Boondocking Pictures

[Jim_Oker]

And yes, we gassed up on our ways  in  and  out down  along the Aberdeed/Hoquiam strips. Arco had a particularly good  price this  past week, as is their tendency. Surprisingly, though, I mentally  noted that the price near Queets was not terrible,  even if not a budget shopper's dream. I  would  not have felt awful if  I'd needed to  add a bit while near there.

[John E Davies]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Oker said:

Yeah, when the tide is way out but  incoming it can be surprising how quickly a two foot high flow of water crosses a hundred yards or so toward the land. It's not zero risk on outgoing tide but the risk is  for  sure  lower, especially if you watch several  wave sets come through to see what's  going on. But  yeah sneaker waves are real. 

They went out on a falling tide, I would have been even more stressed if it were rising.  No cell service, you have to drive to the lodge to call 911…. which is kinda late for a surf rescue in freezing water.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Jim_Oker]

Just now, John E Davies said:

which is kinda late for a surf rescue in freezing water

Yes - you  are practically speaking on  your own  there if you  are swept  to sea. I guess  the coast guard could  eventually get a helicopter there but even if you have a PLB handy  it's going to take  a good  long while. Frankly I'm most worried there if  I'm on the beaches at high  tide and there's driftwood around. Those big logs get tossed around like  little  matchsticks when big waves come. I feel  that in decent weather and no big swell happening that the risk on the flat expanse  of sand is not huge on outgoing tides.  The other thing to watch out for there is not getting stuck  on the wrong side of headlands as the tide comes  in. That can  make for an unpleasant wait for the whole next  tide cycle (sometimes  two  if you  rounded the  head on a super  low tide and the next  low is much  higher). In most places around there you won't make much  headway  trying to go overland up off the  beach!!

[Cameron]

Plum Valley campground, Davis Creek, CA, in the Modoc National Forest.

I had to put it into 4WD at one point, and the road had a little stretch with rocks and roots, but it was a good test of the Oliver in a real off-road situation. Had my co-pilot get out and spot me as I maneuvered through some pines. It's a tough trailer!

 

[Mike and Carol]

Looks like a great site!!

[John E Davies]

11 hours ago, Cameron said:

Had my co-pilot get out and spot me as I maneuvered through some pines. It's a tough trailer!

That might have had me turning back, I would be concerned about getting trapped with no way to swing wide to maneuver, but maybe the picture makes it look tighter. Did you get any brush stripes on the truck or trailer? That is one of my few gripes about gelcoat….,

The second responsibility of a copilot is to take pics of the Ollie going through the tight spots😬.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Carl Hansen]

Does taking an Oliver off-road have any impact on the warranty?  We take delivery in October and I would like to take our trailer off-road. 

[John E Davies]

2 hours ago, Carl Hansen said:

Does taking an Oliver off-road have any impact on the warranty?  We take delivery in October and I would like to take our trailer off-road. 

What is your definition of offroad? If you mean maintained gravel, potholed forest or ranch roads, no worries if you stay really slow, but an LE2 is not suitable for anything more intense. There is virtually no suspension travel…. The LE1 is better, especially with a SOA lift. Both are severely limited by the hitch design, and obviously the gelcoat is susceptible to scarring or worse. Abuse would not be covered by warranty, that would include damage from dragging over rock ledges or colliding with hard objects. Both would be obvious by inspection and would be easy for a shop to spot.

I have a Yakima Skybox, it says “warranty void if taken offroad.” But how would they ever know? I think that is just a warning that it might break if abused….. just like your Ollie.

FYI, taking an RV truly offroad is a big risk, your insurance is 100% void if it leaves maintained roads, and retrieval by a tow company becomes exponentially more costly. AAA won’t pay for it, unless it is within a few feet of a road, the truck has to be able to get to you. A “stuck” on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands will cost you a minimum of $1000 for professional services.. Especially if you ignore the No Trailers signs.

PS, add your trailer and tow vehicle info to your signature, that makes things better…. I see by your home page pic that you have a Gladiator Rubicon, is that going to be your TV?

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Carl Hansen]

Primarily the former… maintained gravel and forest roads with some washboard and potholes, to get back to distributed camping sites. We are taking delivery on an LE1., “L’il Tow”.   I do want to take it off-road but certainly don’t want to trash it. 🙂 Slow and careful. 

[routlaw]

On 11/24/2020 at 10:01 AM, Overland said:

Chaco Canyon - another tough road, but well worth it

We've camped at that very same site, although it was when we had our T@B teardrop camper. Hoping to get back there again with the Oliver maybe later this year. It is a rough long road in there for sure. 

[Cameron]

John, I agree with you regarding the dangers a bad road poses to the trailer. There've been a couple times when my spidey sense told me to stop and not go any further on a road. Once I somehow I backed out about 50 yards until I could turn around, which wasn't easy! What I like to do (and what I did at the Plumb Valley campground) is get out and walk the road, walk the campground to make sure I feel comfortable entering. If the road is too narrow (don't want scrapes!) or the rocks too sharp (don't want to change a tire!) I say no and keep going. One thing on my list is a little electric bike so I can zip ahead and scout out boondocking spots before committing to driving too far.

Carl, if the road has good gravel and seems to get regular traffic, I think you'll be OK. The trailer can handle it. Go slow. Make sure everything inside is secure. Oliver markets their trailers for people who like to boondock (solar, lithium, big tanks, composting head) and usually boondocking involves getting off the asphalt. 

[routlaw]

This is a cool thread, had not seen it before. I'll start out with a few in the early years of owning the Ollie. 

Goosenecks State Park, Utah. While there are some semi-developed campsites located back up the road with picnic tables and the likes we chose to drive further out on this bench, mesa, peninsula, reef or what ever you like to refer these geologic landforms. We were able to back right up to the edge overlooking the goosenecks as the San Juan River winds and cuts its way through land. Gorgeous evening, Trudi taking in the sights.

Thanks for looking.

[routlaw]

Not too far from the posted photo above is the infamous Moqui Dugway as it steeply descends off the southern end of Cedar Mesa down into the San Juan River Valley. Thought it might be an nice to provide photos of the general area where we've camped, boondocked, dry camped or however you choose to describe it, sort of why and what you were doing in the area in addition to where camped.

Thanks for looking.

 

[routlaw]

Went down to the Wind River Range in Wyoming the 3rd week of July and just now finishing up with photos from the trip. We camped one night the Grand Canyon of the Snake River which by the way is a drop dead gorgeous canyon with some nice USFS campgrounds although close to the road. From there we headed down to the Green River Lakes area in the northern part of the Winds. Had crystal clear blue skies and no fire smoke until the last day. Great hikes beautiful country just an awesome trip.

For anyone inclined to take this on be forewarned there is 20 or so miles of very rough gravel road to get back in there, no cell service for at least an hours drive out. Figure about 15-20 mph going in with a few patches of smoother gravel for a few but not many miles. To provide an idea of how rough the road is, we shook 3 of the window frame shades of their mounts, the solar controller in the basement became dislodged from its installment screws, one of the cables for the pins that latch the rear bumper broke loose. Anything not tied down was strewn all over the camper. I'm probably forgetting a few things.

Trudi and I had briefly visited this place some 40 years ago and its been on my bucket list ever since. Highly recommended, I would go back in a heartbeat. Regarding true boon docking there are many places along the Green River to accommodate and initially this was our plan until talking with another family who tried it for one night but the bugs and ants were so bad they couldn't even get out of their camper, a Lance in this case. With those words of encouragement we opted for the USFS campground @$6 per night for the geezer crowd. By any measure the vast majority of campers here are tent campers, and the new rage of clamshell tents that carry on top of trucks, suvs and fold out into a top mounted tent. There are two loops here, one small higher the other a bit large and closer to Green River Lake. No reservations, its far too remote and in fact never saw a ranger and there was no camp host at all for the entire week. No problem at all getting a good site and most people only stay one or two nights. BTW the lake and campground itself are approximately 8,000 feet elevation give or take a few.

Posting a few quick and dirty iPhone photos below.

Green River camp above. Most of the sites here are very large probably between 1/4 or perhaps 1/2 an acre on average. 

Campsite at the Grand Canyon of the Snake River.

Green River Lake sunrise with Sqaure Top Mountain. Preferred a b&w for this one.

Beach at the far end of Green River Lake, about a 2-3 mile hike one way, we did the complete loop around with a few other excursions for a total of about 8-9 miles

View from the west shore of the lake returning from hike up Clear Creek Canyon

Clear Creek approximately half way to the end of the canyon where a natural bridge crosses the creek. 

Another view of Square Top on the route out from Clear Creek. I was nursing a plantar fasciitis one one foot this day so the almost 12 mile hike just about did me in. 

We had a few outrageous sunsets accompanied by a rising near full moon.

Thanks for looking.

 

[SeaDawg]

Amazing photos. Amazing trip.

Thanks for sharing, and the tips.

Happy travels!

[johnwen]

Ya'll are adventurers for sure!  Thanks for sharing...absolutely the places I'd like to travel to some day when I get my next TV.  Your photos are indeed inspirational 🙂

[routlaw]

Glad you enjoyed.

[Mike and Carol]

Really great pictures.  Makes me want to pack up and go!

[Mike and Carol]

A growing source of Boondocking or Dry Camping (no hookups) is Harvest Hosts.  The past couple of years we’ve camped at about a dozen HH locations, mostly wineries and farms.  Sometimes you’re in a parking lot, sometimes just a field and sometimes out in the middle of the vineyard.  We enjoyed camping at Amber Falls winery just outside of Hohenwald.  We’ve camped next to a barn on a farm where we had chickens and horses all around.  We’ve never had any hookups, although a winery in PA offered a 20a electrical hookup which we didn’t need or take advantage of.

This is at Leyden Farm Vineyards and Winery in RI.  Great spot and nice facilities.  We enjoyed a glass of wine (or two) on their patio overlooking the vineyards.

[Mike and Carol]

This is Bishop’s Orchards and Farm Market Winery in Guilford, CT.  RV parking was a field behind the market.  The market was similar to a Whole Foods, we were able to stock up on some essentials.  It also had an ice cream stand selling their own ice creams made in the market.

 

[Mike and Carol]

If you haven’t been to Amber Falls Winery near Hohenwald, you should go.  Good wine, friendly folks.  We camped there with HH for the first time this year although we’ve been visiting and buying their wines since the fall of 2015.

 

[Mainiac]

Lily Bay, Greenville, Maine on Moosehead Lake is always a favorite...

[Mainiac]

Playing in the backyard is fun too!

[topgun2]

Any idea of the temp of that water?  Sure does look inviting!

That looks like original paint on the Chevy - is it?

[Mainiac]

The picture was taken about two weeks after "ice out", so guessing not much warmer than 34°.

The car is all original, except has gotten a set of radial tires. 38,600 miles so far. Not perfect but close for 67 years.