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Old 09-12-2007, 04:52 PM   #21
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Rockdocking the Rockies

Foureagles,
I found you on our atlas and were in the area last year. We tent camped on the way to the Star Mine on Italian Mountain- Northwest of Taylor Park Reservoir. Page 58, A3 shows the Star Mine. Not an AS road and tough enough in a four wheel drive up to the mine. The roads from Gunnison to the Taylor Park Reservoir are very nice and plenty of trailer camping around...

I hope you did not tell anyone about the large trout that are in the river just below the dam... on both sides of the bridge. The locals knew exactly what flies they were hitting and I ran through all the flies I had to tempt a trout.
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Old 09-12-2007, 05:05 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 47WeeWind
Hi Ray:

Here's a trick to discourage unwinding. Before installing your toilet paper roll, squeeze the roll flat so the round inner tube becomes elliptical () on rebound. It should no longer unroll on its own.

The always helpful ....
Here's another solution to the TP on the floor problem...take an empty plastic water bottle (individual size), cut off the ends and slit it lengthwise. Slip this over the TP roll as part of your checklist...

Same can be done with a larger bottle for paper towels.

Shari
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Old 10-01-2007, 10:57 AM   #23
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Jackson Center, Ohio: Dingo #00001 Rockdocker

I am using the Airstream wireless system here at the service center and RV Park at Jackson Center. I was disappointed that there seem to be just a few actual Rockdockers on the Airforums and from looking around the Airstream Park... mostly social campers and full hooker campers. Some here for repairs and others fresh from a rally 125 miles north of here to catch the 2PM plant tour. Conversations on Medicare and the last hospital stay are not what we Rockdockers care to sit through... sorry. I want to hear camping stories to keep me awake at night wondering what to explore next.

Other than a number of good toilet paper comments on the Rockdocking thread, I do not see much enthusiasm for off the black top trailer camping. Waiting here for service to find the source of my "Dust Enhaler" problem, I was asked what my trailer number was... We had none, so being the lone Rockdocker in the State of Ohio and USA, we are officially Rockdocker, Dingo #00001. I folded an 8.5x11 inch paper, a magic marker, wrote my Dingo #00001 official membership number so they can find me at 7AM for the ultimate checkup coming up for the 8th.

Once we had driven across Kansas, we found Missouri had nice State Parks to spend the evenings (Arrow Rock and Graham Cave were NICE experiences). Illinois had nothing... nice fields. Indiana mirrored Illinois. Ohio... well here we are. Only pay RV Parks. Did have permission to Rockdock the Dingo #00001 north of Oldenburg, Indiana but the spot was too tough to set up for fossil collecting... Ordovician trilobites. Spent the night at a WallMart... Welcome to the MidWest. I will have to be bold and make a point that Rockdocking begins WEST of Hays, Kansas longitude and begins somewhere EAST of a spot in Pennsylvania... Please correct me if I missed Rockdocker's paradise somewhere out here.

I am flattered to be considered "young" when a conversation starts here at the RV Park. Looking around, I guess mid 50's is young in the RV world. No wonder the Rockdockers are not to be found. Rockdockers also include tent campers, so where are you? I will get back to the reading of the Lincoln County, New Mexico wars of the 1880's and if the drizzle lets up, we will get to the Airstream office and look forward to the Airstream Factory Tour. Airstream has a wonderful store full of parts for your Airstream. Need to get back and pick up a few more backup pieces... just in case.

I will post my experience with solving the Dust/Dirt Enhaler ordeal on that forum. I am confidient this will be solved here at Airstream when our turn at service arrives.
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Old 10-01-2007, 11:23 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by Spiffy Gem
Nothing personal here, but with the abuse your Airstream receives, I would hate to be the sucker that buys it from you some day.
We could rope a new one off in a museum for 20 years and it would make a great used Airstream.

I love this thread. I run mine on fair dirt roads (slow and steady) to our cabin in Johnson Valley CA. but nothing like you are doing. Keep posting even if we're a little dull Love to see the pics of your campsites.

How many estimated miles on dirt roads have you travelled?
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Old 03-15-2008, 06:11 PM   #25
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Rockdocking Philosophy...

I found this quote, browsing an Astronomical Society of the Pacific magazine, that I had heard many years ago and it is the Rockdocker's Philosophy to date as well...

Robert Frost-

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all of the difference.
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Old 05-03-2008, 07:35 PM   #26
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Gila National Forest fire, New Mexico

We get a bit of thrill when a small earthquake rolls through while camping, but camping in the forest has its own dangers... fire.

Some campers started a camp fire and in the process started the trees at the campground on fire. This is on the edge of the Gila Wilderness, so there are no roads for the Forest Service to run equipment up to some of these fires in the canyons. The first sign of fire for us was a convoy of green Forest Service trucks heading deeper into the forest. We were camped down wind, so we did not smell smoke or had any sign of fire. There was no dry lightning as there were no clouds.

Not much later after the Forest Service convoy passed our camp, a plane was circling several miles north of our campsite. Getting to a better viewing position in a clearing we were able to see the plume of white smoke coming out of a narrow canyon along the only road into the forest. Within a hour there were two large slurry planes fighting the fire, with the spotter plane giving instructions as to where the ground crew needed help. An investigator for the Forest Service stopped by to inform us about the fire and asked if we had seen a particular vehicle leaving... we had not seen it. An hour later the same Forest Service worker advised us to find a camping spot several miles further from the fire for our safety. Which we did.

This is just a reminder to make all of us aware of building campfires in the forest need to be safe. While hiking these forests we find campfire circles of stone... beneath trees. The clear skies, almost no humidity to speak of and the lack of common sense of some people put you at risk when camped in the forest. Sometimes you do not smell a fire as the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, but always be aware when seeing/hearing lots of Forest Service traffic, large planes circling overhead, or seeing white "clouds" hanging low in the distance... It can only mean one thing... fire.

Although we did break camp and moved further away from this camper caused fire, we left the area for several days. After checking in with a Forest Service office in the area, did we go back to our beautiful camp site and resume our vacation when learning the fire was put out. This Fall we will visit the area again and see what seems to be a common event these days. Singing around the campfire might seem to be a ritual to some, but we are satisified just sitting back with stars and moon the brightest object at our camp.
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Old 06-22-2008, 10:00 PM   #27
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Rockdocking Ice Chest

I upgraded the ice chest we have used for some years for one with a handle and wheels found at Wal Mart. For extended trips in the bush, get a block of ice and dump cubed ice with it. The block will last for a week and help keep the cubes from turning to distilled water too fast.

I am sure that the advertising on the ice chest when you buy one must be correct, I do not believe it. Unless you fill them to the top, ice just is not going to last five days. A block will. But not cubed ice. Even after pulling the thing around the trailer and keep it in the shade. The wife returned some gigantic ice chest that she picked up at Costco that had some claim of 7 days or so for keeping ice. Well, I wish you good luck on that $60 water basket on wheels. Took it back after the first camping trip and bought the Wal Mart ice chest for a fraction and it seems to do better. You can probably attach the thing to your bike and tow it around the RV Park to boot!

For the little ice I need, warm beer is fine for me. Once there is room in the small 23 foot Safari refrigerator I can get some cans of soda and bottles of beer fitted... And it not, warm beer is fine for me! Nancy will put hers in a glass with ice cubes, which is probably illegal in most western states. Or, should be.

We spent five days Rockdocking western Nebraska Oglala National Grassland and loved every moment. Well, we had to. It rained three inches over four days and the roads needed to "firm up" before getting a 4x4 truck and trailer in tow from sinking up to the axles in gumbo. But that is another story...
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Old 07-31-2008, 09:33 PM   #28
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Rockdocking Water Needs

We have neighbors that asked us to take them Rockdocking. They prefer mountain biking to get around and we bushwack hike to find what is around the next mountain. Although after a week each of the last two years Rockdocking with them, we will be getting mountain bikes with shock absorbers and we might have been converted... a bit... and add mountain biking on our travels in the future. Carrying a bike across a mountain stream will add some more adventure to our back country trips and catch some elk trails..

One thing I noticed about our friends, they shower a lot. Every day in fact. We introduced them to a "shower tent" at WalMart (Multi Purpose Room made by Ozark Trail) last year and use a rubber 4 foot square work rubber mat underneath to protect the bottom of the shower. That is how we shower in the back country and it keeps the bugs away very well. Between the wife and myself, we can shower in less than two gallons each. We rarely use the grey water tank and never use the black water when in the back country. Much like tent camping, but with the option to use the lavatory and sinks. A sturdy shovel takes care of our other needs...

Our trailer will carry 30 gallons in the fresh water tank, 6 gallons in the hot water tank and I figure a gallon in the water lines. We carry two 6 gallon (red gasoline containers as they are sturdier) and one 5 gallon water jug for the dogs when we leave the last sign of potable water. We will drive in heavy with water upon arrival, but want to leave with 25% of the fresh water tank or less. Nothing in the black water tank and very little gets by our plastic water bowl collecting hand washing in the kitchen sink, so we are not carrying waste water across the country to find a dump station... This is exactly how we tent camped and we use the same safe environmental friendly waste disposal techniques with our trailer. (Former tent campers and back packers will know this by heart.)

If you tent camped and then moved to a trailer, the conversion to trailer Rockdock camping is easy. Trailer to tent camping is a difficult change. You can "sponge shower" with less than a gallon of warm water, but not wash your hair (or rinse your hair in a five gallon bucket of fresh mountain stream water when available). The important message is conservation of your water is important when far from any source of water. Even at home we find ourselves conserving water and electricity! With our trailer solar panel to keep our two 12 volt batteries charged, we have developed techniques to be comfortable for ten to fourteen days. We look clean, well fed and healthy. I do not shave while on the road, so it gives me a bit of the wild look to strangers...
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Old 08-03-2008, 11:25 AM   #29
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West Wyoming Rockdocking Adventure!

I have been asked about the location of my last photograph with "mother in law's quarters" attached to the side of the trailer. Since only 1% to 10% of Airstream owners are Rockdockers, I can freely discuss some of these nice back country places to sit back, hike, fly fish, sight see or visit the horse riders coming in from all over the USA and Canada!

DeLorme Page 49, A6, "Frontier Creek": Double Cabin Rockdocking
N43 degrees 48.086' and W109 degrees 33.386', 8023' elevation

There is a Forest Service campground with a manual pump for tasty spring water, a trash dumpster and concrete toilets for $15 per night. If you use the primitive Trailer camping areas you do have access to a concrete toilet sit at no cost. I always leave a "cash donation" when we visit, as it is worth every dollar. It is roughly 28 miles north of DuBois, Wyoming with access from the only street heading north to the mountains from Main Street. There is a cliff and cave in town, next to the turn. It is asphalt for 25% of the way, mag-choloride for 25% and sturdy all weather dirt/rock/gravel the rest of the way. After passing the camp ground, stay on the road that goes to the SE and you will see wide open fields of grass, willows and two small rivers than join to the north. We prefer the location given above, but you can find your own location.

The trout are primarily under 12 inch Brook or Cut Throats. When the water is low in the summer, you can catch plenty for catch and release. I have caught up to 15", but you need to hike into fresh fishing waters, as most people are fishing within site of the camping areas. There are deer, elk, moose and black bear in the area. Notices for Grizzly Bear are posted, but they seem to be in higher grounds towards Yellowstone country.

We were camped here July 11 to 18 and evenings were from 18 degrees to 28 degrees, with day time highs in the 70's. As you can see from the photograph there was plenty of snow on the peaks, so maybe this cold spell we had has gone... but bring an extra blanket in the event it is not suffering from Global Warming... yet.
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