Favorite camping spots of 2018
No, I hadn’t forgotten to share my favorite camping spots of 2018 (well, maybe a little) but I am running later than usual I guess. Still, nothing better then recapping my favorites of the year and publicly flaunting them, right? So here goes… For the 2018 travel year we devoted ourselves to the west-coast states. Instead of doing a large loop through dozens of states, we would focus on only three; California, Oregon, and Washington with California getting the lion’s share of the attention. We were both born and raised in California, but that state was one of the least explored for us both. Not anymore.
Listed in no particular order:
Trona Pinnacles – (Free) The only spot on the list that you will get an exact location from me; Trona Pinnacles. It is way, way out in the middle of no where, down a couple miles of mean washboard dirt road, but once there it is out of this world. Literally, it is like stepping out on another planet with the appearance of hostile environment in all directions. It is an ancient lake bed and far from being an unknown destination. Others will come and go every day, but we were lucky to have the place [mostly] to ourselves during our one week stay.
Inyo Ntnl Forest – (Free) We explored a lot of dirt roads within the Inyo National Forest, finding old mines, some great places to boondock, and our fair share of wild hotsprings to bathe in. Add to it the not-all-that-distant Eastern Sierras as our backdrop, and the views were second to none. It was here that the decision was made to stop sharing exact locations of our boondocking and other wild-locations (like hotsprings) after talking to a few locals we met at a spring. Kerri even claimed that the pictured spot may be her most favorite boondocking location of all time.
Lassen National Forest – (Free) There was no one specific location in this forest that took our breath away. Instead it was the whole trip (detailed in part 1 and part 2). Our first time taking Big Blue off road for an entire 100+ mile weekend of exploring the forest roads. Small lakes and meadows awaited us for multiple days of adventure and solitude.
Oregon Creek boondocking – (Free) We had just crossed the Oregon border from California and the summer heat was starting to take its toll on us. We desperately wanted a creek-side spot for the week so Kerri led us down a barely passable dirt road. Miles past the last campers we came to a mediocre spot under some tall pines. However, only a hundred feet away was the most amazing (and warm) swimming hole anyone could find and it was all our own for the week. We swam every single day after work, and the dogs joined in on the fun. Watching the old man Byron swim along with us was fun and cute as all hell. Best summer spot ever!
Oregon State Forest – (Free) By mid-year Kerri had refined her map scouting skills to the point that it was a give in that we would have an amazing home each week, and the Oregon State Forest did not break the trend. Even though we found many of the spots to be littered with trash or abandoned cars and trailers, there were a few way-off-the-beaten-path places that were left untouched by the riff-raff. It was here that the Monstaliner paint paid for itself as Big Blue bushwacked through bushes and branches to reach spots no one else dared. A hillside spot with a view of the town of Tillamook, yeah baby!
Even though we explored only three states in 2018 (and Baja again) at the end of the year the odometer made it clear that Big Blue drove more than all but one year during my ownership of the old beast. At 15,000 miles driven, it was second only to the first year of my travels in 2010 (actually only 9 months of that year as I bought the van in March) where we did 17,000 miles together. It was also the first year that Big Blue did any substantial off-highway exploring, and while I did not track how many miles we spent on dirt, I’d say it was well over one thousand, if not two.
Previous years favorite spots:
