Boondocking for a month in the Rockies

[oregoncamper]

We took our 13BHB on a one month Sep tour of North Central Colorado, southwestern Wyoming, Idaho and back to Oregon. No hookups and very few developed campgrounds. We found some pretty rugged back roads to drive with our Off road version (I guess they are marketed as Bearcats now?) and it performed like a champ. (If you don't count leaving the upper bunk window unlatched when we drove off - it is now somewhere west of Yellowstone). Our favorite spot was along Gray's River Road south of the Tetons. Lots of gorgeous dispersed camping spots and some nice hiking trails. No one around except some bow hunters. The approach from the South is pretty rough, but you could tour a lot of the valley pretty easily coming from the north. We got snow when camping near Medicine Bow Peak, which wouldn't have been bad except for the 25 mile hour winds. Luckily nothing froze up. Other highlights were Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge. We were also incredibly lucky to see both a wolf and a grizzly close up while driving along a back road in the Tetons. 

Our Lifeline 230mAH 6 volt batteries AGM batteries gave us all the electricity we needed (lights, water pump, furnace fan and fridge controls) and held up fine with just the charging while driving. We went through 1 1/2 tanks of propane for the fridge and heat, with generally chiily nights. We tend to run the heat in the evening and then fire it up again just before getting up in the morning.

We now have about 20,000 miles on our 2013, and look forward to many more. Probably a quick trip to the coast next week.

[thudd3r]

you were in my back yard...glad you enjoyed it!  we are lucky enough to boondock through there every other weekend in the summer.

next time you are in the area might i suggest taylor park.. it is a bit farther south (close to buena vista and gunnison), but well worth it

[scout]

sounds like an epic trip, did you travel with full water tanks on the rough roads? If so, how did they stand up?

[leslie]

This sounds like a wonderful trip. Every now and then I mention to my husband about how I would like to boondock. Then I watch this look of abject terror on his face. Breathe, Al, breathe. The few times it has just sprung up, once at a WalMart and once at a winery, he has been amazed at how comfortable we have been.

[oregoncamper]

We generally had about 15 gallons of fresh, variable gray. No problems. The screw on connection to the water pump did vibrate loose once. fortunately we always turn the pump off when on the road and noticed it right away because it didn't shut off when it should have. I think they've changed the layout, but in ours the water pump is in the same compartment as the inverter, less than ideal!.

Believe it or not, we have never used the black tank, though I was sorely tempted when I got up in the night to find a small blizzard had moved in!

[oregoncamper]

Leslie, I think we have a little different idea of boondocking, though we did stay in a CSU parking lot when visiting our son in Ft. Collins. They didn't allow dogs in his apartment and there were no convenient campgrounds available. 

What is your husband afraid of?

[leslie]

The winery and WalMart were spur-of-the-moment decisions that were sprung on him, mainly because we had nowhere else to stay. My husband likes full hookups and not too far from the showers and restrooms, please.

I am the one who has wanted for forever to own an RV and go camping. My husband came on board somewhat reluctantly when he started figuring out how much retirement income we would have and how much traveling we could do.

Now that he has been on 5 RV trips, he is really enjoying it. I bring up boondocking every now and then, but he nixes the idea. I think we will just have to Wallydock dome more, and try dry camping at farms and wineries until he becomes more comfortable with doing this.

We joined Harvest Hosts, where for $40/year, we get a directory of farms and wineries where we can dry camp at no charge, but the hosts expect campers to buy some produce or a bottle of wine. I enjoy doing this, but we end up buying several bottles of wine. Oh, well.