Big White Truck Cross-Country - Atlantic Coast Edition

Beech Mountain was a flop…



The hike was short, and steep. A bit of scrambling which is fun. The main problem is the fire tower is locked, and none of the reviews I read said that that was the case. A bit sad, but the sunset was still gorgeous through the trees. Though I wouldn’t recommend Beech Mountain for a sunset, it has the perfect view of the ocean for a sunrise, I’m sure it’s spectacular. Maybe next time.




When I got done, I headed back to the campgrou- Walmart.



Wherever I pop the tent, people stare. Many people have see RTTs online, but few in person. Attention isn’t a bad thing though, especially with my trucks wrap. And I love talking to people about it, which is odd because I generally don’t like talking. The next morning, a gentleman came up to me in the parking lot and was very curious, we spent probably 30 minutes going over everything. He and his wife just started their roadtrip, they’re from Indiana. They’ve been on the road 1 1/2 weeks, and first went east to Maine, and are now heading to Rushmore and then Colorado, basically the opposite of what I did a few months ago. I suppose I enjoy sharing the uniqueness of it all, living part time in a tent on top of your truck. Not many people can say they’ve done that. So if you ever see me, come say hi. I’ve done a few tours of my setup for people.

Then I drove north east to the Schoodic Peninsula. It’s still a part of the park, but it’s about a 30 minute drive and unlike the rest of the park, which is an island, it is a part of the mainland. This is what I, and probably you, imagine when you think Acadia or Maine. Far fewer people, far less noise, but still cliffs, water, islands dotted everywhere, and all the rest. If you go to Acadia NP, I would say this is where you should spend most of your time.




From there, I drove to the easternmost point in the US, Quoddy Head Lighthouse. There’s not much to say besides that. It was incredible gorgeous, and also quite quaint with a light crowd. I’d recommend checking this out as well, I drove 1 1/2 hours out of my way to see it.





That leaves me here, at the Quoddy Head gift shop parking lot. I think I’ll head to a nearby national wildlife refuge, they always allow camping. From there, it’s back to New Hampshire. I do have to be in Knoxville on Sunday, so I think the plan is to go back to Charleston until TN/NC/VA start to get real color, probably mid October. The fall colors have been a bit later than expected this year. I’ll cruise back out and shoot all of that when it shows up. I might bring a dog with me as well, who knows.

I’m glad y’all enjoy these posts by the way, they’re a great way for me to look back at where I’ve been, basically a daily journal. Who knew others would like them too.

 

Loving everything you are posting , please continue!

 

Last night, I drove from the Gift Shop to Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. While they don’t explicitly allow camping from what I saw, there are no signs prohibiting it. It was insane. I could see the Milky Way with the naked eye. I was too exhausted to take pics, and it got down cold enough for the ground to frost. I’ve only seen the Milky Way a few times, and each time it makes you do a double take.

Where I slept was only a short walk from the ocean, though I couldn’t hear it. It was extremely humid though. When I went to bed, the walls of the tent inside and out were soaking. When I woke up, my blankets and sleeping bags were soaked too. I threw everything into the truck to dry and headed out.

The main goal for today was to drive the Mt Washington Toll Road. And I did just that. It was about a 6hr drive from where I slept, and I stopped a few times to eat (hotdogs/snacks) and send postcards from a middle-of-nowhere post office.




The entrance fee was $45, which I thought was a bit steep, but it’s absolutely worth it. The weather is insane, it changes every minute. Fun fact, the highest winds on planet earth were recorded here, 231mph. It’s only a bit shorter than Mt Mitchell, but because of the terrain, the view is on par or better than Mitchell in my opinion.




It was also a good place to dry out the tent.



But sadly that’s all for today, the sun sets pretty early up here this time of year. I’m sure I’ll find a scenic campsite tonight, the leaves are popping off right now, it’s insane. Tomorrow I’ll drive two scenic highways then make my way south, I’m sure I’ll get some great pictures to share. It looks like I’ll be in Knoxville Sat/Sun to pick up my girlfriend who flew in to see some friends, drive her and I back to Charleston, spend a few days at home, then cruise back up. The Blue Ridge Mountains should be good from the 10th-25th or so, I’ll probably drive up on the 11th or 12th and stay until there’s nothing left to see. That’s when I’ll get some real good pictures, I know those mountains like the back of my hand.

 

Time flies. As soon as I go a day without writing these posts, I instantly lose track of everything.

Like I said in the last post, I thought I’d find a scenic place to camp. Well, New Hampshire did not disappoint. I slept on a highway pullout (hwy 16), hidden by a few trees. A short trek led me to the real New Hampshire.





Available as prints at brycectravels.com

After watching the sun rise through the trees, I went for a swim in that river. It was probably in the 50s, not cold but a bit chilly. A few months back I met a gentleman who lives in a van who had a rule. If he saw somewhere to swim, he did. Doesn’t matter how cold or uncomfortable. Now I subscribe to that, almost out of regret. “Oh, I could’ve swam in Glacier NP, or the Cascades, or a stream in New Hampshire, but I didn’t because it would’ve been too uncomfortable.” That’s no way to live. So I always jump or dive in.




Such a great way to start the day. I almost drove away without jumping in. I would've regretted that so much.
Up next was Cathedral Ledge. I drove the road to the top, and took a short stroll to the edge. It was gorgeous, as expected. New Hampshire impressed me every single day. Even the gas stations. I picked up this cinnamon bread and a sausage egg and cheese for $4.



From there, I drove the Kamcanmagus Highway. The leaves were perfect, as was the weather. 70f and sunny.



When I finished driving the highway, it was time to head towards Knoxville. I made it to MA, and set up camp for the night.




This spot was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately the river was extremely loud, I thought I'd be able to sleep. Along with the noise, the humidity was insane. I was soaked, my sleeping bag was soaked, the tent was literally dripping. When I woke up at 1am, there was mist spraying into the tent. I moved a bit downstream and everything was great.

 

The next day was all driving. There’s something therapeutic about it, especially in Big White Truck. Before I started taking road trips, I would find excuses to drive. To Costco to get a churro, to the beach to watch the sunset, even taking trash to the dumb 45min away. Nowadays gas is pretty expensive so that doesn’t make much sense, but those were some good times.

I drove around 15 hours Friday, and slept at a truckstop 2 hours out of Knoxville. Saturday morning I showered at Planet Fitness, made a bagel in the parking lot, and got to Knoxville around 9:45. I figure people probably want to see how I sleep in truck stops, so next time I'll take pics. I have a bench seat in my truck, so I just lay width-wise with some blankets. Towels in the windows to block sight, and a window shade on the windshield. But more importantly, I had Waffle House for the first time in a minute.



In Knoxville, there was the UT/USC game so the city was pretty packed. Not much to do on gameday. So I picked up my girlfriend and we headed to the Ft Dickerson Quarry. This place is genuinely insane. We were there pretty much all day, as were a few others. It’s a great place to swim/jump/dive. Water temp was in the 70s, air in the 80s, sun was out. Genuinely perfect. The quarry itself is 350ft deep, and the water is a deep blue. The city bought it and has been turning it into a park, and it’s obvious why.



That night we cruised south into some federal forest land and slept down a road. Not very scenic, kind of close to the highway, but the main goal was to get out of the city and sleep in the tent.

We needed to be in Charleston Sunday night, so we had all day to sightsee on the way back. It didn’t end up going as planned. We drove the Tail of the Dragon… on a Sunday. The road was packed, and of course, I was probably the slowest and heaviest vehicle there that day. Constantly pulling off to let bikes and Porsches pass. It was gorgeous, for sure, but probably not something you do on a 75 degree Sunday morning in autumn. Lesson learned, and totally my mistake.

From there, we drove the nearby Foothills Parkway through Smokey Mountains NP, which gave more scenic vistas. If that’s what you want, this is a better choice of road.




From there, we drove to Hendersonville, and watched the sunset on the Parkway near Mt Pisgah. I do love North Carolina, and Appalachia in general. At the time of writing I’ll be heading back up in a day or two.

From the parkway, we drove down 26 into Charleston. I’m surprised my heart didn’t stop with the 24oz Redbull and Monster coffee. I got home at 2:30, which wasn’t even really that late. I don’t know why I was so tired, but definitely a day to remember.

 

Like I said before, I'm only in Charleston for a few days before I head back into the mountains. When we were on the parkway, most of it was green. I think I have a bit of time before I head up Thursday morning. For now, it's been great to stop back home. I forgot hiking boots, the poles for the tent awning, and there was a bit of mold on the piece that separates the mattress from the tent itself (so air can flow, ironically), and I definitely needed to vacuum. All stuff I normally would do on the road, but it's easier at home.

 

I know people are interested in my solar setup, so I've just published my review of the Jackery 1500 I've been using. Check it out at
https://www.tundras.com/threads/jac...00-the-best-solution-for-powering-camp.96643/

 

Round 2!

I left Charleston yesterday afternoon, a few days later than I anticipated. I planned on leaving on the 15th, but I got sick and the foliage forecast was delayed (so that actually works out). But now that I’m in the mountains, it’s gone exactly as expected.

I arrived just in time for the 6:50 sunset. These are all available as prints @ brycectravels.com




And then there was todays sunrise.




As for today, I am going to hang out on the Parkway and plan some goals for this trip. The weather is perfect all week, 60f and sunny with a light breeze. For lunch today, I think Campbells chicken soup and some pork chops.

About said goals, so far I don’t have much. I’m going to drive Old Buzzards Road up to Max Patch, and I’d like to do Hurricane Creek but I think that would be unwise as I’m traveling solo. Mostly I’m just gonna go with the flow and see where I end up as I’ve seen a lot of the big “destinations” up here. If you have any suggestions please share!

 

The past few days have been rough!

As I said in the previous post, I spent the rest of Tuesday on the Parkway. The views up there are always incredible, definitely home to some of the best vistas in the southeast. It's hard to find motivation to leave when you wake up in a place like that.

It's worth noting, though, that camping isn't technically allowed on the Parkway. I've found that they're pretty lenient with the rules, as long as you don't make a mess (be respectful) and don't stay for more than a few nights. If you drive any given section at night, you're bound to see a few Sprinters, Rams, and 4 Wheel Campers at every other parking area.

Anyhow, Tuesday evening was fantastic. The sunset was gorgeous, and there was a gentlemen in a brand new Audi station wagon who had a sleeping setup in the back with his dog.



As night fell, and I went to bed, I had backed the truck up to the ridge. This was a bad idea and is probably what did me in. Around midnight I woke up to howling 30 degree winds with a sore throat like I've never experienced. I started the truck and turned it around so that the wind was blowing over the tent. That's the biggest benefit to a clamshell RTT vs a popup. Like I've experienced camping in Oklahoma, you can point the truck into the wind and the tent is protected.

When I woke up, I was hacking and coughing non stop. I couldn't swallow, and my sinuses were destroyed. I suppose I was not over the previous cold entirely, and that little adventure on Tuesday night just made everything worse.

Alas, I went on. The plan was to hit Old Buzzards Hwy, then drive up to Max Patch for the sunset through the national forests. I did just that, with a few detours. On the way to OBH, I stopped at one of my favorite old logging roads for a few pics.




After that, I headed back north on I40 to the start of OBH and drove it to competition. It's a fun route, for sure. Pretty mellow except for the one steep rock section. I had it all to myself except for one biker, so I went at my own (slow) pace. I had to back up only once, at the aforementioned rock section, I think because my Wildpeaks are getting a bit low on tread after 45,000 miles of driving on all different types of terrain. It hadn't rained in a bit, so there was no mud and the river crossings were more like streams.




From there, I drove up to the top of Longarm Mountain. I thought it was a firetower, it's actually a cell tower. I stopped and made lunch, took some cold medicine, and then headed to Max Patch.



Earlier this year, USFS closed Max Patch to camping. Since then, it's completely changed. Every time I'd been up there in the past, there was trash, toilet paper, feces, and some new trail that people had made by trampling wherever they pleased. Unfortunately that is something I've seen everywhere I've travelled. I have not travelled to a single place, no matter how remote, that did not have some piece of human waste (trash or otherwise) scattered about.

But, with regards to Max Patch, the camping ban did so much good. The grass is growing back, there's no trash, and there's far fewer people. I was pleasantly surprised.



After the sunset, I drove down into the national forest to spend the night.

 

The next morning, I headed into Smokey Mountains NP. A strange looking Bigfoot and disappointed horses, but gorgeous foliage.



After that, it was a quick 4hr drive home. And I think that wraps up this version of Big White Truck.

After spending the last 7 months traveling around the country, and many nights in in the cab sleeping across the bench seat, I think I'm ready to move on from a rooftop tent. It's served it's purpose. I think the cost is down to $10/$15 per night, and it opened my eyes to quite a bit. But I have definitely found myself wishing for more interior space, especially somewhere to cook in poor weather.

I do love Charleston, and if I'm going to live out of this truck for half the year when I am in South Carolina, I absolutely need hard sides. I'm keeping watch for an older slide in camper.

In the meantime, I've got tons of pictures to edit and reviews to write. The Wildpeaks have been amazing in all terrain (except stoplights in heavy rain!), the Garmin Inreach has become something I'll never travel without, the Bilstein 6112s/5160s have performed flawlessly for close to 100,000 miles, and so on. I'll post those reviews on my website, brycectravels.com, and in the reviews section when they're finished. Thanks for joining me, and thanks for reading.

 

We need to link up and camp together on the East Coast. Definitely want to pick your brain about secret camp spots. I want to head down South near the TN/NC areas to explore more.

 

For sure! I actually follow your IG.