I can't sepack for anyone else on the list but I get begged by my wife and
kid to take them camping and fishing, off-raod doodling through empty muddy
fields and cricks.. so we could be up for just about any place I can pitch a
tent and light a fire...
Of course the one drawback is showering, but most major campgrounds offer
shower stations with coin operation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Bleazard" <dml@bleazard.net>
To: <dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 7:10 PM
Subject: Re: DML: DML 10th Anniversary National Meet
On Mon, November 29, 2004 4:32 pm, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
>
> What would be really cool is if we could get away from an organized
> campground altogether, or find one that is spread out over many acres
> with private sites far enough from other people that we won't be
> running across them. What I think would be ideal, from that
> perspective is to have the base camp just be on public land somewhere.
> Unfortunately, that would result in no amenities like access to a
> shower, RV hookups for you and something like a toilet and running
> water would be kinda nice too. :-)
I know it sounds like a good idea to a few people to get out and camp in
the middle of nowhere, but I want to make sure we've all thought very
carefully about this. Especially those of us bringing wives (or
girlfriends, as the case may be). You may not mind roughing it, but she
might. I haven't heard from anyone bringing kids, but that's a
possibility as well.
I've camped in the middle of nowhere before. After graduation, four of us
went out in to the desert, found a flat spot, and pitched tents. For five
days, the only people we saw were when we had to drive back in to town to
get more gasoline and water.
We had 20 gallons of water and still ran out pretty quickly. There were
no showers, just washing hands and rinsing of faces. Dishes were scoured
with sand before being rinsed in a small amount of water. The restroom
facilities were whatever tree was convenient. No electricity. No food
that needed refrigeration, we ate canned food, dried goods and MREs.
For 4 young guys, it was perfect. I wouldn't trade the experience, but
that doesn't mean I want to repeat it today. Maybe I've gotten soft, but
I'm not really looking forward to the idea of going a week and a half with
no running water, no shower, and no restroom. We can carry fresh water in
the trailer, but not that much. Plus, with the amount of electronic
gizmos we're thinking of bringing, where are we going to charge them?
Solar panels? Run the truck engine so we can use the cigarette lighter
plug without discharging the battery?
Here's my idea. We should do our base camp at an organized campground,
KOA or something along those lines. Make sure we have 24 hour access to
come and go as we please (some of them have security gates, especially
near metro areas). When we want to sit around a bonfire and be loud and
obnoxious, head for the hills and find an empty spot to do so. Then when
we get tired, we don't have to camp right there, we head back to base
camp. The drawback is we'll need designated drivers. Or, anyone who is
so inclined could even pitch tents right there, sleep off whatever has
been consumed, then head back to base camp to shower and clean up. Just
because we aren't camping out in the boonies doesn't mean we can't go
there to visit.
Just a thought.
Naturally we'd have to answer the question of access to public land first.
My experience is based on Utah, I'm assuming Colorado is similar. No
idea about any of the other states that have been suggested. I haven't
seen any wide open expanses of public land where you can just go out and
camp wherever you please in states like New York (maybe there are and I
missed them).
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black--- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.802 / Virus Database: 545 - Release Date: 11/26/2004
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