Lucky Teardrop Camping in Yosemite

Today Yosemite is celebrating its 123rd anniversary...and immediately had to shut its gates because of the federal government shutdown. We were lucky enough to make it down to the park this last weekend for a teardrop camping trip just outside of this beautiful park. We are also very lucky that one of the most popular parks in the U.S. is only a three hour drive south of our home, so a quick weekend away is easy. So for anyone who is not able to visit the park today (but hopefully soon), here's what we did last weekend.

We took the teardrop out with her best friend, the Stargazers teardrop trailer, and our good friends, Brett and Nancy. On the way down, we stopped at Travertine Hot Springs in Bridgeport to warm up. It was nice for the first two days down in Yosemite, but a day before the area had received a few inches of snow and we were expecting colder temperatures. We also stopped at the Whoa Nellie Deli for lunch. If you have not been there, it's a Mobil gas station that serves some really excellent food including seared ahi and bison meatloaf.

 

Usually when we come down to this area, we stay in Forest Service campgrounds, but we decided to check and see if there was availability at Aspen Campground at the entrance to Tioga Pass. We were so lucky this day: we got a large spot right by the waterfall. The campground soon filled up around us, but we pretty much had the waterfall area to ourselves. The days were beautiful, but the nights got down into the 30s and the 12-volt blanket came in handy.

 

 

The next day we drove in Yosemite and were lucky again. It turned out that it was Public Lands Day and we were able to get into the park for free. We did give some money to the Yosemite Conservancy to continue our good karma. We drove along Highway 120 and stopped at a few places including Olmstead Point on our way to Glacier Point. I had not been to Yosemite for several years and it was nice to see that the horrible Rim Fire had not touched many of the places that make Yosemite famous, however, because of the fire cleanup — the entire northwest part of the park was closed.

We drove to Glacier Point and spent most of the day there, walking around, eating lunch overlooking Half Dome and looking down into Yosemite Valley (which we decided to avoid because of the traffic).

 

At the campground, we did some hiking around the aspens and some Dutch oven cooking around the fire. I made BBQ chicken and Thai squash and our friends made pulled pork sandwiches and a really excellent Dutch oven chocolate cake.

The day we left, the bad weather decided to come in and the cold wind began to sweep through the campsite as we were making breakfast and packing up. Chairs, clothes, shelter and paper towels flew around before were were able to get them into the cars...I think our luck had just run out.

 

Teardrop Trailer Boondocking

Many times when we go camping with our friends (who also own a teardrop trailer), we will boondock. Boondocking is essentially free camping on public land. It's also called dispersed camping, and there are various places around the U.S. where you can set up camp for the night with a minimal amount of amenities. Boondocking with a teardrop trailer is just as easy as with a larger RV, and maybe even more so because a small teardrop tucked away in the woods or in the desert does not have as high a profile as a larger RV and can be less conspicuous.

You can boondock on BLM land or National Forest property, and some people even boondock in the parking lot of Wal-Mart or a local truck stop. There are discussions among campers whether or not parking lot camping is really boondocking, and the word tends to refer only to free camping on public land.

Depending on the area and terrain, boondocking areas will have specifically designated areas for camping, vehicles and campfires and some sites may not even allow any kind of open flame. Boondocking spots normally don't have hookups, sewer, showers or water, but sometimes they have basic pit toilets. Many boondocking areas have a time limit of several weeks.

You can find boondocking areas on these two websites: Free Campsites.net and Boondocking.org.

Boondocking tips:

Bring your own water or a water filter

Several places where we like to boondock have a nearby creek or river where we will fill up canteens just for washing dishes or ourselves. This water should not be used for cooking or drinking unless it has been filtered or boiled. It's best to bring several five gallon tanks of your own drinking water.


Stay safe

Camp with people you know and trust. Boondocking is not necessarily dangerous, but since there is no camp host and some boondocking areas are away from populated areas, it's best to not camp alone. 


Re-use campfire areas

If you are boondocking and happen to run across a spot where someone once had a campfire, use the same area rather than creating a new area to burn. Depending on where you're camping, many boondocking areas have plenty of downed wood.

Use Dry ice

If you plan on boondocking for a week or more, use dry ice instead of regular ice. Your food will stay colder longer and you won't have to travel a long distance to re-stock your ice supply. Here are some tips on how to use dry ice.