Camping/Overlanding Thread

Quick trip to San Simeon

 

Where in BC?

 

Few weeks ago but tented 3 nights near Kicking Horse resort in Golden BC. 1 day of rain, 1 day of DH and 1 day of trail riding. Our version of SUP was old windsurfer with a 15lb water logged oar that mostly resembled a stick.

 

I could use a few more days of that. I didn't get enough this summer. Would love to get up and ride in BC.

 

We were about an hour north of Kamloops in the Knouff Lake area.

 

Nor did I. Lots of resorts in BC to explore.

 

"Camping" lol

Took my pops for an overnight fishing trip..

 

Awesome photos!

 

This was us, last friday, leaving for one last camping trip over Columbus Day weekend.

 

This is an awesome thread. Props to all of you for having such fun with your trucks haha.

 

Just got back from a week long camping trip. Did a lot of fishing. Cought well over 100 trout.

 

very scenic !

 

Finally got to break in the new setup,

 

Hello, I'm looking for a truck cap with some height and maybe even a little portion above the truck cab to fit my surfboards. Any recommendations ?
It must be light, Like a commercial ARE aluminum cap but nicer. Something a lot cheaper then the Four Wheels campers to go on surf trips with. It seems like all the best option are on the west coast. thanks, Will

 

I'm planning a 3 day run of White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park. I reserved everything 4 months out (the max) and set alarms at midnight to reserve the camping spots we wanted. I will make my final reservation tonight at midnight and then we're 100% locked in! I reserved White Crack Campground on June 4th last night at midnight, when I woke up this morning at 6:30 am and checked again it was already filled. It can be difficult to get the spots you want because there are a very limited number of day/overnight passes given each day and a lot of demand in the cooler months.

Myself, my wife, and my two oldest kids will be taking my wife's 4runner. My major concern is packing food as food tends to take up a lot of room.. There is no water outside of from the Colorado and Green Rivers, so we're packing 28 gallons of water plus we will fill individual water bottles and have cold drinks in a cooler (just ordered an RTIC cooler). I am almost certainly going to resort to dehydrated meals for breakfasts and dinners, and simple sandwiches for lunches. We'll take jerky and Quest bars for snacks.. This way we can store almost everything dry and hopefully save a lot of space that way. I have pretty legit camping equipment but I'm not sure that I can pack everything in the 4runner and still have room for 4 people..

Dehydrated meals are expensive - For those of you more experienced in overlanding and extended off-the-grid trips, do you have a brand and retailer you recommend? I realize it's not going to be a gourmet meal but I would at least like to enjoy it. I used to be a very frequent hiker and camper, but with young kids you find less time to do these things. I'm trying to get back in to it and we've set a goal to visit a new national park every year from here on out..



Has anyone here done this trip? Any suggestions for things I absolutely cannot miss? We're taking 3 days so that we can take our time and hike up to some of the sites. So far this is what I have on the list:

Day 1:
Moses and Zeus (drive)
Fort Bottom Ruin (3.4 mi out and back)
Potato Bottom Campground (set up camp and explore the area)

Day 2:
Murphy Point Overlook
Murphy Hogback Trail (possible)
White Crack Campground (set up camp and explore the area)

Day 3:
Gooseberry Trail (1.9 mi out and back)
Lathrop picnic area
Airport Campground (set up camp and explore the area)

Day 4:
Musselman Arch
Dead Horse Point
Homeward bound (be sure to stop and get a steak on the way...)

Any recommendations on must have items that I should take? Here is my list so far:


Food and Prep:
RTIC 65
Backpacking Stove
4 fuel canisters
4 ss spork
4 ss bowl
4 platypus collapsible water bottles
28g Water
Dried fruit
Jerky
12 total dehydrated meals
1 loaf bread
1 doz hard boiled eggs
Lunch meat
Sliced cheese
12 pack Quest bars
Travel mayo
Travel mustard
Probably a few beers and misc drinks

Toiletries and Clothing
Toilet paper
Baby wipes
My BOB + 3 Backpacks
Small duffel for dirty clothes

Preparedness (Necessary)
First Aid Kit (already in vehicle)
Survival straw
Tarp
Trail map
Jumper cables (already in car)
Fire extinguisher (already in car)
Flashlights
Shovel
Hatchet
48" Hi-Lift Jack
Recovery strap
Medium tent
4 light sleeping bags
5g gas

Preparedness (Optional)
Canopy
Small folding table
4 folding chairs

Miscellaneous
Camera bag
GoPro


What have I forgotten? Anyone want to meet up for this? It's just when it's going to start to heat up but temps are historically around 85-89 the first week of June. Definitely going to have some SWASS but it will be totally worth it.

 

What rack and RTT are you using?

 

If you're going to make this a regular thing, I highly recommend roof racks and a cargo box. For about 12 or 13 years we would take 2 kids and two dogs for a week, a couple of times a year, half hour off of any paved road, up fire roads and worse in the mountains. In an Isuzu Trooper. I also have a cooler holder mounted on the front that can fit a 120 quart Igloo. I still do the same with the Tundra, even though it's larger and there's just the two of us and two dogs now. You can put a ton of stuff in the box on top, it takes 15-20 minutes to unpack and remove, we would set it on the ground and use for dry storage for the week. If you're not going to do any tight space off roading, leave the box mounted.

My wife would meal plan and we would freeze everything before it went in the cooler. Chicken frozen in Italian dressing, tuna steaks frozen in teriyaki and so on. Same thing with water, we'd freeze two or three bottles each, and then refill from those bulk 5 gal jugs with a spout. Granola bars for breakfast and hot dogs or cheese and crackers for lunch. We could also pack enough fruit like plums and apples to last most of the week. Usually we would make a run down the mountain for some sightseeing and to get ice about half way through the week.

Whatever you do, it sounds like a great trip. Have fun!

 

I’ve been there that week and it’s alreadyfreakin hot. Take more water than you think you’ll need, and enforce consumption. Sometimes dehydration can play strange tricks on those that aren’t properly hydrating. I haven’t done that trip but you know how dry it is as well as I do.

 

@bayareametalfab low pro with a CVT Shasta,

http://www.bayareametalfab.com/Low-profile-RTT-bed-rack-2007-and-up-Tundra-_p_78.html

 

Great advice, I loive the idea of freezing meals too!

We do have a roof rack, but it's just a basket attached to the OEM side bars. I still think it's fine to hold our cooler, some camping gear and a gas can for the trip down. Well also have the jack, shovel, maxtrax and what not attached to it.

I really want a rear bumper with a swing out tire carrier and storage for a jerry can, but I want a lot of things..

I will have like 900 pictures to share when we return!

 

Great advicea I planned on having another 7 gallons on the roof rack as well for cleaning up, brushing teeth, cat baths, but forgot to mention in here.. I think 21 gallons should be good for drinking and I do plan on enforcing consumption! I also have a couple survival straws that are coming should we really need them (haven't yet!)

 

What an awesome plan!!

I recommend even more water. I understand two of you are kids. But that will be off-set by your need to use water to re-hydrate your meals. PITA but, especially if you'll be active (sounds like it), and in the event of any delay getting back to civilization, especially with kids, or, God forbid, an injury requiring cleaning and first aid), you'll need more water than you've planned. I think 3gallons per person per day (w/o bathing) is a good formula, just for drinking water. Maybe find water storage you can attach to the vehicle?

Also consider that, even if it's hot in the daytime, it may be 50 ~ cooler at night, so you may want more warmth than 4 cool rated bags.

Oh! And zip-lock bags. A million uses: everything from occlusive dressings to securing poop if (kids!) that occurs in that unforeseen circumstance where you cannot easily dig, such as at night, in the rain, camped on rock pan... or some ranger or group of scaliwags happen on scene and you need to move quickly.

I'm super excited for you, and will be looking for your report out after. Have fun!

 

I have that problem myself.

The digital age sure has changed the way we record memories now. On the trips back in the day we'd have 36 or 72 pictures from a week. Depends on if we brought one roll of film or two.

Can't say enough about zip locks. That's how we froze our meat and liquid, nice little ice blocks that would last until we took them out to thaw for dinner.

 

Noted. Zip Lock bags on the list. I'm looking for ways to take as much water as possible.

On top of the 21 gallons for food prep and drinking, we will also be carrying 7 gallons for washing and will have our own 1 liter bottles (1 bottle per person) filled. We should also have a case of water in the cooler..

Despite this maybe it's prudent to bring another 7. I'm looking in to options for making this work.. Thanks for the input everyone - Keep the good suggestions coming!

 

This is a great thread. Tons of great information. Thank you for sharing.

 

Or if you don't have the space for additional water, a way of safely refilling what you already have; ie from small springs or if it rains.

 

Yup! I do have a couple of water filtration straws that are just part of my normal bugout/camping bag!

 

Does anyone know any free/dispersed camping in Big Bear Lake, CA?

 

Anyone have an actual Roof -Top Tent that sits on a rack on the Tundra rook, not on the bed? We are looking at ARB or Cascadia RTT, not in or over the bed. Also considering putting a RTT on top of a trailer. All ideas, suggestions welcome, thank you

 

Don’t see a lot of RTTs on the roof because it requires drilling holes.