The Wendlands discover how to really get away from it all.
December 2012
By Mike Wendland, F426141
It was the quiet that we noticed most.
There were no traffic sounds. No TV sets playing at nearby campsites. No laughter, and no murmuring voices of anyone else. Just us.
And, yet, camped in the wilds of northern Michigan, miles from the nearest paved road or power line, it wasn’t completely silent. There really is, as Simon and Garfunkel used to sing, “the sound of silence.”
We could hear the crackle of our campfire. The hoot of a distant owl. The yips of a pack of coyotes somewhere far to the west. The gurgle of the Rifle River moving over a stretch of rocks just downstream from our camp. The whooshing sound of wind whipping through a stand of red pines.
And above, as soon as we walked away from the fire and allowed our night eyes to focus, a gazillion stars speckled the ink-black sky.
We were boondocking, totally self-contained, with no commercial power or water or Wi-Fi or sewer or any other service. Some people prefer to call it “dry camping” or “independent camping.” Others use the terms “primitive camping” or “dispersed camping.”
By any name, we were loving it. No one else was around. Probably for miles. Tai, our Norwegian elkhound, ran free, though not very far from our motorhome. I swear he smiled the whole weekend, blissfully exhausted from leash-free hikes and the new scents of deer trails and the deep woods. We slept with the blinds up and the windows open yet had complete privacy.
It was our first experience with boondocking, despite 12,000 miles of travel in our motorhome since we took up RVing this past spring. Most of our other overnights were spent in commercial campgrounds, state or county parks, or the driveways of friends and relatives.
This was different. We gathered our own firewood, used battery-powered lights, fired up the generator a couple of times to make coffee, and generally unplugged — literally and figuratively.
It was so much fun that we repeated the experience two more times before the approaching Michigan winter threatened to freeze our holding tanks. But we’re already mapping out new boondocking destinations for our trip to southern climes after Christmas.
And we’re not alone. As motorhome technology improves, it’s easier than ever to disconnect from the power grid and still have almost all of the comforts we’re used to enjoying in our homes on wheels while staying in developed campgrounds.
Roadtrek Motorhomes from Kitchener, Ontario, just announced a brand-new model called the RS E-Trek, which is squarely aimed at the growing RV segment that likes to exchange the convenience of full hookups for the independence of being self-contained just about anywhere.
Built on the popular full-sized Sprinter frame and powered by a Mercedes diesel engine, the Type B RS E-Trek motorhome comes with a solar panel, a bank of eight no-maintenance AGM batteries, a fuel cell option, and an engine generator/alternator. “The E-Trek is all-electric, propane-free, very green, and eco-friendly,” Roadtrek president Jim Hammill said. “You can stay out there for days at a time without worry.”
Clearly, Roadtrek officials anticipate demand for a boondocking model. And while the RS E-Trek may be the first of the Type Bs to offer solar power as a factory install, do-it-yourself boondocking RVers have been tinkering with it for years. Solar kits are widely available now, and a growing number of companies specialize in installing them on RV rooftops.
And the places to boondock are many. Some, such as the parking lots at Walmart stores, truck stops, and other commercial businesses, are open to RVers for quick overnights, sort of a glorified rest area. RVers should not consider themselves “camping” in these spots — no putting out the awning and camp chairs, grills, etc. — and should always request permission to stay. The places I’m talking about, though, are in wilderness areas such as state and federal forests and the vast stretches of public land available from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, which has 17,000 campsites at more than 400 different campgrounds, mostly in the Western states.
The cost of boondocking on public land typically is $5 or $10 a night or, in many cases, is free.
Many other RVers use private land, with the permission of the landowner, of course. That’s what I did in Michigan’s Ogemaw County, staying on a 200-acre stretch of property owned by my brother-in-law that is bisected by the river and surrounded by hundreds of acres of state land.
But not all boondocking spots have so much elbowroom.
Take the tiny, quirky town of Quartzsite, Arizona, with a permanent population of 3,000. In January and February, though, Quartzsite becomes the boondocking capital of North America when an estimated 150,000 RVers descend to park their rigs side-by-side on the pancake-flat, treeless desert and boondock away the winter under that warm Southwest sun. So many boondockers congregate that businesses set up huge tents to cater to them. It looks like a giant RV rally that goes on for two months.
Quartzsite is not my preferred style of boodocking — though I think it will be fun to visit next year and capture some videos. But to each his or her own.
The upsides of wilderness boondocking are many. Privacy, serenity, uncluttered scenery, wildlife, and truly getting away from it all rank at the top of my list.
But my style of boondocking is not for everyone. In the wilds, you often have to work hard to find the right spot in order to level the motorhome. You’ll have to conserve your battery power. Since the goal is to enjoy the sounds of the outdoors, you’ll want to limit generator use as well. And because you are truly on your own, you are more vulnerable. Accidents do happen, and being out in the boondocks means getting help is more challenging than at a more developed campground with people around.
Boondocking in remote areas may be out of the picture for owners of large motorhomes. My 22-foot Type B had no trouble navigating the two-track trail that gave me access to my riverside spot in northern Michigan, but the going was slow, and sometimes Jennifer would have to jump out and run ahead to hold back bushes or tree limbs so they wouldn’t scrape our motorhome.
Interested in trying it? A number of Web sites and apps offer help. For starters, check out the apps offered by AllStays (www.allstays.com) for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. This site lists more than 22,000 campgrounds and boondocking spots, everything from KOAs and Walmarts to state and federal forests, military facilities, and BLM land.
Free Campgrounds for RVs (www.freecampgrounds.com) has a big database, sorted by state, that includes state, federal, and county land open to camping, most without hookups or services. The Web site lists more than 2,000 campsites available for $10 or less.
For boondocking and camping information related to national forests, check out the very detailed U.S. National Forest Campground Guide (www.forestcamping.com). Much of the research was done by Fred and Suzi Dow, a couple of avid RVers who have spent the past 17 years visiting 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, one national tallgrass prairie, and 2,383 developed campgrounds.
Information about camping in federal areas, such as those under the umbrella of the Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management, is available at www.recreation.gov.
I also like the Free Campsites Web site (http://freecampsites.net). This site has an interactive map, as well as comments and reviews of boondocking spots.
You can also check the site www.boondocking.org. It’s a database of free boondocking spots based on GPS coordinates. Enter your location’s latitude and longitude to learn where to find the closest boondocking spot.
iPhone users may instead want the Boondocking App from Modesitt Software (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boondocking/id561352659?mt=8). It is based on the same information, but it automatically detects your location from your phone and spits out a list of boondocking locations.
While it’s fun at times to be completely off the grid, we do recognize that this type of camping isn’t for everyone. And, like most RVers, we also enjoy spending time in commercial campgrounds that cater to RVers and offer amenities and services we appreciate. For more information about FMCA commercial member campgrounds, visit FMCA.com/campgrounds. FMCA also has an app available in the iTunes store and Android marketplace that can be used to search for campgrounds that offer FMCA member discounts.
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