Truck Camping Photo Thread

Great pictures. Sounds like an awesome road trip. How do you like that Yakima tent? I was thinking about picking one of those up here soon.

 

What a great, quality time you had to spend with your kid, and one he'll remember forever. I try to take my kids out on short trips when I can. When they get little older, I hope to do some epic road trips like you did.

 

Summer in the olympics, definitely not a bad thing.

 

I posted this another place:
Honestly the Yakima Skyrise wasn’t my first choice, but I got it at REI and it was a garage sale return which I talked them into selling for $300. Happened to walk in right after it was returned and brand new it’s $1500. It was missing the rainfly hoops which Yakima just gave me for free! It’s the medium size and I really like it. 35mph winds in the Mojave desert and it was fine, it’s light, the nylon tent won’t mildew like poly canvas and it doesn’t leak under the rainfly. It’s a 3 seasons tent, but I have a zero degree sleeping bag. For the price and weight, I would say it meets 80% of peoples needs unless you are a hardcore winter camper. With that said my first night in it was snow camping
I have nothing but praise for it.

 

Yakima Skyrise at the garage sale saturday for 299. I passed, but it was sold quickly.

 

You could have purchased it and doubled your money on Craigslist

 

Daaaang. That is some serious snowfall. I think you sold me on the Yakima. I was debating on getting a Yakima rack system on my shell. The Yakima racks and tent go together really well which is a big plus.

 

I actually do not know enough about the RTT to make sure I do not get a bad deal. I have no interest in them.
Personally, they look cool, but are not functional to me.
I have asked ARE and the cap I have will take the weight. But, the composite bed will/may need reinforcement. I cannot add the reinforcement with my ARE walk-in door without modifications that I do not wish to do.
So, I have not done any research after that. I need to know a product to buy it.

I got a BioLite bundle ($199) for 20. (That was a steal) An REI Air Quarter bridge hammock for 40, and a Half Dome 2 Plus for 80. All I needed.
The BioLite is a great toy to play with. The hammock is an OK hammock. Another toy. The tent is a great quick set up, for those brief stops, to replace the Quarter Dome 2 we have used for years.

 

Just saw you are NorCal as well. I’d rather buy a nice sleeping bag for $120 than spend $2500 on a polycotton tent living here in California. Most of my trips are Sierras or deserts. However I do like the iKamper for ease of set up. But my medium Skyrise has been great

 

Can’t agree more! Usually when I’m here it’s gray raining and the rivers are really flowing, it’s a nice change to see it bathing in the sun!

Finding new routes

There she is

Part guess part luck figuring out the uncharted logging road maze!
Mt Olympus, Wash

 

I take a lot of trips to the central and northern coast. It gets pretty cold at night. My wife and I can hang in a sleeping bag but the kids and dog might have a rough time. Snow camping is something I want to try now after seeing your post! For me being off the ground is key, and the ease of access of the tent is important, as well. I will say I would really like to have a hardshell tent like the iKamper but they are just so expensive!

 

Nope, no service out there. But there will be a drone involved in the next trip. Some of the pics on here are amazing. Another expensive toy to blame on tacomaworld.com. "But I need this expensive drone to take cool pics of all the other expensive things that we bought for the truck" She will not be happy.

 

Ahhh the RTT craze lol. I kinda want one, but it wouldn't work for me at all. I don't tend to move campsites daily. This is what it would look like if I had a RTT for those trips that I wouldn't have my camp trailer:

~5PM - Get to campsite, cook meal, etc.
~6PM - Drive off to go do photos.
~9PM - Come back, set up RTT in the dark.
~3-4AM - Tear down RTT in the dark, drive off to do photos.
~8AM-9AM - Breakfast wherever I am.
~11AM-12PM - Come back to campsite, set up RTT. Lunch, nap.
~2-3PM - Tear down RTT and drive to do location scouting or take more photos.
~5PM - Cook, etc. Repeat over and over.

So 4 times per day either setting up or tearing down the RTT, meaning 16 or more times on a trip...Sticking with my tent that I only have to setup and tear down once

 

lol, agreed.

RTT's make sense for those that are not returning to the same spot or are camping in locations not ideal for a tent (such as uneven/rocky/muddy/hot grounds)...but none of those apply to my family either. It just becomes more hassle than it's worth when we want to go exploring in the Taco before returning to camp.

 

If you're doing true overlanding - i.e. travelling long offroad distances each day, it makes perfect sense. Outside of that....I want to be able to drive off and explore the area I'm staying in.

 

Pisgah is only an hour from me and the RTT makes it really easy to take off for a night, We do some driving on the Forest Service roads until we find a nice place to crash for the night. I usually take mountain bikes for the exploring but this last trip was to show some friends from out of town what an amazing place NC can be.

 

You must be around Port Angeles/Hurricane Ridge for those views?

If you stop at the ranger station or visitor center in Port Angeles, they have folded paper sectional maps with pretty good route detail. Unfortunately they're from around 2000 I think so things have changed here and there.

Looks like you're finding the right stuff anyway though. Reminds me I need to pick up a drone :-D

 

The drone has been useful in many ways!
Knowing to hike up river vs down for good fishing water is a plus. Not to mention in the winter with limited daylight hours.

First set of pics is from payment/hurricane ridge, but the last 3 where from an approach from the north side

 

In one week I'll be driving towards Crested Butte!!