[T Mac]

Anyone else big into camping in the cool/cold fall months? If so, tell us about the gear you use (tent, etc.) and where you like to go. We love to hike and are just getting into everything.

Edit - Just wanted to point out that I'm looking for tent or even pop-up campers. Not the big 42-foot motorhomes with washer and dryer. LOL

 

[Truckin']

We have a Rockwood Premiere tent trailer. It is very cushy. It has a heater (with a thermostat), water heater, potty and shower. In addition, we are very fond of our Heater Buddy to take the chill off in a hurry.

 

[RidgeInTheVille]

Just got back home today from some fall camping. Went to Brown County State Park in Indiana.

We got there on Friday afternoon and left this morning. Saturday was a great day and we had a blast hiking and hanging out with family (4 different families met up there). The weather Saturday was perfect. I thought the leaves would have changed a bit more than they had but it was still beautiful.

During the night, the rains came and we had to break camp this morning in the rain. Not fun but I've dealt with worse. Fortunately, I store our camper indoors at my company so we took it there and opened it up to dry.

As for our setup, we have a 2001 Coleman Mesa popup and we are currently pulling it with a 2001 Ford Expedition. I'm still hoping to get my Ridgeline as a company vehicle and then we will be using it. On the way home, my wife and I were discussing if the breakdown in the rain today would have been much different with the Ridgeline.

This was probably our last trip of the year and the last with the Expedition. We are already talking about where to go in the spring.

RidgeInTheVille

p.s. Saw a bunch of accidents when we got back in town. (4 total) One of those we even heard!!!! Be careful out there in the rain.

 

[Webwader]

We have been pop-up camping since '79 and are on our third pop-up. It's a 2005 Fleetwood Highlander Sequoia. The Highlander series has higher walls than the traditional pop-up so that the counters do not have to be folded down. It has a hard-sided shower/toilet, stove/oven, refrigerator with a freezer compartment, furnace, hot water heater, microwave and stereo/CD all standard equipment. It has a 14' box and is 26' fully open. It's a bit heavier than the traditional pop-up, 2995 lb. dry, 3500 lb. with all our gear, but it tows great behind the RL.
I got got back last week from a fishing trip. Not sure if that will be the last trip for the season or not.

 

[Skywalker]

Before we got the small trailer, we put in about 20 years of tenting. The advantage of tenting is that you can go almost anywhere (ie back country). We had really good luck with 3 and 4 season Eureka tents. Pretty well bullet proof tents that can hold up to high winds and snow. Can check the Eureka site. Another good site to check out is Mountain Equipment Co-op. www.mec.ca

Where we like to go... If you plan on visiting western Canada.... I have a long list of great places to camp, hike, bike, canoe (well, you get the picture)

 

[Ultra-HOG]

Not intending to get off topic, but please, make sure that you have a WORKING Carbon Monoxide detector in your camper or motorhome. Your home - home too! Too many people die from CO poisioning every year, especially right now, at this time of the year. All are preventable. Sam's Club (Wal Mart) has a decent one made by Nighthawk for your home at less than $30.00. Priceless...

 

[snowman]

After taking more than seven months hiking the AT in 2002 (i ended up hiking the last two months in the dead of winter) i still consider following fall south for a few months (september, october, november) some of the most spectacular hiking ever. My wife and i now go camping about once a month and love this time of year. My philosipy with gear is to identify what you want to do with your gear. A tent? ok. do you want to backpack with it? pitch it in a snow storm? Also be able to be comfertable in it in the summer? So my suggestion is go check out www.backpacker.com they have the most comprehensive gear reviews ever. My only suggestion would be is you are new to fall camping buy a good sleeping bag! It will make all the difference between a miserable night or a good one. If you aren't backpacking avoid down bags, and get a syntehic fill with a 0 to 15 degree rating. Also, only buy a bag that you have had a chance to lie in! Go to REI or some local store and get in the bag! roll, toss and turn -- this is they only way you will be happy with your $150 purchase.

As far as places to go -- check out Hawn State Park in south eastern missouri. They have both camping and pop up sites and the most amazing and scenic ten mile trail that i have ever seen in missouri or illinois. Other than that check out backpacker.com for even more ideas.

 

[captmiddy]

We tend to buy our stuff from LLBean because they are so good at servicing the products they sell. Also being from Maine I tend to like to support a home state company . Currently we don't have sleeping bags from Beans though because we keep missing the sales on them, and we don't go camping after it gets too cool anyway. As a kid though we had LLBean sleeping bags we used all the time to go winter camping in an actual camp not in a tent (don't be fooled, this was no more than four wooden walls and a roof, with a wood fireplace, there was never a CO problem there though, too many holes to ever build up and 15 miles from electricity). We own an Academy Broadway 3 person tent which was cheap but it covers us up and keeps the wind and bugs out. My wife is really more of a summer camper since she still isn't into this whole winter thing we have in the Northeast. She won't let me buy a new LLBean tent until I have gone camping a little more frequently .

 

[RidgeInTheVille]

Hey Webwader,

I saw your picture before but just noticed the grills in the house windows behind you. Is that your house? We just built a new one and moved in last December. We did that same style grill.

 

[Webwader]

I saw your picture before but just noticed the grills in the house windows behind you. Is that your house? We just built a new one and moved in last December. We did that same style grill.

Yes, that's our house. Do you mean the grids in between the windows? We just wanted to keep it fairly simple, so just did the one grid bar around the edge of the window. The house is eight years old now.

 

[Hez]

As you could guess from my avatar, I am a year round camper. We had a Scout camp the weekend before last and are off again on Saturday for another. Just before Christmas we do another camp. We have camps every month in January, February and March.

This fall was the first in the Ridge. We managed to fit all the gear for five of us, including two tents, plus a bunch of Scout gear in the truck. We carried two large waterproof plastic totes for tents and sleeping pads,and put the backpacks in the trunk. Lots of room!

We have a Hillary 4 man tent and a Eureka, el Capitan 4 season lightweight backpacking tent (2 man). We use Thermorest self-inflating mattresses, and have a variety of sleeping bags. We get most of our stuff at our local Scout Shop as they carry a great selection of quality brands. MEC is the second favourite place to shop. Winter camping is done in tarp shelters, insulated with snow, with all the bodies - the entire troop - packed in together to share body heat.

 

[WhiteRL]

I am going camping this weekend at Vogel State Park in North Georgia. I currently camp in a tent. I hope to get a Pop up in the future,

 

[lowrider90]

Anyone else big into camping in the cool/cold fall months? If so, tell us about the gear you use (tent, etc.) and where you like to go. We love to hike and are just getting into everything.

Edit - Just wanted to point out that I'm looking for tent or even pop-up campers. Not the big 42-foot motorhomes with washer and dryer. LOL

Well you would probably have guessed anyway, but in 1997 We gave up on tent camping. I have climed every mountain with a presidents name in NH at some point. ever hear of" Dolly Copp" spent most of my falls camping there.

We bought a 12 acre lot with a small cabin in a town with now 237 people, then 258.

no septic or running water, but wood stove, and an out-house. the girls use a porta potty in the cabin. I added electric service and a phone line (no cell service)

Been there while is has been over 20 below with 4 -6 feet of snow. the wood stove can keep the heat up at night to around 75, supplimented by an electric 240 watt heater/blower.

Great fun with 2 snowmobiles . I have a potable generator for those bad storm. you see, I love a big snowstorm, as long as We have wood and the snowmobiles food and gas is only 5 miles away.

Looking forward to this winter.

 

[T Mac]

We just ordered a REI Geo Mountain 4-season tent today. I'll have it on Thursday and we leave on Friday for a weekend camping/hiking trip. Lows at night will be in the upper 30's, so I should be good to go.

I'd love to get some of those Thermarest mats but wow....expensive! I'll have to upgrade later, I suppose.

 

[Webwader]

I hope you have a great trip and get that new tent broken in properly.

 

[snowman]

T Mac -- don't be so leary of the price on a therma-rest pad. I use a 3/4 length that i purchased in 1989 and it still works like a champ and makes all the difference in the world when it comes to keeping the ground from sucking the heat out of you.

A poor man's ground insulator would be to take a piece of heavy plastic twice as wide as your tent and just as long. On one half of the plastic spread out a 1/4" to 1/2" thickness of newspaper. fold the other half over the top and duct tape shut. roll it up and go on your way! I use this setup when car camping in the winter becasue it is warmer than my therma-rest!

Also for cheap therma-rests keep tabs on www.campmor.com as they often have a sale on therma-rests for 20% to 30% off.

 

[Skywalker]

I second the Thermarest advice. We have had ours for over 20 years and they make the diference between a warm good nights sleep and a cold miserable tossing and turning.

 

[T Mac]

But $100 US for one? Or can I probably go more middle of the road on model? If you even have one of their models that you would suggest that's not so expensive, that would be helpful. I'd rather spend 100 on two than on one mat. Thanks, guys. I'll post pics of my new tent and from our hike later this weekend.

 

[SnowRidge]

Last year hiked into the Grand Canyon with my wife and a group of other people. We packed everything in and out, about 10 miles each way. We went to Havasupai Falls. Took a $15 dollar blow up mat to sleep on. It was light weight, compact and worked well. It wasn't too cold so only took a sheet and a small bedroll. Attached are some pics that I took. We had a great time. Would do it again. Enjoy.

 

[T Mac]

Wow...that's gorgeous. Looks like it would have been a great trip.

Another great state park for those who like to camp/hike is Hocking Hills in Ohio. It's about an hour southeast of Columbus and wow... beautiful.