Campsites
The Best Site Is Rarely the One With the View
I spent a weekend in a site with a spectacular outlook over the water and barely slept. What I have learned since…
August 15, 2026Coffee before the tent comes down.
Mornings by the Campfire
Written by Caleb Ortiz
Latest
One Flat Surface: Cooking a Whole Camp Breakfast on a Griddle Over the Coals
Two small pans on a campfire grate means somebody always eats last and cold. Why a flat steel griddle over settled coals changed our camp breakfasts, and the…
Cold Nights
Nineteen Sites And One Truck
The reason I put up with cold nights is not toughness. It is that the same campground that needs a reservation six…
August 13, 2026Fire & Cooking
All Fire & Cooking ›
It Took Me Three Years to Build Smaller Fires
For three years I built campfires that were too big, and I could not have told you why.…
August 12, 2026
What One Pot Will Actually Cook
I stopped bringing a second pan and it made dinner better. Six years of camp dinners narrowed down…
July 15, 2026
Putting the Fire Out Is Part of the Evening
The last twenty minutes of a campfire are the part most people rush. Here is how I stopped…
July 5, 2026Campsites
All Campsites ›
How I Pick a Site After I Pull In
Arriving at four on a Friday with three open sites left taught me to walk the loop before…
July 11, 2026
Arrive Three Hours Before Dark
Setting up in the dark is a skill nobody should have to develop. After a few late arrivals…
July 7, 2026
Booked Six Months Out or Rolling In Blind
I have driven four hours to a full campground and I have also been locked into a reserved…
June 10, 2026Camp Mornings
All Camp Mornings ›
Why Camp Mornings Do Not Feel Like Home Mornings
I tried to bring the camp morning home once, coffee outside on the back step and everything, and…
August 4, 2026
Staying in the Bag Versus Getting Up
There is an argument I have with myself around 6:20 every camping morning, lying in a warm bag…
July 18, 2026
What a Campground Sounds Like at Six
A car door at 6:10 in the morning carries farther than it has any right to. I have…
May 12, 2026Cold Nights
All Cold Nights ›
Getting Out Of The Bag On A Cold Morning
Waking up warm and staying horizontal for an hour because the air outside the bag looks unbearable is…
July 24, 2026
The Ground Takes More Than The Air Does
I spent two seasons buying my way toward a warmer sleeping bag when the actual problem was six…
June 5, 2026
Why I Sleep In Fewer Layers Now
The night I wore every piece of clothing I brought was one of the coldest I have had.…
May 18, 2026First Trips
All First Trips ›
I Packed Two Coolers for Two Nights Alone
My car was full to the ceiling for a two-night solo weekend, and I used maybe a third…
August 3, 2026
I Spent My First Solo Night in the Car With the Doors Locked
A friend cancelled, I went anyway, and by 9:40 I had retreated to my locked car listening to…
July 10, 2026
The Spigot in My Head Did Not Fill My Coffee Pot
No drinking water, no store, no firewood and no cell signal, and every one of those facts was…
June 17, 2026
About
Caleb Ortiz
Mornings by the Campfire is written by Caleb Ortiz. Everything here comes from actual use, written up honestly, including the things that did not work.
More about this site ›Recent
- It Took Me Three Years to Build Smaller Fires
- Why Camp Mornings Do Not Feel Like Home Mornings
- I Packed Two Coolers for Two Nights Alone
- Getting Out Of The Bag On A Cold Morning
- Staying in the Bag Versus Getting Up
- What One Pot Will Actually Cook
- How I Pick a Site After I Pull In
- I Spent My First Solo Night in the Car With the Doors Locked