Sylvansport GO trailer
Last November I wrote about the SylvanSport GO Multipurpose Trailer, that is easily converted from a pop-up tent trailer to a utility trailer. Now there are some new products on the market that challenge the unique market position of the GO, promising portability and flexibility.
Rugged terrain and unreliable communication can lead to longer emergency response times in the backcountry (photo by Kinder Alan on Flickr.com)
In August of 2008, rescue crews evacuated hundreds of campers from the Grand Canyon floor as flash flooding breached the nearby Redlands Dam, south of Supai. In March, a man camping in New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains fell 80 feet, while hiking with friends. In the Fall of 2007, more than a dozen campers were rescued from a runaway brushfire on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Camping emergencies are not usually so extreme, but anytime we venture into the backcountry we need to realize that we are now largely on our own. Emergency response times in the backcountry can be much longer, because smaller emergency crews are responsible for much larger areas than their city counterparts are.
Whitewater rafting is a great family adventure (click for larger image)
Sure, the economy is in a funk, but that does not mean you have to settle on a family camping vacation that is anything other than extraordinary. The West offers some of the finest rafting rivers in the world and many of them are perfectly suited for all ages and abilities.
I picked three of the most popular runs, whose locations in Southern California, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Idaho, are easily reachable from most of the West without spending a large amount of your vacation dollars on travel expenses.
Banana slug attacks are extremely rare in the Pacific coastal mountains
When we think about camping in the wild backcountry, one of the concerns that usually comes up is about wild animals. In most parts of the country, worrying about some kind of attack from a wild animal, such as a bear or a cougar, is largely unfounded. We are much more likely to experience a late-night raid by a gang of hungry raccoons, then a large predator. Fortunately, some of the same backcountry precautions that we can take to protect our food from the local raccoon gang will also serve to protect us from an unlikely visit by something more dangerous.
Congratulations to Peter D. - winner of the latest CampingBlogger contest!
Congratulations to Peter D. of Frederick, MD for winning the Olympus Stylus 1050 SW digital camera! I shipped Peter’s new camera and he should be getting it on Friday. I selected the winner on Friday morning – in fact, I did it live online using Twitter. This is what the selection looked like, in real time…