TheCampingGuy.com Blog | Camping Tips

Sorry…post removed while I fix incompatibilities with YouTube and WP 2.2.2

In the meantime go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoToVxLJ0Xc

Thinking of bringing your own firewood to your campout? Hold on…and read this. The U.S. Forest Service is encouraging campers not to bring their own firewood. Why? Because insect infested firewood is causing billions of dollars in forest damage.

Many campers travel hundreds of miles or across state lines to go camping and they bring their own firewood and the insects with them. The spread of insects is so harmful that several Midwestern states are banning firewood from out of state. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland are covered by federal and state quarantines to try to prevent infested lumber or wood products from being shipped out. Forest Service officials advise campers to get their firewood at or near their campsite. So, pass on this information to your fellow campers!

Go to the Utah Desert News for the full story.

The Scouts and I just got back from Anza Borrego. We do this annually, in the spring when the wild flowers are in bloom. Sometimes we catch them in bloom and other times we miss them. This year we were lucky and made it in time!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is California’s largest state park with 600,000 acres of very diverse terrain. You can hike, camp in developed campsites or primitive “backcountry” campsites or even horseback ride on their many trails. We love it for the hike to the Oasis and the Slot Canyon hike. More on that later. Here’s a picture of the sun setting on the hills, from our campsite.

The facilities in this campground are excellent. They have clean, new toilet facilities, with showers, sinks for cleaning your cookware and lots of campsites. But, you must book ahead, because it is a popular spot! Best time to tent camp is spring and fall. It was unseasonable hot when we went it got up to 100°F by noon on Saturday. So, we were pounding down lots of water to stay hydrated. We did the slot canyon hike in the morning and waited until almost 4 in the afternoon to do the Oasis hike.

When you’re there, you need to check out the Visitors Center! This is where you can get information on Ranger-led nature walks, guided hikes, Junior Ranger programs, etc. They have the remains of some prehistoric fossils, a large sea turtle and a Mammoth. I can’t image this whole area being underwater!

This Visitors Center is built into the side of dirt hill to keep it cool! There is also a nature hike that starts here and goes out into the desert showing all the plants that inhabit the area.

Here’s a picture of the prehistoric turtle shell they dug up in the desert!

Lastly, I had to show you this! This long tusk, over 6ft. long.

Here’s the link to the CA State Park site with more information on this wonderful park, maps and how to make reservations. Anza-Borrego

Put it on your “Top 10″ list of campsites to visit. Slot Canyon and Oasis Hike in next post.

This is a very cool DIY (do it yourself) project that I thought I would share with everyone. Great for using around the campsite to power any 12Volt device you have such as an air mattress pump, LED lamp, DVD player, etc. One of the advantages is that it’s built using a small cooler so it’s easy to carry and looks like the rest of your camping gear.

The inventor takes you through all the steps to build it. Gives you a list of all the pieces, where to get them and approximately how much each items costs. It’s fairly straightforward. After you assemble it and let the sun do it’s magic, any 12Volt (v) device can then be hooked up to it.

A 12V lamp can come in handy around the campsite. You can plug in any device that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter, now called auxiliary power adapters. The inventor also includes some accessories that he’s plugged into it! And there’s an e-mail address if you have questions.

Check it out at: http://www.instructables.com/id/EKJZG6CQR1EYMW0Q9Z/