Thoughts on our first real boondocking trip

[agesilaus]

Well we are back from an 8950 mile loop around the country. Up to Bonners Ferry ID and back to N Florida. WE finally managed to do some real boondocking with mixed but generally enjoyable results.

Many of you have read about our very first attempt at Shadow Mountain at the Tetons, great first attempt on our part.

We followed that with some no utility campsites which went well but were not actually Boondocking. That was followed by a near disaster at Hungry Horse reservoir in Montana outside Kalispell. A trip down the wrong road, a ditch and a very helpful and knowledgeable camper who showed up to camp across the creek was a real learning experience.

I wanted to camp around Ft Peck reservoir next but was worried that we would be wandering around in the dark looking for a spot. Northeast MT around Hwy 2 is a camping desert. I wondered why a video blogger diverted down to Great Falls from Hwy 2 but now I know.

We thought we found a good spot just over the ND line at Camel Hump lake. We got in Friday evening found a good spot away from the few others out there and had a good evening and night on the small lake. Woke up at 7 AM the next morning to find a mob, and I'm not exaggerating, of people surrounding the camper and truck, This included one of those tow around, hot dog stand, trailers. We planned to stay for a day or two but I was worried about being blocked in, it was close, so we packed up and left. I should have grabbed some photos but the natives were a bit hostile (just a little) so we left.

We did three days at COE campsites after that but no more Boondocking for the time being.

Our new to us Arctic Fox TT with two Trojan 6V batteries worked great. We could have made it four days easily on power and water. Anyway we look forward to doing more. Next trip I should have the 400 W solar ready to go too.

[ReneeG]

Lessons learned they say. We too will camp in a FS CG and then scout out areas to boondock in. We even do that within drive of home to make sure we can get in and out. When traveling to a new area, we also use various online resources such as Campendium, Google Maps, etc. to check out camp areas and we always have several backup options in case the first doesn't work out, but that approach also works when w camp close to home.

[ppine]

It is not the amount of miles you travel, it is the quality of the path you travel that matters.
Fifty years ago we focused on National Parks on our first trips "Out West." They were not crowded then. Now I rarely go to NPs except in the off season. I like the adjacent National Forest logging roads. I like wildlife refuges, National Grasslands and BLM sites that are not well known. There is no reason to camp with a bunch of other people unless you feel like it.

[opnspaces]

It's funny, why do we (myself included) always keep going down that road when we know deep down that it's a mistake? 🙂 On the good side, it's nice that the guy and his son helped you get back out rather than cracking a beer and just watching you sweat.

[ppine]

I have been boondocking since the 1960s. We used to have old cars and a box of tools and a sleeping bag and little else. Learn to look at a map and feel your way. You do not need big destinations. Learn to smell out remote sites with no one around.

I always ask my girl at the end of a 3-4 week trip, "what were your favorite camp sites on the trip?" "The time we followed the Forest Service road in Oregon and heard the cows at night."

[Lwiddis]

I boondock 95% of the time and might enjoy 3% of the non-boondocking time.

[agesilaus]

opnspaces wrote:
Oh come on, that's not fair for those of us who can't get out camping anytime soon. Give us some details, let us live vicariously through your travels. 🙂

Any idea what the mob was all about? Did you happen to pick something like an annual day at the lake summer fishing extravaganza? Or was it just locals trying to run outsiders out?

What was the near disaster at Hungry Horse? did you go down a dead end road with a ditch on one side so you had to back up 5 miles?

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Heh well OK, the Camal Hump Lake situation I'm unsure of what was going on. We were not getting happy smiles from the locals so we just got out. There were no signs like you would expect if this was an annual event so maybe they do it every weekend.

I'd just as soon not admit my foul up at Hungry Horse but here it goes. WE drove around, and this was a Tuesday so I didn't expect it to be packed but it was. This was around 4 PM or so when we got there. The CGs were full and the dispersed camping spots were too. This is a long lake--50 miles or so with camping all around.

We got about 15 miles around one side and there was a road to what seemed to be dispersed camping to I decided to drive down and look. A mile and a half down the road was blocked with a pile of dirt pushed up by a dozer. If I had backed out at that point all would have been well but there was an open space on the left that I thought I could turn around in. A unseen ditch showed me otherwise. Anyway it looked as if a tow truck was in our future but since we were there on the bank of a very nice creek we decided to spend the night.

My wife was walking the dogs when this fellow and his son showed up to tent camp on the other bank. One thing lead to another and he told my wife that he would get us out in the AM. And he did. My backing skills are still anything but expert. He talked me around for most of getting out but once we were up on the road he backed it up and did a tee turn about 500 yards down the road.Montana folks are really friendly and helpful.

So my screw ups were going down an unknown road and not backing out when we got trapped.

[agesilaus]

midnightsadie wrote:
I boondock most the time, going to a rv park is like a trailer park. I like being by my self.

We are coming to that way of thinking, the last COE cg was rather crowded with boaters. But on the other hand having a day or so of WIFI and utilities is still attractive. So right now we are aiming at 2 or 3 days off grid to one or two on.

[opnspaces]

Oh come on, that's not fair for those of us who can't get out camping anytime soon. Give us some details, let us live vicariously through your travels. 🙂

Any idea what the mob was all about? Did you happen to pick something like an annual day at the lake summer fishing extravaganza? Or was it just locals trying to run outsiders out?

What was the near disaster at Hungry Horse? did you go down a dead end road with a ditch on one side so you had to back up 5 miles?

[profdant139]

Sounds like a great trip! We've had a few "Hungry Horse" type adventures ourselves -- nowadays, we usually spend the first night in a given area in a campground, and then scout for boondocking the next day, in the daylight.

That system means two campsite setups instead of one, but it also means that we can do our scouting with the truck and without the trailer.

[midnightsadie]

I boondock most the time, going to a rv park is like a trailer park. I like being by my self.