Happy Campers!

[sublime311]

http://images.snapfish.com/3445578%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2334%3D48%3A%3D425%3 DXROQDF%3E232398%3A%3A3638%3Aot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3445578%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3A7%3B%3D9%3 B%3A%3D3232%3A7%3B8%3C986%3Cnu0mrj

Hello! I thought it was would be great to have a one-stop thread for all things camping. Please share:

1. Camping stories and pictures
2. Campground reviews and recommendations
3. Camp recipes
4. Gear/product reviews and recommendations
5. Checklists
6. Camp related links and other resources
7. Camping tips
8. Questions/Answers
9. "Must see" places to visit (and avoid)
10. Camping related hikes
11. and MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

[sublime311]

Go Camping America (http://www.gocampingamerica.com/) - great resource for planning a trip.

Reserve America (http://www.reserveamerica.com/) - another great resource for planning a trip. This site shows campground maps and allows you to reserve individual camp spots and reserve online! I used this once, but had to cancel before our trip - we recieved a refund without a problem.

Backpacker.com (http://www.backpacker.com/) - THE greatest magazine ever! :D Mostly about.. uh.. backpacking, but also has LOADS of gear and product reviews. The website has just as many great features!

[sublime311]

Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of "geocaching"?

http://www.geocaching.com/ - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

What is Geocaching? (from the above website)

Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

DH and I would like to give this a try - make it a camping/geocaching excursion. Would love to hear about geocaching experinces.

[LeslieandPaul]

I love camping!! I leave Thursday for 3 nights in the bushes (no toilets, no showers). There's a river, some rocks that get 4 hours of sunshine in the afternoon, me and our friends. And a few adult beverages.

I have gone camping every summer my whole life except for 2 years ago. Until Dec 2003 I had NEVER stayed in a hotel. I have been to California (as a baby), the Oregon coast, several places in Washington State, Banff and Jasper, the Sunshine Coast (see below), and on a big camping trip in 1999 we took a trip around BC-up to the Yukon and back down again. So as you can see, I am a very experienced camper!

My tip for anyone camping where there are no toilets: forget the tp-go for baby wipes! They are fantastic!

My top three must see places: 1) and 2) Banff and Jasper, Alberta, Canada-totally amazing! 3) Porpoise Bay (on the Sunshine Coast)-take the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal to Langdale. Awesome campground, beautiful beach. My all time favourite place.

Anywho, if anyone has any questions I'll be glad to answer!

[sublime311]

Yay! Our very own on-site expert! Can't wait to come up with some questions for you.

Have fun on your upcoming trip! We'll be expecting a full report WITH pictures. lol

p/s Nothing like beer in the woods!!

[LeslieandPaul]

I can post some pictures from last year!!! We're going to the same spot again this year b.c we loved it so much last year.

The picture that will go down in history (this photo was used to "promote" this year's trip). That's my FH.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid179/pfc9ea05a5c6315fc126462e9f11b7070/f31a3e73.jpg

Off roading (our friend Guy on top of his truck)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid179/p05eb28ea207ffdb096e61172e419eda1/f31a3e8b.jpg

Our campground mascot-a weasel that kept checking out what was going on
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid179/p3fa303bd82a6ccb3bd3223bbe3972e5a/f31a3e9b.jpg

Cookin on the camp stove (no fires allowed). Our friend Phil.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid179/p5caf2b2215685e39d4ffa8a37ae6bbeb/f31a3e59.jpg

[LeslieandPaul]

Gear/product reviews and recommendations

Coleman, Coleman, Coleman.

Coleman (http://www.coleman.com/coleman/home.asp)

They make the best camping gear. Tents, lanterns, stoves, you name it, they've got it. And it's good quality. My parents had a Coleman stove that until they replaced it a few years ago, was the only camp stove I ever knew. They upgraded from a 2 burner to a 3 burner.
I would also recommend Eureka tents-my parents had theirs for about 20 years (I believe they cost a bit more than Coleman)
Eureka! (http://www.eurekacamping.com/)

Camp recipes

Not really a recipe, but a meal:
Cream corn with anything, but pork chops are the best. Such a great camping meal! Greatest camping meal ever!

Links
BC Camping (http://www.camping.bc.ca/)
Discover Camping (http://www.discovercamping.ca/)
KOA Kampgrounds (http://www.koakampgrounds.com/)

Okay, that's all I can think of right now.

[boilermaker]

DH and I are also campers. We have not been yet this year, but are hoping to go over Labor Day weekend. We typically tent camp and the past few years our camping trips coincided with Jeep excursions. Oh, we did have a primitive cabin in Moab over Easter...does that count as camping? Most of our camping trips are long weekends rather than vacations, so not as exotic as some peoples :)

In Texas, we camped at Big Bend National Park (gorgeous), Enchanted Rock, Colorado Bend SP, Palo Duro Canyon (also breathtaking) and lots of private ranches in hill country where we Jeeped.

In Ohio, we have been to almost every state park.

New River Gorge in WV is a great place to camp, hike, rock climb and white water raft.

Leslie, we went to Banff and Lake Louis on our honeymoon. It is so beautiful there. We went for the skiing and splurged by staying at the 2 Fairmount hotels...but I would love to go back in the summer and camp sometime. You are so lucky to live near those places!

[jennylou]

boiler - which ohio state parks are your favorite? We've been to Findlay (kinda blah for me) and are planning a Geneva on the Lake trip in September.

Much of my camping experience comes from camping in CA.

[elladee]

Hey, great thread! Figured I'd see you here, boilermaker.

DH and I are huge campers/backpackers, and I just went on my first pregnant backpacking trip this past weekend! It actually went much better than I expected (though we did only did 5 miles each day). I told DH that I want to go at least once this fall when I get big. I think the pictures and stories will be worth the pain, :D .

We, too, generally do weekend trips and mostly stick around home. Our favorite place to go is Allegheny National Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny/) in northwest PA. I can probably tell you anything you want to know about the place. Wish I had some pictures online to post of our trips there.

[kiddo]

My DH and I are campers. We do car camping in a tent and try to go a few times a year.

Our favorite place is Bar Harbor, Maine/Acadia Ntl Park. We also like Lake George, NY and Lake Winnepasakie, NH.

For gear, definitely Coleman. We have a tent from Cabella's that we love. LL Bean's also has excellent tents, sleeping bags, and back packs, but are a little pricier than Coleman.

[Sarah051504]

Well my DH and I are campers but not the kind of campers you guys are and you might not consider us real compers. We ahve a 25 ft travel trailer fully equiped with a stove, oven, microwave, shower, tv, dvd player, and sattilate tv! :p Our favorite places to go are the UP of Michigan. We are going to mackinaw island next weekend for my birthday.

[boilermaker]

Hi Ella! I figured I would see you here as well.
Allegheny National Forest is a place I have been wanting to go to! If you find pics, please post them!

Jenny,
What type of things are you looking to do when you camp? I like Salt Fork a lot for boating, Hocking Hills for some absolutely stunning scenery and hiking, Mohican is pretty good for hiking and biking. To put in a clause, we just moved back to Ohio after several years in TX, so all my info is about 4 years old. We are trying East Fork, down around Cinci for Labor Day since we are meeting up with friends from Kentucky. Oh, camping on the Lake Erie Islands is fun too. We've done that a few times.

kiddo, I would love to see pics of your Northeast camping!

As for gear, we do have a lot of Coleman accessories, but have upgraded a little on the tent (Kelty), our sleeping bags (REI), etc. My absolute must for camping, well other than the tent, is my portable shower for primitive camping or our portable firepit. I love my campfire but I'm not too keen on setting a park on fire.

One tip for frequent campers...we have 2 large rubbermaid totes that hold all of our camping gear. When we get back from a trip, I clean everything up and put it back in the totes. Then when we want to go again, it takes me all of 5 min to get ready and I know that I'm not forgetting anything!


ETA: Sarah, DH's parents have a large camper as well...we're using it this weekend for a Jeep event!

[elladee]

One tip for frequent campers...we have 2 large rubbermaid totes that hold all of our camping gear. When we get back from a trip, I clean everything up and put it back in the totes. Then when we want to go again, it takes me all of 5 min to get ready and I know that I'm not forgetting anything!


This is exactly what we do as well! We never forget anything anymore. When we go car camping, we just throw the entire containers in the back of the truck. Piece of cake.

DH and I actually have spend quite a bit of money on upper end backpacking gear. :o Our tent and stove are MSR. We have titanium pots and pans. My sleeping bag is Mountain Hardware. My pack is Gregory, DH has a Low Alpine. We are nuts. It's just so much fun to buy camping gear, though.

Our "excuse" is our REI visa card. We use it for everything (gas, groceries, bills, truck repairs) just like a regular visa and pay it off every month. Then in Feb, we get 1% back on our entire years worth of purchases in the form of an REI gift certificate. You can also get it back as cash if you want, but we use it to treat ourselves to one big camping present. This year we got well over $100 and put it towards my pack. This has the potential to be dangerous, but if you can pay off your bill every month, it's totally worth it.

[emmjay]

I love camping! We haven't gone this year yet - we were just talking about that last night. I think we're going to go next weekend - we live in Denver so it's easy to get to the mountains. :)

DH and I actually have spend quite a bit of money on upper end backpacking gear. :o Our tent and stove are MSR. We have titanium pots and pans. My sleeping bag is Mountain Hardware. My pack is Gregory, DH has a Low Alpine.
We are like this too! Our bags are Mountain Hardware, and we have a MSR stove too. My pack is a Arc'teryx and my husband has a Macpac brand from New Zealand. For backpacking our tent is a Marmot and we have a Sierra Designs for car camping. Don't even talk to me about REI - I have never gone in there without buying something!

I grew up car camping and just started backpacking two years ago - my initiation was a 5-day hike in Patagonia, which was really hard but a lot of fun! Now that I'm reading this thread I'm kicking myself for not taking advantage of where we live. OK, now we're definitely going backpacking next weekend. And it's an excuse to get more gear! Mmmmm....gear. ;)

I love the idea of having the totes full of camping stuff all organized and ready to go. Our stuff is all over the place, but I'll definitely be making use of that tip.

[sublime311]

One tip for frequent campers...we have 2 large rubbermaid totes that hold all of our camping gear. When we get back from a trip, I clean everything up and put it back in the totes. Then when we want to go again, it takes me all of 5 min to get ready and I know that I'm not forgetting anything!

This is what we do! All we have to buy is food and we're good to go. :D

[elladee]

I uploaded some of our pics from a trip to Allegheny last year. This was a 12 mile loop that we did as an overnighter. Allegheny also has drive up campsites. I've never stayed there, but I hear they are very nice. These pictures will give you an idea of the area, either way.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934c73433dfa00000036108AaNXDNu1ZOT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934c73513de800000046108AaNXDNu1ZOT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934c7350bcd900000076108AaNXDNu1ZOT

And I thought you all might get a kick out of this one:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce934c73453dfc00000075108AaNXDNu1ZOT

[justHB]

Jenny,
What type of things are you looking to do when you camp? I like Salt Fork a lot for boating, Hocking Hills for some absolutely stunning scenery and hiking, Mohican is pretty good for hiking and biking. When we lived in Pittsburgh, a bunch of us rented a cabin for the weekend in Hocking Hills. It was such a great trip. The guys really loved climbing to the top of the "caves" and looking down on the world.

Now that we're in CA, we've gone camping at Van Damme State Park in Mendocino, Big Basin State Park near Santa Cruz (lots of redwoods), Yosemite, Sugarloaf State Park in Sonoma (not so great for camping, but great location for drinking wine), and a couple of other places I can't recall.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3db07b3127cce9ce52a1e396800000016108KcuWjdo0w

http://images.snapfish.com/344574%3B923232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2323%3D536%3D96%3C %3D323253687%3B%3C%3B%3Bnu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/344574%3B923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2327%3D%3C8%3C%3D%3B 5%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3B%3A459%3Aot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/344574%3B923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2327%3D%3C8%3C%3D%3B 5%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3B%3A45%3A5ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/344574%3B923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2327%3D%3C8%3C%3D%3B 5%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3B%3A45%3B2ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/344574%3B923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2327%3D%3C8%3C%3D%3B 5%3C%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3B%3A45%3B9ot1lsi

[justHB]

And finally, this ... my favorite things about camping.

http://www.mpix.com/GetImage.aspx?a=5170275&b=skvh7ibzsdnp4wugk177&c=b&d=0

http://www.mpix.com/GetImage.aspx?a=5170310&b=etyk3bt6el6n7wqeuri8&c=b&d=0

[LeslieandPaul]

I leave tomorrow afternoon! I can't wait. I was going to sleep in the car due to laziness, but i'm getting a ride up with someone so i'm gonna sleep in a tent-on a queen size air mattress (and i don't have to worry about sharing it with anyone!). Hopefully we can have a campfire!
I've apparently been designated the official photo taker, so I'll be sure to post lots on Sunday!! I'm also taking my SLR and telephoto lens so I'll get lots of film photos, but unfortunately I don't have a scanner.

[sublime311]

You all have the best pics! DH and I usually camp alone and I'm the holder of the camera so most pics are of DH and scenery! I would LOVE a big group camp fest. Lots of friends, lots of tents, and lots of beer! Doesn't get better than that!

Leslie! Can't wait to see your pics from this upcoming weekend! Hope you have a blast.

[LeslieandPaul]

Well, I'm back from camping, and let me tell you-IT WAS AWESOME!!! Two full days of sunshine and relaxing! AH what a life!

I've made a little "journal" of what happened and will post it along with pics in several sections. I won't be using anyone's names, just first initial.

First Night
Thursday, July 28-At about 3 pm, our friend G picked me up and we went to the liquor store and to the grocery store because he had no food. Boys are very funny when it comes to camping food-he wouldn't buy anything that required utensils.
At about 3:45 we were on the road and well on our way-until we hit traffic! The road to get to the highay was under construction and we got onto the highway finally! And we drove about ten minutes and hit traffic-due to construction. We finally started moving fast in Abbotsford and then took our exit and made the long drive down the back roads to get to the site. It was about another 45 minutes down a paved road and then 15 minutes down the gravel road and we were finally there-and no one else was camping there!
We set up my tent-he was sleeping in his car, and then built a fire pit-I even helped with my new fake nails!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p380af4619533e4240df0eaa511ed964e/f3077efb.jpg
We finally got a fire going and ate dinner and started drinking while we waited for everyone else to arrive.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/pb26a5adfe33d2cead8178088159f9df4/f3077cee.jpghttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p0e673c882d999c958d1f3e57ccdda038/f3077f91.jpg
At about 8 pm-2 hours after we got there, J, K, and R got there (the girls out numbered the boys for once!). They set up their tents and joined in the party.
J
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p61a3b48389c9ae8f903d1903ad54a938/f3077b78.jpg
G and K-she's dating his cousin
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/pbbfa4df211e5f39e84221030764f3495/f3077ab2.jpg
The rest of the night is not appropriate for CC.

[LeslieandPaul]

First Full Day-
Friday, July 29-We woke up at about 8:30 am-none of us feeling very well. We headed down to the water for a few minutes http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p475805cd0af9506ca845d0f672446de4/f30778c2.jpg and G went for a dunk http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p64e40bce77d810ffde28b74974adfaf2/f30777fc.jpg
We then we sat around and talked for a couple hours, ate breakfast and then after 12:00, G, J, R and me went to town to buy innertubes, ice and firewood. We returned about an hour and a half later and headed straight down to the water.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p157c546c9439869f0df529cbe8a92918/f307755a.jpg
Here we spent several hours chatting and enjoying the sunshine-J and G went tubing down the river.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p5d75f7d522a1512b776fbf12dc25d41f/f3077312.jpg
It took me a couple hours, but I finally got brave enough to jump in the water and R came with me-it was cool, but quite refreshing.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p7756357fcd2f603c66297c4999a75924/f3076eb3.jpghttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p8d5ccde0c94858a7521ca09d93fdcca7/f3076df3.jpg

[LeslieandPaul]

Late afternoon-probably around 5 pm, S, D, C and R arrived. C is G's cousin and K's bf. I gave everyone quite the show since I had just started jumping into the water and was a little intoxicated-I then made all the boys try on my top! D in my top
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p04d98c8e074a630019721e65fe2034e4/f3076a6c.jpg
D and R took a run down the river. R is at the front. They're brothers-Paul's cousins
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p875a1cc4a18f56110fc100d3dc3429b2/f3076b8f.jpg
The sun finally set behind the mountains at about 6 pm and we waited about 15 minutes and then headed up to the campsite. I got changed and then went and sat with S in his car
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p1165ba34805c0f10a28114206627a771/f307679e.jpg
-we chatted and he played his guitar-he wrote a song for his girlfriend which was really good!
We got a fire started and spent the rest of the evening sitting around and talking to each other. Most of these ppl have known each other for a very long time, so I'm relatively new to the group-it was cool getting to know them even better.
Left to Right: C's head, R, G, K, R
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/pb95ebd916569ccb68fc30c3e611213a8/f3076762.jpg

[LeslieandPaul]

Second Full Day
Saturday, July 30-I woke up at an awful time-5:15!!! The sun wasn't up yet! I read for a little bit, brushed my teeth and then went back to bed where I was freezing cold! I eventually got out of bed and at about 7:30 or 8:00, me, S and C went down to the creek. S likes to fish and C made a wager with him last week that if he caught a fish he'd give him $100. On the way up he said it had to be on the first cast. Well...S made his first cast and caught a trout! (It was a small fish, but he still caught it!)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p814a86ae774ba20c7c0ee875139c7536/f3076651.jpg
By about 9 am everyone was awake and we ate breakfast. C and J made hot dogs-with macaroni and bacon on them-MMM!!! :D Shortly after noon we went down to the beach where S and R tied up an inner tube to a tree and let it bob in the rapids. C and R swam up with the other tubes, and J, S and G joined them.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/pa1f7056a2e610771627cd9b38b83b82f/f307646f.jpg
Unfortunately I don't have any more pics (but I'll get some from S later and I'll post those).
Later in the day R and I went out to the tubes-I sat on D and when I wanted to go I thought I had to climb up the rock I'd used to get into the water and we had a huge struggle. A few minutes later S just walked right across the river-it was less than 4 feet deep! I used that way the other times I went out there! We were probably out there for about 3 hours and then we went back to shore and relaxed until the sun set. We pretty much did all the same stuff Saturday night as Friday. Two more girls showed up, as well as another friend of ours, and K returned after having left that morning for work.
Late at night about 6 of us walked down the road to a bridge and laid on the ground watching the stars. We saw two shooting stars and at least 5 satellites (which are really cool to see in the night sky). 2 by 2 we went back to the campsite and at that time I went to bed.

[LeslieandPaul]

Last Day
Sunday, July 31-I woke up when it was still dark out and was shaking uncontrollably from the cold so I went to S's car and slept in there until 7:30 am (although I kept waking up, but at least it was warm). We both woke up and started cleaning the campsite. The three other girls (K left again for work) got out of bed and watched us clean! We weren't very happy. We packed up and S and I left at 9:45. Luckily traffic was really light and he dropped me off around 11:30.
And that was my camping trip (censored version!).

[Maggie8202]

Hello,
We are planning a camping trip for the last week in August at Keen Lake in Penn. It is going to be our first camping trip together. I had grown up camping a lot, but have never gone with DH. We are also bringing our 2 year old Golden. I was wondering if you guys can help me come up with a list of things I need to bring. It has been a while and I don't want to forget anything.
So far I just got back from target and bought:

Coleman inflatable U chair
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0008FV0JC.16._AA260_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Coleman Bayside 7-Person Test with Pet den
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0008FV0ME.16._AA260_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

2 Greatland Chairs
http://web.fineliving.com/fine/images/plselects/images/LNS610_RvChairs_01.jpg

My parents have a lot of stuff and said I can take what I want, I know I will borrow their coleman stove and cooking things, and their lanterns. What are some other things? Do any of you have good meal ideas? I have a great chicken breast recipe and potatoes and am looking for some more suggestions. I am also wondering if you all sleep in sleeping bags and if you sleep on an air mattress or those pads. I have always hated sleeping bags and was thinking of just brings a comforter. What are your thoughts on that? It is summer in August....
Thanks,
Maggie

[LeslieandPaul]

Hey Maggie, I like air mattresses much better than Therma Rests (the small inflatable pads). I've got a queen size which was really nice to have. I had a blanket underneath me and unzipped my sleeping bag like a quilt. I wish I'd brought something extra for sleeping b.c I was freezing cold when I woke up in the morning-but I didn't have an extra body to keep me warm.
Don't forget propane for your lantern and stove! If you take an air mattress, remember a pump and the right size nozzle. Take lots of water-unless you know for a fact that there's drinkable water where you'll be.
Take hot dogs (if you eat them). They're so quick and easy. One of our friends only brought hot dogs, hot dog buns and pb for food (he used the pb on the buns for brekkie). I think hot dogs are the ultimate camping food.

[Hello Kitty]

LOL, I'd love to join, as DH and I are very happy campers, but we're remote/backpacker kind of campers. Unfortunately, there aren't very many truly remote sites (IE hike/bike in several miles to reach a site with absolutely nothing) left in the area. Many state forests/parks do not allow it anymore, which leaves you dealing with National forests or Indian reserve land. So if anyone knows of a truly remote site in IA, IL, or WI, let me know!!!

Our sleeping bags & packs are North Face, and a bunch of our gear is from REI. It seems their stuff is better suited for us, as it's more compact and light. We got a new tent from REI last year, but will be field testing it for the first time next week. It will sleep two of us + dog, and it has a vestibule for the bikes, which is pretty cool considering it's so small in the bag.

Because we do such remote camping, I get kind of bored and restless. DH will fish sometimes (albeit unsucessfully) and I will hike and read. I'm just so used to going all the time, it's hard for me to slow down.

[sublime311]

Leslie your trip looks fantastic and so much fun! Thanks for posting all those pics and journaling your adventures for us! It's so hot here that we have to travel pretty far up north to find decent weather for camping right now. I'm having camp envy!

[elladee]

Leslie, looks like you had a fun time. Great pictures!

Maggie, I love that blow up chair! When car camping, DH and I will do what Leslie mentioned. We bring one regular (non-mummy) sleeping bag and unzip that for the bottom. Then we bring a sheet and a blanket for on top of us. Keep an eye on the weather before you go and note what the low temps are going to be. Even in the summer, nights can get pretty chilly. We also just use our sleeping mats not an air mattress because we could never fit an airmattress in our tent. An air mattress will be more comfy, though.

Seb's Kitty, yay, another backpacker! Have you ever checked out the backpacker.com (http://www.backpacker.com) message boards? They have regional forums with some very knowlegable backpackers. I bet they can give you some good ideas of where to go around you.

[indie_girl]

Personal Items to be carried:

1. Sleeping bag/comforter
2. Clothes
3. Extra Socks
4. Shoes/sandals
5. Towels
6. Toiletries
7. Beachwear
8. Medicines
9. Glasses/lenses
10. Sunglasses/sun block
11. Ponchos
12. Music Cd’s/ Books
13. Fun games

Group Items- Misc

1. Radio/CD player -
2. Icebox
3. Barbeque brush set
4. Flashlights
5. Tarp Sheets(to protect against the rain)
6. Rope (to tie the sheets to the trees/roof)
7. Frying Pan
8. Mixing Bowls
9. Paper plates, cutlery, paper towels
10. Fire starter
11. Salsa Music
12. Games /Playing Cards
13. Tent equipment to be rented/purchased
14. Bikes to be Rented
15. Wood logs for camp fire
16. Soap for hand wash


Group Items- Food:

17. Coffee Maker
18. Sugar, tea bags/instant coffee/creamer
19. Salt and pepper
20. Eggs
21. Bread/butter/mayo
22. Meat for Barbeque
23. Beer
24. Drinks
25. Ice
26. Misc stuff like patties, hot dogs, buns etc
27. Ketchup and Mayo

[sublime311]

Hello,
We are planning a camping trip for the last week in August at Keen Lake in Penn.

Maggie! I was showing DH Leslie's pics and when we got to your post he said "wait!" He intently read your post and said "no way!" He said "Keen Lake" is within walking distance of where he lived growing up! He said they would go there to "pick up chicks" when he was a teenager! Too funny.

Anyway, we're all about air mattresses. We had a coleman, but it didn't keep the air very well, so we bought an aerobed - no problems so far. Depending on the time of year, we usually take our sleeping bags (zip them together to make one big bag) and sleep on top of the air mattress with them - the bed is extra comfy!

For food, we're all about stews cooked in a dutch oven. I usually bring a bunch of stuff we like:

ground beef
onions
green peppers
celery
carrots
potatoes
green beans
fave seasonings
corn
and either:
Spicy V8 and Stewed tomatoes
or:
cream of mushroom soup

Cook and drain the ground beef and add the rest (starting with the hard veggies first)! Simple.

For breakfast we love pancakes and bacon! I can't remember what brand it is but we love the pancake mix that comes in a bottle - just add water, shake and pour! No extra dishes to wash!

Also, a little cheesy, but you GOTTA have some s'mores! Plus, graham crackers, marshmellows and chocolate make great snacks on their own.

If you're planning on hiking you'll also want some GORP (Good Old Raisins and Peanuts) as trail food:

Sunny GORP
—Backpacker Magazine

1 cup salted peanuts (or dried roasted peanuts)
1 cup raisins
1 cup roasted sunflower kernels
1 cup M&M;'s

Mix in a large Zip lock bag and eat on the trail.

Mixed GORP

1 cup mixed nuts (or dried roasted mixed nuts)
1 cup dried Fruit Bits
1 cup M&Ms;
1 cup roasted sunflower kernels

Mix in a large Zip lock bag and eat on the trail.

Energy Balls—The Leader, June/July 1994

Nothing re-charges the body and encourages tired hikers faster than a quick snack on the trail. Try these "energy balls".

Mix together
1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup peanut butter,
1 3/4 cups chopped figs, and
1 cup chopped apricots.

Roll into balls. Recipe should make about 33 servings, each weighing 0.9 oz.
(Calories per serving: 72; shelf life: 14 days.)

Other items to take if you have 'em:

Closed in screen cover for the food area. We've had a couple trips ruined by insects attacking us while we cooked and ate.

I really like our tent light. It runs on batteries and attaches to the tent wall using a magnet (one part goes on the outside of the tent, and the light goes on the inside). It actually puts off lots of light.

Insect repellent for yourself and we also use a coil that burns kind of like incense at our food table. Can you tell I have an insect aversion!?

Have fun!

[Becki1010]

How did i miss this thread!? I LOVE camping! I hardly ever get to do it anymore but i still love it! I was camping up in Lake Placid a few weekends ago for my best friend's Ironman race--don't have any pics to take! We tented it with some people we had just met and the guy snored soooo bad that i ended up sleeping in my car! LOL

Here are some from Acadia National Park in Maine (it was a few years ago)! I went with a childhood friend and we had such a ball!
We made my new favorite smores' that i have passed on to many people since....of course the graham cracker and marshmallow--> but use a reeses peanut butter cup instead of the hershey chocolate! YUM! :p

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce931fe43a195800000016108QaOGzdoyb2
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce931f194fd8fb00000016108QaOGzdoyb2
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d620b3127cce931f0e74985300000035108QaOGzdoyb2

[Maggie8202]

Wow! Thanks for all of the replies. We are getting so excited. Dh told me last night that he wants to buy new sleeping bags, and I told him when I went to Target there were so many different types I really needed his input on which ones to buy. I think I will get 2 and like you suggested open it up and use them like blankets. I am taking notes and am totally going to try some of these ideas out!

sublime311: That is too funny. What were his thoughts about the place? We are going with a lot of other couples and one other dog. Someone found it and thought we would give it a try. I have always liked the more secluded sites and am hoping it will be like that. I once went camping at Bish Bash falls upstate NY, and it is a great location and the falls are so gorgeous, but the sites were right on top of eachother.

[sublime311]

sublime311: That is too funny. What were his thoughts about the place?

He said Kenn Lake is VERY secluded and beautiful! He said there is a "rail to trail" project underway there that is transforming railroad tracks into trails. He said there are some within a 10 mile radius of the lake, but couldn't give specifics. He said as far as non-camping activities (read: city life) there is nothing to recommend - Waymart/Honesdale doesn't have much going on. He also couldn't recommend anywhere to eat. Sorry, he's not much help!

I think you're going to have a blast! :D

[sublime311]

How did i miss this thread!? I LOVE camping!

Chica!! My long lost buddy! I don't think I knew you guys were campers! Look at you being all rugged putting up your tent! ;) Super cute!

[sublime311]

QUESTION: Do you think that Travel is the best forum for this thread or should I ask to have it moved to "Misc Groups" or somewhere else?? Most of the Travel threads seems to be re: foreign countries. What do you think?

[MaineBelle]

Ooh - I love camping! So far, we have only done car camping. I would like to try some back country, but we have been having so much fun car camping. We went to Acadia Nat'l park in July for a long weekend. We stayed at Somes Sound View Campground and had this great site right on the water!! We loved it there so much, we are planning on going again in September. We also did some car camping in Yellowstone in June. There you have to be extra careful about bears.

Here is my all-time favorite recipe for camping:
Banana Boats:

Bananas
Marshmallows (mini-ones or regular size ones ripped into smaller pieces)
Milk chocolate broken into bite size pieces- I usually get one of those big bars

This sounds confusing, but it is really simple...Take a banana with the peel on and set it on the table. Using a knife, make a cut longways down the center top of the banana, through the top peel and some of the banana, but do not go all the way through, do not cut the banana in half. Now, take the chocolate and marshmallow and stick it in between the banana and the peel and into the slit in the banana, anywhere you can. Wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil and put in on the fire until the banana gets soft and gooey. About 10 minutes or so (flip it around in between). Eat with a spoon!

[sublime311]

Banana Boats:

Yummy! That sounds sooooo good!

Welcome to the thread, MaineBelle! DH and I have been car camping, too! DH is desperate to go backpacking, but I'm just not that low-maintenance! I need a bathroom! lol

[boilermaker]

Leslie, it looks like you had a great trip! Great Pictures.

A few random comments...since we typically car camp, I love my air mattress. But the few times we have backpacked, I make do with the camp pad.

I'm not big into cooking while camping either, so I make the easiest stuff I can get away with. Usually dry cereal and bananas for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and then some of my dinner staples are chili cheese dogs, hamburgers prewrapped in foil and thrown into the coals to cook, or just a pot of velveeta shells & cheese. If we're with a group, we might splurge and get some steaks to throw on the fire one night.

Other random comment...I think this thread is perfectly fine right here. I consider camping to be travel...I leave my house to do it right :)

I'm a little disappointed, we were supposed to meet up with one of my best friends from college to camp over labor day. But her parents ended up planning a family get together that weekend and she had to cancel. Now, I'm not sure if we'll go by ourselves or just cancel the trip. None of our OH friends camp so we can't really just go with someone else. We do have a Jeep/camp trip in Oct, but that's it. I was so looking forward to it :(

[She-Ra]

I just stumbled upon this thread and wanted to mention Yogi Bear's Jellystone parks. Great for families. About 70 parks in The US & Canada.

Yogi Bear Camgrounds (www.Campjellystone.com)

[Maggie8202]

Cross posted from my journal...

Back from Camping at Keen Lake, here are some pictures. I will be back tomorrow with updates.

Haley and I smiling for the camera
http://www.shutterfly.com/jsp/proceserv.jsp?uid=8Aat2jhk4cs-&rostate=67b0de21b8c914b1354c&co=-1&js=1125280586980&ps=1&rs=6

Haley spent a little over 4 hours in the lake. She did not come out ONCE. I love this picture of her
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d609b3127cce938fe68c55c800000016108Aat2jhk4cs-

This is the barn fire area
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d609b3127cce938fe4cb558e00000016108Aat2jhk4cs-

Our campsite
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d609b3127cce938fe251d42700000016108Aat2jhk4cs-

[sublime311]

Cross posted from my journal...

Back from Camping at Keen Lake, here are some pictures. I will be back tomorrow with updates.
Oooo, can't wait! I'll live through all you lucky ladies that have cool woodsy areas to camp in!

[udsweetpea]

I'm going to Ohiopyle near Pittsburgh September 9-11. My first time camping! I'm so glad I found this site... so many great hints and tips. I can't wait to come back from my trip and post pictures!!!

[elladee]

Nice pictures, Maggie! Looks like you guys (esp Haley) had a blast!

udsweetpea, I love Ohiopyle, especially in the fall. In fact it was the first place DH and I ever went camping together. I bet you'll have a great time.

[dzil]

What a great thread! I love camping. I've camped all over the US, mostly east of the Mississippi. Most recently my husband and I camped at Acadia in Maine and the Florida Keys. They were very different experiences. :p Acadia definitely makes my list of favorite parks. It is beautiful, I can't recommend it enough. Camping in Florida is very different. We have a pretty short camping season- camping from May-October is just unbearable IMO. We camped near Key West. It really wasn't much fun. Space is very limited, which is probably why this site cost $55 a night (and we got a site without electricity or a water view, those were extra).

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a115/lizblog/2004/PDRM0014.jpg

My husband had never camped prior to meeting me. At first he wasn't too fond of it, but I think he's now getting into it. I'm looking forward to many years of camping together. :)

[MaineBelle]

We're heading up to Acadia for some camping over labor day weekend. I can't wait - it is our second time to go up there this summer - can you tell we like it there? We are staying at the Mt. Desert Campground for Fri-Mon and then we are checking into a nice hotel to treat ourselves Tuesday and Wednesday. We are planning on doing lots of hiking and biking, and going on a whale watch. The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect. I'll post pictures when we return.

[sublime311]

Cross posted from my journal...

Back from Camping at Keen Lake, here are some pictures. I will be back tomorrow with updates.
Hey! We were promised updates! ;)

[sublime311]

We're heading up to Acadia for some camping over labor day weekend. I can't wait - it is our second time to go up there this summer - can you tell we like it there? We are staying at the Mt. Desert Campground for Fri-Mon and then we are checking into a nice hotel to treat ourselves Tuesday and Wednesday. We are planning on doing lots of hiking and biking, and going on a whale watch. The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect. I'll post pictures when we return.
Can't wait for pictures! Hope you had a blast! BTW, where is Acadia??

[beachlvr]

I love camping! We went three times this summer, all in Northern California. Here is a picture of the sunset from our tent in Lake Tahoe:

http://static.flickr.com/23/33065104_33fcc136df_m.jpg

Here is the creek at Portola Redwoods State Park:

http://static.flickr.com/10/16351338_717cb60057.jpg?v=0

And here's my dog on his first camping trip:

http://static.flickr.com/11/16351321_f1434fbc94_m.jpg

[Maggie8202]

Sorry I have been MIA. School started last Thursday and I have just been so tierd! Anyways..... here is the recap copied from my journal...

Friday Night
We were supposed to leave at 3 to try and beat island traffic going into NYC. Of course that didn't happen. At around 3 I finally got around to mapquesting the directions and found out it would be AT LEAST 3 hours but more like a 4 hour drive!! We thought 2 1/2 at most. So I started to get a little stressed out but we still had packing to do. We finally left at 5:45. I wish I took a picture of the car, but lets just say there was no room to even breathe!! Haley had a little spot in the back seat and everything even the leeping bags were just piled and squished everywhere.

We made it to the Throggs Neck brigde in about 45 minutes which was good timing and then that is when we hit traffic for the GW. We turned on 1010 winds and heard the delay was 2 hours!! So I took out the map and got us off and onto 87 where were took another brigde higher on the Hudson to 84 across. I was so proud at how I took us some crazy back streets and everything worked out PERFECT!! We stopped at a rest stop when we first got on 87. It was Haley's first experience in a parking garage and she was pretty freaked out. I took her to the dog walk area and she didn't go but had a fantastic time smelling everything. At this point it was getting dark quick and we wanted to make it as far as we could in the daylight.

Once on 84 the driving was great, not a lot of cars and it was smooth driving until we got to route 6. The directions never mentioned this was a 2 way road for 30 miles that had a million and a half "S" turns. Even though it was a very slow last hour, the drive was cool through old mountain towns. Nothing like Long Island.

We finally arrived at around 10:30pm. Haley got freaked again when we opened up the door for her to get out. But once she saw Lexi (SIL's dog) she was fine. We left the lights on the Jeep on and set up tent. It went up one two three and I made my bed up and unpacked. We weren't the last ones there, and 3 other couples had arrived after us. No one had expected a 4 hour drive!!

We then grilled and had chicken patties and all sorts of stuff. We made a huge barn fire that was out of this world. I went to bed at around 1, because I was so tierd. Best of all Haley actually slept in her doggie den, like she knew it was just for her. She came into bed with us at around 4 because she was cold. Our double high air mattress by coleman was fantastic. Just so comfortable:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00019JKBU.16._AA260_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


Saturday

We woke up at around 10:00. When Haley got out of the tent and saw the lake was just 5 feet from the tent she freaked out!! She went right in and was the happiest puppy in the world. I got her out so I could feed her and then and hour later we let Haley and Lexi go crazy in the water. They really had a blast. A couple of campsites down there was a guy and he had an anatolian shepherd. Here is a picture because I have never heard of this type of dog before:
http://www.anatoliandog.org/DOGS3.JPG

He was 150 pounds and still growing!! His back was up to my waist and his head was past my boobs!! He was just gorgeous and played very nicely with our dogs, even though it made them look like shrimps!!
Haley spent the remainder of her day in the water. We relaxed and just hung out at the campsite, and had another barnfire at night.

Sunday

At around 5am it started raining and didn't stop until about 10 am the next morning. We woke up at 9 am and started packing. It was so nasty and I just felt gross sleeping in the wetness all night. We packed up everything in about an hour and headed home. On the way home we encountered rain like I had never seen before. Paul said in the Pocono Mountains it was sometimes really bad. It stopped raining once we got to the Deleware Water gap. We had to make a bunch of stop because Haley had drank too much lake water and had a BAD belly problem. Poor girl was sooo sad. We took the Holland tunnel back because of delays on the GW again, and Haley got to see NYC for the first time. She was really amazed at all the action! We got home around 3 and took a long nap.

BTW: The coleman blow up chairs were awesome. Everyone wanted to sit in them!

Keen Lake was beautiful. We stayed in an area called pioneer so it was great, not many people around except for our group. The only draw back was the bathroom was a mile away. There was an outhouse close, but you couldn't even walk by it! The other areas at keen lake were very populated. I am glad we got the spaces that we did. It truely was a beautiful place, next time we go camping we need more time, and hopfully go to a place that is a little closer.

I really did not take enough pics :(

I think that is it!

[sublime311]

Maggie sounds like you had an awesome time!! I still have yet to visit DH's hometown, but hopefully, next year we will get the opportunity. I know it's beautiful!

Thanks for sharing with us!

[sublime311]

Wondering if anyone has experience with Tilley Endurables (http://www.tilley.com/home.asp?countryCode=US)? I was looking for a good hiking hat a few months ago and came across this company. Apparently, these are the best "adventure" hats out there. Anyone have any experience with them?

[sublime311]

We've been quiet for a while!

The new Backpacker magazine (http://www.backpacker.com/)should be out on the stands by now - it's a special collectors edition called "The National Parks Issue". The issue has tons of great expert information. Pick it up for a good read.

[boilermaker]

Thanks for the tip sublime. I'm going to look for that magazine..

and thanks for bumping this thread up, we needed it :)

[Hello Kitty]

I'll have to checkout that Backpacker mag - thanks for the heads up.

We finally went camping last weekend and are going to make a point to go more often starting in the Spring, esp now we know our dog loves it. THe overnight low was 39, and we were more than adequately prepared - I was actually hot during the night. I'd like to go down to 35, but DH isn't too keen on that.

Since we're always on the lookout for truly remote camping sites, we're going to give some other state parks a try. Anyway, here are some pics (sorry they're so dark):

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C793523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3C63%3D%3B3% 3C%3D3232%3C63%3A4%3B88%3Cnu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C793523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3C63%3D%3B3% 3C%3D3232%3C63%3A4%3B894nu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C793523232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D685%3D79%3C %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B72%3B436%3B4ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C793523232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D685%3D79%3C %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B72%3B436%3A5ot1lsi

[SQ2]

*Subscribing*

DH and I love camping. He used to backpack with his dad when he was younger (up in Baxter State Park in Maine and many places in New Hampshire) and car camp as well. I’ve never been backpacking but have car camped with my family in Washington State since I was in diapers. Since moving to to the Midwest we have only been camping twice. :( Last year a miserable trip 4th of July weekend along the Mississippi river – tons of bugs, raining, and too hot) but recently we went up to Door County, WI at Peninsula State Park.

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C7%3A4323232%7Ffp46%3Dot%3E2328%3D43%3C%3D734 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3C%3A%3C293%3A9ot1lsi
(This tent was one of our favorite wedding presents!)

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C7%3A4323232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2328%3D43%3C%3D734 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3C%3A%3C2%3B5%3A4ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C7%3A4323232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2328%3D43%3C%3D734 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3C%3A%3C293%3B%3Aot1lsi

Cool pic of campfire smoke and sunlight…
http://images.snapfish.com/344%3C7%3A4323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2328%3D43%3C%3D734 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A%3C%3A%3C293%3C2ot1lsi


Gorgeous area, but unfortunately too many people everywhere. I’m more used to camping in remote locations. My family and I used to go camping every year in Eastern Washington at Steamboat Rock (http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Steamboat+Rock&pageno=1) Heaven. I loved it there. I would love to try backpacking someday. I know DH is eager to do that with our kids when they are old enough (when we have kids, that is). I just love the outdoors and cooking over a fire and waking up in a tent in the morning. I much prefer more rustic campsites and I know this sounds weird but I prefer outhouses to regular flush bathrooms with sinks. For some reason real bathrooms at campsites gross me out.

One of my favorite camping meals and one I remember vividly from my childhood is shish kabobs cooked over the fire on skewers. You get them all ready at home (peppers, onions, steak/chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.) and premarinate them. (I should post the recipe sometime.)Then cook over the fire and serve with rice and pre-made fruit salad. We’d always have yummy fresh meals the first night and then my favorite end of camping meal was canned stew! Of course, there’s always hot dogs and s’mores! (Becki1010, I’m very intrigued by the Reese’s idea. Sounds yummy!)

Looking forward to chatting more about camping with you gals! :D

[elladee]

Seb's Kitty, glad to hear the trip was a success and the dog liked it!

SQ2, Welcome!
For some reason real bathrooms at campsites gross me out.
Me too! I much prefer squatting behind a tree than using some campsite bathrooms I've seen. Gorgeous pictures by the way.

[sublime311]

Posting for a bump!

I'm in Tucson so we can pretty much camp year around (though I prefer not to camp during the summer - it's too hot). Can you camp year around in the colder climates?!

[emmjay]

People go camping here (Colorado) all winter. We do have a 4-season tent, so we have talked about going winter camping. We've also thought about getting some snowshoes so we can snowshoe in somewhere and camp for a night or two.

Problem is, we snowboard/ski most weekends during the winter/early spring so we don't ever have a free weekend!

[sublime311]

People go camping here (Colorado) all winter. We do have a 4-season tent, so we have talked about going winter camping. We've also thought about getting some snowshoes so we can snowshoe in somewhere and camp for a night or two.

Problem is, we snowboard/ski most weekends during the winter/early spring so we don't ever have a free weekend!
Maybe you could work snowboarding and sking into a camping trip!

[sublime311]

We need a new tent, so I'm thinking of getting DH one for Christmas. Can you recommend a great, yet reasonably priced tent? We already have an awesome 2-person Kelty tent for backpacking, but what we need is a fairly large one that will accomodate a queen size aerobed and up to two large dog crates, plus supplies. Our old tent is a Hillary tent from Sears. It's OK, but two of the poles broke after about 5 uses - not cool. Also, there is a rain tarp for the top because it's just a screen - not ideal for cold weather camping! We froze our booties off!

TIA!! :)

[sublime311]

We're planning our first camping trip of the year for the last weekend in January. We're staying close to home for this one. Does anyone else have a trip coming up?

[beachlvr]

Our tent is from Paha Que. It's amazing. And I think it will last forever, because the quality is outstanding.

[beachlvr]

Does anyone else have a trip coming up?.

It rains too much here to go camping in the winter. Our tent would float away. We'll probably take our first trip over Memorial Day weekend.

I am in charge of planning our church camping trip. I got us a great spot up in wine country (we live in Northern CA). I'm looking forward to that trip in June.

[QPDoll]

Boilermaker - did I read correctly that you Jeep? (and Moab on Easter Weekend?? cool!)

DH and I met Jeepin, I have a TJ, he has a YJ.

We do most of our camping on Jeep trips. We haven't made it to Moab or anything like that, but we go down to Tillamook a couple times a year in addition to local wheelin/camping trips up here in Washington. (Evans Creek, Tahuya, Liberty Hills, among others).

We tent camp from time to time, but we also have a 1978 15" Wilderness travel trailer that we drag along with us. It was my Grandparents and we have been restoring it. It was in perfect condition until my ex boyfriend bought it and wrecked it. I bought it from him and me and my DH have done mainly maintenance and cosmetic work to it. Its nice to have because it rains so much here!

I grew up camping, and took our twin boys camping when they were just 2 months old. We plan on lots more trips this upcoming season!

[LeslieandPaul]

We got camping gear for Christmas! A big cooler, as well as a small one, some buckets, and utensils. We got a stove, lantern and tent for the wedding. Now I can't wait until we go camping next summer!!!

[elladee]

Does anyone else have a trip coming up?

Sadly, no. I'm not much for winter camping. There are lots of things I'll put up with, but winter camping isn't really one of them. I just can't seem to get over baring my rear end to squat in a snow pile to pee.

I am looking forward to the camping season, though. We got therma-rests for Christmas. My bones don't like sleeping on the bare ground anymore. We also got a GPS unit from my parents. DH is in love with it. My little brother has the same one, so he has all the maps, but he is out of town for the next couple weeks. It's killing DH that he can't fully set it up.

[AHammer]

Hi all, I'm subscribing. DH and I have gone on a few camping trips together here in TX, most notably Enchanted Rock (sweet!) and Big Bend NP (other than Hawaii, prettiest place I've ever been). We love camping but we're not experts by any means, so it's always an adventure :-D

[boilermaker]

Hey this thread is hopping!!

QP, yes, we have Jeeps. We have 2 YJs (an 87 & 89). We did Moab for the first time last year and loved it so much we will definitely be back this year. I have heard great things about the Jeeping in WA though. How cool that you and your DH met jeeping! When we lived in TX, all of our Jeep trips were associated with camping but now our OH Jeep club is too snobby for that and they always go places where there are hotels :rolleyes: I have to say, like everyone else on this board, I lurk in the twinmammas thread and your boys are ADORABLE!!!!

AHammer, we lived in TX for 3 years and camped everywhere. I highly recommend Colorado Bend SP as well. It's in Hill Country and has really nice river sights and a great hike up to some natural water pools. We loved Big Bend!!!

As for us, so far we have 2 camping trips planned. We will be staying in rough cabins in Utah for the Jeep Safari again, so I count it as camping. Also, we are meeting friends for Memorial Day weekend at Red River in Kentucky. We're also thinking of a spring trip since it seems that suddenly all of our friends like camping (I don't believe that they have ever been, but whatever).

Lisa, I have to say, I gave up on ground sleeping years ago. I won't go anywhere without my air mattress.

As for tents, we have a 2 person Kelty, but I just picked this one...kind of was thinking of it as a gift for Christmas but didn't end up giving it. Now I am thinking of just keeping it for when we have friends or something go with us. I haven't used it yet, so I have no idea if it will hold up to anything...
Coleman Tent (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009N0P9O/qid=1135994625/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7743020-4547203?v=glance&s=sporting-goods&n=507846)

[AHammer]

boilermaker,

thanks for the recommendation for colorado bend sp -- we're in the DFW area and that would be a great distance for some of the 3 day weekends we have. we're hoping to take a trip to big bend sometime in 2006, but it's hard for DH to get enough time off work to make it worth it.

[boilermaker]

AHammer, glad I could help :) One thing DH reminded me of...at Colorado Bend, there is a ranger guided tour to a waterfall that we did. I don't remember if you had to sign up or just show up. But it was good an definitely worth doing. Plus we met some other people on the hike (we did it the first morning we were there) that we then hung out with at the water pools later in the weekend.

[AHammer]

AHammer, glad I could help :) One thing DH reminded me of...at Colorado Bend, there is a ranger guided tour to a waterfall that we did. I don't remember if you had to sign up or just show up. But it was good an definitely worth doing. Plus we met some other people on the hike (we did it the first morning we were there) that we then hung out with at the water pools later in the weekend.

Sounds great!! I mentioned it to DH yesterday and he seems interested :)

[KarenInSF]

Yay! I'm so excited to have found this thread. Hopefully it will become a bit more active when summer gets closer. My husband I LOVE to camp - it's one of our favorite things to do. We live in N California, so there are tons of places to go, but reservations are getting so hard to get! With the addition of our new little tax exemption, I fear our camping trips will decrease (for a little while, anyway.) Because of the baby, we plan to start out camping this summer in cabins. Here's a few of our favorite "indoor" camping locations:

This one is an old fire lookout that sits atop Lake Shasta and the McCloud river. The lookout:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df04b3127cce968a8e257fae00000015108BYuGzRw0a0

As you can see, its all windows with AMAZING views. Here's one view of the McCloud river (great fishing):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df04b3127cce968a8e397fb200000016108BYuGzRw0a0

A trip here will have to wait a bit longer, as you have to hike in the last 1/2 mile. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but the hike is straight up. Don't know how we'll do that with a baby and all the gear!

Another favorite is Mt Tamalpais in Marin. It over looks the beach. There are amazine tidepools and hotsprings. We don't go in the water, not only is it freezing, but there are also great whites hunting the seals that hang out in the bay.The cabins are rustic (no running water, toilets) but they're not bad and the views are fantastic. Here's a pic of my DH and friends outside our cabin (I'm taking the pic). Can you guess which one is my Dead head husband?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df04b3127cce968a8f433f5000000016108BYuGzRw0a0

I can't wait to hear about all the great trips coming up!

Karen

[sublime311]

Hey Karen! Welcome! I AM SOOOO jealous of your location! I would LOVE to camp in N. CA. DH will do it one, day!

We're going camping this weekend. Of course, we're not going anywhere NEAR as photogenic, but I'll be sure to post pics when I get back on Sunday.

[AHammer]

Hey campers!

DH and I have decided to go to yellowstone/grand teton this summer. we will have 3 nights in yellowstone and 1 night in grand teton. I already know that's not nearly enough time to see everything and enjoy it, but oh well, DH has to have a REAL job where he doesn't have the whole summer off like me :rolleyes:

Anyway, we're open to recommendation on specific camp sites / lodges. we want to camp two nights in yell, then one in a lodge, then camp in teton. for the lodging, we're looking for something cheap but with a private bathroom.

please offer us some advice!! We want to book within a week :-D

amy

[Sarah6690]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some suggestions. DH has been camping his whole life... while I on the other hand have only been once. We are planning on spending a lot of time camping this summer though, and I am really excited. But what are the things that you would most recommend having. DH would be fine as long as he had somewhere to sleep and something to drink. :rolleyes: I need more stuff! :p As of now, we have a tent, air mattress, lantern... and I think that's about it. Any ideas?

[QPDoll]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some suggestions. DH has been camping his whole life... while I on the other hand have only been once. We are planning on spending a lot of time camping this summer though, and I am really excited. But what are the things that you would most recommend having. DH would be fine as long as he had somewhere to sleep and something to drink. :rolleyes: I need more stuff! :p As of now, we have a tent, air mattress, lantern... and I think that's about it. Any ideas?

a cooler, a tote to put paper plates and food stuff in (don't leave it in your tent, leave it in your car), and marshmellow roasting sticks!

[ummserious]

Hi, My husband and I are big campers so I figured I should join this thread! It is way too early for us to be thinking of any trips yet being in Massachusetts and my husband needs knee surgery so I don't know what we'll do this year.

AHammer I've been camping in both the Tetons and Yellowstone and they are truly gorgeous places to go. FWIW I enjoyed the Tetons more for both hiking and camping. The scenery is as beautiful as Yellowstone but because it lacks the name recognition as well as some of the features like Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful it was considerably less crowded everywhere. (we were probably there in mid-June but a long time ago) I don't remember particulars on where we camped and hiked but we didn't get any reccomendations and had a great time.

Sarah We're really minimum campers so I am not a good person to suggest things that are needed. You already have an air mattress and I usually tell newer campers to buy a good sleeping bag and something for underneath so that they aren't terribly uncomfortable. Besides that, the only necessity beyond the obvious ones you have is a headlamp. It is so helpful to have that light on your head so your hands are free. I also find ways to use it while not camping too, they are great!

[QPDoll]

QP, yes, we have Jeeps. We have 2 YJs (an 87 & 89). We did Moab for the first time last year and loved it so much we will definitely be back this year. I have heard great things about the Jeeping in WA though. How cool that you and your DH met jeeping! When we lived in TX, all of our Jeep trips were associated with camping but now our OH Jeep club is too snobby for that and they always go places where there are hotels :rolleyes: I have to say, like everyone else on this board, I lurk in the twinmammas thread and your boys are ADORABLE!!!!

"real Jeeps have round headlights" LMAO J/K. DH has a 92 YJ. So jealous! I would LOVE to wheel Moab, and the Rubi. Thats my DHs dream vacation, to wheel both places, and maybe throw in Farmington, NM, too. Jeeping up here is pretty awesome though. Most of the trails we frequent are in the mountains with tall trees, mud and ravines. I don't really do rocks though, since Im still pretty short (I only have a 2" spacer lift...but I have a 3" lift coming, and this year, I get bigger tires. I currently run 30's. DH runs 36" swampers).
Jeeping trips with hotels?? Bwhahaha....Although, after a muddy weekend on the trail, a hot shower would be nice. We get rained on a lot in the early season. Rain = sloppy mud.
Yeah, we met Jeeping. We actually first met on http://jeepingsingles.com, but we ran in the same circles, so we were bound to meet sooner or later.
We belong to http://timbertamers.com, and http://quadrapaws.org. We are getting ready to participate in http://www.teamtrophychallenge.com. (Well, DH competes on a team, I sit around with the girls *rolleyes*, Its the one run I don't participate in because of my lack of mechanical abilities. LOL)

Here are a couple of places we camp and wheel:

Evans Creek: (me in my Jeep, Mt. Rainier behind me. I grew up about 10 miles from here)
http://tinaandtravis.com/images/awesome.jpg
Evans again:
http://tinaandtravis.com/images/thats_me.jpg
coming off the trail at Funny Rocks in Eastern WA.
http://tinaandtravis.com/images/suv3_jeeps_heading_down_from_funny_rocks.jpg
DH and me at funny rocks, trail leaders at the SUV Event #3
http://tinaandtravis.com/images/travis_and_tina_at_moon_rocks_2.jpg
and the famous pic of me on my first run with the QuadraPaws (QP...get it?)
http://home.comcast.net/~quadrapaws/images/Members/tina2.jpg

and thanks for the compliments on the boys. I forget that people lurk in the thread, although I don't often post there, mostly on LJ. We took them wheeling for the first time when they were 6 weeks old. Really looking forward to the season starting here so we can get out again with them. They will be one in July.
That was before any lift, real tires or any other mod.

[QPDoll]

holy hell those are big. Sorry!!!

[AHammer]

AHammer I've been camping in both the Tetons and Yellowstone and they are truly gorgeous places to go. FWIW I enjoyed the Tetons more for both hiking and camping. The scenery is as beautiful as Yellowstone but because it lacks the name recognition as well as some of the features like Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful it was considerably less crowded everywhere. (we were probably there in mid-June but a long time ago) I don't remember particulars on where we camped and hiked but we didn't get any reccomendations and had a great time.



Thanks for the tips!!!

[Lizzy]

Any recommendations for where to camp in the Southeast? I have camped around Florida, in Gulf Shores, AL, and in the Smoky Mountains. Otherwise I really haven't camped much in my region! I live in Atlanta and I'm looking for a fun place to camp for a weekend in May, something within a five hour drive from home. Any ideas? While I'd like to go back to the Smoky Mountains sometime, we were there over Christmas, so that's out.

[boilermaker]

QP, I missed your jeep pics earlier. I now get the QPgirl name :)
Now, as for the "real Jeeps have round headlights comment.. :rolleyes: . I notice your green jeep has square ones :) I love the pics. I'll have new ones to post when we get back from Moab (only 5 weeks left!). DH is doing serious modification to the 87 (new axles, new lockers, new roll cage, seats & harness, new tires & wheels). It's been an expensive winter.

I'm glad to hear you take the boys out. That is one thing we are a little concerned about. Rock crawling is pretty rough and we figure that "never shake a baby" thing rules out most wheeling with kids. So we are thinking of selling the 89 and upgrading to a mid-90s TJ and making it a little softer.

I'll have to get more info from you on that team challenge. It looks really neat! And your pics are definitely making me want the season to be here already.

[QPDoll]

QP, I missed your jeep pics earlier. I now get the QPgirl name :)
Now, as for the "real Jeeps have round headlights comment.. :rolleyes: . I notice your green jeep has square ones :) I love the pics. I'll have new ones to post when we get back from Moab (only 5 weeks left!). DH is doing serious modification to the 87 (new axles, new lockers, new roll cage, seats & harness, new tires & wheels). It's been an expensive winter.

I'm glad to hear you take the boys out. That is one thing we are a little concerned about. Rock crawling is pretty rough and we figure that "never shake a baby" thing rules out most wheeling with kids. So we are thinking of selling the 89 and upgrading to a mid-90s TJ and making it a little softer.

I'll have to get more info from you on that team challenge. It looks really neat! And your pics are definitely making me want the season to be here already.

Have you considered just replacing your leaf springs with coils, or at least going coils in the rear like an XJ has? Thats a total sweet set-up. I have seen several TJs actually swapping out the coils in the front and converting to leafs, just keeping the coils in the rear. I don't run rock though: not the type of trail thats up here. After a year or two though, the head control shouldn't be too much of a problem. We just took the easy trails or bypasses for the rough stuff when we had the boys out at 6 weeks.

The Trophy Challenge at TSF: more info here: http://www.teamtrophychallenge.com/

I was j/k on the headlights crack. DH has a YJ.
I hear ya on the expensive winter! We are currently in the process of lifting my Jeep. I just bought 33x12.50 BFGs for mine, and a 3" coil lift with a 1.5" spacer lift (spacer lift to make up for the weight of the bumpers and winch), oh, and new shocks (Rancho RSX), I wanted Edelbrocks, but DH forgot that when he ordered them.

Other mods for next weekend are the drive shaft, and adding an slip-yoke-eliminator (SYE) and on-board air (OBA). Also picked up all new control arms for my Jeep yesterday. And a few other fine tuneing things to go along with the lift are still needed. Next, its axles, gears and lockers; but Im debating on which way to go. I think I want to get Grand Waggy axles under me, and Im not sure if I want to go ARB lockers, the new cable system or a standard Detroit.

DH also needed tires for his Jeep, so he has new 36" biasply swampers TSXs. (I think they are the TSXs: its the ones with the lugs on the sidewalls).

Get to test it all out in a couple of weeks.

When do you leave for Moab? Will you share your pics when you get back???

[boilermaker]

Heehee, maybe we should start a Jeep thread :)

We actually have coils on the 89 vs the leaf springs. DH is wanting to put air springs on the 87 with all these modifications. I would also like a nicer TJ to use as a summer vehicle.

I checked out that Team Trophy website but I'm looking forward to seeing your pics. I didn't get a good idea of what the various obstacles were. I think we did something similar in Texas, but it's a little harder to do here in OH.

I will definitely post pics of our Moab trip. The safari is April 9th-14th this year. I have few in my journal of last years's trip..but the jeep was little then. I'm really looking forward to getting out and playing. You have to post pics of yours too when you get everything done!

[QPDoll]

Sure, lets start a Jeep thread and leave the campers alone without the Jeep talk. LOL I have actually ran across a couple of other gals on CC who Jeep. Amazing. Never did find anyone on WC who was into it.

We are still debating on if we are going to TTT this year. Our boys are 7 months old, and Im not sure Im up to taking them camping while DH is out on the trail for two days straight.
I can't describe the course, but I can get DH to tell me more.

Ahoo...your going on the Safari. Very cool. I have a lot of online friends who go down to it.

[elladee]

I agree you two, start your own thread! :p This is enough crazy jeep talk... let's get back to camping. :D

So anyone with summer plans yet????

DH and I have planned our first camping trip. We're going to Allegany State Park in southern New York State in June.
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/images/allegany.jpg
We want to wait until the nights get a little warmer first because this will be our first trip with our DD. She'll be 6 months old when we go. Our backpack carrier is supposed to come today, can't wait to play with that. (Where oh where is the FedEx man???) I am super excited to start her camping. We're normally backpackers, but wanted somplace we could drive into for this first trip in case we need to bail in the middle of the night. I'm excited about Allegany because they have a section that's for tent camping only. No big campers with lights on all night... We're hoping to go for two nights so we can get lots of hiking in during the day.

[KarenInSF]

Isn't it great that the prime camping season is almost upon us! We have had about 40 days straight of rain in NorCal - so we're going stir crazy here. Lisa, our first trip with our daughter (who will be 7 months) is in June at Butano State Park, which is a redwoods park near Santa Cruz, CA. Kind of a mellow drive in, easy access site - which is what we need for this first excursion. What kind of pack did you get? We've got to get on that. Yay for camping! (Boo for having to make reservations for all the good places 6 mos in advance!)

[elladee]

Karen, we got a Sherpani Rumba.

http://images.rei.com/media/463138.jpg

We were going back and forth between that and the Kelty Adventure pack (the two most serious packs sold at REI). We ultimately decided on the Sherpani because it have quite a bit more storage capacity and a higher weight limit that the Kelty.

[boilermaker]

Well, we had our first camping trip of the year last week. Now, it was cheating because we had a cabin and there are public bathrooms with running water and decent showers...but hey, I'll count it. We went to Moab Utah.

http://static.flickr.com/56/131417851_789fd1b94a.jpg?v=0

And a few scenery views..
http://static.flickr.com/52/131370000_9bf59ee840.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/48/131848158_6b3e68dbe2.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/55/131848157_65e3e61e76.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/53/131848156_b2da305b39.jpg?v=0

So as not to derail the thread again :) I left out all the Jeep pictures.

[KarenInSF]

Boilermaker - those pictures are beautiful. I grew up in the desert, and although I love Northern California, I do miss scenery like that. Can't wait for our first trip!

[MaineBelle]

Anyone doing any camping over Memorial day? We are going to try to go on Sunday and Monday. Most of the campgrounds require minimum night stays to reserve a site over the holidays. We can only go for one night, so we are going to test our luck with the first-come first-serve spots. Our first choice is Pillsbury State Park in NH. If we don't have luck there, there are plenty of other places in the area. The weather is supposed to be great here, so I am excited. It will be our first camping trip of the season.

[boilermaker]

We're not doing any camping this weekend, but we are going on a camp outing with our Jeep club next weekend.

Maine, I hope you find a great spot and have a great time. Don't forget the pictures :)

[KarenInSF]

We're leaving tomorrow for a three night trip to Hendy Woods in Mendocino (about 3 hours north of San Francisco) We're so excited for this first trip, we've been talking about it for a while. We're a bit anxious, too, because it's our first camping trip with our daughter. She's pretty mellow, so I don't think we'll have any issues. This time tomorrow, I'll be cracking open a beer around the campfire -- yippee!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.

[ginad724]

Hi -
I'm a relatively new camper, though I married into a whole family of diehard campers. Every year we go with the whole family to the Monongahela National Forest in WV. This year we'll be bringing DD who will be 15 months at the time.

To all of you that are going with young children, do you have any tips? As far as sleeping, activities, things to bring that you wouldn't have thought of?

Thanks so much!
gina

[elladee]

MaineBelle and Karen, have fun this weekend!

The weather around these parts is too iffy in late May to plan any camping in advance. Turns out it's going to be gorgeous this weekend, but probably everything is booked up. Oh well. We're going at least take a day trip (or two) and take DD on her first hikes in the backpack.

ginad, sorry, no advice. We haven't attempted camping with DD yet.

[boilermaker]

Karen, I've been up around Mendocino and it is just beautiful. Have a great time!

gina, I don't have any kids but I have been camping several time with friends who do. I know that we all kind of just go with the flow when there are kids. They let them nap in the tent during the day and they carry them in the backpacks like Lisa posted on our hikes. ANd they let them play around camp. Good luck :)

Lisa, have fun this weekend.

[QPDoll]

Gina, my boys are not that old yet, but we have a trip planned for actual tent camping coming up just after their first birthday. We are going with friends and there will be a total of 5 one-year-olds (3@13mo, 1@14mo, 1@15mo) plus 5-4yos. Sound like fun??

Anyway, we took the boys on their first camping trip when they were around 2 months old, so totally different than an 18 month old. But we tried to adhere to their normal sleep schedule as much as possible. We brought the PNP (and we will again this time) to corral them when we need to. We brought snuggli packs (and this time we have frame backpacks) as well as a good offroad stroller (one with big wheels for going over gravel and such).

****
We have our annual family vacation coming up next week with the inlaws. We will be going to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Its not camping though, we will have a beach house. I am most concerned about keeping them on their sleep schedule. Since we will not have cribs for them, we are bringing 2 PNPs and hope they will sleep okay in those, if not, they will be sleeping in bed with us. While thats great and all, I fear the re-adjustment to their cribs when they get home, after sleeping with us for a week!

[LIZNKEITH]

Another “camper” here! I use the term loosely since DH and I have pretty much given up tent camping since DD was born last year. We now have a vintage 1978 Palomino pop-up.

Kids
We’ve gone camping with DD twice- once when she was 3 months old and once a week ago (11 months). Definitely bring the PNP. We used it for her to sleep in and as a play pen during the day. However, she grew a little tired of being confined, so we eventually laid out a huge tarp and let her crawl around on that. Surprisingly enough, she did very well staying on her sleep schedule. In fact, she actually slept in later than she ever has! A born camper! We did have a little trouble getting her to go down. I just laid down with her in our bed until she drifted off then transferred her in to her PNP. I did bring our FP Booster seat which I found really helpful.

[ginad724]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, especially about the PnP. We were on the fence about bringing it, we don't even use it at home anymore but it seems like that may be the best idea for sleeping and for keeping her contained for a bit.

Keep the suggestions coming!

Thanks again.
gina

[KarenInSF]

We got our first "camping" trip behind us over Memorial Day weekend and it turned out quite well. We arrived at the campsite after dark, in the rain and with a screaming 6 1/2 month old baby - so it had no where to go but up from that point!! I put camping in quotations because the rain came from nowhere and we weren't able to do much hiking. So, we adjusted the game plan and went wine tasting and played frisbee golf at a local brewery! But the Mendocino country side was beautiful. Here we are (after a few tastes, mind you ...) at a local winery. Abby was the designated driver.
http://static.flickr.com/64/161108076_921a232f32_m.jpg

Abby was a champ - we spread an old blanket out on the ground and she happily played on it with her toys. (One thing we learned, don't bring cloth toys that can't be washed- we had to ditch most of her favorite toys because they got filthy)
http://static.flickr.com/52/161108066_60e9fdb3b9_m.jpg
We also purchased the Sherpani Rumba (thanks, Elladee, for the suggestion!) and carried her in that around the site and on a few short walks. It was colder than we expected, so Abby slept in between us, instead of on the inflatable bed we bought.

Holy crap we had a ton of, well, crap in the car!:eek: We're going out this week to buy a Yakima carrier to hold it all for our camping trip this weekend to the San Mateo coast. Hopefully, it won't rain so we'll get some exploring in and I can post some scenery pics! Happy camping!

edited to change pics from yahoo photos to flickr

[boilermaker]

Karen, I'm glad you had a good weekend. We camped this weekend too and it rained like crazy. Not fun.

Wine tasting sounds like a perfectly acceptable camping activity to me!

(But I can't see your pics :( )

[jnettie]

Oooh! A camping thread! So subscribing!

I've been camping and backpacking since I was a little kid, and have gotten DH into backpacking and camping. I need to upload photos to Snapfish to share.

In the last few years we haven't gone much. Once in the Catskills, once to Baxter State Park in Maine, and a few times at Ramapo Reservation in New Jersey.

Gotta say, Baxter is not for the faint of heart...and it was DH's first backpacking trip. But it's pretty there!

[elladee]

Welcome jnettie!

Karen, looks like a great trip despite the rain! Wine tasting and frisbee golf are definately acceptable camping activities. :)

[SQ2]

Gotta say, Baxter is not for the faint of heart...and it was DH's first backpacking trip. But it's pretty there! I've been to Baxter before and loved it! :) DH grew up going there with his family. I love that they only let a certain number of people into the park at once. Makes it more peaceful and you can enjoy the park more. Of course that also means you have to make reservations in January for the summer :rolleyes: but still it's worth it!

[jnettie]

Yeah, I remember Dad (we went with Dad and Stepmom) had to make the reservations super early. It's so quite and peaceful there. Couldn't get a radio singnal or a cell phone signal. The camp ground had only 5 sites, even less in the back country.

We also went camping in Europe last year. England was our favorite for camping. Here's some pics. We camped in a little town called Combe Bisset!
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C%3A4537%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2348%3D%3A67%3D544%3DX ROQDF%3E2323%3A4%3B%3C%3B%3C2%3B4ot1lsi

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C%3A4537%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2348%3D%3A67%3D544%3DX ROQDF%3E2323%3A5233384%3Bot1lsi

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C%3A4537%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2348%3D%3A67%3D544%3DX ROQDF%3E2323%3A52323666ot1lsi

[Ericka_Jarett]

Just wanted to comment on the geocaching that is on the front page. Hubby and I go out geocaching quite a bit. Most of them have been in NJ, close to home in PA, MD (we did the ape cache there), DE, VA, FL and TN. So much fun.

[Juniper]

I'm subscribing too. We are planning a camping trip somewhere in Northern California in July. Although, we don't have reservations anywhere, so that date might change.

We just moved to the area, any good reccomendations? We have a 2 year old and a dog, so we need something we can drive up to.


I would like somewhere secluded though. Don't know if that is hard to find. I am used to camping in New Mexico, which is quite a bit different!!

[LeslieandPaul]

We're tenatively scheduled to go camping July 8! Hopefully we'll be going to the same place as last year. I'm so excited!

[firefly]

I'm subscribing too. We are planning a camping trip somewhere in Northern California in July. Although, we don't have reservations anywhere, so that date might change.

We just moved to the area, any good reccomendations? We have a 2 year old and a dog, so we need something we can drive up to.


I would like somewhere secluded though. Don't know if that is hard to find. I am used to camping in New Mexico, which is quite a bit different!!


umm yosemite?

[jnettie]

Ok, I was 11 when we went to Yosemite, but I remember it being very crowded. We had to hike 2 days into the backcountry before we got away from the people. Now, that was also 17 years ago. ;) Sequoia NP was really nice, and I recall that one having less people. And we also camped at Big Sur NP. It's beach camping at Big Sur! That's always great for kids and dogs!

[KarenInSF]

We just got back from camping in Butano State Park, which is off highway 1 near Pescadero. Its about an hour from SF, so pretty close. There is also Mt Tamalpais / Steep Ravine, which over looks Stinson Beach - but be warned, those are very beautiful sites and book up in advance. For a two year old, you might want to try a few sites that have cabins, like Big Basin - they're primitive cabins, but they keep the rain out.

We use ReserveAmerica.com to search /book sites and have had good luck. If your going to be camping semi-regularly, I'd also recommend picking up a copy of California Camping by Tom Stienstra (local "outdoor" columnist for the Chronicle) - it ranks campgrounds and tells you which ones accept dogs.

Good luck!

Karen

[jenjunum]

Juniper

I would look at Northwestern CA - in the Redwoods or Patricks Point. Pretty much everything will be crowded in July but nothing like Yosemite. Hwy 140 into Yosemite is also closed so that could add more miles to your trip depending on the route you take. I'm not sure how far the drive is from SF to the Redwoods, I would guess somewhere around 4 hours but that's just a guess.

If you want to go somewhere like Yosemite I would recommend Sequoia or Kings Canyon though they'll like be crowded too.

[justHB]

We have a camping trip up in Humboldt scheduled for the weekend of July 14 but we have to cancel since we sold our place after we made our reservations and we close that Tuesday.

Juniper - with ReserveAmerica, you can pick a date and it will show you what campgrounds are available. Plan on most of the "good" places being taken already though. Like I said, we reserved Humboldt months ago due to lack of availability.

[jnettie]

Hi all!

DH and I will be driving to visit my family in Illinois next week. We'd like to camp either along the way there or on the way back.

Any good places in Ohio or Pennsylvania not too far from I-80 or I-76? A few years back we did some hiking around Duboise, which had a cute campground, but I'd like some additional options.

Thanks!

[ginad724]

Hi all!

DH and I will be driving to visit my family in Illinois next week. We'd like to camp either along the way there or on the way back.

Any good places in Ohio or Pennsylvania not too far from I-80 or I-76? A few years back we did some hiking around Duboise, which had a cute campground, but I'd like some additional options.

Thanks!


I've only been for the whitewater rafting, but I hear that Kentuck near Ohiopyle is really nice. It's off the Donegal exit of the PA Turnpike (I-76), probably about an hour east of Pittsburgh. If you do go, the whitewater rafting is really nice, not too intense though and you can take a sidetrip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (http://www.paconserve.org/index-fw1.asp). It's beautiful there.

[mollyeilis]

Why did I never see this before?

We're not Campers yet, but we have grand plans. :D

When getting re-engaged, we borrowed a friend's tent for a family reunion out on my uncle's land in Montana. Learned we don't like small tents that you can't stand up in!

From that reunion, we learned from my dad's experience that if you insist on using a non-waterproofed, ancient, tent with no tarp underneath, at least make sure it's a dome tent that can be hung near a fire to dry out.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347873477%7Ffp352%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B32%3E75%3A%3EWS NRCG%3D3233%3A59%3A%3A6%3A99nu0mrj


Then last fall we went yurt-camping at Cape Lookout in Oregon. The yurt was very cool for the first post-kid camping experience (especially when you have no equipment but a stove!). One year olds are very helpful for gathering wood. Well, as long as you don't care where the wood is put.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347873434%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B32%3E75%3A%3E WSNRCG%3D32335879%3C7796nu0mrj


And tomorrow we go off for our anniversary trip, again to the Oregon coast. This time we have a tent (enormous 7 person gigantor Coleman Montana thing...I'm embarrassed at its size for just the three of us, but we can stand up in it!) and other things. The campground is pretty much in the middle of the city, which feels rather silly, but we didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere if/when we've forgotten anything. :p

Has anyone been to Devil's Lake in Lincoln City, OR? It's right across 101 from the coast, and the town is all around (outlet shopping with an Old Navy outlet, so we're not packing much down there, but I'm sure the car will be more full going home!).

Wish us luck!

[QPDoll]

Hey Molly!
I havent been to that lake before, but I know the area that its in. I love shopping there! We go down to the coast for family vacations with the inlaws (doesn't that sound fun?), and I always make sure to spend a day or two shopping there. Over Labor Day, we are heading to Tillamook State Forest, further North, and Im sure we will have to head down for at least one day!

We leave this week to go camping at Sol Duc Hotsprings in the Olympic National Forest (in WA). Wish us luck with two one-year-olds!

[mollyeilis]

Good luck! Get 'em to work hauling wood! ;)

Oh, I think Tillamook forest is what we drove through to get over to Cape Lookout...it's really twisty!

[QPDoll]

Good luck! Get 'em to work hauling wood! ;)

Oh, I think Tillamook forest is what we drove through to get over to Cape Lookout...it's really twisty!


LMAO -- they aren't walking yet, they just turned one. (almost walking, but not yet, *I* don't encourage it, but DH does. Evil man.)

And yep, the road is twisty! We go offroading (Jeeping) up in the forest (area is official and set up for it). The boys love it.

[mollyeilis]

Well, we're back! It was one of those trips that I didn't have much fun on while we were in the middle of it, but thinking back on it, it was nice. Confusing! :rolleyes:

Eamon helped set up the tent, but other than that, he mainly just ran around trying to meet anyone and everyone else (except for the very mean man across the way from us).

Our Coleman 7 person tent was great, and very easy to set up. We cooked for 3 days, into the 4th, on ONE thing of propane (we, of course, had three), and discovered that the 15 dollar Coleman 2 burner grill is the most brilliant thing ever. :D

Also discovered that the ThermaRest sleeping pads you can rent from REI are just awful. Narrow little things, almost no padding, and they flop around under your sleeping bag. Not that all ThermaRests are bad, just the tiny little things they rent out of REI. We borrowed a thicker, wider ThermaRest from our friend (she only had one), and it was definitely better than the rental! So we're saving up for the nicer ones. :)


We've got the car-camping bug, though! I'm already trying to figure out if we can go to a local state park on DH's coming weekend (he works 4 days than is off 3 days in the middle of the week), and he's trying to get some of his co-workers to come along too. Fun!

[1MegMeg]

Unearthing this thread. :)

I love to camp and have done it all my life. I've only backpacked a couple of times, but car camp semi-regularly. One of the beauties of Florida is we can camp year round (or at the very least, through the winter).

This weekend I am camping at Canaveral National Seashore (http://www.nps.gov/cana/), which is a National Park on the east coast. In June I will be doing motorcycle camping (so excited!!) for the first time in western North Carolina.

[elladee]

Hope you're having fun, 1MegMeg! DH and I keep saying we're going to make a trip down to Florida in the winter just to go camping, but we never seem to get around to it...

[mamax2]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I've skimmed. I need to know anything and everything about camping w/kids! DH and I have camped separately, but never together so it's been a long time for both of us. I think I could get back in the swing of things rather easily, but with a 3.5 y.o. and a 1 y.o. in tow, I'm not so sure. Where do they sleep? How do you contain them (specifically, the 1 y.o.!), do you have multiple tents? Is it crazy to even consider a tent? Should we borrow my BIL's camper instead? Tell me everything... ;)

[sublime311]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I've skimmed. I need to know anything and everything about camping w/kids! DH and I have camped separately, but never together so it's been a long time for both of us. I think I could get back in the swing of things rather easily, but with a 3.5 y.o. and a 1 y.o. in tow, I'm not so sure. Where do they sleep? How do you contain them (specifically, the 1 y.o.!), do you have multiple tents? Is it crazy to even consider a tent? Should we borrow my BIL's camper instead? Tell me everything... ;)
I've never camped with really little ones before, so I don't have great advice. I think a tent would be fine - I don't think they'll have the coordination to open the zipper on a tent. We use an air mattress, so that's what we would sleep on. You can even find tents that could handle a playpen - would that work for sleeping?

[elladee]

mamax2, my DD was only about 7 months when we camped with her last year, but here's my advice anyway. :)

I think you could absolutely do a tent. I'm partial to tents myself. For kids that age, I'd go with one big tent for all of you, unless you want to split the kids between your DH and you for two separate tents. I wouldn't put kids that young in their own tent. We just have foam mattresses and use them, our sleeping bags and some blankets to make a little nest for sleeping. We'll probably do the same this year with our now 1.5 year old DD.

If there's any chance of rain at all, you must bring some kind or rain shelter, even if it's just a big blue tarp and some rope to string up between trees. Well, I guess that's unless you get one of those big monster tents that's more like a house. Basically, you need somewhere dry for the kids to move around a little.

[1MegMeg]

PSA :p REI's anniversary sale started today and runs through May 13th. There are almost 2000 items that are up to 30% off.

Anniversary Sale Preview (http://www.rei.com/gear/feature/search/Anniversary_Sale/Anniversary+Sale+Preview?cm_ven=email&cm_cat=gm&cm_pla=na&cm_ite=05_02_gm)

[boilermaker]

DH and I were just talking about our plans for camping this year. Thanks to elladee, he realized that camping with a baby is perfectly fine. Good thing Esther was so well behaved last year! We are planning to buy a screened in tent thing to have around camp though, so if the weather is bad or the bugs are bad, we can stay outside.

Meg, I'll have to check out that sale. Thanks for posting!

[beachlvr]

We're ready to head out this year! We have trips set for Sonoma, Napa, and Lake Tahoe so far. And we're staying in cabins in Jamestown, VA and Hershey PA, too.

We camp with our three boys, and started when the oldest one (now 9) was 3. They are all old enough to know what's going on now, so I'm hoping this is the easiest summer yet.

I'd love to see pictures from all of your trips.

[sublime311]

We have our first summer camping trip scheduled for Father's Day weekend. We reserved two spots for 10 of us. Going will be 2 single fathers and their kids and DH and I and my stepson. We're going to Rose Canyon Campground (http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/forest/recreation/camping/sites/rose_cyn.shtml) on Mt. Lemmon. It'll be a VERY nice escape from the Tucson heat!

[elladee]

That's exciting sublime!

I'm excited because my little brother (who's in grad school) got a summer job in the area. He's agreed to help us take DD backpacking at some point this summer. Which reminds me, I need to go order DH's backpack. Thank god for REI dividends. :)

boilermaker, did you guys come up with anything good? I'm extra glad things went well last year (despite the poop explosion issue and the extra cranky hike :D ).

[boilermaker]

sublime, that sounds like a lot of fun. Have a great trip.

Lisa, so are you taking her on an overnight backpacking trip?! That's impressive! We haven't made any plans other than knowing we want to camp. Right now, we're planning to go back to my parents at least once a month through the summer to help out, so that puts a bit of a kink in things.

[jennylou]

Right now, we're planning at least two different camping trips. The first one will be local, if they get off their duffs and actually have electricity like they've promised will be at the sites before Memorial Day. We'll go to Findley State Park. (http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/findley.htm) We're thinking over Father's Day weekend.

Then sometime in July, we are going to venture down to Geneva on the Lake. (http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/geneva.htm) The water is supposed to be very clean on that part of Lake Erie and I'm told the park itself is very clean and worth the trip.

[emmjay]

We're also going camping for Father's day weekend, in the Arapahoe National Wildlife Refuge (Colorado). We've been there before but this will be our first camping trip with DS who is 10 months old. I'm excited because we just bought a new tent and it is HUGE! We got a Eureka Equinox (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=21420620) off of Craigslist this evening and it is absolutely enormous compared to our other superlight backpacking tents. Plenty of room for a PnP for DS to sleep in, but it weighs 18 lbs so it's definitely only for car camping.

We haven't gone camping in 2 years so I'm really looking forward to it!

[1MegMeg]

Add me to the Father's Day weekend camping list. :) I leave tomorrow morning for western North Carolina, near the TN border and Smokey Mountain National Park.

[elladee]

1MegMeg, oh I love it in Smokey Mountains Natl Park! Have fun!

emmjay, have fun, too! I hope that new baby carrier works out. :)

jennylou, are you going this weekend? That looks like a really nice park.

We're also going camping this weekend. We're taking DD on her first backpacking trip in Allegheny National Forest in Western PA. Wish us luck!

[emmjay]

elladee - the carrier just came yesterday and so far, so good! I think it will be great.

We're not going camping until next weekend now. We were going to go for Father's Day but a) there is a BBQ festival that DH wants to visit instead and b) he strained his knee and doesn't want to do any hiking. But at least we're all set with our baby carrier and new tent and everything else! We even got a tent heater so I don't have to worry the whole time about DS turning into a popsicle in his PnP overnight.

[sublime311]

Help! I need breakfast ideas for quickly feeding 13 people. My husband wants to make pancakes, eggs, and sausage - which is a struggle under normal circumstances, but with 13 hungry people waiting to eat, I don't think it's practical. I don't know why we have so much trouble cooking breakfast while camping, but our Coleman stove helps DH burn everything. Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions to feed a lot of people an easy breakfast meal. I'm sort of thinking something continental like this:

Pastries (muffins, danishes, etc)
Hot cocoa
Coffee
Juices
Cereal
Fruit salad

Do you think that's a total cop out? Will people feel they've been denied a proper camping experience??

[boilermaker]

sublime, if you want to add something easy and hot, try biscuits and gravy. You can use pre-made biscuits (no need for them to be hot), then you make the gravy with a mix and water. Add some pre-cooked and reheated sausage if you want. You can make a big pot up in no time flat.

Or you could do an oatmeal w/ add-ins (dried berries, nuts, banana slices, raisens, etc).

[sublime311]

Thanks for the ideas Carrie! I did end up taking oatmeal and a few people ate some. I'm definitely taking biscuits and gravy next time we go, though.

This is cross posted from my jounral:

We went camping this past weekend for Father's Day. Here are just a few pics from that. We were up on Mt. Lemmon's Rose Canyon Lake campground. It was HOT in Tucson, but no more than mid-80's during the day at our campsite. At night the temps were 60's-50's. Great camping temps!

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w31/sublime3eleven/IMG_1352.jpg?t=1182369922

Our new tent! It was SOOOO huge and cool - it has a HINGED door!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w31/sublime3eleven/IMG_1351.jpg?t=1182370011

Andrew eating s'mores! Look at those grimy hands and face!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w31/sublime3eleven/IMG_1349.jpg?t=1182370069

[MaineBelle]

We're headed out camping over the 4th of July week. We'll be going to Zion Nat'l Park in Utah and car-camping 2 nights. Staying in a hotel one night in Bryce Nat'l Park and then car-camping 2 nights at Escalante Nat'l Monument in Utah.

It is going to be hot, hot, hot, but we'll deal. We are flying into Vegas and then renting a car and driving. It was a