In a way, that's sad... I can't imagine life without camping, but then I've spent decades in the field and I have it down to a science. My friends & I were technical rock climbers & dirt bikers, so we gravitated toward remote areas on BLM land where nobody else was around. I quit frequenting developed campgrounds a long time ago... it was like leaving the city just to join some crowded makeshift city in the wilderness. Too many rules & regs for our tastes, we liked more freedom, ya know?
If and when I flip this home of mine and buy an RV, I intend to boondock much of the time in free primitive sites, or flat-out go remote on BLM land, using the RV as a self-contained unit, but not necessarily filling the black water tank.
I dunno, I guess it all boils down to how much one loves the wilderness... I think of remote camping or boondocking as a way to hang out with wildlife, enjoy the elements, and chill out under a million stars. Every time I look up at the night sky over mountains or high desert, I tell myself I'm a prize-winning idiot for NOT looking at those stars more often, aye? Sure beats the view from the Big City, that's for goddam sure. Reminds me of going into L.A. from Cajon Pass, with that BLACK layer of smog ahead... "HAAACK!!!"
Ugh... I reckon I'm willing to go to the trouble of setting up camp in the wilderness, knowing that I'll be breathing fresh air, checking out wildlife, seeing a million stars overhead every night, kicking it by a campfire and enjoying good meals, the whole nine yards. Hell, when I camped for six weeks in coastal WA (Grayland State Beach for 10 days, the remainder at Bruceport), I had a cord of firewood delivered per week in that final month... glamping hard and pounding craft beers while burning steaks, lol.
It was crazy, but I had a little 'Hooverville' of tents and canopies set up in my site, which was down a dirt spur road from the main circle or ring of campsites. Total privacy under 300' Sitka Spruce trees, with a view of Willapa Bay & the Pacific Ocean during the day. Worth every penny of the money I paid in that venue, a good memory which will last a lifetime... and my head is full of such memories. Yeah, I've slowed down a bit due to age, but I don't see myself ever quitting camping, too much freedom out there.
Anyway, that's my $.02 on the subject, but mine might be a special case, since I spent SO much time in the wilderness when I was a younger man. Granted, I don't do all the hiking that I used to do, but I still go for walks in the wilderness... and though my days of hard climbing are definitely done, I recently scrambled all over some outcrops and crags at the Stronghold. Well, a few months ago, before I had an unexpected & unrelated foot injury. But that seems to have healed, so perhaps I can get back out there soon.
During my travels as an OTR truck driver, I once met a good-looking older woman in an elevator in some skyscraper (can't remember which building), and we shared a brief conversation in which I told her about some recent truck camping adventure. She told me that her idea of "roughing it" was "going without reservations." I thought that was pretty funny, but we still got along alright... to each his own, or her own, as the case may be. No worries, I'll still spend my nights in the field whenever I can.
Doesn't mean I wanna live out there forever, but if I buy an RV, I intend to take a long break and camp out in the wilderness for weeks on end... there are places right here by the Stronghold where a hand can camp for free, same goes for the White Mountains. I'm thinking some solar power might be in order, just to keep me from making ice runs... once that hurdle is cleared, life in the field will be gravy, lol. And I'm used to decades of tent camping, RV camping will be even easier, 10-4? At least for this kid.
Like truck camping... pull up and set the parking brakes, and Base Camp is established. Hell, I'm used to sailing a friggin' Laser to Los Coronados, wildlife sanctuaries off the northern end of Baja, and bringing everything I need to have a blast in that uncrowded natural paradise! By uncrowded, I'm talking about being the ONLY human on the island... whichever island that happened to be, with the exception of Isla Sur, where 'La Armada de Mexico' maintains a small barrack with troops.
Enough said, I guess it all boils down to commitment... is it worth it to go to all the trouble to get oneself situated in such wilderness venues? For me, the answer is a resounding "YES!!!" And sometimes, in those heller wilderness venues, ya meet some pretty cool people... folks with similar attitudes toward crowded developed campgrounds, lol. I like that fringe element, since I'm used to "dirtbagging it" as a technical rock climber. Ya get some pretty funny observations upon life from folks like that, lol...
ALRIGHT, I'D BETTER POST THIS UP BEFORE IT GETS ANY LONGER, LOL... BUT I LIKE CAMPING!!!
