Camping in the Uplands

In Pursuit of Solitude, Time Efficiency and Comfort

GUEST Blog by Cliff Hawkins - as discussed on EP# 323 of Birdshot Podcast

I think the upland experience I enjoy most is emerging from my trailer in the predawn twilight, taking in the beauty of my favorite time of day, knowing within an hour or so I will be grabbing my gun, calling my dogs and walking into bird country. No hassling with kennels or keys; just the crunch of gravel under my boots and the high spirited excitement of my dogs doing what they love most.

At the end of the mornings hunt, terrain and circumstances allowing, I can return to my cozy little camp, make a sandwich, maybe clean some birds and then relax for an hour or two before the afternoon outing. In the fading light of Autumn afternoons, I can slip back into camp, feed dogs, prepare supper to the hiss of the Coleman lantern and then roll into bed with a good book (and two exhausted pudelpointers) and enjoy the peace of a long, high desert evening. I close my eyes with the satisfaction of knowing I’ll be doing it again tomorrow. The absence of an internal combustion engine makes this experience so much of what it is. No long drives from a motel in the morning, missing the magic of first light. No bouncing headlights through the dark at the end of the day. Staying in the field allows me to tune into the rhythms of canyons and creatures rather than the satellite TV at the ‘Lazy Daze’ motel.

It took me a few years to refine my camping system to a point where my primitive location was not only wild and beautiful but also comfortable and convenient. I think the thing that motivates most folks to opt for the Lazy Daze motel is the comfort of a real bed and the time savings before the trip of not having to organize and load mountains of gear and then dig out from the avalanche when you get home. I get it. I work full time and don’t want to spend my pre-trip evenings hauling gear and crawling around in the bed of my truck. And when I get home, a four to six hour drive behind me, it’s tough to muster the energy to unpack. There is no avoiding some pre and post trip time investment but with some thought and organization the process can be manageable. So let’s get started creating a system that can minimize your time commitment before and after the trip and create a level of comfort and convenience that maximizes the upland experience and justifies the effort.

SLEEPING SYSTEM

When I analyzed what was obligating the most packing / set-up / take-down / unpacking time and space, it was the sleeping equipment I required to be comfortable. I spent my backpacking days “sleeping” on the ground. When my friends would ask me if I slept on the ground while backpacking I would reply, “No, but I lay on it”. If you can sleep comfortably on the ground with a mattress or pad of some sort, by all means.....continue. I can’t. My first, upland camping set-up included a heavy, hard to assemble, sweaty to break down cot with an inflatable mattress and sleeping bag that was infinitely more comfortable than the ground despite the bruised knees, pinched fingers and gallons of sweat required to set it up. And if you think about it, a shelter, frequently a tent in the more remote areas uplanders seek out, is usually required for a good night's sleep. So what have we got invested in time and space for the act of sleeping? For me, about 20 minutes respectively, before and after the trip and about two hours total for setup and breakdown of the tent and sleeping equipment at my campsite. I usually hunt and camp. alone. If you have a buddy or two the time lessens appreciably. This does not include the other necessities like a kitchen, shower (optional), toilet and some sort of awning to keep the stuff that’s not housed in the tent dry and or unmelted. The sleeping equipment occupied about a third of my truck bed and the balance of the gear, the rest. I used this system for years with a moderate level of cursing and comfort. The rewards definitely justified the effort and if not for a revolution in the camping shelter industry I would still be doing it today.

That revolution came in the form of an explosion of mini, mostly affordable, teardrop style trailers, many of which are engineered for off-road use.

This design is not for everyone. Standing is not an option and with a few notable features

excluded, you are really towing a queen size bed. But a bed is my most valued piece of

camping equipment and the piece of equipment, along with its accessories, that occupied much of my time and space. Before buying my teardrop, I dreamed of being able to pull into chukar camp, set up a few necessities and crawl into a warm, soft bed. Fifteen minutes tops. With my tent arrangement I was looking at nearly two hours and in bad weather......well you know. I don’t intend for this article to be an essay on teardrop style trailers but I feel my explanation for the purchase is warranted and hopefully helpful. First, off-road capability. My little queen bed on wheels has 18 inches of ground clearance, 16 inch rims, an articulated hitch and beefy off-road tires. The suspension is designed to take the abuse chukar country can dish out. Second, affordability. My model has one of the lowest base prices in the industry (around $5,000) but that is deceptive. To get the additional options you want you will spend another three to five thousand dollars. I have electricity supplied by a 12 volt battery that stores in the tool box mounted on the tongue. This gives me a host of interior and exterior lights and the ability to charge mobile devices. If you want to go all in you can get heat, fans, A/C, water, solar etc. With those options you just entered the $20,000 range or higher and in my opinion might as well buy something you can stand up in. Fourth, storage. There is a surprising amount of storage space in the rear galley area. Most folks use this area for a kitchen which works great if you don’t need protection from the elements while cooking. This is a must in bird country so I store an amazing amount of gear and clothes here. This area stays loaded during the hunting season reducing a lot of packing time. Finally, storability. My trailer is 5 X 8 and can store easily in my garage giving me the security and weather protection I want when it’s not in use. For a guy that’s spent most of his outdoor life in a tent, on a cot, with no electricity, this little beast is pure luxury. And yes, there are “normal” size trailers with off-road capability and all the luxuries of home. If I could afford one I would have one. You get the picture.

OUTDOOR SHELTER

Obviously, you can’t do much more than sleep in this type of trailer so what about cooking and lounging. Let me introduce you to the most useful piece of outdoor equipment I have ever owned. The Quickset awning by Clam. This is an awning with integrated poles which dramatically reduces the set-up time. If you don’t count pounding stakes (about seven to eight minutes) it can be set up in an honest, two minutes or less. The side walls are made of mosquito netting so the entire shelter is enclosed. My model has an add-on accessory that I call “wind panels”. They are thin, cordura fabric panels that can be placed over the mosquito netting to provide a fabric barrier to wind, sun and water. Attaching the wind panels adds about another six or eight minutes to set-up and break down respectively. When all of the panels are in place the awning has the appearance of a yurt. When I’m camping in the latter part of the season, I customarily put all the panels up and then have a propane fire ring inside for warmth and ambiance (front door flaps are uncovered to provide ventilation). The morning and evenings can dip into the upper twenties or lower thirties in the high Oregon desert but with the fire ring going I am extremely comfortable. So, overall set-up time with all the accessories in place is about twenty minutes. With the Clam in place I have a covered, sheltered area to cook and lounge. I put a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet on the ground to hold down the dust and give the dogs a comfortable spot to rest. My high desert living room is an indispensable part of my upland camping kit. It has a couple of drawbacks. It's heavy and long when stored. About seven feet in length and around 50 pounds. It comes with a heavy, durable bag that actually FITS the dimensions of the folded structure well. Something you can’t say about ninety-nine percent of the other bagged equipment in the outdoor industry! The awkward size and weight are more than compensated by the incredible functionality. They are pricey; around four hundred dollars but worth every penny.

THE KITCHEN

If sleeping equipment occupies the most time and space cooking equipment would be next. My solution is a camp box or chuck box with all the necessary accouterments. It is heavy and bulky but consolidates and organizes the essential gear in one spot. I customized my truck boxes to fit the dimensions of the camp box and when it’s stowed and ready for travel I don’t have to think about it until I get to camp. I won’t give you an itemized list of the contents but if it’s necessary for food prep I’ve got it. Pots and pans, kettle, gas stove, cutlery, spices, paper towels....the works. Water is next. I carry three, six and a half gallon water containers. Cooking, filling water bottles or rinsing soapy dishes with these containers is unwieldy so I have three, two and a half gallon, repurposed liquid detergent bottles that one-handedly dispense water with the press of a rubber plunger. I refill the detergent bottles directly from the bulk containers every day or two. Keeping water in the liquid state can be challenging in chukar country in late season. A strategy that works most of the time is storing the six gallon containers in the bed of my truck. The bed boxes provide a surprising amount of insulation and will keep my water containers from turning into a solid block of ice for two and sometimes three days. I put the two and a half gallon containers on the floor of my truck before I go to bed and that usually keeps them liquid. As an insurance policy, I make sure to fill my kettle with water before bedtime. If it freezes, a minute or two on the camp stove in the morning gives me liquid water for breakfast and beyond.

HEAT IN THE TRAILER

How warm one wants to be or the level of discomfort one can tolerate is different. I’m a wimp when it comes to cold so I go to great lengths to stay warm. The first consideration in my opinion is sleeping. I’m still refining my heating strategy when it comes to sleeping but here is what I’ve learned. My trailer does not have a built-in heater. None of the available built-in heating solutions appealed to me at the time of purchase so this is what I’ve tried.

• Catalytic Heater. Provides great heat (sometimes too much) but requires propane and adds a tremendous amount of condensation. Not the safest in small spaces and requires ventilation that is not practical for my set-up. I tried the “Mr Heater - Little Buddy”. It worked as advertised but could not be left on at night for safety reasons and given that the temperature setting is not adjustable simply made it too hot.

  
  

• 12 Volt DC Electric Blanket. Requires a power source. I use a portable power unit (Jackery 1000) that provides AC, DC and USB ports. I chose 12 volt DC for the blanket because it is more efficient but encountered the same problem as with the catalytic heater; it has no temperature adjustment and simply gets too hot even on the coldest nights. There are 12 volt DC options with a temperature adjustment which I have not yet tried but plan to do so. If they work as advertised this should be the best solution for sleeping.

  
  

• 12 Volt Mini Ceramic Car Heater. This is a great option for heating a small space in a short amount of time, but like some of the other options, it has no thermostat so it’s not practical as an all night solution.

HEAT IN CAMP

As I discussed previously, the Clam Quickset awning is an indispensable part of my camping set-up. With the wind panels in place, I use a propane fire bowl and it’s amazing how much comfort it provides even when the temperatures are in the teens or twenties. During my last trip the evening temperatures were in the mid-thirties and I was wearing a light, fleece pullover and was very comfortable. I run the unit for about an hour in the morning and two to two and a half hours in the evening. The only disadvantage of this unit is it’s not fuel efficient. With a two burner, catalytic heater I can run off a twenty pound bottle of propane for five days or more and still have fuel to spare but it does not produce the same amount of heat. The fire bowl is good with the same fuel supply for about three and a half days. I enjoy the heat and ambiance so much I purchased a second propane bottle to fill-in for longer trips.

OTHER NECESSITIES

What about a latrine? I’ve tried multiple approaches to this unavoidable requirement and have been frustrated or grossed out by some step in the process. My solution sounds a bit primitive but is high on the time efficiency scale and low on the disgusting scale. For solid deposits I use a five gallon bucket lined with a heavy duty, plastic bag and topped with a commercially available seal down / screw on lid. Imagine the sealing lids associated with five gallon buckets with a threaded, secondary lid that can be twisted off or on without removing the rim of the lid. I keep a supply of kitty litter handy and sprinkle it over the top of the solid deposits. It does a nice job of holding down the smell. “Number one” for me, on the public land where I hunt is a convenient bush an appropriate distance from camp. For the ladies it’s a bit more challenging. When my wife is with me we bring a porta potty for liquid deposits only. When it’s time to travel the plastic bag of the waste bucket is securely sealed and then stored in the bucket with a traditional sealing lid until the contents can be appropriately disposed of. You're on your own for the porta potty.

A shower tent is a nice option if you need a private place to put the latrine. I remove the latrine bucket when I want to take a shower. There are a host of camping shower options out there and I really don’t care for any of them. I simply fill a five gallon bucket with about two gallons of unheated water and then add enough boiling water to create a comfortable, overall temperature. I then use a large plastic cup and wash-off bucket bath style. The shower tent has a built in shelf and pockets which are nice for holding your soap and towel off the dirt.

VEHICLE ORGANIZATION

The bed of my 2008 Toyota Tundra had room for all my stuff but prior to my current set-up, by the time I got to camp, usually over bumpy mountain roads, my stuff was not in the same state of organization as when I left. I looked into a couple different truck drawer systems and was floored by the prices. I have no doubt they are worth every penny but I need those pennies for gas, tires, dog food, vet bills and ammunition; so I built my own for about three hundred bucks. The advantage of this, besides the price, is you can customize your design to the exact dimensions of your equipment. My system is divided into two levels. The bottom level is separated into three “tunnels” that run the length of the bed. My camp box, water containers and propane bottle all stow in the central compartment. This tunnel is topped with a removable “roof” that makes access toward the front of the bed easier. This compartment is flanked on each side by plywood partitions that create the separate tunnels on either side. Three-fourths of the left tunnel is simply an open box to store my recovery tools. One-fourth is a simple box drawer to hold miscellaneous items. The right tunnel is divided horizontally by a shelf. The upper shelf fits my gun case perfectly and the lower “shelf” (actually the bed of the truck) holds camp chairs and other bulky items.

So what about room for dog boxes / kennels? This solution may not be practical for some folks but it works great for me. When I first got my Tundra I used the crew cab space for hauling the dogs. This worked but I wasn’t satisfied with the lack of safety or the muddy mess that inevitably occurred. I chose to remove the back, bench seat and filled the space with two, side opening, wire kennels. The safety was improved and the mess was contained. Having dogs in the cab of the truck is not for everyone but I appreciate the company and the higher level of supervision.

The places we hunt are primitive and wild. I find the further I get from town the better the hunting and the solitude. My camping system allows me to be comfortable and secure in these secluded places and minimizes the amount of time I have to spend before and after the trip. It also offers me the reassurance that I will be maximizing my time in the field. Given the ruggedness of the country I hunt, I don’t know if I could be anymore comfortable.