Non-photographic Support Gear

I'm heading to Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon National Parks in a couple of weeks (Labor Day week). I'm going to walk where John Muir and Ansel Adams walked, take some photographs, and camp in the parks.

I go on over-nighters a lot (well, I was last year and the year before - this year I haven't done as much due to health problems). And, I'm always working on how to improve the camping portion of my trips. 

My campsite in Oak Creek Canyon

I found that I don't like spending time setting up a tent, especially when I'm just going to be somewhere for one night. I don't like hauling and tinkering with a lot of camping gear such as a cook stove and cooking gear, lantern, coolers with food, a cot, and on and on. The picture to the left is at one of my earlier camping ventures in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona, Arizona.

Since I don't really spend much time at the campsite, and am often out trying to shoot photos at dusk and sunrise, the campsite seemed like a burden.

At some point some time ago I tried sleeping in the back of my Ford Explorer and it was good. Much more efficient.

My Ford Explorer campsite

I added a self inflating air mattress from REI. I quit taking cooking equipment and food since almost everywhere I stayed I was within an hour or so of a McDonald's restaurant where I could get my coffee and the double breakfast burrito combo. I was able to go to a restaurant for a warm evening hamburger too. If I wasn't close to a restaurant I sometimes had a sandwich with me or just ate jerky or trail mix which has protein.

I keep a few gallons of water in my vehicle. I generally have some crackers, trail mix, and jerky. But, I can also go without eating for a while without grumbling. John Muir didn't dwell on what he was going to eat - his attention was on nature. I tend to focus on my surroundings too, rather than what I have available to eat.

These changes have been great. I can leave my air mattress and sleeping bag laid out in the back of my Explorer. When I shoot some pics and have my camera mounted on my tripod, I can lay the tripod and camera on top of my sleeping bag when I leave a spot and it provides a cushion for my gear as well as keeps it from rolling around.

For my upcoming trip I'm refining my gear a bit more. I've added a Marmot PreCip rain jacket from REI (this jacket seemed to keep coming up in various reviews as one of the best deals for the money), some Black Diamond Ergo Trekking Poles, some Columbia convertible hiking pants, and a number of polyester blend long sleeve shirts. I've been looking for a long time for re-usable water containers that I think I'd like.

BPA FREE Reusable Plastic
Drinking Water Big Mouth
"Dairy" Bottle Jug Container

I have wanted a gallon jug that is 1) clear so I can see the water level; 2) has a large enough mouth that I can fill it from a gallon jug that I purchase it in at a store; 3) most important for me, I wanted it to be squarish so that it won't roll around my vehicle. 

I finally found the BPA FREE Reusable Plastic Drinking Water Big Mouth "Dairy" Bottle Jug Container for about $14.00 on Amazon that I think is going to fit the bill. I can't wait to get it! Now I can get some gallons of drinking water from the gas station in their containers with lids that pop off once they're opened, and dump one of them in my new, re-usable container.

Besides that container, I like having a second container with water suitable for washing my hands or for other utility purposes. When I camp with my wife we have one of those blue 5 gallon containers but I don't want to carry such a big thing in my Explorer when I'm by myself - there just isn't room. 

Seattle Sports Aquasto 8 Liter Water Keg

While I was looking for the drinking jug on Amazon I came across the Seattle Sports Aquasto 8 Liter Water Keg for about $10.00, which I also ordered.

This unit is collapsible which means that when I'm between campsites I can have it empty and collapsed and not taking up much room. When I get to a campsite I can fill it (or if / when I'm somewhere that doesn't have water such as a BLM area, I can fill it shortly before venturing into the camp area). I don't have to haul around a lot of water weight for this purpose; I can fill the keg on demand as close to the place I need it as possible.