When my wife and I were younger we could eat anything. But with age comes intolerance to some types of food.
I will check them out.
I think we will need to cook like we have been doing. We normally prepare several meals ahead of time. The idea of cooking before getting to the final camp site might work.
I have bear bells and bear spray. While camping at Glacier National Park, in an actual campground, I kept stuff in my cooler, in my truck. We were near center of campground so I figured any bear would have to get past multiple other campers to get to me. But, I sprinkled a little cayenne pepper around my truck and on my tailgate. Didnāt affect us, and sprinkled it every other day. Helps with all types of critters. I just pick up a large jar of it from smart and final every few years when Iām running low. Donāt know if it works, but in decades, Iāve never had a bear touch my truck. I live in So Cal, so 99% of my camping is here.
Thanks to everyone that commented.
By the way I also made contact with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, along with Bearicuda that makes Bear lockers and got even more information.
After I told my wife that it would take at least 10 days to drive to Alaska and then after reading your comment she started realizing we need more experience. Now she is back down to earth!
So Arizona, Southern California, Utah, Colorado and South Dakota batten down the hatches, lock your doors and stay off the road because we will be coming to see you over the next couple years.
Thanks Again for your input!
I put my. refrigerator in my front trunk, and sleep like thereās no bears around. Because most places out west, there arenāt bears that youāll be lucky enough to see, muc hless bother you.
Now if you donāt happen to own an electric truck with a front trunk (āfrunkā), then you can do like I did back in the old days, and just put it on your back seat.
All that being said, in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone, I am extra careful to clean up good, because bears are too used to people in those parks.
im doing Alaska this August and down to have 1 more rig to come with!
would love to have you join so i can pick your brain about Tennessee for a whole month LOL
Iām heading to Sequoia at the beginning of July and I have no where else to put my dometic fridge and keep it connected other than inside my truck. Iām going to clean everything else and put things in a bear box, but I guess the fridge will stay in the bed of the truck.
Youāll likely be just fine. Wipe the fridge as clean as possible after emptying the contents.
Fridges are super nice, Iām sure, but with frequent trips to Montana and Idaho, I decided against it. Now I just stash my padlocked RTIC about 40 yards from the GFC. Its not convenient, but I feel a bit safer. Bears are never a problem, until they areā¦
Peace.
Also, Iām putting all my trash in a bear vault container and thatās getting stashed with the cooler.
Peace.
Bit of a late reply, but thought Iād add my experience.I live in the CO Rockies and do a lot of dispersed camping with my partner. As others have suggested, I would not have the cooler in the camper if you can avoid it.
All our food gets locked in the cab - cooler and wolf pack proās for dry food. Trash gets compacted as hard as it can be into a bear can and hung from a tree as far away. While we do have a small butane stove we cook on the fire 99% of the time. Our big cast iron pan and collapsible sink basin spends the night at the tree the trash is hung in. Bear spray & handgun sleep with us.
Weāve got about 7 nights in this season so far, night #2 we forgot the bear can so decided to wing it and put the trash bag in the cab as wellā¦ bad idea. We woke up to a small brown bear trying to get into the locked passenger door, but some loud " hey bear!'s " were enough to spook it, and it didnāt come back. Hindsight I should have hung it from a tree anyway with a limb hopefully overhung enough a bear couldnāt get to it.
Iāve only spent one night in grizzly country ( Kerwin, WY ) but they had bear vaults so we used that for food and hung trash far away.
Front trunk reminds of my '68 Volkswagen Fastback.
No engine that is cool!
It would have been fun going to a full service gas station and ask the attendent to clean the windows and check the oil. LOL
In the '90ās I live near Kennedy Space Center and several of my freind worked for a company that gutted new pickups and vans, converting them to electric. They were use at Kennedy Space Center. I ask if they could go long distances and the answer was a small Honda generator. The pulled the rope and off they went. No joke this is fact.
What make and model do you have?
Now seriously what type of range are you getting on one charge?
Have you ever run low on power?
Iām interested in looking at a Hybrid pickup.
What you said about the National Parks is the same in the Smokey Mountains.
Also, in Florida the Northerners that live around lakes start feeding the gators. It is dangerious!
Thanks for your input.
It would be nice caravaning, with you but timing isnāt good. After hearing how long it takes to drive to Alaska, my wife changed her mind. We may only venture as far west as the Rockys, and maybe Ridgecrest CA. I think the next couple years we will be toeing our Jeep and meet Jeep and 4WD Clubs we know about. BUT, we just started migrating to Overlanding, camping and easier trails. My wife and I finally joined the elite O,L,D. Club and want to take it easier then we did years ago. Check out our website EasyOffRoading.com.
As far the Smokey and the Blue Ridge Mountains full size vehicle are a little too large. Gladiatorās and Tacomaās are almost too long for the turns on our trails. That being said at Trailfest we had an F250 try driving the trails at the Coalmont OHV Park. The groups the F250 was with had to limit the trails they took. Send me a message on Facebook and we can share information. Ed Witman
Thank You this was helpful.
We probably wonāt get out your way until 2026. This will give us time to practice everything you and others have mentioned.
oh no doubt!
if you ever come to socal before I make the move feel free to holla!
would love to have my group show you around.
im also limiting myself on the trails I take on. with my previous rig (a 5th gen 4runner) i could go most trails because of the size (the places I canāt go are strictly crawling trails or extremely technical trails that Iād feel more comfortable doing with solid axles). Heck, with the DT I already hit the tail pipe and dragged my hitch receiver more times than I could count on trails that I had no problem with in the 4runner lol
Contact me via email and I can share more information about Tennessee. Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains are outstanding. When I drive my Jeep, I donāt get a chance to enjoy the views because I am focused on the obstacles in front of me. That is the main reason I am switching to Overland.
ED
LOLā¦ I just realized socal was Southern California,
Our male dog is 14 years old and limiting use to 3 to 4 days trips. When he moves on my wife and I want our first trip to visit a friend that belongs to Off-R-Rocker offroad club in Ridgecrest CA. We will be towing our Jeep. Are you anywhere near Ridgecrest?
im about 2 hours south of ridgecrest lol
but plenty of places to play around the area. be sure to do Death Valley too itās reasonably close if you go in from the south side.
we did a trip that covered the entire park area in a circle in 2022. eenter through Mengel and Barker Ranch near ridgecrest, went through west side road, then swing it all the way to the sand dunes and then back to saline valley and out via saline valley road. We bypassed Lippincott and Steele pass due to road damage. covered it all in 3 days lol fun times
My friend wants me to come out in the spring when Death Valley is blooming, Also, he is going to show us around Sequoia National Forest. I wrote an article about a 4WD club in Bakers Field that I want to meet. On the way back I will be visiting clubs in AZ, CO, NM, and TX. It is 2003 miles to Ridgecrest or 4 days drive. Coming home will take a couple weeks. LOL
Letās keep in touch. If you are planning to drive 2000 miles to Nashville let me know and we can meet up.
Ed
PS: I keep in touch with my friend Robert via Text Message. He works at the Naval base and doesnāt like FB.
My number is 615-869-8840 or Ed Witman on FB.
