Tag: Four Wheel Pop-up Camper

Memorial County Park

Redwoods at Memorial County Park in San Mateo County

I had a client send me out to photograph a project in San Mateo County. Given how the traffic works (or doesn’t work), I decided to drive down the peninsula the night before and camp so that I could be close to the photo location in the morning. I wanted to take advantage of the morning light for the photo shoot. The place I picked to camp was Memorial County Park, not far from the town of La Honda. This turned out to be a lovely spot in a lush grove of redwood trees. It was close to dusk when I parked my rig. The fog was starting to roll in off the ocean, giving a quiet, peaceful feeling. The park encompasses 675 acres with 156 camp sites. I was one of three campers in the park on a Tuesday night, May 1. I imagine in the summer this is a busy camp ground. The fee was $25 and showers were available. No dogs are allowed, and I’m usually looking for dog friendly camps.  In the morning I spent a few minutes wandering around camp before heading to the La Honda Creek Open space which was the location for the photo shoot.  It was a real treat finding such a lovely place to camp in the off season.

Four Wheel Camper Rally

On the afternoon of April 20 we pointed our rig towards Bodega Bay to join fellow Four  Wheel Camper owners for a weekend rally. We’ve had our camper for six months which means we are rather new to truck campers.  We were anxious to see how other people have equipped their rigs. By sundown there were 65 camper rigs parked around the grounds of Chanslor Ranch, with people gathering in a big red barn for dinner.

Sunset with Four Wheel Campers at Chanslor Ranch. Bodega Bay.
Four Wheel Campers at Chanslor Ranch. Bodega Bay.
Q & A session with Four Wheel Camper staff and camper owners at the Rally at Chanslor Ranch. Bodega Bay.

Saturday was a bright clear day and we took a walk around the lush green rolling hills of the ranch admiring the view and the wildflowers. Saturday afternoon provided a question and answer session with some very knowledgeable staff from Four Wheel Camper.  The hot topic seemed to be the new solar panels which prove to be lighter weight and more efficient than earlier models. With a pop-up camper any weight you put on the roof affects the effort it takes to pop the top up. The new panels are 20 pounds lighter than the previous model. We’ll stick with what we have for the time being.

We met people from all over the west; from San Diego to Whidbey Island, from Oregon and Nevada. Quite interesting to see the creative solutions people have come up with for their rigs and to see the various options and camper layouts that are possible. We also learned about a couple of website for trip planning including wanderthewest.com and expeditionportal.com. Many thanks to the folks at Four Wheel Camper and the camper owners that made the rally possible. Quite fun! The next rally will be in October near Anza Borego. We’ll be there!

Sunday morning we packed up and drove a short distance to the Pinnacle Gulch Trail. It’s a lovely walk down the trail, not quite a mile and the beach is known to be dog friendly.

Cason on the beach at Pinnacle Gulch Beach

Photo for Best BLM Camping – 2017

Our camp at Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA)
Our camp at Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA)

A photo we posted to Campendium as part of our review of our camping experience was selected for the best BLM Camping – 2017. Check out the link here.  Campendium is one  of our go-to resources when looking for off-the-grid camping locations. This photo was taken on December 26, 2017. I wrote an earlier blog article about our visit here.

Holiday Road Trip: Last Leg

Willows shoing fall color in December at Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA)
Our camp at Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA)
Kern River at Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA)
Alive – a painted stone found in our campsite.

Our return trip from the Eastern Sierra took us South down the Owens Valley and then west over Walker Pass on Highway 178. We opted for this route rather than retrace the route we had taken earlier on our trip, coming over Echo Summit on Highway 50. At 5,246 feet, Walker Pass is lower than the northern passes and less likely to have snow, although for this trip snow was not an issue on either route. One of our favorite stops on this route is the Onyx Store, in the little town of Onyx. It was closed when we passed by, not surprising since it was Christmas day. Some years ago I set my panoramic camera up in the store and captured a panorama. A framed print was hanging in the store the last time I looked.

We were tempted to camp at the BLM campsite near the pass, which is in the Joshua Trees. Fascinating subjects for photography.  We pressed on though, hoping to find a spot at the Keyesville Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA). As we set up camp we were surprised to find some fall color remaining on the willow trees along the Kern River. From this point home in the San Francisco Bay area there is not much available for camping, at least not the kind of camping we like.  We found plenty of campsites available with a few campers scattered here and there. In the summertime this is a popular place for mountain bikers and off road recreational vehicles. Fortunately we had a quiet camp.

Walking around camp the next morning I found a reminder that it is good to be “Alive,” a stone somebody had painted and left in camp. I had to stop and smile. Not that I needed a reminder, being in the outdoors and admiring God’s creation is reminder enough.

 

 

Christmas in the Alabama Hills

Truck campers in the Alabama Hills at dusk.
Sunrise on Christmas Day. Alabama Hills
Truck campers in the Alabama Hills. Christmas morning.
Treve, Joann and Carson at camp in the Alabama Hills. Breakfast of Quiche cooking in the Diutch Oven.
Quiche on the Dutch Oven.

Christmas eve found us in the Eastern Sierra setting up camp in the Alabama Hills. There were four of us and two campers. Our son Aaron and his wife Serena joined us for the overnight camping trip, about 45 minutes south of their place in Big Pine. Part of our mission was to see if we could create a photo of our two campers worthy for Truck Camper Magazine’s calendar. It will remain to be seen if our photos make it into the calendar but we had fun scouting a location, setting up camp and creating photos. The location we picked had a view of the crest of the Sierra’s with the peak of Mount Whitney visible to the west and an outcropping of granite boulders to the east, hiding some of the other campers in the area.

The Alabama Hills is a recreation area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Open to camping year round. Dog friendly and free of charge. There are no facilities though, so bring your own water.  Inclined to be hot in summer, we had mild winter temperatures, with the thermometer recording a low of 39 degrees overnight.

We’ve recently discovered Dutch Oven cooking and we put our oven to use cooking a savory Christmas eve dinner of chicken and rice. with chunks of chicken breast wrapped in thinly sliced ham and bacon. Breakfast was quiche with ham left over from an early Christmas dinner a couple of days earlier when our daughter and her husband rendezvoused with us on their way to Utah.

Holiday Getaway

 

Camping at the Hope Valley Sno Park.
Camping at the Hope Valley Sno Park.

Wednesday, December 20, after working a long day and into the night to keep my clients happy, we pointed our rig to the mountains for a holiday getaway. Part of our plan was to see how our camper performed under winter conditions, camping in a Sno Park for the night. Our drive took us through Sacramento and up highway 50 heading towards Hope Valley, one of our favorite mountain destinations. For many years we’ve visited Sorensen’s Resort in Hope Valley just south of Lake Tahoe; a delightful place to stay any time of year. Along the way we stopped at the Silver Fork Store in Kyburz to buy a Sno Park Permit; a requirement for parking in a designated Sno Park. We bought an annual pass for $25, figuring we may be doing exploring other winter wonderlands this winter.  We had the camper up, snug inside just as it was getting dark and the temperature was starting to drop.  A dinner of hot soup and bread felt good and we turned on the propane heater, and pulled our our books to read. It was snowing lightly as we settled in but it cleared in the night. I got up at 4:30 for a quick rest stop and stepped out into a crystal clear night, with stars shining above and sparking off the snow. The thermometer was recording an outdoor temperature of 10 degrees F and inside the propane heater was keeping the cabin at 50 degrees or so, a temperature that we decided was a bit warm for our winter sleeping bags. In the morning we woke up to a sunny day. Popped the top down and headed for breakfast a Sorensen’s Resort, three miles down the road. After a hearty and delicious breakfast and fresh coffee, we continued our journey down the East Side towards Bishop.

 

Chasing Fall Color: Day 1

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My blog entries are a bit out of order when it comes to chronology. We’re now in day nine of our 15 day trip,and I’d like to recount some of the events of the past few days, so I’m starting with September 27. This marks our first adventure in our Four Wheel Drive pop-up camper; the two of us Joann and myself and our dog Carson. It took us longer than we anticipated to leave home. We wanted to make sure all systems where “go” before we hit the road. Checking the propane, stove, refrigerator, water system and water heater. Earlier in the week we had the suspension on our 2017 Tacoma upgraded with Supersprings to accommodate the load of the camper, and we also had the windshield replace due to a growing crack. We discovered that the additional suspension make a significant improvement on the handling of the truck with the load of the camper. We decided to head over Sonora Pass on Highway 108 to check out the fall color on the East Side of the Sierra. As sunset approached though we found ourselves looking for camping on the West side of the pass at Fraser Flat Campground, a forest service camp. Set up camp just as it was getting dark and inspired to photograph our rig.

Fall Color: Day Six

Day six of our fall color trip. We set up “camp” in a dispersed camping area near Hill Top Campground a few miles off of I95 in Nevada. Not quite as scenic as the established camp, but we stopped here due to a road closure. Enroute to Cedar Breaks today. We left the San Francisco Bay Area (home) on 9/27, heading up Highway 108 towards Sonora Pass. Not much color on 108, nor Virginia Lakes. Found a few patches of color at the Green River Campground. Spectacular color at Sage Hen Crest and the South Fork of Bishop Creek. Photos will follow when I have WiFi to upload from my laptop. WiFi seems scarce with our preferred method of travel; out Four Wheel Camper. More to follow on that account also. Stay tuned.

Our Overland Rig

Treve and Joann with their new Four Wheel Camper

Several people have asked me about our venture into four-wheel camping, so here’s the story in a nutshell. On Monday, September 11, we drove our truck to the Four Wheel Camper plant in Woodland and returned with our new camper.  We’ll be taking it on the road for a two week road trip later this month. The story behind this purchase started on our road trip to Utah in May. (Well in all actuality, it probably starts much earlier that that with many camping and backpacking trips.)

While our Subaru Forester was a capable vehicle for taking us on camping adventures, we started looking at other rigs on the road and thinking about what the ideal vehicle might be for us. We like to get off the beaten track, so a four wheel drive with a small footprint was a priority. We looked at Sportmobile, and with a year-long wait and a price tag that was a bit intimidating we decided to look at pop-up campers. The Four Wheel Camper facility is basically in our back yard, an hour’s drive. Everything we read seemed to give Four Wheel a top rating. We determined that a visit to the Four Wheel Camper plant was in order, so on Saturday morning, May 20th, we planned a visit.

A visit to the facility and a look at the features available and we were sold.  Having decided on a camper, we would also need a truck. The sales staff at Four Wheel suggested a Toyota Tacoma. Following our morning visit to Woodland we stopped in Davis for lunch, and I suggested we stop at a Toyota dealer on the way home so we could look at a Tacoma. Long story short; we ended up driving a Tacoma TRD 4×4 Off-Road long bed, double cab off the lot. And now three months later we are ready to roll.