Let’s Move, No, Let’s Camp

This trip begins amidst a myriad of moments of transition. Two weeks ago, my family packed up all of our stuff and departed south-central Missouri for a new posting in upstate New York. Two weeks before that, our eldest graduated high school and hopped on a plane with a friend to spend a few weeks in Hawaii. And in the midst of our family relocation, we purchased a new tow vehicle, which ended up being a fiasco but worked out in the end.

I’m particularly excited about living in the NE because I’ve never been to this region of the country before. My “colored map” has white spots in North Dakota and everything NE - VT, NH, ME, RI, CT and DE. We are going to be coloring the map in soon.



After transitioning our moving truck of stuff to NY, we waited a few listless days in a hotel for our Hawaii beach bum and our tardy vehicle delivery. About 24 hours after receiving delivery of the new tow vehicle, we collected the beach bum from the Syracuse airport and launched a two week trip that was virtually unplanned.

The general scheme of maneuver was/is to head east towards the Maine coast, stopping in Vermont for some beer hunting, then work down towards Boston-ish, and eventually “something else” on the way back to upstate NY.

The itinerary must-hit list is:

o Hill Farmstead brewery (VT)

o Find Heady Topper beer (VT)

o Lobster rolls

o Acadia National Park

o Maybe a Red Sox game

This trip started on the 17th and has been in progress, with very spotty cell/wifi coverage along the way. I’ll keep adding to this thread as we have a new report and/or get good data coverage.

 

Spot 1:

Concept of the operation:
Collect kiddo from Syracuse airport and head to Lake Placid to “do all the Olympic things.” As an aside - he was a little dismayed after 19 hours of air travel from Hawaii when he hopped in the new Jeep he had never seen before and we said “hey by the way it’s 6 hours of driving ahead of us and it will be 55 and rainy tonight.”

We took a scenic route through the Adirondacks recommended by a friend, and wow was it worth it. The weather wasn’t cooperating and we had limited views through the mist and the rain, but what we saw was breathtaking. After a lengthy drive (because of the scenic route), we settled into a campsite at Wilmington Notch State Campground. The site was great, decent spacing, wooded, flush toilets (!!) and even a halfway decent free shower. No hook ups.





The plan was to be at the Lake Placid area for 3 nights - two full days. After some weather assessment and other deliberation, we decided to shape our time with Olympics stuff the first day and hiking the second day.

On Olympics day we went to the Olympic Museum in LP, drove out to the bobsled site, and rode the mountain coaster downhill that follows the bobsled track. Since it was rainy with limited visibility, we skipped the ski jump/zip line/gondola experience to save for another visit (our new posting is only 3 hours from Lake Placid - we will be back). We also got to ice skate on the same ice rink where the US defeated (miraculously) the Russian hockey team in 1980 to advance to a gold medal game which they also won. Mom and Dad were perhaps quite a bit more geeked out about being on the ice where something so historic had gone down.







On hiking day the weather was gorgeous and the views opened up completely for us. We started with a 5 mile hike over level terrain out to Lake Placid (Whiteface Landing Hike). After a refreshing trip to town for ice cream we took off again for a shorter hike that led to sweeping scenic views (Cobble Lookout Hike). Tired and dirty, we headed back to camp for a dinner cooked over the fire. The next morning we packed up camp and took off for Vermont.

 

The Adirondack park is very spotty for cell coverage. Perhaps Lake George area might be a bit better than where you went. The Fulton Chain of Lakes are great camping after black fly season. A good brew made in central NY is Saranac. The 12 beers of Christmas is always something to look forward to.

I do hope you like snow, Syracuse generally is #1 for the snowiest city.

 

Spot 2:

Concept of the operation:
Make reservations 1 night in advance at a campground in Vermont roughly centrally located among Waterbury (Ben and Jerry’s ice cream), Stowe (The Alchemist Brewery), Hill Farmstead Brewery, and Parker Pie (pizza spot recommended by friends).

Off to Vermont. The drive took us on a ferry across Lake Champlain and into Burlington for a healthy dose of pit stops and food and supplies and the requisite stockpiling of Alchemist beers which are now stuffed into the floor bins of the 560. The next pit stop along the way was in Waterbury at the Ben and Jerry’s factory (tours sold out but the ice cream and the flavor graveyard were both great) and through Stowe onto our second campsite. We plugged into water and shore power at a private RV site that is along a stream. Even though it’s an RV lot, it’s still got plenty of grass and trees and is nice. The location is Mountain View Campground in Morristown, VT.







After a healthy amount of driving and activity in the previous days, we luxuriously slept in our first morning in VT. A chance opportunity to visit Hill Farmstead with a family member who happened to also be visiting meant that our first full day in VT would be dedicated to two things: beer and pizza. Add in gorgeous weather and I was in some version of heaven for sure. We made the 20 minute drive to HF and linked up with our family member around 1230, and proceeded to bask in the painting that is HF while imbibing the very best beer in the world for the next 4-5 hours. When the time came to depart (also known as last call) we begrudgingly gave the keys of the brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee to the teenager and pointed the GPS down a handful of rustic VT roads, ending up at Parker Pie for a great pizza dinner.



Day 2 in VT was also relaxed, or at least nothing was hurried about it. We started with a vague plan to maybe hike and maybe kayak during the day. We ended up hiking a very short trail to a waterfall (.6 miles round trip), getting some food/coffee in old downtown Waterbury, kayaking a bit on a lake between Waterbury/Stowe, and finishing the day with a beer or two at Alchemist Brewing. The kids wanted to swim in the nice campground pool and the coin-op laundry facility on premises was calling out to us, so we hustled back in time to do all those things while also pre-positioning the campsite for breakdown early the next morning.





I cannot exaggerate how fantastic the weather was during our entire time in Vermont.





Then, off to Maine.

 

We are quickly learning that T Mobile is pretty not great for anything other than a city.

We have played the snow game before, we got 120 inches one year living on the West Coast (of Michigan). We also had some pretty extreme winters in Fairbanks AK. A two stage high quality snowblower is definitely on the “must acquire” list.

 

What a wonderful write-up.....fun to read and, as a fellow New Englander (Maine and MA) everything you say about the scenery is true! You have been lucky with the weather....it can change on a dime. Maine will have a million things to see, all the regions are different and probably not doable in one trip. MA also has wonderful coastline destinations, peaceful center state locations, and of course the Berkshires are special too. We are a fan of upstate NY camping too, especially along the rivers. What a wonderful trip....looking forward to hearing more.

 

How are you liking your Gazelle, and have you used it with the main entrance pulled over the galley?

 

So far, love the Gazelle. It’s massive, which makes a big difference for the family of 5+2dogs when it rains. The “suck factor” of a rainy camping day has diminished massively.

We have pulled the awning out over the galley hatch. This has worked but not as well as I imagined it. The awning doesn’t really set taught enough, and the angles aren’t right either. It makes positioning the gazelle rather tricky, and when it rains water quickly pools in the slack center of the awning. Now that we’ve tried it at three sites and had rain at two of them, I’m convinced it’s not the solution we were looking for. It works for shade, and for temporary galley rain cover, but not as a set-it-and-leave it solution for an entire stay.

edited to add: you can roughly see the awning pulled out over the galley hatch in one of the snapshots in the Stop 1 post up above. Another thing - the awning stretches fairly tightly over the corners of the galley hatch. They aren’t necessarily sharp, but they aren’t smooth either. I’m a little worried that extended use, especially with some wind moving things around, would fray/tear the fabric of the awning

 

Nice trip. Heady Topper ftw! I lived in Morrisville for a couple of years. great place,

 

So it doesn't sound like you have pulled the tent itself over the galley like we have been doing with our clam, as opposed to just the awning? We usually have the awning draped over the roof of the CI, just forward of the hatch.

 

that is correct, my hope was to use the awning as an open-air tarp/sally port between the galley and the gazelle. It fits, but it doesn’t functionally work very well. If we just placed the entire clam/gazelle right up against the galley, that would also work but be more cramped. Especially with the built in CI tables.

 

I've got the same Gazelle tent -- two other issues we have with it:

1] Ventilation is better since the triangle tops of the remaining squares open --- but it is still pretty stagnant air filled.. I am still looking for a collapsed clam in the trashcan to attempt cutting out ALL the screens to see how stable it would be if "wide open"

2] Bugs - There's no floor, so the inside of any tent like this fills with myriad small flying bugs. A tarp on the ground might help, but I hate the noise

 

Upper NY is the middle of rust belt -- I watch "South Main Auto" who runs a repair shop in nothth west ohio --- its horrible to see 7 year old cars with rusted out frames.

Make sure you look into protecting your frames with bar chain oil or other commercial product for additional rust protection.

 

Usually there is just the two of us inside our Clam, but we frequently have two or more guests inside with us as well( but no dogs;-) ), and pretty much always have both CI tables attached (with the extension on the sink side table). The Dometic sits on the curb side, and our food box, potable water container, etc on the sink side table.
We still have room for our 2 x 4ft roll up aluminum table with two director chairs, two full+ size sling camp chairs and a couple of folding wooden camp stools that we use as side tables for the sling style chairs or for extra seating when needed. It's cozy, but we aren't tripping over each other.

1) Maybe a small fan would help move the "stagnant" air out a little better, but if you remove all the screens to make it "wide open" I think your issue #2 will be considerably worse.

2) Bugs shouldn't frequently get in from the lack of a floor if the side ground flaps are laying out flat along the edges of the tent, but if bugs coming in from underneath the CI seems to be an issue, we will drape a tarp under the back end of the camper, up around and behind the tires, and behind the bumper, so we are not making noise by walking on it, but it has been pretty effective at discouraging bugs and critters from entering from underneath the camper. We are "camping" however, so an occasional determined bug getting in, or a little rise in interior tent temp while cooking inside the clam is an expected issue that won't evoke much consternation here, since it's a tolerable trade off for the generally comfortable shelter it provides.

 

A fan is a great suggestion, except when boondocking, which is my goal. I'm already packing "too much stuff" which is the second part of the problem. If I could afford a promaster or Transit and could turn that into my camping support vehicle that would take care of part of the problem....

Our tent has not yet been backed into the "Galley cover" position I hope to use it for. These styles of tents set up so easy...and frankly take a lot of abuse. Except for being stuffy they are probably the ideal solution.

The bugs always mysteriously appear inside a closed tent. I've set up with screens and doors all closed. waited an hour and its filled with insects. Never big ones (bees, wasps) its usually the fine wing, thin body varieties. I really have no absolute idea where they come from --- but I've always assumed 'in the grass' because of the sheer number of them.

I've got a clam and a gazelle -- SOOO tempted to sacrifice one but then I look at what they cost new :O

 

We have not noticed ventilation as the issue as much as the manner in which the solid roof holds heat. It’s especially noticeable when the sun is shining directly on the Gazelle. Shade makes a huge difference. Yesterday when it was warmer in Maine, we had the propane lantern running in the Gazelle and it was as if a heater was operating.

Haven’t had any issues with bugs, particularly through the ground. But we keep the door wide open most of the time so we harbor no expectation that the space might be bug free. We’ve had a lot of luck running Thermacell backpacker anti-mosquito devices.

 

We got a battery-op USB-rechargeable fan from Amazon for the kids in the rooftop tent. It moves some decent air for its size and has been a nice addition - and is boondock compatible because it can recharge off the CI battery. Even though it is for the kid’s treehouse tent, it has made some appearances in the galley area and the Gazelle during sunny days and has made a difference.

 

Spot 3:

Concept of the operation: explore Maine over 4 nights split between 2 sites. First, Acadia NP, then “somewhere else coastal and further south.”

We woke up relatively early in Vermont and pulled camp, taking off for a 5-6 hour drive to Maine. Some slowdowns and stops extended that time or course. But we got there.

The whole “let’s plan nothing” aspect of this trip made reservations in Acadia NP challenging. The two primary campgrounds on Mt Desert Island were all full, but we did luck into a last minute reservation on the Schoodic Peninsula. The Schoodic area is still a part of Acadia NP, but is about an hour’s drive away from the “main attraction.” We pulled into camp early enough to take a quick lap around the NP peninsula area and drink in some sights before hitting a restaurant for our first coastal NE seafood meal. Yes, we had lobster rolls.



The following day we spent all over Acadia. Cadillac Mountain, sandy beach, thunder hole, lots of driving and little short hikes. The weather was clear in the morning for pretty decent views on Cadillac Mountain and then socked in with fog and drizzle in the evening. Both versions of the weather lent a beauty to the landscape.





Back to camp for a campfire dinner in the rain, which was at times quite heavy. It was the Gazelle’s first show in heavier precipitation and it held up fine. We did learn it tends to weep slowly along the roof seams, which we can probably address in the future with some sealant. We also learned the awning-galley-sally-port idea I had probably won’t be realizably functional. Oh well. For the amount of comfort and dry space the Gazelle brings to our tiny camp footprint, we are really happy. The “suck” factor of camping in the rain is aprox 500% lower than it was when we were all trying to fit under the REI Alcove in Homer, AK amidst wind and rain, especially when that alcove had to share space with 5 of us, 2 dogs, and a hunk of the CI galley.

Acadia was a quick hit and I’m sure we only scratched the surface. It was also a big win.

 

Great pics!

 

@dirty6 - those photos are filling me with envy That looks like an amazing spot --- even the grass around the campsite looks well manicured!!!