had my fill of campgrounds

[Oasisbob]

Last weekend at a USFS campground I was, again, awoke at 1 a.m. by loud drunk people who really have no thought of others and I have had my fill. I really don't understand why this is so common but it is. So can you educate me on where I am allowed to camp? I live in Portland Oregon and like the MT HOOD area. I can cry camp just fine. Not clear on where I can go. Thanks

[NinerBikes]

pnichols wrote:

JiminDenver wrote:
I think finding full hook ups in the boonies would be nice but only once since we never return to the same spot.

The closest I've ever found to this dream setup is a non-publicly owned lake here in California. It's older campsites are spread far apart - kindof an allusion of being in the boonies - and have inconspicuous 20 amp outlets and water outlets down low to the ground in the grass a little ways from each campsite (no sewer at each campsite).

We like this place and do return to it. The bass fishing is good, too, and you can pull your boat up onto the beach close to your campsite and leave it there overnights for convenience during your camping.

if there was kokanee salmon or trout fishing, I might be interested, but bass fishing doesn't do it for me.

[pnichols]

JiminDenver wrote:
I think finding full hook ups in the boonies would be nice but only once since we never return to the same spot.

The closest I've ever found to this dream setup is a non-publicly owned lake here in California. It's older campsites are spread far apart - kindof an allusion of being in the boonies - and have inconspicuous 20 amp outlets and water outlets down low to the ground in the grass a little ways from each campsite (no sewer at each campsite).

We like this place and do return to it. The bass fishing is good, too, and you can pull your boat up onto the beach close to your campsite and leave it there overnights for convenience during your camping.

[JiminDenver]

I think finding full hook ups in the boonies would be nice but only once since we never return to the same spot.

[pnichols]

Dan and Len,

We're at ~1800 feet and about equidistant mileage from both "The Valley" and the Santa Cruz, so we get a three-way mix of the three weathers. We get less heat than the valley and more heat than sometimes foggy/breezy Santa Cruz, modulated by being at the higher altitude. We're usually above both the fog and the smog, sitting in the mid-80's on a lot of the summer days and the mid-40's on a lot of the winter days.

We get out in RV for the adventure in finding out what the rest of nature is doing. We can only take so much of the hawks, bobcats, quail, wild boar, and deer around home. Besides the DW doesn't care for any of the rocks around our place - she wants to go after the far more interesting ones out in the middle of nowhere. :R

[LenSatic]

profdant139 wrote:
Phil and Len, under those conditions, why would you ever leave home to go camping??

100°+ temps plus a change of scenery and meeting up with our son to go camping occasionally. Granted, on a hot day, we can be in the mountains in about 45 minutes to an hour. When we lived in LA we took off 9 days a month. Now, not so much; maybe once a season but for a longer time.

LS

[profdant139]

Phil and Len, under those conditions, why would you ever leave home to go camping?? At least I have an excuse for heading to the hills -- I am smack dab in the middle of 20 million people (really -- no kidding). The only reason to stay home is the weather -- sunny and 70 degrees and breezy, day after day after day. No bugs. And the beach is nearby, with decent waves, but no room to take off on a wave because there are so many other surfers in the water, many of whom are older than I am, which is amazing but discouraging.

Counting the days till our next trip.

[pnichols]

LenSatic wrote:
Are my wife and I boondocking here at home: Solar power, batteries, septic tank, generators, propane tank, surrounded by BLM and state land. I can see our closest neighbor when I climb up on the roof to check the solar panels. We call it boondocking.

You're boonanchoring, not boondocking, cuz you don't have wheels under your stick house! :C

Well ... we have solar (pool heating), all kinds of batteries, a septic tank, four generators, a brand new not-yet-filled propane tank, a least four springs that are running low in this drought, one well that is running low and smelly in this drought, radio wave Internet, radio wave TV, earthquake insurance, are a few miles by foot from the Forest of Nesene Marks, are a few miles by our 4X4 from wild fish than never hardly ever see a hook, and can see a couple of neighhors when we squint through the redwoods and orchard trees, but are we boonanchoring ... being only twelve miles from the insanity of Silicon Valley? My latest description is that "we're living on an island of serenity surrounded by a sea of chaos".

[LenSatic]

pnichols wrote:

Which raises an interesting question regarding a rare situation - suppose you have a rancher friend who for some reason has a water source and electrical outlet way back in on their 1000 acre ranch out in the middle of nowhere - and invites you to camp and hookup back there. Are you boondocking then, but with hookups?

Are my wife and I boondocking here at home: Solar power, batteries, septic tank, generators, propane tank, surrounded by BLM and state land. I can see our closest neighbor when I climb up on the roof to check the solar panels. We call it boondocking. 😉

ETA: Forgot about the well.

LS

[mrlightrail]

I'm a campground host, and I have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with someone waking me up, or coming up to my rig at any hour to have me shut down a loud party. That's my job.

[profdant139]

Phil, camping on that ranch in the middle of nowhere with full hookups is called "Fantasydocking."

And I know I am getting old when I find myself fantasizing about sewer hoses. I can't quite remember, but I don't think that is what I thought about when I was younger.

[pnichols]

profdant139 wrote:
I am confused -- I thought that camping in an ordinary forest service campground without hookups is called "dry camping," as in "Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping" forum. It's not boondocking, and it's not an RV park. Am I mistaken? (It would not be the first time.)

If I am wrong, I take back all the bad things I said about noisy people in campgrounds, and I will start a new thread in the right forum. (Which one would that be, though??)

Someone earlier said that that it is a little arrogant to want to try to control other people's noisy behavior. That accusation stung me because it is so accurate. According to my offspring, this joke was written about me:

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Control Freak, and now you say Control Freak Who!"

Dan ... you're right on with drycamping being camping without hookups no matter where. While boondocking means drycamping as far as possible out in the middle of nowhere.

Which raises an interesting question regarding a rare situation - suppose you have a rancher friend who for some reason has a water source and electrical outlet way back in on their 1000 acre ranch out in the middle of nowhere - and invites you to camp and hookup back there. Are you boondocking then, but with hookups?

By the way, I wouldn't call you a Control Freak ... I'd call you a Courtesy Freak.

[Handbasket]

Noise is one of the main reasons I mostly avoid any type of campground. I really like to hear the sounds of nature... wind in the trees, streams over rocks, birds, rain on the roof, things like that. I'm boondocking for a couple of nights next week or the week after on a mountaintop where the Appalachian Trail crosses a road. There may be a few other campers there, but they'll be 100 yards or more away... my idea of bliss.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

[profdant139]

I am confused -- I thought that camping in an ordinary forest service campground without hookups is called "dry camping," as in "Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping" forum. It's not boondocking, and it's not an RV park. Am I mistaken? (It would not be the first time.)

If I am wrong, I take back all the bad things I said about noisy people in campgrounds, and I will start a new thread in the right forum. (Which one would that be, though??)

Someone earlier said that that it is a little arrogant to want to try to control other people's noisy behavior. That accusation stung me because it is so accurate. According to my offspring, this joke was written about me:

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Control Freak, and now you say Control Freak Who!"

[Francesca_Knowl]

BoonHauler wrote:

LenSatic wrote:
Hmmm. Complaining about campgrounds in the "Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping" forum. How ironic. 😉

LS

X2......Guys, this is the Public Lands and Boondocking sub forum. Maybe a Quiet Time discussion would be better served in another sub forum.

Maybe the O.P. chose this forum by way of illustrating one of the reasons people become boondockers?