boon-docking

[CharlynnT]

I have a new gig with an on-line newspaper, my first assignment is to write about boon-docking. Care to comment? (See your name in lights!?!) www.opinion250.com

For example, pro-Walmart parking, anti-Wally
Or WAY OFF the beaten path (like I like to do)
How to have enough power/water/etc. for the weekend/ a week/ a summer!
Use your real name and town, or just reply with nickname and province/state

There might be an old thread on this, but I would like permission to use for my story.

No pressure: I will write this one way or the other. All contributors will receive FREE OF CHARGE, a brand-new, non-gold-plated, virtual certificate suitable for framing or for wrapping digital fish.

Thanks!
Char

[don bowman]

I did purchase a guide book.
http://www.boondockingguide.com/

Here is a few sites that might help.
http://www.phrannie.org/boondock.html

Boondocking ETIQUETTE
http://www.rversonline.org/Boondock.html

I'm sure this is not what your locking for, but I hope it helps.
don

[Byron Kinnaman]

boon-docking, on or off asphalt?

What's asphalt?

Definitions according to Byron.

Camping -- Setting up a small tent or not using a tent at least 1 mile from the nearest road.

Car Camping -- Same as camping only much closer to a road, often in improved camp grounds. (vehicle parked beside you).

RVing -- Parking your rv, (including all kinds of rvs) in a camp ground, with hoop-ups or not.

Boondocking -- Several miles from the nearest paved road in a dispersed camping spot.

[Craig Nold]

Char,
Boondocking? Did you ever wonder where the term originated? I know that it has something to do with camping in out of the way places that are sometimes referred to as the boondocks or boonies. That should probably be with a capital “B”, as the derivation is from Daniel Boone, the eighteenth century frontiersman who had the habit of moving whenever he could smell the cook fires of his nearest neighbors. Therefore, it refers to a type of antisocial behavior that seems to be inconsistent with camping in Wal-Mart parking lots. The term, Boondocking, implies a certain amount of risk that I find lacking in urban parking lots. Well, maybe not.
If you haven’t found it, there is a forum at http://www.rv.net that is devoted to the subject. The moderators have divided the subject into three categories because the members could not agree on a definition.

[Gigi]

Char,
Boondocking? Did you ever wonder where the term originated? I know that it has something to do with camping in out of the way places that are sometimes referred to as the boondocks or boonies. That should probably be with a capital “B”, as the derivation is from Daniel Boone, the eighteenth century frontiersman who had the habit of moving whenever he could smell the cook fires of his nearest neighbors. Therefore, it refers to a type of antisocial behavior that seems to be inconsistent with camping in Wal-Mart parking lots. The term, Boondocking, implies a certain amount of risk that I find lacking in urban parking lots. Well, maybe not.
If you haven’t found it, there is a forum at http://www.rv.net that is devoted to the subject. The moderators have divided the subject into three categories because the members could not agree on a definition.

Craig, I find this very interesting, being a Thoreau at heart! As I crave quiet, solitude, would I be a Booner? A Boonie? A Lovebug Boone Lover?

Charlynn, good luck on your article. Surely there will be something about Dutch Oven cooking, no? That's the only sure way to create fabulicious food while boondocking!


BTW, why do they call it a "Dutch" Oven?

Cheers!

[Bob Cupp]

Gigi, If you are a true boondocker, leave the Dutch oven at home. Cooking in a DO is a sure way to end up with company at meal time. It is sort of like playing solitaire, someone will always show up telling you what cards to play.

[bdiscount]

Care to comment?

I make at least 1 5000 mi. trip where I use the rest areas, if none a vailable I use walmart. Weekends are at a farm show or fest usually hooked up to electric.
Have to add water for long trip and emptyblack tank. Tow Vehicle charges battery and plug in charges thru converter. Very simple, little work an inexpensive(except for Gas)

[james kent]

Congratulations! I'm totally envious of people who can put their thoughts into words and apply them to paper.
I feel that there are three levels to our summer fun..
1 Using the cottage overlooking Lake Erie
2 RV camping and travelling with the Boler
3 Boondocking.. outback canoe camping with my Hennessy Hammock see
www.hennessyhammock.com
Now you know what lightweight camping really is
Please let us know when your articles are on-line. I think we'll all want to take a look.

[CharlynnT]

Oh, youse guys are great! Keep it coming!

[Nancy in Oregon]

I don't boondock, Charlynn, but I think it's really neat that you're doing an article about it. Will you post the article here when it's finished (or published)?

Nancy

[Steve L.]

The topic got me to thinking, or at least what passing for thinking in my head. Always a dangerous activity. Some may be offended by my Wal-mart opinion. C'est la vie. Just my comfort level.

I boondock as a destination quite a bit. Mostly because I normally don't plan my vacations until the summer and by then, the campsites have all been reserved. Rustic campsites are usually on a first come first served basis in Michigan. I frequently do a long weekend. I leave Thursday evening, return on Monday in order to be sure to get a choice site.


I. Boondocking as a destination/activity:
A. Limitations are a larger consideration.
* Tankage
--- Comfort level in discarding grey water into the bushes?
--- Sink water into toilet?
----- Larger capacity than grey tank.
----- Will require more tank chemical however.
------- My experience is that the soap "kills" the odor hiding properties of the toilet chemical.
--- Reserve grey tank for showers.
--- I feel dish rinsing generates too much grey water.
----- Spritzing?

* Battery
----- Solar:
----- Value when dry camping in the woods?
----- Modest return of amp-hours unless $$$ panel(s).
----- Can be more than adequate if:
------- Goal is to prolong battery vs. completely replenish.
------- Modest power requirements.

---- Generator:
------- Expensive and quiet vs. loud and cheap.
------- Neighbors.
------- Inverter technology.
--------- Load dependant speed.
--------- Quality of power needed.
------- Limit run time to return to 70 to 80% of battery capacity.
------- Late morning early afternoon.


II. Boondocking as a waypoint on a trip:
A. Asphalt boondocking:
* Personally, I'm not comfortable with Wal-Marts.
* Less an issue with Flying J, Cracker Barrels and other locations obviously serving transients.
* An exception rather than the rule
* Something bothers me about expensive RVs camping on the cheap.
--- I guess I fear being called a cheapskate.
--- I am unpersuaded by the assertion that all the money went into the RV. Isn't the point. To buy something that allows you to afford to camp?
--- Habitual use ruining for the occasional use.

[Gigi]

Gigi, If you are a true boondocker, leave the Dutch oven at home. Cooking in a DO is a sure way to end up with company at meal time. It is sort of like playing solitaire, someone will always show up telling you what cards to play.

That's alright, Bob, I'll let 'em clean up!

Charlynn, I mostly boondock as it's the best way to get away from everyone as I like to set up my easel and paint the day away.

I do have a refrigerator that operates on propane, and that's the single greatest item I have that makes boondocking easy.
For water, I am in the process of getting a water tank added, but, have enjoyed two years of camping by bringing drinking water and getting a 5 gallon container full for dishes and such.
I have a working stove on propane, a small Coleman stove, and, my favorite, charcoal for the Dutch Oven cooking.
Only this year will I finally get a portable toilet and a set up for shower. A couple of friends of mine have offered lake homes and farms for me to use and I would want these facilites along.
For lights, I have candles and battery operated lanterns. I don't miss TV at all but if gone for a week, I may investigate a battery set up. I could always watch a DVD on my laptop if I'm really desperate.

I take along my french easel, my oil paints, some watercolor supplies, books to read, my laptop where I can work on my travel photos, a movie, and I'm pretty happy. Somedays the only contact I have with people is the fellow that comes around for the fees.

Boondocking has made my camping very pleasurable, much more so than when I have to put up with generators, noisy families, etc, cars driving in and out.

I wonder if most of us who do boondock are introverts by nature? While I am an extrovert in my profession, I am an introvert in my personal life.

Gigi
Want more? Desire less.

[BOBSMITH]

You'd have to ask specific questions on boondocking.

I only boondock in the real boonies. Out in the sticks. Generally on National Forest property where I know I'm not going to run into private property concerns.

We have a 24 gallon tank in our rv for fresh water. We have a generator, too. We have gone camping on just the onboard battery and had no problems. We even go boondocking in the winter, due to the fact that our Casita has a gas furnace.

We love boondocking! It's the best! No crowds, lots of quiet.

[CharlynnT]

I don't boondock, Charlynn, but I think it's really neat that you're doing an article about it. Will you post the article here when it's finished (or published)?

Nancy

Nancy,

I think I will post the link when published. That way the article will get a lot of "hits" and my new editor will be impressed with how popular I am!

Char

PS Wall-mart and Wall-mart "camping" is new and newsworthy in northern BC: any more comments on that?

[Jackie]

I bought my Scamp through eBay, and it was located in Calgary. I live in the 'other' Vancouver. I needed a place to stay the night I picked up the trailer, and all the campgrounds were closed for the season - end of October. I stayed in a Wal-Mart, Halloween night.

I was sitting in the scamp, a light on, when there came a knock on my door. Since it was dark, and I was alone, and not knowing who was there, I hesitantly called out, "Who is it"?

"Trick or treat" came the chorus of little voices!

Luckily, and being female, I had chocolate to pass out to them.


"Permission to quote" JC

[Donna D.]

Charlynn, you may find this information of interest from the Helpful-Links pages:
Boondocking

[Rand]

Hi Charrlynn,

I live in the boondocks...sooooo, I guess you could say I bookdock every night and have for the last 30 years.

But, last year we did stay in the national forrest up above Los Alamos near obsidian ridge...it was June and cold up there! We found lots of obsidian to carve later and had a great time keeping warm around the campfire...cooked sausage, eggs and toast over the campfire and enjoyed some Shiners we had found in Fredicksburg on the way West. Boondocking is the way to go!

R.:-)

[CharlynnT]

Charlynn, you may find this information of interest from the Helpful-Links pages:
Boondocking

Thanks, Donna, that is an excellent resource for background.

What I am looking for now in replies is "permission to quote," trying to be a good journalist and all that.

Char

PS Did anyone catch the Prince George RV campground story on CBC radio this aft? Dag nabbbit, I missed almost all of it!

[Steve L.]

http://www.cbc.ca/nb/story/nb-walmart20050713.html
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_rv-pri...e20060509.html
http://www.cbc.ca/north/story/ma23walmart.html

[David and Nancy]

Char:

For years before we ever had a travel trailer, my wife Nancy and I were serious backcountry campers. We met while working as rangers at the Grand Canyon and went on backpacking trips into the most remote areas we could find. We later got into river rafting and went on float trips on all the big western rivers. We soon found we could take a lot more of the comforts on our raft than on our backs. Things like lawn chairs, ice chests with cold beverages, bigger tent, and better food. We once floated the Colorado River for 18 days with most of the comforts of home. Of course we had to tie everything down in the raft to prevent catastrophic loss in the rapids. When we bought our old Scamp in 2003, our first thought was to find places to camp that were remote as possible. Luckily we were living in Anchorage at the time. One of our first trips was up the Dalton Highway (formerly known as the Haul Road). It is 414 miles of mostly gravel road built for hauling supplies to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. We wanted to be above the Arctic Circle for summer solstice on June 21st. In Alaska, Solstice Day is often celebrated as an unofficial holiday. On the 21st we were camped along the Sagavanirktok River at Happy Valley. As far as we knew we were the only humans within many miles except for an occasional trucker hauling up the Dalton. The road had gotten so washboarded that most of the tourist traffic had turned back south of the Brooks Range. We had driven through miles of wet road that completely coated our white Scamp with a layer of brown mud. I used a buckets of river water and a sponge mop on it. About 9:00 pm there was a knock on our door! I thought maybe we were camped illegally or something. It turned out to be a biologist from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He was living for the summer in a tiny cabin and doing a study on the tundra environment. There was also a young lady from Montreal who was a student intern on the project. They wanted to know if we wanted to have a Solstice party at their place. So we pooled all of our beverages and started a bonfire. The fire not only warmed us but kept the bugs at bay. There are no actual trees on the north slope of Alaska, but we found enough old scrap lumber and willow sticks to keep it going. We talked about northern things all night around that fire. The sun circled the horizon but never actually set, so was it really night? It was what we came to see and this was the best way to see it. The next day, we completed our trip to Prudhoe Bay. Along the way we saw a herd of muskox, a fine blonde grizzly and many herds of migrating caribou. By the time we got the Scamp home to Anchorage it had a broken frame, a dead battery, the door didn't fit right, it was as dirty inside as out. But it was all fixable and we had a great trip.