Walt's Corner

Camping trip 259, or the 2nd real camping trip in Rio Grande, was at Cathy Canyon. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The weekend weather looked pretty darned good for in-between 2 rain events.

We weren’t even sure about where we would be, but given the size of our RV, we could fit into a parking space at a trailhead if necessary. Either way, we planned on a hike and an overnight stay up in the Lincoln National Forest near Sunspot, NM. The low was 53 and topped out at 65.

So we loaded up Rio Grande Saturday morning, threw in the girls, and headed up into the mountains. We pulled into the Cathy Canyon parking lot, where the Rim Trail goes through, and less than a 1/4 mile north we found our spot – right along the trail. Was still a little juicy from the week’s rain, but manageable.

We parked and were totally set up within 15 minutes. Setup now involves throwing down our patio-mat, setting up the lawn chairs and aluminum table, and taking the grill and charcoal out of the cargo hold. 5 minutes later we took the girls out for a 3-mile hike up Rim Trail, then the Cathy Canyon Vista Trail, about a total of 1.5 miles then turned around. We managed about 650 feet of elevation during that time. After all that rain, the forest smelled magnificent.

Back at camp I showered (using our new Teakwood shower mat), grilled some wieners, had a campfire and enjoyed some Jack Barrel Proof and a Cohiba. Following that we played a couple games of cribbage (she beat me – twice). Finally, it was time to settle down and read (current book: Dungeon Crawler Carl) before sleeping in to about 7AM.

That’s about it as far camping excitement goes. If you’re interested in the performance of the battery/solar/etc while boondocking, read on, Garth. Let’s see what this “Emerald Off-Grid Status,” the highest tier of eco-friendliest and sustainability certification award can do.

When we arrived at campsite, around 11AM or so, the battery was fully charged, obviously, but I thought this would be a great time to test it out. Nothing but battery and solar for the rest of the day, what would the battery look like tomorrow morning after running the furnace all night, AND brewing a couple cups of coffee through the Keurig, using the on-board battery inverter.

I turned the furnace on around 3PM. Kept it on overnight. The furnace runs off the fuel in the gas tank of the Airstream and provides both coach heat and hot water. If you’ve been following along with me on here, you’ll note that this RV does not use any propane. I set the temp to eventually 72 for both the front and rear areas, which translated to an actual 63-64 degrees in the coach. Excellent temps for sleeping with a good set of covers. We describe this level of great sleep amongst ourselves as “RV Sleep.” As in, “Oh man, I got some good RV Sleep in last night,” even when describing a good night’s sleep at home. I heating system consists of two areas, each with its own variable temperature and fan that can be set to manual if wanted. I kept it on auto.

By sunset, battery was still at 100%. 7:30AM the next day and 2 cups of coffee, the battery was down to 65%. A quick check of the fuel gauge showed no visible drain of gas. Running the generator (which also sucks gas from the tank) for nearly an hour brought it back up to 96% and it quickly charged back up to 100% on the way home. Still no discernible fuel loss from the gauge’s point of view.

One quick note on the fridge. It’s amazing. I’ve had these small refrigerators in the past where the “freezer” is a little box in the top of the fridge and they have never been able to properly freeze a tray of ice. This one actually works. I was able to find a small set of 4 trays that produce regular size ice cubes and a storage tray for cubes already made that fit in the little freezer. Impressive.

I am confident this setup will get us through our annual Big Bend Ranch State Park pilgrimage this winter.