Last Christmas I went to a huge Adams retrospective at the Boston MFA. One of the text/graphics dividers between sections contained a huge enlargement of Ansel standing with his 8x10 on the roof platform... of his 1941 Cadillac woody station wagon. No doubt the best and most expensive tool available at the time; from my memory of his autobiography he must have just upgraded from a c.1938 Pontiac woody. I'd love to have either of those cars now, just not for off-road work.
Been there, done that. I have been through a number of rv's and trailers over the years, and there is no perfect solution. What I have found to work best for me, is a self contained motor home, with a small vehicle pulled behind it. You drive the big rig to the area, park it, unhook the small vehicle for day trips. A small 4x4 like a geo tracker or some such would be ideal. Yes, the rig sucks fuel- but, you can minimize that by the " mother ship " concept witht the smaller vehicle. In exchange, I get comfort, a full bathroom, satelite tv, ac, etc, etc. It is not camping in any way shape or form, it is like having a portable hotel room. It is very comfortable going down the road, something to keep in mind if you cover many miles.
Trailers can be great, but the set-up take down time can be a drag, and you have to have a signifigant vehicle to pull one with, leaving you with a gas hog to drive once you get where you are going.
As to the fuel cost- yes it is high, but you have to put things in perspective. When we take a trip, it is my wife and I, two dogs. No bill for boarding the dogs, full kitchen so meals don't have to cost more than at home. When compared to airfare, hotel, meal costs, it comes out to be pretty reasonable. Also, lots of the places I end up going are nowhere near air service anyway.
Fact is, it is getting expensive to travel anyway one wants to do it. I cut other corners so I can do it.
Glad to see this thread revived. I meant to post the last time around and never got around to it. I've been using a Wildernest Adventure Camper as my home away from home for the last 15 years. This is something that looks like a typical fiberglass pick-up shell, but it flips open to reveal a large pop-up tent. I'll have to dig around and find some photos of my rig, but until I do, here's a pic and links to a couple more I found online:
Wildernest Open
Wildernest Closed
I think you get the idea.
Mine originally rode on the back of a 1990 Nissan Hardbody 4x4, but I totaled that truck in a rollover (the Wildernest suffered only very minor cosmetic damage). It now rides on a 1998 Nissan Frontier 4x4.
Probably the best thing about the Wildernest is that when it's folded up, you don't even notice it's there. It does not negatively impact my gas mileage. It fits in any standard garage and any standard parking space. It has absolutely no negative impact on the day-to-day use of my truck. If I need to haul something messy in the back of the truck, the carpet kit slides out and has a bed liner beneath it for easy clean-up.
When opened, the height from the floor to the ridgeline is 8½ ft. The top bed sleeps two adults and holds up to 1000 lbs. without additional support - according to the manufacturer. I haven't verified that claim, but it held me (I'm a big guy at 6'4" 230 lbs.) and my wife when she was very pregnant with our twins without problem. The carpet kit in the bed of the truck also makes into a second bed capable of sleeping two more people in a pinch. I've had three people sleeping in it on a number of occasions, but never tried four.
I can set it up or fold it down by myself in about five minutes (or even faster with a second person). It opens from within, so the interior and all your gear remains dry even if you have to set it up during a downpour in the Hoh Rain Forest (I know this from experience). It has covered roof vents fore and aft and large zippered, screened side windows for maximum air circulation.
I'm not a hard core off roader, but I have taken it to some pretty remote backcountry locations in Oregon, California and Utah. It's great to be able to get away from the crowds and still camp in relative luxury. Some of my fondest memories are of nights spent in the middle of nowhere my Wildernest.
I outfit it with a few items to make it very liveable, inlcuding a Coleman heater and stove, a small Weber table top propane grill (great for steaks, pork chops or barbeque chicken) and a cooler for food and beverages. It's always on my truck and I keep the minimal aceessories in the storage compartments built into the carpet kit. This allows me to stop and spend the night anywhere on the spur of the moment. I've spent hundreds of nights in it over the last 15 years everywhere from commercial campgrounds to National and State Parks to "dispersed camping" on BLM land.
As my Nissan trucks are four cylinder models, I get decent mileage (18 MPG around town and up to 25 MPG on the highway). Not great, but better than a gas guzzler SUV or large motor home - especially since most of the driving on my photo trips is highway mileage getting to/from the general area I'm going to.
Unfortunately, the Wildernest hasn't been made in years. It went out of production in the early 1990s, was briefly revived in the mid 1990s, but hasn't been made in about 10 years. I still see them around from time to time. The dealer that sold them up here was a big proponent (had one himself). So, I see them around locally (in fact, I parked next to one in the economy lot at Portland airport when I flew to Rockford for the LF Conference last month). I've also seen them occasionally camping in places like Joshua Tree and Arches, but the sightings are getting less frequent.
It's not for everyone, but I like mine. It has served me well. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it and will miss it if I ever decide to sell it. We now have a Coleman tent trailer that we haul behind the minivan for family camping trips. It's roomier and has luxuries like built-in furnace, stove, refrigerator, hot and cold running water, etc., but when I go off on a photo trip, either by myself, with a fellow photographer, or one of my kids, I always take the Wildernest.
Kerry
Kerry's set-up is really nice, but given the choice, with nice summer weather, I chose to bivy outside. I used to think that the more time you spent outside a shelter, the more you'd be connected to nature, and that this would result in better landscape images. I've somewhat noticed a degradation in my LF work since I started sleeping in my Subaru station wagon, but this could also be due to owning a digital camera, or having two kids :-)
Last edited by QT Luong; 21-Jul-2006 at 16:51.
Very interesting discussion. I hope to maximize time in the field while minimizing cost so interested in camper options. For now planning to attach a rooftop carrier to my mid-size 4x4 SUV. By throwing non-essentials on top hope to create space for an air-mattress as these old bones can no longer tolerate sleeping on the ground.
Last edited by Forrest Atkins; 21-Jul-2006 at 17:15.
i have found this rig in my truck to work brilliantly. it's capable enough off road to get me anywhere i'm comfortable enough to venture, and when the weather gets really rough, the platform allows me to sleep in relative comfort inside the vehicle.
I had a Chevy S-10 4x4 Blazer that was amazing - 252,000 miles, original engine, original transmission. The only major item I ever changed was the water pump. Too bad, it go totalled.Originally Posted by Michael Gordon
Great idea but MAN! you need some contrast between the text and background on the site!
Nice Scott, it looks like a winner.
How about a mule with a 28" ear-span?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
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