I Think I Found Where I Belong

[mike837go]

Hi All,

I joined the forum only a few days ago.

But this subsection is where we are most interested. SWMBO owns a 7.5 acres just outside of Adirondack Park (NY) where we have tent camped next to the trout stream on the back line.

I bought a very well used TT in 2009 that we drag up to the property 3 or 4 times a year.

Last week I replaced the old trailer with a brand new Jayco that is 5' longer and 32 years more up date.

I've always heard it called 'Dry Camping' because one doesn't use any local water. I've always considered it 'Wilderness Camping' because we leave civilization behind and enjoy the natural setting.

When my son was in Boy Scouts we went through Leave No Trace training. I really like the goals of that way of thinking, but have not been able to take it to the max.

We generally leave the campsite the way we want to find it next time.

----

I certainly love getting into the near-OCD-mode of planning and provisioning with the expectation of not having to buy anything once we are up there.

Just relax, cook, hike, meet with the neighbors (the nearest is over 1/4 mile away) and just chill out.

----------

Anyone else boondock just to 'get away from ALL of it'?

[Mantygirl]

When I was a kid my parents would load up me and my two brothers into a slide-in camper and we would go up into the hills of CA and camp off road. Definitely primitive.

When my husband I were first married and starting the family we started with a slide-in camper and graduated to a pop up. Now I prefer glamping in our fifth wheel, complete with Keurig for my morning coffee. :-)

[mike837go]

Sorry, I cannot abide the brew from K-cup coffee makers.


Drip from a preheated reservoir is best. But I can make very good coffee with a percolator and a gas stove. Its a bit tougher over a wood fire.


Waking her up with the smell of a pot-on-the stove is another of the pleasures of backwoods camping.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by mike837go

Hi All,
I joined the forum only a few days ago.
...snip...
Last week I replaced the old trailer with a brand new Jayco that is 5' longer and 32 years more up date.

I've always heard it called 'Dry Camping' because one doesn't use any local water. I've always considered it 'Wilderness Camping' because we leave civilization behind and enjoy the natural setting.
...snip...
We generally leave the campsite the way we want to find it next time. ...snip...
Just relax, cook, hike, meet with the neighbors ... and just chill out.
...snip...
Anyone else boondock just to 'get away from ALL of it'?

Congratulations on your trailer upgrade....

We just replaced our class-B with a travel trailer. We plan to travel with it so we will do some boondock/dry camping and some RV destination park camping (i.e. Fort Wilderness in Disney World... virtually the opposite of boondocking ). With the class-B (and a modified van before that), the majority of our camping was boondocking in Alaska, Canada, and lots of places in the lower 48. With the trailer, we have more room and creature comforts but still want to spend time in natural settings as often as possible.

Like you, we like to relax, cook, hike, meet with the neighbors ... and just chill out. And, when we leave the campsite, we leave it better than when we arrived.

You'll probably meet lots of folks on this forum that like to 'get away from it all' and some that like to dive right into the thick of things.

[blderman]

Dry camping is pretty much the only kind of camping me and my family do. We have spots in Eastern Oregon that we go to and don't see another person the entire time we are there. It's a nice way to unplug, lets the kids be kids and hike the miles and miles of mountains that surround us. Geez I hope my trailer gets here soon!!

[Ela1948]

We came back recently from a 3 month trip from Maryland thru the West and returned. Most of it was dry camping. Although we hadn't done a lot of dry camping previously, we came back with a great love of not having all the hookups. Even tho most of it was in national forest or parks and therefore structured camp sites, they are spread out in such a way that you didn't have another camper next to you. Learning how to maximize your water and power requirements was also a lot of fun. We are planning on doing more of that in the future!!

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by mike837go

snip....... Anyone else boondock just to 'get away from ALL of it'?

Yep, it's the ultimate "disconnect"!

Plan to head over to Lake Michigan in a few weeks for some boondocking

Bob

[mike837go]

Just back fro the Adirondacks.


Fun time (re-connected with friends I haven't seen in a year).
Got out to some antique shops
Fixed the fridge. After singeing 1/2 the hair on my right hand.
Cooked to my heart's content: Stove, oven or open fire; all good.

[SloPoke]

Yep... This is how we do it....

[Bookemdanno]

Very cool!!

[mike837go]

Video no workeee?

[norty1]

Not working here either.

[spoon059]

Nope, that's not my idea of fun. I did tent camping as a scout growing up... hated it. I bought my first camper as a "hotel on wheels" so I had air conditioning, clean bathrooms, a comfy bed, a kitchen and a place to keep my dogs while we explored tourist areas.

We have since upgraded to a much larger RV with much more amenities and I have no plans on ever going back to "roughing it". Perhaps when I am older and we venture further out west we might bring a generator and carry water and boondock somewhere... but I have ZERO intention of sleeping without AC or bathrooms handy, etc.

God bless those of you that enjoy that and have places to go. I prefer to get away from my world by going to state parks with friends... but still having amenities and creature comforts.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Yep... This is how we do it....

Well.. the first one was working... Try this one instead

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by SloPoke

Well.. the first one was working... Try this one instead

And that one wont work either... Forum Mods might need to take a look at that.

Instead... find it here - hosted on my site.
http://www.steve-edmunds.com/JOF/JOFBoondock.wmv

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by spoon059

Nope, that's not my idea of fun. I did tent camping as a scout growing up... hated it. I bought my first camper as a "hotel on wheels" so I had air conditioning, clean bathrooms, a comfy bed, a kitchen and a place to keep my dogs while we explored tourist areas.

We have since upgraded to a much larger RV with much more amenities and I have no plans on ever going back to "roughing it". Perhaps when I am older and we venture further out west we might bring a generator and carry water and boondock somewhere... but I have ZERO intention of sleeping without AC or bathrooms handy, etc.

God bless those of you that enjoy that and have places to go. I prefer to get away from my world by going to state parks with friends... but still having amenities and creature comforts.

I say there are always more ways to approach something. Need or want all the hookups, then that's your way. Love the solitude of wilderness boondocking, just as good. Enjoy the quiet and space often provided by camping without hookups but fill in the comfort gaps with a generator, well you found my way.

In addition to our TT, we own a 52 foot [older] houseboat and spend time out on the lake many times each year. Needless to say the sites where we tie up all come without hookups of any kind, yet we have AC, sat TV, and all the typical stuff found in a modern RV. Houseboating over the last 15 years has taught us that you can live quite comfortably "off the grid". Transferring the same practices to RVing makes boondocking just as enjoyable and we don't give up a thing. You learn to conserve water and methods of extending the capacity of the holding tanks.

Enjoy camping however you want but do it as often as you can.

[WorldCat]

My 2 cents. I've tented camped on my own and when my son joined Boy Scouts. Loved every minute. Got a truck camper in 2000 and used it a lot including a trip to Alaska in 2005. Unfortunately I am too old to tent camp unless someone else sets up camp (my son-in-law). We just finished a family (3 generations) RV trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix. We had a spectacular time. Looking now at a big Class A or Class C to see more of this spectacular country we are blessed to live in.

[SparkDr]

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve carry-in, carry-out camping in these beautiful woods of the Adirondacks I have called home my entire life. Hiking, fishing, hunting, cooking over an open fire, sleeping in a lean-to or under the open stars. Those days were the best. Now that I am a middle-ager, I have mostly moved on to a life of summer glamping. However, when fall rolls around each year, it's back to a more rustic lifestyle off the grid at hunting camp. I've assured my hunting buddies on more than one occasion not to come looking for me if I don't make it back to camp on any given night. I'll be just fine and will see them in the morning or later the following day. I'm pretty sure most of them would just get themselves lost in the dark looking for me anyways. It is those same scouting experiences of youth that have set a lifelong mindset in place for me as well.

[sennister]

Most of our camping sounds like yours. My wife's uncle has some land along a small river with trout and other fish just across the boarder from us in WI. It is a 25 mile drive there and we are free to use it whenever we want. It is nice to be able to just see a nice weekend and go not worrying about reservations or anything. Memorial, 4th of July and Labor Day weekends are the busy ones where there may be 6-8 other campers (all family) gathered around with kids playing in the river. The only thing that sucks is if they get a lot of rain in the area or even up north of there we have to watch it because the river can flood out and it does it quickly. We have been fine but other family members have had the knock in the middle of the night from the local Sheriff's Dept saying we need to clear out as river is rising. They know people are down there on weekends so they watch out for us. There are no hook ups but the county fair grounds about 5 miles away has a dump site. So we don't have to make it all the way home to dump which is nice.