Spending time in the wild

HwangJino

HwangJino

Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
4,564
I'm sure there are a lot of you guys who like to go camping/hunting/offroading.

I've been into this hobby, which they've dubbed overlanding. My dad used to take us into the wilderness and setup camp for days or week at a time where there was no one and probably not cool with the rangers. We would bring everything we needed for that time there, no stores or gas stations. He just called it camping.

I can get about 2 or 3 days of heavy driving with her, got a 2 gallon fuel can, but planning on more fuel to extend the range a bit.

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Anyone else here have adventures out there and got any cool trips or stories?
 
My rig is not nearly as capable as those two pictured, but I guess I have my camping needs a tad more covered. I drive a 2000 Volkswagen T4 Syncro California. A small sized 4WD campervan. Is the blue van with extra lights in the bumper.

I have been to Morocco with it about 5 times, always driving on mostly dirt roads, sand, mud, etc.
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This was my second trip I guess 2007. If you want to have a look at the full chronicle... feel free!: https://www.furgovw.org/foro/index.php?topic=205142.0

The vehicle has since evolved a little accesory wise, different solar panel, additional water tank+pump for showers, etc.

I also give it a workout in winter, as I use it as platform for my alpine outings (four guys with ice climbing gear in there is feasible for a couple nights)


Mikel
 
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I am soooooooooo jealous! I love the scenery and the regulation you have there that allows you to drive through such amazing places. Here in Spain most of what is worth visiting is either a National Park where you cannot drive off pavement at all or the dirt roads are restricted to authorized vehicles (farming or forest explotation purposes). Which I understand is a way of protecting the environment from all the rednecks (you get the idea) that would tear the place to pieces, but at the same time it puts most of it off limits for everyone else.

Also in the Pirinees, the mountains that naturally separate France from Spain, there are some non paved tracks that allow you to save some approach time for climbs and hikes. In summer time they are either closed to the vehicles or only accesible vía 4x4 buses. In winter they are usually free for you to drive on them, but being carved on the side of mountains, once it starts snowing heavily, the road mostly dissapears (some areas are avalanche prone). In some dry winters I have been able to avoid 1h uphill walking to go ice climbing but risking life and limb going uphill with low pressure and chained on all fours to get near the ice falls... XD XD.

I need to find a few pictures of that. I even towed my pals on skis once... quite... interesting.

Mikel
 
Be careful just "camping" where you feel like it. The rangers don't like it much. This assumes it is a park of some sort. As a kid we did this and camped after dark in places we weren't supposed to. I didn't understand as a kid what was really happening. It was just camping.... My Dad was a cheap skate and didn't want to pay the camping fee.... that worked for a while until one day we woke up to rangers that told us to get the hell out of there.

That ended that kind of activity. My Dad later told us it was not his doing but his brother's (my uncle) who wanted to sneak around in parks and camp.

These days they would fine you for it.
 
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22-rimfire said:
Be careful just "camping" where you feel like it. The rangers don't like it much. This assumes it is a park of some sort. As a kid we did this and camped after dark in places we weren't supposed to. I didn't understand as a kid what was really happening. It was just camping.... My Dad was a cheap skate and didn't want to pay the camping fee.... that worked for a while until one day we woke up to rangers that told us to get the hell out of there.

That ended that kind of activity. My Dad later told us it was not his doing but his brother's (my uncle) who wanted to sneak around in parks and camp.

These days they would fine you for it.
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I do my homework and camp in dispersed or BLM land. It's legal. I have a fire permit as well.
 
22-rimfire said:
Be careful just "camping" where you feel like it. ....
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Fully agree. It has been a while since the last time I set up a tent anywhere. Last time I slept in a sleeping bag (outdoors, that is, not counting my camper van) was in a snow cave last May.

Here wild camping is forbidden basically everywhere. In the mountains you can usually set up a tent just for overnight if you are above Xm (sea level reference) and more than Yh away from a mountain hut. And the tent must be dismantled or at least poles removed to let it sit flat during daytime.

Given that we don't have wilderness areas as big as in the US, there is no real need to sleep outside a hut. Unless you want to save approach time for certain climbs or set up a base camp for several days in the same spot. Since all of this happens well above tree line, there is no wood to be burnt, so you have to rely on stoves (gas canisters or liquid fuel).

This is by the book. Truth is that if you are discrete setting up your tent and you are actually there for climbing, chances are you are the only one arround and none is going to come and bother you. Not even the rangers.

MY big problem now is where to park the van for sleeping overnight. As long as I don't ocuppy any more room than an equivalent cargo van, what I do or don't do inside is none elses bussiness, as I am officially PARKED and not CAMPING. However, some cities see us camper-van / motorhome users as people who breath their air and ocuppy parking spots BUT does not spend money on hotels/hostels, neither restaurants. So sometimes local police is asked to "invite" drivers to haul ass and move to campings ($) or out of the city. Some parkings near the most populated beaches are installing height limiiting bars, so anything over 180 cm tall cannot enter. This rules out basically any van of any kind, along with some lifted 4x4 vehicles or those who haul a roof rack.

France, on the other hand, has perfectly understood that the way is not the restriction... but the regulation. And they have specific parking spots for camper vans in areas called "Campingcars" which are free or very cheap (per night) and have facilities to dump waste water, water taps and sometimes even electricity. Others even include shuttle bus tickets to the nearby town so if you don't have bikes or another medium of transport, you can still get there and enjoy the visit.

Sorry for the rant!

Mikel
 
HwangJino said:
I do my homework and camp in dispersed or BLM land. It's legal. I have a fire permit as well.
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Good deal. BLM land rules are very different from State and National Park lands. In the East you have national forests. I don't believe you can just camp anywhere these days although it would certainly be nice to. If you are discreet, you still can camp.

Years ago, my Dad and my brothers (we were in our early teens) and I would camp at this abandoned picnic shelter up on top of a mountain set off the gravel forestry road a bit. Loved that place. There was even a spring within walking distance which is probably why the shelter site was selected many years ago. It was more than likely built by the CCC boys during the depression years. It was in dis-repair. The roof leaked, but I would rather be under something like this then in a tent. I recall when cleaning out a thick mat of leaves we found a large bowie knife. That particular knife was used for many years around the house for chopping corn stalks down in our very large garden. We'd haul the stalks to our cows and cut the stalks into bit sized chunks with that knife. That was my first experience with a chopping knife.
 
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HwangJino said:
Last weekend at anzo borrego.
It was a blast to drive around the scenic canyons and camp. Found a cool spot shielding me from the wind. No one around, other than my buddy and my dog.

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always like going there, never camp in the same place twice
 
I just did a week in the Ocala NF. My old '88 4Runner handles all the trails there. Swamp, sand, and forest. As long as it's not hunting season, you can camp anywhere you want. I was way back in the boonies.
 
gunslinger387 said:
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always like going there, never camp in the same place twice
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I usually don't camp in the same place. But I found a really nice spot, it has very soft sand compared to the surrounding area.
Love to walk around barefoot at night with my toes in the sand.
 
Mannlicher said:
I just did a week in the Ocala NF. My old '88 4Runner handles all the trails there. Swamp, sand, and forest. As long as it's not hunting season, you can camp anywhere you want. I was way back in the boonies.
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My Tacoma sure doesn't handle it well there.
We took a "scenic route" that had a sign- "Ocala Forest Bear Trail". Turned out to be underwater.... When I tried to turn around I got stuck in the mud until some guy with an ATV and a winch happened to drive by this tiny road and pull us out. Ended up having to drive through the water and scratching the heck outta my truck. I thought it was fun... my wife did not XD
 
Great pics guys! What a croc o crap not being able to throw a tent up for a night or two on land WE own and pay to keep up! I say if you can get away with it, go for it!
 
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