anyone know any good forums relating to car camping?

[LSK]

Going on a road trip next week and will be doing it on the very cheap, out of my jeep and in a tent, going all over the west.

Also looking for listings of free wifi, free camping spots, and public showers.

Also whats some good easy and cheap food to eat/bring? Will have a cooler.

[XemaSab]

1. .

:kick:

[Kali]

2. try this:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

if you can't find what you need there try the Thorn Tree forum on that site

[pitohui]

3. i do this sometimes

don't know of a forum/website right now but the state of texas claims you get free wifi at all texas rest stops and sometimes it's even true (assuming tx is part of your itin)

national forests have many free camping spots but of course there is more free camping than that in the west, since i often do this in the south, where even tent camping can have pricey fees, i'm not so knowledgeable

ramen needs no cooler, if you want to hike and have calories, just bust the ramen noodles up before opening the package, i know, i'm terrible, but i'm TRULY cheap

the cooler is for beer/wine, in texas, put all alcohol in a trunk, not in a place where it's accessible to any passenger in the car, in theory you can be arrested if the booze is not in the trunk of the car even if you're 100 percent sober so when in rome...

one thing i did last year i bought an annual national parks pass for $80 -- for the entire year i got FREE entry to all national parks, PLUS i got half price tent camping at all national recreation areas, of which there are many, think of all the places that have dams, i camped at places with full electric so i could have a fan (cooling) in my tent, water at my site, sure some are state but many are national/federal, i can even hook up my computer and have wifi at some of them and i was paying $6 a night because of my park pass instead of $12 a night, it might be worth looking into

the free sites are not likely to have the showers, toilets, etc, you might have to get out there with a bucket and a shovel tee hee

if you HAVE to only camp at free sites, i understand but if you can pay a little, i think it's worth it

the lonely planet link is "okay" but to my humble mind these kids have a different opinion of backpacking than me, they think backpacking is staying at a hostel in copenhagen not camping in a tent at lake arkabulta

[livetohike]

4. No suggestions on forums but

I did a 12 month car camping trip a long, long time ago. My best advice is to bring a 5 gallon jug for carrying water. There are many free sites in national forests and low cost sites in state forests, too. Usually there will be an outhouse but no water. You can fill up your jug at the ranger station or drive into a fee site and fill it up.

You can download all kinds of maps at the national forest web site. (This would have been great to have when I did my trip).

Good Sam's campgrounds used to allow you to take showers (for a low fee) even if you weren't camping there. You could ask at state park offices (if the park won't allow it, they may have a list of places in the nearest town who will) or check on-line if you have some idea of where you are going.

Have a great time :hi:.

[XemaSab]

5. Get sandwich stuff for the cooler

It'll be easy to replenish as you go.

Also go get a cheap camping stove and some propane tanks. If you see a Chinese place, you can probably stop and get a cheap container of rice for a dollar, and mixing that into a can of chili sounds really good. I'm also a fan of getting frozen food that you can cook over a stove. A little spendy, but treats can be good if you're on the road.

Most national forest ranger stations have a BIG map out front, and there's usually a map symbol for unimproved campsites. Bring a folding chair for those, 'cause sitting on the ground sucks. Most forests are okay with letting you camp wherever, as long as you don't burn the place down.

Totally get a national parks pass. It will pay for itself quickly, and being able to pop into parks as you wish will be better than having to budget for them. Most national park campgrounds have showers that you can use for quarters.

For doing it on the really cheap, plan to beeline to a place and hang out for a few days with a base camp you can take day trips from, instead of noodling all over the place.

Where-all are you planning on going?

[hippywife]

6. Not sure of any sites because we've been doing

this for years without benefit of the internet. I do use it for locating campgrounds where we want to go. Where is your trip going to be taking you? Every state has a travel site that has info on camping and fishing. And then there is the national parks website.

http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

Sometimes we do an all cold food camping trip and sometimes I take things to cook but keep it simple. As much as I love to cook, the camping trips are a vacation for me, too, ya know? LOL We do really easy stuff for breakfast like fruit and yogurt. Peanut butter and bread, some chips, cookies for lunches. Maybe some hamburger patties and canned baked beans, some potatoes and corn on the cob that can be wrapped in foil for dinner. We drink coffee, iced tea and water so I just take along tea bags and a sun tea pitcher.

I have a small plastic storage box for small containers of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, can opener, matches, candles, first aid supplies, flatware, etc. and a larger one for paper towels, pots and pans, grill utensils, plates, etc. in. We keep all of this together at all times so we can just buy food and go. We take a five gallon container for water, too.

One thing I always make a habit of doing is putting things in ziplock bags in the cold food cooler so they don't get inundated with water. We don't break open the bag of ice, either, but just lay it in the bottom and put stuff on top of it. We take a second old beat up cooler for dry food so there aren't a bunch of bags or boxes to deal with stacking and getting torn, etc.

We only take small propane tanks for the one burner attachment to make coffee on. Otherwise, we just cook over a fire (get there early to gather wood around the area) if I've brought things to cook or we catch fish to eat.

Keeping it simple and not trying to be a campfire gourmet makes the trip loads easier and allows more time for hiking, canoeing, fishing instead of prepping, cooking, cleaning up.

[mike_c]

7. no forums, but some friends and I typically spend several weeks...

...on the road every summer. I've been doing this for years. Some unsolicited advice:

1. Organize EVERYTHING you possibly can into rugged boxes. I use commercial 12 gallon totes from Costco:
   
   
   
   These not only keep your stuff organized, but they make daily packing and unpacking MUCH easier. It might not sound like much, but when you've set up camp every night and packed it up for the road every morning, loading and unloading five or six stackable boxes is SO much faster and easier than loading and unloading a hundred loose pieces of stuff.
   
   I use a kitchen box, a dry/canned food box, a general camp stores box, two bedding boxs, a personal stuff box, and two insect collecting field gear boxes. This is for two adults, going for a week or more at a time, with a covered truck bed, and I collect insects professionally. Your needs might vary.
   
   
2. Organize the interior of the boxes with smaller boxes if necessary, e.g. with plastic shoe boxes or the like.
   
   
3. Dedicate one box to cooking stuff. Make yourself an easy, fast, convenient cook box.
   
   
4. Use a white gas stove if you can. Coleman fuel is available just about everywhere, and it's lighter and easier to use than compressed gas cylinders.
   
   
5. Get a GOOD 5 day cooler. Use tupperware type stuff to organize the items inside and to keep them dry.
   
   
6. Don't set up your tent unless you need if for protection from rain or bugs-- and I only use mine if the bugs are really annoying, otherwise a spray of repellent works good enough. Sleeping on the ground-- tarp, pad, sleeping bag-- is just so much faster and simpler, and that makes a big difference in enjoyment. I put a tote box at the head of my pad to keep my plllows from sliding, and it's a good place to stash clothes during the night, glasses and headlamp on top when it's closed, etc. If it needs extra support, just lean a pack or something against it from behind.
   
   During summer, especially in the desert, rain and bugs are minimal or nonexistent after dark. And the stars are SO nice!
   
   
7. Regarding free camping-- camp on Forest Service (National Forest) or BLM land whenever possible. Get detailed gazeteer maps such as this one:
   
   http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510PD8XS5YL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg
   
   then look for FS roads, back roads on public land, etc. Camping is free all over the west. And even the developed national forest campsites are usually quite inexpensive (although the cost is going up-- just camp in the free places to avoid even those costs).
   
   
8. Carry plenty of spare water-- I use a seven gallon carrier-- and pack a couple different types of pre-wetted wipes for general cleanup.
   
   
9. Mjajor hygene note: Human feces decompose quickly in most habitats, but toilet paper lasts for YEARS. Do not bury TP, especially in arid habits. Carry a small shovel-- I use one with a 24 inch or so handle, it's useful for digging out the truck, too-- and keep your TP roll in a gallon zip-lock bag with a box of strike-anywhere wooden matches and a few sandwich size bags. Dig a hole. Squat. Clean up. BURN the toilet paper THOROUGHLY and bury the ashes with your poop unless the fire hazard is too worrisome, in which case put the TP in a spare baggie and throw it in your trash bag. NEVER NEVER NEVER leave unburned TP behind. A message from someone who has found WAY too many years old dump piles!
   
   
10. Keep a smaller "ready box" packed where it's handy, with a plate, cutlery, napkin, wet-wipes, your headlamp, spare batteries, etc. It is much easier to grab that when you want to stop for a sandwich and beer, rather than having to unpack your cook box, etc for a brief stop.
    
    That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I just got back from a trip to Mono and Inyo counties in SoCal, and all my boxes are packed and ready to leave again. I can be on the road in half an hour, tops. The GF and I are leaving for the Cal Salmon River next week!
    
    Happy trails!

[mike_c]

8. a couple of other bits of advice....

Carry a folding chair. Learn various ways to rig a shade tarp if you plan to stay in open places for any number of days. Be aware of your elevation-- even in summer, it can get pretty chilly at night above seven or eight thousand feet!

OK, I'll stop now. Ask, if you have any other questions.

[Kali]

9. just a small disagreement on your TP point

People shit at the end of our roads all the time. It is disgusting and if I ever catch anybody I may climb into their vehicle and return the favor.

However in all honesty it all disappears pretty fast, including paper - now it DOES take rain to do it, but one or two showers after a few weeks in the sun and it is gone. It may last longer burying it, but I doubt if it lasts for years if there is any moisture/bioactivity at all.