June 27th -July 4th! My Christmas gift from my wife.

[CALIcamperdad]

Short background note.
Wife asked what I wanted for Christmas. I said a camping trip!!!
Keep in mind we have a almost 3yr old and 5yr old. Zero camping the past few yrs.

Ok so I've done lots of coastal stuff and thinking east side of the Sierras. #1 warmer I hope.. Wife has not been a fan of the cold Fort Bragg fog.

We are in Walnut Creek Ca and can do 8hr max drive, before parking it for a few days. The kids will find fossles, ghost towns and playing in dirt and water fun. We could do more than one location but with kids and set up time, were going to stay put for a day or few days before moving on. Kids are getting into the idea of hiking short hikes! Nothing major.

I have done lots of hiking in the Marble Mt Range but nothing on the east side.

Our rig is a well equipped 4x6 Life Time Tent Trailer and 2010 Subaru OB. Not a rock crawler but quite capable of dirt roads. We have a truck but find the Subaru far more enjoyable not to mention the 21-26mpg we tend to run with the trailer.

Looking for some great Ideas../ Suggestions

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Mt. Lassen? Scott River Valley? Siskiyous? Smith River?

 

[ski3pin]

My suggestion, get reservations now for Trumbull Lake Campground. This is in the Virginia Lakes area. You will be able to walk to several lakes and explore and tailor your days to how the kids do. A short hike into the Hoover Wilderness quickly brings you to other lakes where you can get away from people. Bodie is a day trip if you get tired of the alpine splendor. Merry Christmas!

 

[CALIcamperdad]

My suggestion, get reservations now for Trumbull Lake Campground. This is in the Virginia Lakes area. You will be able to walk to several lakes and explore and tailor your days to how the kids do. A short hike into the Hoover Wilderness quickly brings you to other lakes where you can get away from people. Bodie is a day trip if you get tired of the alpine splendor. Merry Christmas!

I was hoping you would have an idea. I was looking at that area but never been there so wasn't sure about location vs proximity to activities etc. I'll look into it and book soon!
Thank you!!! Thank you!!!

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Mt. Lassen? Scott River Valley? Siskiyous? Smith River?

Wandering - I was debating about Shasta area also. The whole volcano thing and kids is hard to mess up. Though end of June it could be pretty cool up that way still and I've dragged the wife to the cold coast one to many times and she's going to veto camping if I keep doing that.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

I'll need to invest in a shower set up of some sort. Thats been on the list for a while but haven't sprung for it yet. Any thoughts as to what you folks found to be a good compromise? Thinking
http://www.amazon.com/Nemo-NEMO-Equipment-Inc-HelioPressure/dp/B008BXPI1E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422898775&sr=8-2&keywords=Pressure+camp+shower#customerReviews

Seems to be a great product

And then
http://www.amazon.com/Texsport-Deluxe-Shower-Shelter-Combo/dp/B000ITVSSQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422899580&sr=8-4&keywords=camp+shower+tent

This would put our camp gear a bit over the top. No water heater!!! That would be over the top.
Grandpa getting us the Basspro shop camp kitchen was a bit over kill but it is nice!

 

[jha6av8r]

I'll need to invest in a shower set up of some sort. Thats been on the list for a while but haven't sprung for it yet. Any thoughts as to what you folks found to be a good compromise? Thinking
http://www.amazon.com/Nemo-NEMO-Equipment-Inc-HelioPressure/dp/B008BXPI1E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422898775&sr=8-2&keywords=Pressure+camp+shower#customerReviews
Seems to be a great product

And then
http://www.amazon.com/Texsport-Deluxe-Shower-Shelter-Combo/dp/B000ITVSSQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422899580&sr=8-4&keywords=camp+shower+tent

This would put our camp gear a bit over the top. No water heater!!! That would be over the top.
Grandpa getting us the Basspro shop camp kitchen was a bit over kill but it is nice!

In addition to the outside shower in our camper, we carry a solar shower: http://www.swimoutlet.com/ProductDetails.asp?subscribe=Y&ProductCode=44384&gclid=CMiz57eDxMMCFVHKtAod9wQAXQ.

We also have a privacy shelter similar to the one on your link.

If your in Walnut Creek, a nice easy trip with the kids is up Hwy 108 above Sonora. Pinecrest Lake is beautiful and the entire area up and over to the east side of the Sierras is great. You could make a loop out of it and come back across Hwy 120 through Yosemite.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

The Lassen area is great for volcanic fun and there are lakes with fish and hiking trails.
Also Burney Falls is just north of there with camping.
June is when Lassen usually starts to come alive but not crowded.
Have fun planning. There are lots of places to have adventures.
Frank

 

[CALIcamperdad]

In addition to the outside shower in our camper, we carry a solar shower: http://www.swimoutlet.com/ProductDetails.asp?subscribe=Y&ProductCode=44384&gclid=CMiz57eDxMMCFVHKtAod9wQAXQ.

We also have a privacy shelter similar to the one on your link.

If your in Walnut Creek, a nice easy trip with the kids is up Hwy 108 above Sonora. Pinecrest Lake is beautiful and the entire area up and over to the east side of the Sierras is great. You could make a loop out of it and come back across Hwy 120 through Yosemite.

I was just looking at that. 108 to Bridgeport spend a few days at Trumbull then come back through 120 Yosemite. Hmm

We were just in Arnold with some friends a few weeks ago cabin rental first snow trip with the kids. Zero snow and very very minimal at end of 4 at the Ebbits pass closure. Sure hope we get more weather soon!

 

[Smokecreek1]

I was just looking at that. 108 to Bridgeport spend a few days at Trumbull then come back through 120 Yosemite. Hmm

We were just in Arnold with some friends a few weeks ago cabin rental first snow trip with the kids. Zero snow and very very minimal at end of 4 at the Ebbits pass closure. Sure hope we get more weather soon!

Don't forget Mono Lake-a must see on the east side if you are in the area!

Smoke

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Got the last site at Trumbull. Going to head back over to Donner lake a day or two before the 4th and hangout at a friends cabin to break up the trip a little on the way home. Thanks for the tip!!! Were doing a quick weekend or two over to Tamales Bay as a warm up and make sure we have all our camping crap sorted out. Will do that in May when the weather is nice and no coastal fog.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Petroglyph search combined with a Bodie trip. One day in our Trumbull Lake stay I'm thinking Bodie tour, then Masonic Rd to Aurora rd then dinner in Bridgeport prior to heading back to camp at Trumbull.

Any chance there might be reported petroglyphs in that stretch from Bodie Back to Bridgeport?
Also curious about trip time for that loop back to Bridgeport?

 

[Bad Habit]

Don't know about any petroglyphs between Bodie and Bridgeport but there is the Chemung Mine right on the Masonic Road just outside of Bridgeport. You will have to be careful with the kids though. Some pictures here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jrbadhabit/sets/72157633429529272/

As you can see, the kids would love to climb around it I'm sure, but probably not the safest environment for them

 

[CALIcamperdad]

I'm in the count down for our "Big" camping trip this summer. I need to finish adding the LED lighting to our tent trailer its about 2/3rds done right now. We added a family member to the trip so we are taking our Toyota Sequoia instead of the Subaru for the butts in seats space.

However the Subaru is much preferred over the Truck. We have done two quick weekend trips to the coast with the Subaru and its done the job admirably all while getting 22mpg averages. The truck we will be 17-18mpg if we drive slow. 4.7L 2007 Sequoia.