Explore the multi-colored cliffs of Red Rock Canyon

As the winter snowbird season looks ahead to Groundhog Day and an early Spring, will you be heading back north from the desert to your home in the northern states? If so, do the following questions apply to your return home?

1. When I’m heading home I drive long days until I get there.
2. I never get distracted or stop to explore places I pass through on the way home.
3. When on the road I stop overnight at the campground or Walmart that is closest to the freeway so I can get going fast in the morning.

If this sounds like your travel agenda, may I suggest that this year you slow down, relax to the notion that you are going to spend several days on the road exploring some places that were just too far from your winter destination for day trips or that you ordinarily drive right by. You will still get home in time to see the trees bud, the wildflowers bloom, and to get in your spring planting.

For example, before you leave the desert and cross back over 3,793-foot Tehachapi Pass, take a right (north) on CA14 in the desert town of Mojave for 40 miles to Red Rock Canyon State Park. Here you can camp beneath towering sandstone cliffs, on the crossroads of a Native American trade route thousands of years old, and by buttes and cliffs with colorful white, red, pink, and brown layers (some of Jurassic Park was shot here).

The cliffs are riddled with fun-to-explore vertical slot canyons where Coopers hawks and other raptors nest. Hike to the top for a magnificent viewpoint of the surrounding Mojave Desert, where along the way you will find evidence of the abundance of desert wildlife, tracks of kangaroo rats and coyotes in the sand, steely eyes of Chuckwallas, Western whiptail, and horned lizards watch as you pass, and raptors circle overhead in the never ending search for food.

On one such visit, I stepped from my motorhome to see a drama unfold between a cottontail and a coyote. The wily predator had his eyes glued to the fluffy cute prey and was slowly stalking toward it. The cottontail caught sight of some movement and took off--straight toward me. Seems I was between him and his burrow. he darted right by me, not two feet away with the coyote in hot pursuit--until the coyote caught sight of me, whereupon he applied the brakes in a cloud of dust, and dejectedly lopped off and out of sight, with a final glare at me as he disappeared into the brush.

Close by you can make a side trip to Burro Schmidt's 2,087-foot tunnel. With no way to get his gold to the rail head on the other side of the mountain, Schmidt dug using only hand tools through the solid rock of Copper Mountain to reach the other side. Legend says his gold stash is still buried.

Prepare to boondock at Red Rock, even though there is a campground, there are no hookups and no dump station.

Learn about Bob Difley's eBooks on desert camping and boondocking at RVbookstore.com

Compact portable heater doubles as stove in emergencies

When a heater or stove fails, life on a boat, in an RV, or at home when a winter storm knocks our your power, can get mighty uncomfortable. The HeatMate™ 5200 Portable Alcohol Heater from Contoure International provides a safe source of warmth that doubles as a stove. Conture also manufactures space saving products bot boat and RVs like cook tops, microwaves, and 12-volt LED lights.

As an addition to your emergency supplies, the HeatMate produces 5200 BTU of heat. When the lid of the compact and efficient heater is removed, HeatMate transforms into a cook top that is capable of boiling a quart of water in just nine minutes.

The non-pressurized canister system contains a nonflammable wick material that absorbs approximately 1-1/4 qts. of environmentally-friendly alcohol fuel. Even if turned completely upside down, its unique design prevents fuel from leaking.

Extremely reliable, the HeatMate canister system eliminates the hoses and valves of pressurized systems, as well as the tiresome pumping, priming and pre-heating. Alcohol fuel is easily extinguished with water.

Made of aluminum, the compact HeatMate measures just 11-3/4" H x 11-1/2" W, comes with a carrying strap, and weighs just 5 lbs. 3 oz. The suggested retail price of the HeatMate Heater is $169.95. It is available at Amazon.com.

Lost, have a breakdown, Spot will find you

Nature, solitude, and fresh air, a top priority for boondockers and hikers. Now you can add “peace of mind” to that list without sacrificing your boondocking experience.

When you find yourself hiding away out of cell phone reach, Spot, a personal satellite messaging and emergency communications GPS unit weighing only 5.2 ounces, lets you assure folks at home that you’re OK as often as you like with a “check in” message. Friends can even track your progress, viewing your exact latitude and longitude on Google Maps in real time--if you care to reveal your secret boondocking location.

Most importantly, if you have an emergency you can send a 911 signal for immediate medical help or evacuation. But even if you just need a hand, there’s a “ask for help” signal that alerts designated friends or family that you need some help.

SPOT provides live feed updates of Google Maps™ so you can save your route between boondocking sites with a seamless breadcrumb trail of waypoints. Send a message to your family when you stop to camp for the night. SPOT can even alert national roadside assistance to your location when you need it.

For hikers, there is a trail and a new experience around every bend. With the push of a button, SPOT’s “check-in” function sends a message with your exact coordinates back to the rest of your camping crew. Or you could ask your fellow campers to meet you with a cold beer--and a foot massage--upon your return with the “Ask for help” button. The product is available at Amazon.com.

How to maintain a safe onboard water supply

By Bob Difley
There are two kinds of RVers, those that drink raw water right out of the tap and those that don't. If you are one that doesn't, you don’t have to concern yourself with water borne illnesses, Of course, depending on what you do drink—wine, beer, tea, or coffee--you may be confronted with other issues.

For those of us that do drink water, and spend a lot of time on the road and in questionable locations, the following measures have kept me and my wife free of typhoid, diarrhea, pathogenic microorganisms, intestinal parasites, and as explorer Owen Lattimore noted while traversing the Silk Road in camel caravans, “Water alone, unboiled, is never drunk. There is a superstition that it causes blisters on the feet."

• Fill your water tank only from water supplies that are confirmed potable sources, such as municipal, campground, and tested well water sources.
• Every six months sanitize your tank by pouring in one-quarter cup of bleach for every 15 gallons of water in a full tank. Let stand overnight. Drain, fill, and rinse at least twice, or until chlorine odor is gone. Better yet, fill with water and bleach when leaving campground and let it slosh around in the tank as head home.
• Keep the ends of your water hose out of the dirt and off the ground when filling your tank.
• Attach the ends together after voiding it of all remaining water and store in a plastic or cloth bag.
• When possible, use your own water hose to fill your tank. You don’t know how previous RVers have handled the supplied hose.
• Do not fill your water tank from the water supplied at a dump station for rinsing down, unless you are sure it is a safe water supply and you use your own hose.
• Wash your hands after using a dump station before using the water hose to fill your fresh water tank.
• Filter the water coming out of your kitchen faucet either with an under-sink inline filter (such as an Everpure), attach a water filter (i.e.Brita) to your kitchen faucet, or keep a Brita-type pitcher of water with built in filter in your frig. These filters will also remove grit and bad tastes like you get from some desert water supplies.
• If you use the pitcher, remember to use the filtered water for washing veggies, making coffee, tea, cold drinks, or ice cubes, and if you’re slightly nervous about your current water tank supply, for brushing teeth as well.

Learn more about boondocking with Bob's eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands

Beat high fuel costs with wood-burning rig

Here is an old idea that at first glance seems like a viable solution to high fuel prices: A fuel system that burns just about anything except rocks, glass, and broken cement. The fuel of preference for this type vehicle is wood and wood scraps, or cellulose.

You could also burn easily obtainable wood for your other power needs while boondocking out in the national forests.

During WWII wood burning vehicles were commonplace. These cars worked by gasifying wood and burning that directly (see photo of wood burning vehicles, courtesy Low-tech Magazine). Today we call this type of fuel “biofuel.” The process converts “biomass” into biodiesel. Burning wood or scraps also is thought by some to be carbon neutral.

Joost Conjin, who not only built a car out of wood, but toured Europe and made a movie about his trip, says, "You can go around the world with a saw and an axe."

However, when studying this fuel application, it becomes apparent that if the idea caught on we would soon deforest the planet, and carting around the fuel converter (like the modern version in the bed of a pick-up truck) would soon become as unwieldy as cooking inside your rig with a woodstove.

Though on the plus side, since it would take about ten minutes to preheat your rig to drive, chances are you would take your bike instead. And if you had to cut wood for three hours a day to make a trip, think of what good shape you would get yourself in.

National Forest campsite fees rise in Oregon

Camping fees have been increased in Oregon's Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest campsites in the High Cascades and Gold Beach ranger districts to help pay for maintenance and improvements, officials said.

Camping fees, which had ranged from $5 to $10 per night at each site, have been increased to a range of $8 to $15 per night, according to forest spokesman Paul Galloway.


"We needed to increase the fees to be able to do some backlog maintenance at these sites and make them sustainable into the future," he said.

Many of the forest's developed recreation sites are 30 to 50 years old, he said, and most have received little in the way of basic maintenance or improvements over the years.

The new fee structure, which went into effect on Friday, is one of the results of a 2008 recreation facility analysis of more than 200 developed recreation sites in the forest.

"These were locations we identified during the analysis," he said of the sites selected for increases.

Ninety-five percent of the funds collected from the recreation fee sites will remain in the forest to help fund needed improvements, he added.

Roseburg, Oregon BLM District seeks campground hosts

The Roseburg District of the Bureau of Land Management is seeking campground hosts for the 2010 camping season.

There are currently host openings at Susan Creek Campground, Scaredman Campground and for roving hosts.

Roving hosts fill in as needed in all eight campgrounds and will have a varied work schedule. Susan Creek and Scaredman hosts will work a regular schedule and are asked to attend host training in early April.

Susan Creek is open April 16 through Oct. 25 and Scaredman is open from about mid-May through late-September, weather permitting.

Hosts receive a site with full hook-ups and a small subsistence payment in return for their work in the campground.

Duties include cleaning restrooms and showers, greeting visitors and answering questions, cleaning campsites and fire rings and stocking brochure racks.

Information: 440-4930.

Forest service to reduce senior discounts

The combination of a suddenly coming of age baby boomer population coupled with the current fiscal climate is resulting in lots of people retiring.

This is alarming the U.S. Forest Service (FS), that says too many people are getting old all at once, and soon too many will be taking advantage of big discounts offered to senior citizens to camp in national forests.

Consequently, the service is proposing to slash the existing discount of 50 percent for those with with the Federal Senior Pass to 10 percent.

The FS posted its proposal in the Federal Register in December and the public has until Feb. 1, 2010, to comment on it. John Heil, a regional spokesman for the service in San Francisco, said the agency hasn't set a date to put the plan into effect.

If this change takes effect, those that use FS campsites can expect to see their camping budget take a big hit. And you can expect that concessionaires, that operate about half of all the national forest campgrounds and over 80% of reservable campsites will be rallying for the change. According to the service, discounts cost concessioners $4 million in 2007 and will cost $6 million by 2022.

In the year 2000, 7 percent of campers were receiving senior discounts, according to the Federal Register notice. By 2007, that percentage had grown to 11 percent. The FS says discounts will grow to 17 percent of the total by 2022.

According to U.S. Census Bureau projections, the proportion of U.S. residents 62 years old and older will surge 50 percent from 47 million in 2008 to 70.7 million in 2022, with seniors' representing from 15 percent to nearly 21 percent of the population.

You can comment at www.regulations.gov.

$100 fine for sleeping in your RV in Boulder

In Boulder, Colorado, you can be fined $100 for sleeping in your RV. The ordnance, passed in 1980 and listed under miscellaneous offenses, states that no person shall camp within a park, recreation area, open space, or other property without permission. In 2009 353 tickets were issued for camping without a permit.

A homeless woman is bringing this ordnance up for debate at this Tuesday's city council meeting (4 - 6 PM, Boulder Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway) where she plans a rally urging the council to decriminalize sleeping in public parks or other places.

The Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center in Boulder is supporting the effort.
"Sleeping is a human need," said Carolyn Bninski, a member of the center. "If you don't have a place to live, you need to sleep outside."

This is an issue that could affect boondockers, since the definition of camping is not defined and is at the whim of the police. If a homeless person sleeping in a park can be defined as camping, then certainly a person sleeping in an RV anywhere within Boulder city limits could be considering camping.

This practice could set a precedent for boondockers, since to some police they may appear as well-off travelers that could be readily tapped for a hundred bucks to help pay the city's bills. Could they start ticketing RVers that spend the night in the local Wal Mart or K-Mart parking lot? That could make an enroute overnight stay in Boulder--and anywhere else where this idea conjures dollar signs in the eyes of city officials--an expensive way to spend the night.

A trashy tale

Not all boondockers are as responsible as you and I. So when you find a nice boondocking spot and the fire ring is full of charred cans and bottles, the ground littered with cigarette butts, and plastic bags festoon the mesquite trees, grab a paper bag (recyclable) and police up the place—even if you grumble about the slobs that camped there before you.

It will only take a few minutes, and your campsite will now be spotless--and of course you will leave it that way. And then tell yourself that it wasn’t really RVers that left the trash, but those darn partying teenagers from the local town. After all, no RVer would really do that.

Sea water to drinking water

A Swiss company by the name of SwissINSO Holding Inc. announced in a press release that they have invented and patented procedures and technologies that enable purifying seawater into drinking water. The systems are environmentally friendly and self-sufficient as they can be run on solar power.

They claim their process using patented reverse osmosis membrane filtration will produce unsurpassed performance and life expectancy.

Though now they will manufacture only larger, community-sized and emergency relief configurations, if it works as the manufacturers say it will, can it be long before individual units will be developed? And what a useful device that would be for boondockers, enabling use of not only sea water but water from streams and lakes, no longer be time-limited by the size of the water tank.

Keep up with their development at: http://www.swissinso.com

On the horizon: Nickel lithium batteries

As I reported in a previous post on Mastervolt's development of a powerful lithium ion RV/Marine battery, electric vehicle proponents, alternative energy entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists are also working feverishly to develop better, more efficient batteries that will give the electric vehicle (EV) industry the game changing boost it needs to change the way we think about transportation.

Battery technology, following the successful development of the lithim-ion battery, is about to take the next leap forward with new battery configurations that can be produced at lower prices but with greater capacity bringing an increased range between charges.

Japanese Researchers have developed a new generation battery by combining Nickel and Lithium to produce a battery that can store more than 3.5 times the energy of lithium-ion batteries. This is a prime example of the payoff from the money and effort going into the development of smaller, cheaper, safer (less prone to burst into flames as some lithium-ion batteries have), and more powerful batteries that will deliver more miles between charges and more hours of electric power while boondocking.

Other companies are developing the components that will complete the evolution of batteries. Proterra, for example, claims to deliver a full charge to lithium batteries in ten minutes, and has produced an all electric bus (think RV size) that also includes a regenerative braking system that they claim will capture 90% of a vehicle’s kinetic energy during braking to put back in the battery.

Several municipalities, including New York and Toronto, have already ordered hybrid/electric and all-electric busses, which, lucky for us, are of the size that could be used for RVs. With break-through battery technology like this, we may have taken another step closer to more hybrid/electric and all-electric motorhomes, as well as trucks with enough power and range to be practical for towing fivers and trailers.

With these kinds of improvements on the horizon, we may be hearing the last of the negative comments about RVs as “gas hogs” and “gas guzzling behemoths.” Not only that, but the savings in fuel costs and repairs (electric vehicle parts last longer and require less maintenance than fossil fuel engines and drive trains), it is possible to recover a big chunk of the inevitably higher prices of the first electric RVs to hit the streets.

And as popularity increases, demand rises, and finally mass production and competition will bring prices down. The day will come when EV RVs will be priced comparatively with gas and diesel RVs of today, and fuel costs will be a concern of the past. I hope that comes while I'm still around to see it.

Learn about Bob Difley's eBooks at RVbookstore.com

Stocking up for a boondocking trip

Because we live in a culture with a supermarket on every corner, many of us find it difficult to plan our stores for an extended period of time ahead, like laying in supplies that will last throughout an extended camping or boondocking period, when the nearest supermarket might be dozens of miles away.

We are so used to having our friendly markets nearby and popping out to pick up a quart of milk or a pizza. When you are in the boonies, a trip to the store becomes not only a project but an irritant.


It's not easy to predict what your needs or wants may be. Do you get a sudden urge for Vlasic dill pickles? Or did you forget to pack the ice cream or the extra rolls of toilet paper? This is not necessarily a threat to the success of your camping trip (well, maybe the ice cream is) but it will surely make your camping or boondocking experience a lot more fun to have those items. You can avoid critical shortages by making a list well before the start of your trip and having all members of the camping trip add their special interests.

Also, check all your permanent stocks--cookware, linens, tools, outdoor equipment, etc. in the RV. Did the person who used the last roll of paper towels tell you? Is there just a drop or two left in the can of Pam spray? And don’t forget items like extra garbage bags, the large black 30-gallon bags, since you will likely be collecting your trash to haul out after your trip. What about a back-up barbecue and campfire lighter, Band-aids and antiseptic, fully charged batteries for your reading-in-bed lights, and an extra fleece for those chilly mountain evenings?

Make a master check list and print it out and check each item before every boondocking trip. It will take you less time than having to make a run to the market, which could be miles away.

Learn more about boondocking with my new eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands.

 

Boondocking tip: douse the porch light

To enhance your boondocking experience, work at developing good habits that you follow automatically to save resources, diminish waste, or use electricity efficiently.

For instance, don’t leave your porch light on when it is not necessary. It gradually drains the juice from your batteries unnecessarily, and if you are camped near an old curmudgeon (like me) it may irritate him since it ruins night vision for spotting night critters, enjoying the nighttime landscape, and star gazing.

New battery technology to benefit boondockers

A lot of investment, venture capital, and R & D has been flowing into electric vehicle development anticipating an explosion of fossil fuel free vehicles in the years ahead. One of the developments that will bring electric vehicles into the mainstream is the advancements made to batteries, particularly with lithium ion batteries. The first all-electric vehicle performance car was the Tesla sports car, which used lithium ion laptop batteries--lots of them--for power, but the car cost more than $100,000.

But now battery companies spread around the world are working feverishly to invent the breakthrough battery that will change transportation forever. One such company is Mastervolt that has developed a 24 volt lithium ion battery. Weighing in at just 115 lbs., the output is that of four 8Ds. Think of that. A single 115-pound battery functioning as well as four 140-pound batteries--or 560 lbs! Not only that, Mastervolt claims that their battery will last three times longer than the 8D. (Group 8D AGM batteries are powerful 12-volt, 225 to 255 Amp hour, heavy duty, deep cycle batteries costing several hundred dollars and used in large luxury RVs and yachts.)

Though available now only in 24-volt and being marketed to yacht owners, a 12-volt version is in development, which could be a breakthrough for RVers--and especially for boondockers. There is one slight hitch, though. The battery costs $7,500. However, with a smaller 12-volt version, and as demand and manufacturing mass production come together, prices will come down. How far down, is hard to tell, but with competing companies also pushing the same development, it may--hopefully--be sooner rather than later.

You can keep track of their progress on their Web site.

Check out my new eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands.

Volunteering: A resolve for the New Year

The coming of the New Year often inspires in us a desire to make resolutions that aim to improve our lives, cure bad habits, or do more to help others. On that latter note, we boondockers have a unique opportunity to volunteer our time and talents since we carry our lodging and food prep facilities with us, can set up just about anywhere with a minimum of site-offered facilities, and can volunteer in locations--sometimes very scenic, outdoors locations--where off-site housing and transportation would have to be provided.

Though volunteer positions can be found in the Caretaker Gazette, there are several other places to look as well for every type of volunteer position you could imagine, both indoors and outdoors, strenuous and easy, working with groups or alone (see the Hoover Wilderness listing below). These positions are offered by federal and state agencies, local non-profit organizations, and more.


Navigate to the volunteer pages of the national forest service, Fish & Game, national and state Wildlife Refuges, BLM, state parks, and others that use volunteers on a regular basis. These positions could include camp hosting, land management, and as one volunteer post recently stated, “Some other opportunities are non-native species removal, trail maintenance and river clean-up.”


If you are young (or young at heart), how about this recent forest service posting: “Wilderness Ranger: Volunteer Wilderness Rangers needed in the Hoover Wilderness. Hike, backpack, and camp in the wilderness for extended periods. Need to be a self-starter; must be comfortable living and working alone. Must be personable and able to explain rules, regulations, and leave no trace concepts. Will perform basic trail maintenance, campsite cleanup, pick up litter, and probably have the best summer of your life.”


As idylic and "aack to nature" as positions like this sound, there are less strenuous positions, of course, and more suitable for RVers. You can find federal listings where you can search for volunteer listings by state, federal agency, or type of position sought. Volunteer positions can be short term, 30 days or less, or for a whole season. Often, in fact usually, organizations that use volunteers recognize the value of more mature and mobile RVers, and are prepared to offer camping arrangements while you are on the job.


Aa group calling themselves 500 Volunteers has help in getting started volunteering, and Hope Sykes has written a page on how to get started volunteering on her Web site, which also has links to volunteer information such as how to volunteer in Mexico and volunteering with specific skills, such as nursing or computers.


Not only will you be doing a good dead in the new decade, but you will be building memories that will last a lifetime.

Learn more about boondocking in my new eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands.