Allow me to introduce myself. :-)

[sunvalleylaw]

Hello everyone! My name is Steve, from Hailey, Idaho, up near Sun Valley. Just joining up. I and my family has lived in Hailey since 1998, after moving from the Tacoma/Gig Harbor area. We have car camped with our boat regularly, as well as backpack, mountain bike, etc., and enjoy our time outside.

I am taking the opportunity to buy my neighbor's older, but solid, Northstar 850sc (EDIT: mis-spoke, it is an 800), and was searching for a good place to join to learn about some upgrades and mods to consider, and a place to chat with other pop up truck camper types. That is my neighbor, Jeff, in the picture of the rear of the camper. He moved on to the trailer in the background, as his wife is a disabled former paralympian, and the trailer is a lot more suitable for her needs in being independent. He has all the tools (and a good beer fridge) and is willing to help me with some mods he was thinking of or whatever I want to do. First thing will be to find and add one more Rieco-titan jack and move th the tripod side one into a corner position. Some day, I will look at converting the jacks to power if I can do it now too expensively. I will do another thread in the truck camper section talking more about that.

But in the meantime, just wanted to say hello. Looking forward to meeting and chatting with some of you!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

One more view.

 

[ski3pin]

Welcome to Wander the West!

 

[buckland]

Welcome Steve, WTW is the best. Lots of help and friendly.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Steve, hello and welcome to WTW. I think you’ll find the site a wealth of good information, and more importantly great people. You live in some nice country. Hopefully, you will tell us more about it.

The Northstar looks like a nice find!

 

[takesiteasy]

Welcome! Looking forward to hearing about your projects and trips.

 

[Vic Harder]

Welcome to the pop-up clan! I'd clean and tweek anything that needs to be done so that it is usable, and get to know your new rig by using it a few times. Start a list of things you would love to see changed. Ponder that list next fall, get ideas and advice here, and work on it over the 2018-19 winter. Repeat!

 

[longhorn1]

Steve, welcome to WTW. Looking forward to seeing what upgrades you make. jd

 

[CougarCouple]

Howdy
Congrats on the camper!
Russ

 

[PokyBro]

Steve,

Welcome to the WTW forum, you'll find a lot of encouragement and support here, all you need to do is ask!
Cool you got your camper from your neighbor, and I'm sure he was glad to find it a good new home for it, as he surely has many fond memories. Looks well cared for and should provide you with a new way for adventure.

Congrats,

Poky

 

[kmcintyre]

Welcome. ​ I'm in Boise and I'm sure there are others in the 'hood.

 

[Happyjax]

Welcome Steve! Great group of folks here Ask away, answers will follow!

 

[craig333]

Welcome to WTW. Camp a few times is good advice before proceeding on.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Thanks all! I started a thread about my camper, information I uncover about it, and proposed mods, etc. over here:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15512-my-new-to-me-northstar-800-pop-up/

Steve, hello and welcome to WTW. I think you’ll find the site a wealth of good information, and more importantly great people. You live in some nice country. Hopefully, you will tell us more about it.

The Northstar looks like a nice find!

Yeah, it is a pretty amazing area that is still pretty remote, though the "formal" camping at the lakes has gotten a lot busier over the years. I live in Hailey, just north of the Snake River Plain, a semi-arid (well, pretty arid) sage and grass plain, and am tucked in to the South Central Rocky Mountains of Idaho. The oldest ski resort in the country, Sun Valley, is 12 miles to the north.

Here is a pretty good map that shows satellite images. https://mapcarta.com/Sun_Valley_%28Idaho%29/Map

Sun Valley ski resort is primarily on Bald Mountain in the Smoky Mountains, and is surrounded by a whole lot of other mountain ranges.

"The Smoky Mountains area closely surrounded by other mountain ranges including the Sawtooth Mountains to the northwest, Boulder Mountains to the north, Pioneer Mountains to the east, and Soldier Mountains to the south. The Smoky Mountains are located within the watersheds of the Big Wood, Salmon, and Boise Rivers. The mountains are most easily accessed from Idaho State Highway 75, although many unimproved and improved dirt road, including National Forest road 227, enter and cross the mountains."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountains_(Idaho)

I live at the point of transition from plain to alpine mountains. Where I am, sage and grass is on the south and sunny slopes and trees are on the north slopes, primarily lodgepole pine, fir, and aspen. As you continue north into the mountains, it gets more full of trees. There is world class kayaking and river rafting (though that is not really my bag) mountain biking, skiing and backcountry skiing, hiking, etc. Idaho has the largest area of public land in the contiguous US, and is taylor made for adventuring out on backcountry roads and trails. A good place for a pop-up camper!

Pretty nearby there are reservoirs and hot springs as well, closer to the plains. And crossing the plains, you can get into Yellowstone, the Tietons, further yet, down into Utah, etc.

So, that is a little primer. Let me know about any specific questions and I would be happy to try and answer!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

And in the next couple posts, I will put up some pics to give you guys an idea of what things look like during camping season.

Pic 1, Redfish Lake, from the Lodge where often there is music, and there are good margheritas on hot afternoons and good bloody marys on Sunday mornings.

Pic 2, Hailey, Idaho, from the east side on the top of a little mountain I hike with the dogs all the time.

Pic 3, trails west of Ketchum, Idaho

Pic 4, primitive camping near hot springs, down near Fairfield Idaho in the Soldier Mountains

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Pic 1: Alturas Lake with our boat, an older Malibu.

Pic 2: Mountain biking near my house on an old game trail.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Pic 1: Far end of Redfish lake from the Lodge and my daughter getting ready to ski.

Pic 2: Alice Lake. Backpack in only.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Pic 1: Hiking up Baldy for Fondue on Friday night. Ketchum in the background.

Pic 2: The Pioneer Mountains from Baldy.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Steve,

Welcome to the WTW forum, you'll find a lot of encouragement and support here, all you need to do is ask!
Cool you got your camper from your neighbor, and I'm sure he was glad to find it a good new home for it, as he surely has many fond memories. Looks well cared for and should provide you with a new way for adventure.

Congrats,

Poky

Hey, do you ski up at Snowbasin? I love that place. Ogden looks like a pretty great place to be.