usbackroadsinformation--Camping Equipment on the Snake River.

usbackroads information--Camping Equipment on the Snake River.

Hunting camp was different on the Snake River this year.  The 5th wheel was already pre-positioned in Eugene.  But Terry had purchased a truck and 5th wheel combination from his Australian friend that was touring the western US the past two years.  Terry got a great deal on the combination and his Australian friend got to sell the entire lot in one fell swoop.

Terry’s 5th wheel is a 27 footer.  So I thought long and hard about sleeping on the coach and decided instead to tow the tent trailer for sleeping.  That did not work as well as expected the first couple of nights and the wind howled and the flapping tent fabric did keep me awake.  Bugaboo also showed a distinct preference for Terry’s 5th wheel by making a bee line after hunting.

We did a few things differently camping this year.  The first is that we used a water filter to filter the Snake River water and put it into Terry’s fresh water tank.  The filter worked fine, but it was a little slow for filling the tank.  The filter would run through 1 liter per minute.  That works out to a gallon every five minutes.  Being a gravity filter it had to be higher than the fresh water fill.  So we tied it to the 5th wheels roof rack.  That made it difficult to fill the bag. 

Inside the tent trailer I had a portable shower that had a 12 volt pump.  We grabbed a bucket and filled it with lake water and then using the 12 volt pump filled the water filter. This worked great since we did not have to lift buckets of water above our heads.

We still filled water containers in Starbuck whenever we went through town, but now did not have to fill or stop as often.  We also used the 12 volt pump to fill from the water containers to the water fill.  That pump is now a part of the kit that travels with the 5th wheel.  Well worth the $20 cost of the pump.

We brought along my generator and ran an extension cord to Terry’s trailer, one to the tent trailer, and then another line to Paul’s camper when they showed.  That worked great.  We just had to be careful that two of us did not try running the microwave at the same time.

I did bring my solar panel and used that to keep the tent trailer fully charged.  So for best results you need a solar panel and a generator!

To heat Terry’s 5th wheel without running the big furnace Terry brought a small propane heater and with the bedroom door closed it kept the 5th wheel very warm.  I suspect this was one reason Bugaboo preferred the 5th wheel.  It was much warmer than the tent trailer.

Getting everything to the Snake River also required some changes.  I took some rubbermaid storage containers and placed them right behind the toolbox in the bed of the truck.  That worked great for keeping stuff dry.

Those little changes made hunting camp much more comfortable this year in spite of the weather.  We could even watch our fishing bobbers from the dining room table!  Now we were told by expert fisherman “Johnny” that we were not really fishing, but socializing instead.  Actually, we were pheasant hunting.  The fishing and watching the bobbers was just entertainment since we could not get any TV reception. 

It would have been worth it to see the Giants win the World Series.   One of the great things about becoming a naturalized citizen is that you no longer have to watch soccer!!   Baseball the perfect game.

We got to watch the moon rise over the Snake River. And on those early morning strolls outside I got to see two fireballs of the Orionid meteor shower.  Most nights were cloudy, show it was a treat just to see those two meteors.