Camping Is The New (Old) Nirvana

by Robert McGarvey

Usually around this time of year I have begun to plan a European holiday – be it in Spain or France or Ireland, I am convinced fall is the best time to go for fewer tourists, better prices and more temperate weather – but I am not planning such a trip this year.

I have in mind something completely different.

This Reuters headline tells you why: Record number of Americans plan on traveling abroad in the next 6 months.

The hellscape that is 2023 travel just keeps burning hotter. Airports are jammed, flights are full and expensive, hotels are pricey, and matters are especially unappealing in western Europe.

So do I just stay home as I did in 2020? Of course not. That was the first Covid year (I had it in March 2020) and it wasn’t until December that a vaccine hit the street. Staying home in 2020 was the only rational choice.

This year, yes, we are seeing a small uptick in Covid cases but most are reportedly quite mild and, besides, I have had every available vaccine round and soon will be in line for the next version, due to be out in a couple weeks. And make no mistake, it was the vaccines that led to a revival of travel in 2021 and 2022 continuing into today.

But for Labor Day this year, I set out on a holiday even before getting the next vaccine and this holiday involves no airport or airplane – it’s camping at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, about a 425 mile drive from where I live in Phoenix.

A campsite costs $10 per night with a Senior Pass ($20 for full freight).

Aren’t there other expenses? You bet. Lots of them. Know this: I have never owned camping gear, never thought I’d have the interest but this year the thought surfaced in my brain and it wouldn’t go away. No crowded airports, no stuffed planes, being outside. In 2023 that seemed a formula I could embrace.

Before you decide also to take the plunge, accept two facts: the national parks, most of them, are overcrowded. Bryce Canyon, in south-central Utah, is an outlier. Beautiful, unique landscape – but it’s remote and also overshadowed by Zion to the west and Arches to the east. I made my reservation a couple months ago; there were still a few available campsites. But booking into a national park is hit and miss and as for the celebrated parks (Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone), forget about it. There now are lotteries to pick lucky winners.

The other fact: the campsites are cheap but you will pour out money getting prepared. A decent (not great) tent for two will cost $100+. Sleeping bags cost around $100 apiece for a three season sack. You also need sleeping pads between the bag and the dirt – $50 apiece. And you need a sleeping bag storage sack, $15 – trust me, you need the sack to prolong the life of the bag.

Then there are innumerable small items – a camp lantern. plus batteries, around $25; headlamps, around $6 – it’s dark outside at campsites; a coffee percolator, $35; a tent footprint, that is a tarp that goes under it to provide better protection from nature ($25); tent seam sealant ($10); cookware ($70); dinnerware and utensils ($25); cooking utensils ($25) camp pillow ($25); and of course you’ll need a camp chair ($60).

You also need a 25 liter pack away cube to stash all this small stuff. At least most of it fits in mine.

That’s approaching $600 in equipment.

If I am not a veteran camper how do I know so much? I took free classes at REI where the presenters do not shill for REI branded stuff. They do a good job of presenting a balanced view of the gear you really need and what you don’t.

(Note: none of the above links is an affiliate link; I get no kickbacks on your purchases. Probably should – just about every publication today is chockablock with affiliate links. But not me, not yet.)

How do I breakeven on my outlay? Repetition.

Remember, I told you national parks are jammed? True. But national forests aren’t and I have five nights reserved at Manzanita camp grounds in Coconino National Forest later this fall. At $18 per night. In Sedona, where a decent hotel room costs $250, a good one is $500, and, bar the door, if you want to sleep in the best accommodations where rates can top $1000. I’m out $90 for five nights.

In November I have also booked a couple nights at Windy Hill Campground in Tonto National Forest by Lake Roosevelt, maybe 100 miles from where I live in Phoenix and the weather will be lovely by the lake. At $17 per night.

Understand, these are equipped, serviced campsites at all three places. Not so called “dispersed camping,” where you put your tent up on vacant ground and that’s that – no services are provided. I am at sites with toilets, fire pits, Bryce Canyon even has showers, and there may be cellular service.

Also understand I am car camping so I am indifferent to the bulk and weight of my gear. Backpackers who carry all their stuff are significantly more streamlined with their gear. Usual advice is to backpack no more than 20% of your weight, meaning a 200 pounder might carry 40 pounds, max. But as one REI presenter recently said in response to a question about how much was too much to bring, it’s up to you and what you are comfortable with.

Now I only hope my camping does not resemble the Three Stooges’.