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Camping Outside (and inside) the Box in Los Angeles

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Camping Outside (and inside) the Box in Los Angeles
March 22nd – 26th 2024 (4 nights)

What started out as a planned weekend to celebrate my friend’s birthday in Los Angeles, evolved into a trip leading us to discover some hidden campground gems.  Los Angeles itself has very few campgrounds for travel trailers.  According to The Dyrt, there are no public campgrounds in Los Angeles!  One usually has to travel to the distant foothills or the coast to find any places to park a trailer.  We found this to be the case too for many large cities we’ve visited, including San Francisco and Portland.  However, we did discover two nice campgrounds very close to Los Angeles that provide for beautiful natural experiences!

Valley Village, Los Angeles
We needed a spot to stay overnight in the center of Los Angeles since we planned to hike at Griffith Park on Sunday morning.  However, after finding no public campgrounds in the area, we brainstormed possible solutions.  We first tried Harvest Hosts (a subscription service which offers free stays at farms, museums, restaurants, etc.) and found nothing.  We don’t subscribe to their partner service, Boondockers Welcome, which lists private driveways, so we couldn’t determine if any driveways were available to rent.  We also tried Hipcamp, but nothing there either.  Since we grew up in Los Angeles, we thought of relatives living in the city who own homes that might be close to the park and have a driveway.  We got lucky — a relative living only 6 miles away from Griffith Park in Valley Village (a city in the San Fernando Valley) let us to stay on his driveway for the night!

We had a nice quiet evening at our relative’s home with our Scamp 13’ parked under a beautiful large Magnolia tree.  We enjoyed walking the quiet streets of this safe neighborhood in the early evening and morning.  Valley Village dates back to the 1930s when workers at nearby motion pictures studios built homes here.  The area was known for its apricot trees, orange and walnut groves, peach orchards, and cornfields.  It gets hot and dry here in the summer, but fortunately we had good moderate temperatures during our visit in March.  We probably wouldn’t stay in the San Fernando Valley during the summer months, but if we did we would definitely bring our portable AC for our Scamp 13’.

So, if you are travelling and need a place to stay where none exist or it’s not economically feasible, you might be surprised to discover you already have a close friend or relative living in the area who may provide you accommodation.

Malibu Creek State Park
Our friend’s birthday celebration dinner was at Paul Martin’s American Grill, a popular restaurant in Westlake Village (a city a bit north of Los Angeles).  In reviewing the location and campground map, we found Malibu Creek State Park a beautiful campground located halfway between the ocean and the valley in the Santa Monica Mountains.  The campground is only a short drive (about 15 minutes) from Westlake Village but feels worlds away from any city, isolated in a beautiful meadow in the Santa Monica Mountains.  Malibu Creek SP exceeded our expectations in many ways.  The campground is isolated from the rest of the park, so it’s very quiet.  And, it’s located in a beautiful meadow surrounded by tall mountains which light up at sunrise and sunset (reminding us a little of Yosemite).  Many television shows and movies have been filmed here throughout the decades, including M.A.S.H. and Planet of the Apes, with trails and signs leading to the filming locations and providing details.

Campsites at Malibu Creek State Park (no hookups) are $45/night.  We had campsite #62, which looks out directly over the meadow at the mountains (a great campsite).  There’s a central dump, which we were told costs $10 (we didn’t need to use).  Instead, we used our Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution which effectively allows us to stay off grid for about five days.  There was acceptable, but not fast, Verizon mobile service during our stay (decent enough that we didn’t need to activate our Starlink Mini service).  We stayed here a couple of nights.

On our first day here, we visited our friends who were displaced from their home in Pacific Palisades due to the historic fire which burned down a significant portion of Pacific Palisades on January 7th, 2025.  Our friends were fortunate in that they quickly found a beautiful beach condo in Malibu which they have rented for a year while their home is being rebuilt.  Our friend Bruce gave us a tour of the fire destruction on the Malibu coast and Pacific Palisades.  Even though we’ve seen images of the aftermath of the fire numerous times on television, seeing the devastation in person was extremely impactful.  Walking through the Palisades village (where we grew up) felt like what we would imagine touring a war zone would be like.  Pictures of the scenes can’t adequately describe what it’s like in person.  After the tour, my friends joined us at our campsite and we sat outside on the grass under the oak trees and enjoyed each other’s company nibbling cheese, crackers, and sipping cold drinks.  While savoring the warm sunny spring day, we noticed a couple of campers having difficulty starting their tow vehicle.  A couple of rangers came by to help them start it with their battery jumper, but after a half hour they gave up.  I walked over and had a chance to use our Hulkman Smart Jumper Starter for the first time.  Being able to deliver up to 2,000 amps peak current, this jumper can even jump 8.5L gas / 6.oL diesel engines!  The Hulkman had their tow vehicle started in under a minute!  The campers were extremely grateful and the rangers were super impressed!

We spent our second day in the campground and park.  The Main hiking trail is up Crags Road, which follows the meandering Malibu Creek.  The small Visitor Center is open on the weekends (we only looked in the windows) and features information on the area.  We hiked up past the Visitor Center, through Ape City (where scenes from Planet of the Apes was filmed), and onto the M.A.S.H. set (a very popular television series which ran from 1972 to 1983 about a medical unit serving in the Korean War).  The weather was perfect and the trails are beautiful.  The Crags Road Trail up to the M.A.S.H. set is easy to moderate with only the last short section a bit challenging due to small rock fields (care is needed to prevent twisting ankles).  The hike was about 6 miles round trip from the campground, with an 837 foot climb, and took about two hours.

We left Malibu Creek SP feeling refreshed and very satisfied of our visit.  The experience felt like being in a very remote location even though it wasn’t too far from any city.

Crystal Cove State Park (Moro Campground)
We learned the street in front of our house was scheduled to be repaved the day we were supposed to arrive home.  So, instead of having to deal with parking our Scamp 13’ on the street and leaving it sit overnight, we decided to extend our stay and chose this beautiful location in Laguna Beach to spend the night.  Moro Campground (Crystal Cove SP) is usually booked solid year round, but we got lucky when a premium hookup campsite (#8) opened at the last minute on just the day we needed.  The premium sites are pricey at $75/night + reservation fee, which comes out to about $83/night (Electric / Water).  We normally don’t pay anywhere near this amount, but did want to try this campground as it has an excellent reputation and is in a beautiful area.  The central dump here is free (and we were surprised the park has 3 dump stations for just 28 designated RV and trailer campsites!).  The Verizon mobile service here was very fast during our stay.

The rangers at this campground are very strict on arrival time (we’ve only seen this strict adherence to the time once before – at Pismo Beach North Beach Campground) – check in is at 3 p.m., and if you show up any earlier (like we did), you are directed to park in one of the beach parking lots (we parked for free at Rock Ridge Beach parking lot and had lunch in our Scamp 13’ and then took a walk along the bluffs overlooking Crystal Cove SP). The campground itself isn’t particularly notable (though some of the front sites have ocean views) as it’s high up on a bluff away from the ocean and the sites themselves are close together.

The main draw of Crystal Cove SP are the beautiful beaches and bluff trails.  There’s also the historic district along the beach featuring beach bungalows (which can be rented) built in the 1930’s.  There’s a parking lot above the beach and one can either ride the free shuttle to the beach or walk down through a tunnel.  One of the beach bungalows (#13) was featured in the 1988 movie “Beaches” with Bette Midler.  The bungalows each have tags that have a number and the name of the bungalow.  The Shake Shack restaurant sits up a flight of stairs from the beach.  It’s usually crowded with tourists and locals forming lines to buy their popular milk shakes (they also serve hamburgers, fries, …).  If one tires of the beach, there’s a free trolley which runs through downtown Laguna Beach (plenty of shops and eateries).

Conclusions
Sometimes a short trip can be configured to become a fun adventure.  When no locations to stay at seem apparent, sometimes out of the box thinking can be rewarding.  You may have a close friend or relative who can accommodate a night’s stay or there may be private alternatives for parking your camper.  Exploring campground maps, like the one available on The Dyrt, can also provide ideas and alternatives for new campsites.  In this trip, we probably wouldn’t have gone out of our way to stay in Los Angeles without the need to attend a friend’s birthday party.  But, it forced us to keep an open mind and find options where none seem to exist and we ended up finding some hidden campground gems.  So, throw away the box, and let your thinking carry you to new horizons!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything

Falling for Color in the Eastern Sierra  October 13th – 20th 2024 (7 nights)

150 150 gavin

Falling for Color in the Eastern Sierra
October 13th – 20th 2024 (7 nights)

One of the most spectacular places in the country to see the annual fall leaf color change is in the high Sierra.  Leaf peepers from all over the world come to the Sierra to feel the chill in the crisp fall air and observe the vivid colors which pop in yellows, oranges, and reds.  October is usually the month to go, but the actual timing per location varies.  One notable website tracks the color changes by offering onsite reports (the website published two feature articles about our adventure on their website during our trip).   The first article was about our experience at Sabrina Lake — click here to see the article with our photographs.  The second feature was on our visit to Lundy Lake Campground — click here to see this article with our photographs.

In order to get a good chance of seeing some fall color, we scheduled stops at various locations in the Eastern Sierra.  Our leaf peeping locations included two sites in the Aspendell area (above Bishop at around 9,000 feet elevation–at Sabrina Lake Campground and Four Jeffrey Campground), a stop at Lundy Canyon Campground an hour north near Mono Lake (elevation 7,800 feet), and lastly a visit to Convict Lake Campground (7,500 feet) near Mammoth Lakes.

Many of the campgrounds are either closed or closing at the middle to end of October, so it’s very important to research which campgrounds are still open if planning a visit this time of year.  Winter can bring extremely strong storms, including snow, and this area often becomes inaccessible after the first storm or two.  And, it’s not uncommon for a surprise snow storm to hit even in early October when campers are still at the campgrounds so it’s important to pack accordingly (this happened to us at Lundy Canyon Campground)!

Come prepared with your propane tanks full (ideally two tanks) as the weather can get very cold at night.  It was sunny and pleasant during our visit with temps in the high 60’s / low 70’s, but the evenings and mornings were cold (in the high teens and low 20’s)!  We set our furnace to keep us warm at night and early mornings, and were very glad we were sleeping in our 2020 Scamp 13′ instead of a tent!  We set a record on this trip by burning through an entire tank of propane in just six days!

Fuel stop tips:  we discovered a few good low priced gas stations during our drives — 5 Points Petroluem (Adelanto, CA), Fort Independence Travel Plaza (Independence, CA), and Yuhubi Nobi Gas Station (Bishop, CA).  Gas stations in Mammoth Lakes and Lee Vining (which we avoided) were significantly more expensive (around $2 more per gallon) than the service stations listed above.

Food stop tips:  the Alabama Hills Café (can be crowded on weekends) for great American food (Lone Pine) and the Lemon Food Truck for great Mexican food (Independence) make good stops for nourishment and help break up the long drive into the Eastern Sierra.  Glen’s Taqueria Food Truck (Independence) was also recommended to us, but we didn’t get a chance to try it.

Lake Sabrina Campground
This is a first come, first served campground with about 20 campsites.  There is no cell phone service here, but they do have potable water spigots, trash cans, and vault toilets.  Note:  the Cardinal Village Resort down the road offers free Starlink WiFi service (good enough even for phone calls).  We arrived at around 2:45 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, figuring most people would have left the campground by the end of the weekend.  However, when we arrived, we found only two sites available!  Fortunately, the site we selected (campsite #20, $34/night) was not easy to spot, yet a very good one (we drove right by it on our first pass and the campground host showed us where it was)!  Make sure to bring either cash or a check for the iron ranger box.  The campground is very scenic and is situated along the Middle Fork Bishop Creek.  The abundant aspens in the campground had already starting turning color, with popping yellows.

The trail at the end of the campground off of North Lake Road led us through some spectacular fall foliage in magnificent red, orange, and yellow leaves.  We also drove up North Lake road to North Lake (a small lake popular for fishing) and enjoyed some stunning scenery of the fall color changes.  Sabrina Lake is about a mile and a half up the road.  There’s a trail that goes around the lake as well as a boat rental house.  The high Sierra mountains pose magnificently in the background thousands of feet above the lake.  One of the most popular activities here is fishing for trout, and even in October we saw a number of fishermen and fisherwomen.  But, probably the most popular activity in this area was taking photos in front of the lake and several leaf peeping worthy backdrops.

Another trip highlight included testing out a new tech toy.  We purchased a Starlink Mini for this particular trip and had ample opportunity to try it out at Lake Sabrina Campground.  There is no phone service near here and it was nice to conduct some additional research of the area, stay up to date on the news/weather and emails, and contact friends and families via calls and texts when not hiking or exploring the area.  The Mini is great because it is very compact (about the size of a laptop), the router and power supply are internal, and it uses low power (we can run it for hours on our Jackery 500).  We are able to store it in the small closet cabinet we constructed in our 2020 Scamp 13′ along with our laptop and tablet.  To set it up, just point it north and use the app to make fine adjustments.  We found the speed to be very fast (over 100Mbps download and around 10 Mbps upload).  We chose the roam plan which, at the time of this writing, is $50/month for 50GBs of data (additional GBs of data cost $1/GB).  We only used 11GB of data during our entire eight day trip (including streaming a few news broadcasts from Sling).  The plan can be paused (by the month) when not travelling. The upfront cost of the Starlink Mini hardware is currently $599.

Camp Four Jeffrey
Just about fifteen minutes down the road from Sabrina Lake Campground towards Bishop, Camp Four Jeffrey is off South Lake Road in the direction of South Lake.  Camp Four Jeffrey is a larger campground (with only the first 30 campsites reservable during the time of our visit) and has potable water spigots and an RV dump station (with two dumps) — dumping is free if you are camping here.  There’s no reliable cell phone signal, but signals come and go throughout the day and night in various locations throughout the campground.  For a more reliable cell phone signal, there’s a utility access dirt road across the main road that climbs for about 1/2 mile and overlooks Forks Campground down below.  We’ve found a reliable signal here on this as well as a past visit.  (Link to previous report).  Additionally, there’s a cell phone lot between Camp Four Jeffrey (although we didn’t try it) as well as the free Starlink service at the Cardinal Village Resort.  Or, if you have Starlink yourself, it works great at the campground.

This is one of the most dramatically scenic campgrounds we’ve been to as it’s surrounded by high Sierra mountains (covered in snow most of the year, with very little snow visible this fall).  Also, aspen trees grow throughout the campground, and were presenting full fall yellow popping color.  There’s a creek that runs through the campground and many campers enjoy fishing here.  We chose campsite #45 (not sure why we were able to reserve it since it’s not in the first thirty campsites and no other campsites were able to be reserved in this loop when we made reservations) because it sits high above all the other campsites and has dramatic views.  Some of the water spigots at the entrance are threaded and we used one to fill up our Scamp 13’s fresh water tank on the way into and out of the campground.  There are also unthreaded water spigots through the campground.

We spent a couple of days here and enjoyed hiking through the fall colors in the area as well as at Cardinal Village Resort.  While staying here, we decided to go back up to the Sabrina Lake area (since it is only about 10 minutes away from Camp Four Jeffrey) and drove up North Lake drive to North Lake.  We were rewarded with vibrant fall foliage at the lake.  There were quite a few people wading into and fly fishing in the lake.  After exploring, we enjoyed a satisfying burger lunch at the Cardinal Village Resort (they make pie daily here too).

Lundy Canyon Campground
After a couple of beautiful days at Camp Four Jeffrey, we made our way down the mountain to refuel in Bishop (Yuhubi Nobi Gas Station) and then drove north on Hwy 395 for an hour to Lundy Lake Campground (passing Mammoth Lakes and June Lake) .  We heard the leaves were changing color here too.  The campground is up Lundy Lakes Road just past the town of Lee Vining and Mono Lake.  Cell phone coverage ends shortly after entering the canyon and climbing up towards Lundy Lake (Lundy Lake is about five minutes past the campground, with hiking trails).

Lundy Canyon Campground (7,660′ elevation) is primitive with rough roads and no amenities.  There’s not even a camp host.  Instead, once we found a campsite we liked (#10) at this first come first serve campground (36 campsites along a 0.8 mile long scenic bumpy road), we took our cash ($16/night) for our two night stay and deposited it in the iron ranger box which is located near campsite #20.  Campsite #10 is surrounded by aspen trees that were bright yellow during our visit.  Most of the campsites were empty while we were here midweek in mid-October.  An evening rain storm made many campers leave as we were arriving, including a camper with a Scamp who left early fearing the Tioga Pass could get closed by snow.

After lunch, we drove around with the intention of checking out Lundy Lake, but the storm was fast approaching with fog and drizzle making hiking and taking pictures challenging.  So, instead, we headed down the canyon road to Mono Lake to check out the Tufas!  The Visitor’s Center was closed for the winter, but we briefly surveyed the gift shop which had a lot of books, t-shirts, and other souvenirs available for purchase.  After our store visit, we drove to the South Tufas, which are incredibly otherworldly rock like figures which naturally inhabit the shores and waters of Mono Lake (a must see).  Parking is either $3/person or free with an America the Beautiful Pass (which we displayed in our windshield).

Tufas are formed when calcium flows up from springs under the lake bottom and bonds to carbonates in the lake water, forming calcium carbonate (a type of limestone).  The calcium carbonate builds up on itself over time, gradually forming a tufa tower.  When the lake level drops, the exposed tufa stops growing.  A visit to the South Tufas is a fantastic way to explore the scenery and observe the magnificent and fascinating tufas.  There are paved paths and boardwalks which meander along the shore for at least a quarter of a mile.  There is free dispersed camping in the area near the lake, but the bookstore was unable to provide a detailed camping map.  Certain areas are off limits to camping, including the South Tufas and Navy Beach (where you can kayak), so further research is needed before planning a camping visit near the Tufas.  There are a lot of trails in the area including Panum Crater, so lots to do for a fun few days.  We hiked the rim of Panum Crater (entrance is one mile from the bumpy dirt road and driving speeds are less than 10 miles/hour). It was, however, worth the drive to see the stellar views of Mono Lake below.  The crater was formed by a volcano that blew its top, leaving a ring around a crater and a plug (volcano top) in the middle.

A cold rain storm swept through at night.  It was about 30 degrees around 7 a.m. in the Lundy Canyon Campground and our car was covered with slush.  By 11 am the sky had cleared, it had warmed up to 60F, and we travelled up the road to Lundy Lake and took the Lundy Canyon trail hike.  The road going up to the trail head was in disrepair with large holes and big deep puddles, so we parked right outside the Lundy Lake Resort (closed for the winter) and hiked up to the trailhead.  We spent a couple of hours walking the road and then up the trail to the third lake and back to our car.  The most scenic part of the hike was the lower part just above Lundy Lake Resort — there’s a pond and a fantastic view of a tall newly snow-capped mountain top.

On our last evening at Lundy Canyon Campground, the wind blew and we could only see white looking out our Scamp’s windows.  We enjoyed a good movie with our furnace keeping us toasty inside our Scamp.  The wind howled all night.  The campground and mountains were blanketed with snow the next morning.  The temperature was down to 19 degrees at 7 a.m.

We met a couple of ladies at the campground who encouraged us to drive 30 minutes further north to Bridgeport and walk the charming town with shops and especially the trading post (they had purchased some fine Navaho turquoise jewelry there which they were proudly wearing).  They also recommended taking a soak at the Travertine or Benton Hot Springs in that area as well.  We filed this information away for a future trip as we were just about to leave camp!  Next: Reservations at Convict Lake Campground were awaiting us!

Convict Lake Campground
Convict Lake is beautiful location with dramatic mountains surrounding a pristine lake.  The area has been featured in some commercials including Nature Valley and Delta Airlines as well as a number of movies including Star Trek: Insurrection (1998).

On the way up to Convict Lake, make sure to use the free RV dump station (if necessary).  This RV dump station is not labeled and easy to miss (we drove right by it on the way up to the campground).  The dump station is on the left just past the Convict Lake Resort (on the right side) and is notable for a number of orange metal posts.  There are two dump stations (side by side) along with a separate area for potable fresh water (threaded hose).

Convict Lake Campground has views of dramatic mountains which tower over the lake.  From the campground, it’s easy to walk to the lake and the Convict Lake Resort (which has a fine dining restaurant {$$$$} as well as a bar / lounge for simpler less expensive food).  A number of the campsites here are first come first served which can make the campground look fully booked when trying to reserve a site online even though there may be first come first served spots available.  We found that there were plenty of open campsites on the weekend and we selected campsite #7 ($37/night).  Campsite #7 has good space around it and spectacular views of the mountains (the lake is slightly above the campground, so it’s not visible).  There’s minimal to no cellphone service here (but free WiFi at the resort as well as an open sky for great Starlink).  There are water spigots within the campground as well as bathrooms.

We had a great salad and pizza dinner at the Convict Lake Resort next door (the bar/lounge section).  In the morning, we enjoyed taking the easy 2.5 mile hike around the lake (which took us about an hour).  Convict Lake is about fifteen minutes away from Mammoth Lakes; so, it’s easy to spend time doing other fun things in Mammoth Lakes if one has extra time or wants to try some different eateries, ride bikes and/or do some shopping (see our June trip report for more information on Mammoth Lakes).

Since it’s a long drive back home from Convict Lake (about eight hours with stops), we decided to split the trip in half and spend the night at either Fossil Falls Campground (BLM, $6/night) or Red Rock Canyon State Park Campground.  We first tried Fossil Falls (which we have stayed at in the past) on a late Saturday afternoon, but it was full (there are only a limited number of campsites that suitably accommodate RVs – sites 4, 5, 6, & 8).  The dirt rocky roads at Fossil Falls were in much worse shape than when we previously visited, so we would no longer recommend a stay here. Instead, we continued on about an hour further south to Red Rock Canyon State Park campground.  It’s a beautiful desert campground with towering red rock cliffs.  Many of the campsites are at the base of the cliffs.  The campground was almost full when we arrive late Saturday afternoon, but we did find a nice pull-though spot (#24 / $25/night)!  More information on both of these campgrounds can be found on our previous trip report here.  We are really glad we broke up the trip home as it made the drive much easier.  We left Red Rock Canyon SP early on Sunday morning (5:30 a.m.) and were home for breakfast (9:30 a.m.) and with plenty of time to wash our Scamp 13′, Volvo XC40, and do our laundry!

This trip was remarkable in many ways.  There’s something special about travelling off season in the fall with crisp mountain air and beautiful fall colors.  We were very fortunate in that the leaf color change was peaking at most of the locations we chose.  The fall colors were so dramatic during our visit that it was inspiring.  And, experiencing a surprise snowstorm at night and waking up with snow covering the ground was awesome!  We also learned about new locations which we may explore next July when travelling to Lake Tahoe (these locations include Mono Lake dispersed camping, Bridgeport, the Travertine hot springs, and Bodie Ghost Town).  We expanded our communications options to include satellite (with our new Starlink Mini) and will never look back.  Each of the locations on this trip had very limited or no cellphone reception and we greatly appreciated the ability to connect when off grid for an hour two each day (including the additional safety having communications provides).  Lastly, getting up in the Sierra mountains brings a form of serenity which is hard to achieve anywhere else.  The remote location, natural beauty, and fresh air reinvigorate the soul. John Muir described this feeling well in his quote: “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything