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Elemental Camping Test #1: Successful
One of the most striking things about camping out in the redwoods is how utterly quiet it can be, especially just after dawn or just before dusk, when the wind is still. Mind you, that wasn't the case yesterday at dinner time ... but I get ahead of myself.
Sure enough, I went in to work at 4am Friday to observe a Certain Process in the purification department, only to have that process not occur until 7:30am. Well, nobody's fault -- these things are a bit hard to predict, and I got a nice lot of work done at my desk with nobody else around in the mean time, and it did mean that I got out of there conveniently early. But the theory that leaving town by 2pm (on a non-pre-holiday Friday) would mean avoiding rush hour traffic was, shall we say, mistaken. Still and all, since I got into my campsite (Hidden Springs Campground, Humboldt Redwoods State Park) while still light, despite having stopped for dinner along the way, we'll count it a success.
Here's the Viridium camping set-up from start to finish:
The car as it starts out.
We remove the rear seats.
The platform goes into place on the left. (The left, because if necessary the front passenger seat slides forward to make space for any extra-long stowed gear.)
Camping gear (mostly cooking gear and food) goes under the platform, as does the standard car stuff-box that always lives in the car. The foam mattress goes on top.
The bicycle fits in on the right and gets bungeed in place. Assorted other items get tucked around it if necessary.
And then I drive to my selected campsite (pre-reserved on-line, right down to the specific site number).
And park.
On arrival, the bicycle and any other stored gear comes out.
The extendable part of the frame slides out.
The platform top unfolds onto the extended frame.
The foam mattress is unfolded on top of the platform.
While the campsite had a perfectly good picnic table, I wanted to test out the full "car-centered camping" experience and did the kitchen set-up on the tailgate. The two small boxes (general utilities, cooking utensils) sit on top of the mattress, the food box sits to the right, the stove to the left. The two taller boxes (one is the "stove supplies and dishwashing equipment" box that gets shared with SCA camping, the other is the "modern camping cookpots and utensils" box) sit on the ground (as does the ice chest) and serve as end tables.
And meals are prepared. After clean-up, everything slides back in under the platform.
The set of privacy curtains that came as optional equipment with the car work almost too well as they function as near-complete blackout curtains as well. Since I prefer to wake up to light, I put the full curtains up for changing then took down the one on the more private side for sleeping. In theory, if I want a bit more room for changing, I could do it with the platform in retracted position, but for most purposes there's quite sufficient room to do the changing-while-lying-in-bed thing on top of the platform. Incidentally, there's also a Honda-standard-equipment "cabana" add-on that attaches to the open tailgate and provides additional sheltered space. I didn't get it when I bought the car, but I may re-visit the idea later.
For me, cooking and dining while camping is a big part of the fun, (which explains why the majority of the gear that isn't involved with sleeping centers around cooking). Saturday breakfast was mushroom-and-tomato omelette with gorgonzola cheese, bacon, and French-press coffee. The fantasy is that I will head off with a bare minimum of packed food and will find some local produce stand that will inspire the weekend's menu. Alas, I prefer not to depend on fantasies for my dinner, but the local produce stand did provide a handful of plums and a frozen blackberry popsicle for lunch.
Dinner was a grilled lamb chop (marinated in lemon juice and mint), tortellini with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and homemade walnut pesto, and for dessert a sort of stove-top strawberry cobbler. (Slice fresh strawberries and simmer with a little red wine until there's enough liquid for the next step. Make up some scone mix with a little more liquid than usual and pour or spread on top of the strawberries in the saucepan. Cover and simmer over a low enough heat that it doesn't cook dry before the batter is cooked. Invert in a bowl and drizzle with a little light cream. Works best if cooked in a relatively heavy saucepan rather than the lightweight aluminum things sold as "camping cookpots".)
Sunday breakfast was pancakes layered with the rest of the strawberry compote and unflavored yogurt, plus bacon and coffee.
Saturday's main activity was bicycling along the Avenue of the Giants to the northernmost end then back again, with stops at the main park visitor's center on the way out (to pick up a map) and at the Founder's Grove for some hiking and sketching on the way back. A lot more level than, say, the Three Bears ride or my SF ride. A few hills, but mostly a gentle winding highway entirely shaded by redwoods. Total biking distance was 42 miles at an average speed just short of 14 mph. (Could have been higher, but I wasn't really going for speed.)
Now, I ask you, what is the sight and sound that you most prefer not to encounter when camping in a forest and being just in the middle of cooking dinner? No, not bears. How about a couple of trucks from the local fire department coming through the campground with their lights flashing and the sound of a Forestry Department helicopter overhead? I'm assuming there was some smoke some where that they were checking out, and I'm assuming that it was taken care of (or was under control) because there wasn't any evacuation order. But I did have the "fun" of mentally assessing just how quickly I could go from middle-of-dinner-prepration to packed-and-on-the-road if necessary. Other than that, however, things were delightfully quiet and restful. But it's half an hour to checkout time, and a 5-6 hour drive back home, and time to put the laptop away and get on the road. *sigh* Hmm. My calendar suggests that I may be able to get away again in September.
Sure enough, I went in to work at 4am Friday to observe a Certain Process in the purification department, only to have that process not occur until 7:30am. Well, nobody's fault -- these things are a bit hard to predict, and I got a nice lot of work done at my desk with nobody else around in the mean time, and it did mean that I got out of there conveniently early. But the theory that leaving town by 2pm (on a non-pre-holiday Friday) would mean avoiding rush hour traffic was, shall we say, mistaken. Still and all, since I got into my campsite (Hidden Springs Campground, Humboldt Redwoods State Park) while still light, despite having stopped for dinner along the way, we'll count it a success.
Here's the Viridium camping set-up from start to finish:
The car as it starts out.
We remove the rear seats.
The platform goes into place on the left. (The left, because if necessary the front passenger seat slides forward to make space for any extra-long stowed gear.)
Camping gear (mostly cooking gear and food) goes under the platform, as does the standard car stuff-box that always lives in the car. The foam mattress goes on top.
The bicycle fits in on the right and gets bungeed in place. Assorted other items get tucked around it if necessary.
And then I drive to my selected campsite (pre-reserved on-line, right down to the specific site number).
And park.
On arrival, the bicycle and any other stored gear comes out.
The extendable part of the frame slides out.
The platform top unfolds onto the extended frame.
The foam mattress is unfolded on top of the platform.
While the campsite had a perfectly good picnic table, I wanted to test out the full "car-centered camping" experience and did the kitchen set-up on the tailgate. The two small boxes (general utilities, cooking utensils) sit on top of the mattress, the food box sits to the right, the stove to the left. The two taller boxes (one is the "stove supplies and dishwashing equipment" box that gets shared with SCA camping, the other is the "modern camping cookpots and utensils" box) sit on the ground (as does the ice chest) and serve as end tables.
And meals are prepared. After clean-up, everything slides back in under the platform.
The set of privacy curtains that came as optional equipment with the car work almost too well as they function as near-complete blackout curtains as well. Since I prefer to wake up to light, I put the full curtains up for changing then took down the one on the more private side for sleeping. In theory, if I want a bit more room for changing, I could do it with the platform in retracted position, but for most purposes there's quite sufficient room to do the changing-while-lying-in-bed thing on top of the platform. Incidentally, there's also a Honda-standard-equipment "cabana" add-on that attaches to the open tailgate and provides additional sheltered space. I didn't get it when I bought the car, but I may re-visit the idea later.
For me, cooking and dining while camping is a big part of the fun, (which explains why the majority of the gear that isn't involved with sleeping centers around cooking). Saturday breakfast was mushroom-and-tomato omelette with gorgonzola cheese, bacon, and French-press coffee. The fantasy is that I will head off with a bare minimum of packed food and will find some local produce stand that will inspire the weekend's menu. Alas, I prefer not to depend on fantasies for my dinner, but the local produce stand did provide a handful of plums and a frozen blackberry popsicle for lunch.
Dinner was a grilled lamb chop (marinated in lemon juice and mint), tortellini with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and homemade walnut pesto, and for dessert a sort of stove-top strawberry cobbler. (Slice fresh strawberries and simmer with a little red wine until there's enough liquid for the next step. Make up some scone mix with a little more liquid than usual and pour or spread on top of the strawberries in the saucepan. Cover and simmer over a low enough heat that it doesn't cook dry before the batter is cooked. Invert in a bowl and drizzle with a little light cream. Works best if cooked in a relatively heavy saucepan rather than the lightweight aluminum things sold as "camping cookpots".)
Sunday breakfast was pancakes layered with the rest of the strawberry compote and unflavored yogurt, plus bacon and coffee.
Saturday's main activity was bicycling along the Avenue of the Giants to the northernmost end then back again, with stops at the main park visitor's center on the way out (to pick up a map) and at the Founder's Grove for some hiking and sketching on the way back. A lot more level than, say, the Three Bears ride or my SF ride. A few hills, but mostly a gentle winding highway entirely shaded by redwoods. Total biking distance was 42 miles at an average speed just short of 14 mph. (Could have been higher, but I wasn't really going for speed.)
Now, I ask you, what is the sight and sound that you most prefer not to encounter when camping in a forest and being just in the middle of cooking dinner? No, not bears. How about a couple of trucks from the local fire department coming through the campground with their lights flashing and the sound of a Forestry Department helicopter overhead? I'm assuming there was some smoke some where that they were checking out, and I'm assuming that it was taken care of (or was under control) because there wasn't any evacuation order. But I did have the "fun" of mentally assessing just how quickly I could go from middle-of-dinner-prepration to packed-and-on-the-road if necessary. Other than that, however, things were delightfully quiet and restful. But it's half an hour to checkout time, and a 5-6 hour drive back home, and time to put the laptop away and get on the road. *sigh* Hmm. My calendar suggests that I may be able to get away again in September.