Last summer I revealed that I now have a camping rig that's NOT a pop-up truck camper -- though I still, also, have my FWC Hawk.
And I'm glad that I still have my pickup camper. Here's why:
A week ago, as I was driving back home to Bend from an almost-3-month camping and paddling wander through The South, towing my "They'd Call it a Camper in the East"... I took US 95 to Tonopah and then drove NV 376 up the Big Smoky Valley.
...Snow-capped Toiyabe Range on the west...snow-fringed Toquima Range on the east... It came to me that I still love this wild area -- visited many times over 30 years -- a lot.
As much as I enjoyed camping in the warm/temperate South, paddling my kayak in Southern waters -- among alligators floating in the Okefenokee Swamp and dolphins leaping in the Gulf of Mexico...camped in comfortable (and inexpensive) state parks with 120v and water hookups...I also enjoy being camped in a spot where I'm the only human for a few miles. To be camped in a spot where most people say "Why go there -- what's there?" Especially in winter, when most people say, "Isn't it cold?" To be camped in a wild area.
As I was driving through that area I really felt like pulling off on one of the roads that headed towards the mountains and camping...but I was on a mission, had a schedule to meet (an appointment at Oregon DMV for registration of my new rig -- finally!).
Now...to be honest, if I could get away with towing my ummm....trailer... to remote and special camping spots in the wild Great Basin I probably would. But I've been to, camped in, places that I know I can't tow anything -- places where I've had to put the truck into 4-Low to get there, which would be too hard on my new rig (if at all). So the pickup camper is still relevant and necessary for me.
Anyway...I'm glad I took that route -- it reminded me of an area I need to revisit...to heed the call of the wild.
And I'm glad that I still have my pickup camper. Here's why:
A week ago, as I was driving back home to Bend from an almost-3-month camping and paddling wander through The South, towing my "They'd Call it a Camper in the East"... I took US 95 to Tonopah and then drove NV 376 up the Big Smoky Valley.
...Snow-capped Toiyabe Range on the west...snow-fringed Toquima Range on the east... It came to me that I still love this wild area -- visited many times over 30 years -- a lot.
As much as I enjoyed camping in the warm/temperate South, paddling my kayak in Southern waters -- among alligators floating in the Okefenokee Swamp and dolphins leaping in the Gulf of Mexico...camped in comfortable (and inexpensive) state parks with 120v and water hookups...I also enjoy being camped in a spot where I'm the only human for a few miles. To be camped in a spot where most people say "Why go there -- what's there?" Especially in winter, when most people say, "Isn't it cold?" To be camped in a wild area.
As I was driving through that area I really felt like pulling off on one of the roads that headed towards the mountains and camping...but I was on a mission, had a schedule to meet (an appointment at Oregon DMV for registration of my new rig -- finally!).
Now...to be honest, if I could get away with towing my ummm....trailer... to remote and special camping spots in the wild Great Basin I probably would. But I've been to, camped in, places that I know I can't tow anything -- places where I've had to put the truck into 4-Low to get there, which would be too hard on my new rig (if at all). So the pickup camper is still relevant and necessary for me.
Anyway...I'm glad I took that route -- it reminded me of an area I need to revisit...to heed the call of the wild.