A half-mile before cresting the rise that opens into a broad, long clearing, I catch a whiff of smoke in the twisting thermals that curl down the trail. The smoke, I know, is rising lazily from stovepipes poking from the tents that house my family's elk camp.
     The sun disappeared nearly an hour ago, but I haven't reached for my flashlight until now -- I know this trail well enough to navigate in the dim light of the fading glow on the western horizon. Casting the beam of my light here and there, I look for the smoke. The smell is there, distinct and sharp in the crisp evening air. But try as I might, I can't see the hazy-blue emissions creating the odor.
    Moving on, my pace quickens. The scent of the smoke has brought to mind an enticing picture of what lies ahead. In ten minutes' time I'll be at camp in the meadow. I'll pull back the tent flap and leave behind the intensifying chill for an atmosphere as warm and inviting as my living room back home. From a warm seat, I'll pull my feet from damp boots and turn my toes toward the wood stove in the corner. Some kind soul will succor me with a cup of steaming cocoa, or a glass of wine. Then I'll regale my companions with a tale of the day's hunt. Afterward we'll eat dinner. And later I'll nestle into a cozy bed of flannel and fall fast asleep.
     The structure that makes such comfort possible at an 8,000-foot elevation, deep in the mountains of southwestern Montana, is a canvas wall tent. Some of the finest nights of my life have passed within the creamy canvas of such shelters. Fond memories, a few reaching nearly three decades into the recesses of my mind, come to mind when I catch the pungent odor of treated canvas. Images of my deceased father and uncle, laughing, hunting, or lounging about camp appear, kindly suggested by the smell of a tent.
     Wall tents are the heart of a traditional elk hunting camp for good reason. They're sturdier than nylon family camping tents. Properly pitched, they'll shrug a heavy snow load that would collapse a nylon tent supported by thin aluminum poles. What's more, nearly all wall tents are designed and constructed with a heating source in mind. They safely accommodate a wood burning stove or propane heater, and the canvas provides a surprising degree of insulation. Long before recreational elk hunters latched onto wall tents for their camps, prospectors, settlers, and soldiers passed entire winters behind canvas.