyl and her friends did. Camp could also be a time for fears and for homesickness. Night was difficult for some girls who missed their homes and families and felt that the days until camp closure seemed to stretch on forever. At times girls consoled a weepy tent-mate, snuggling closer for companionship and security. One night, as a girl moved closer to her friend who had woken with a nightmare, she slid her arm beneath her friend’s pillow and to her surprise, she encountered a cold metal object. Curious, she asked, “What’s this?” only to be told, “It’s my revolver. Don’t touch it! It’s loaded and might go off. I’ve got it in case of bears. Mama said I should always keep the gun under my pillow for protection. Don’t tell Captain, please! She’ll think I’m a ninny for being scared.”
Guide camp was also a time to test oneself physically. Swimming was an important activity for the girls, many of whom did not regularly swim. In 1914 at the Bowen Island camp Phyl won her Swimming badge. She did this by swimming within a specified time a distance of over fifty metres wearing what was considered appropriate swimming garb of the day, a brown serge skirt with a huge hem down to her ankles. Manoeuvring in the water with such a heavy, clinging fabric around her legs was a challenge. The fact that the swim took place not in a warm island lake but in cold ocean water with a tidal pull made her accomplishment even more impressive.
At her first camp, Phyllis was already a leader both by virtue of her age and position as she moved from acting patrol leader to patrol leader. She later became an acting lieutenant and then lieutenant, and in 1915, a few months before her twenty-first birthday, she was granted a warrant certifying her as captain.
Beatrice James supported her daughters’ Guiding activities in many ways. She herself was not athletic, but Beatrice believed that Guiding offered both her daughters unique ways to prepare for life and to develop independence of spirit. She remained active for several years on the Ladies’ Committee for the Vancouver District. This committee supervised and encouraged the movement generally within the district, nominated suitable persons to act as captains, registered all companies and patrols at headquarters office in Toronto, and was responsible for granting of all badges and awards issued by headquarters. This committee also had the power to suspend officers or disqualify any company, patrol, or Guide in certain cases. In short, the Ladies’ Committee was the interface between local and national, and the regulatory overseeing body for the district. Later, as Phyl entered adulthood and undertook more administrative work with Guiding, Beatrice continued her support.
4
People Who Like to Climb Mountains
One afternoon Phyl had her arms deep into a medical supply cabinet as she hunted for iodine and rubbing alcohol. A cheery voice hailed her from out in the hallway.
“Phyl, are you in there?”
“Yes, I am. Is that you, Nina?”
“Of course it is – who else would come searching for you at tea-time?”
“I’ll be right out, just hold on a sec…” Grabbing the last of the supplies, Phyl placed them on the wheeled cart and pushed it out toward the hallway. As she shut the door behind her and turned out the light, she pulled a key on a chain from the depths of a large pocket, and locked the door.
Phyl and friends on the trail, ca 1916–18.
“All set. I could do with a cup of tea; I’ve been swept off my feet today. If it hasn’t been one thing, it’s been another. I