Our first boondocking spot was Beehive Point on the beautiful Lake Shasta in Northern California. I found the spot using The Days End Directory which list thousands of free or cheap camping spots, it’s awesome and only costs $10. Unfortunately you have to be a member of Escapees to purchase it, which cost $40. It’s a club for full timers but I’ve never used it for anything but the directory.
The beach is massive (even thought the water level was high!) and you can park any size rig on it. It’s not very flat though (look at my jacks). However, there are also a couple spots more in the woods if you prefer some shade. The only problem with the area is at the campground entrance. The road is severely damaged with huge washout potholes. On the way in we hit it the wrong way and which caused many cabinets to purge their contents. Thankfully no damage was done and we would totally do it again. From May 15 to September 15th you pay $10 a night in one of those “iron rangers”. Luckily they hadn’t put it out yet the first night so we got the first night free.
The area is absolutely beautiful and only 3 miles off I-5. The lake is surrounded on all sides by mountains and apparently the fishing is really good. We saw a ton of bass boats. Another vessel popular to the area are house boats. It’s like an RV on the lake. It’s been awhile since we’ve been camping so maybe this is recency bias but I thought it was one of the best spots we’ve ever camped at. We were literally a 100 ft or so from the lake.
When we first arrived it was beautiful but unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse after that. It got chilly and there was a bit of rain. Our first day it was overcast so we decided to go for a hike. There is a look out tower at the top of Sugarloaf mountain which Victoria thought would be a 3 mile out and back based on the cheesy map the ranger gave us. Unfortunately it’s more like 10 miles out and back so unless you can hike 20 miles in a day or plan to backpack, you’re not going to make it to the top (which we didn’t, lol). Since there’s a cellular tower up there, the road was in decent shape(anything with a bit of clearance could make it.) The road is Forest Road 35N06 and if you just want to do some hiking and get a nice view of the lake there is a place to park once you drive a little past the few houses along the road.
I finally got to test out the Deuter Kid Comfort 2 I purchased used from the Backpackinglight.com forum I’m a member of. I paid $125 (full price brand new is $250). Zygi seems to like it just as much as the front carrier but it has a real backpack suspension to transfer the weight to your hips as he’s a growing boy 🙂 I also ordered the sun and rain roof that goes with it for an additional $30. It helps keep him shaded, dry, or warm depending on the conditions. I’d like to get him some more “outdoors” clothing but they don’t have much of a selection at most places for a baby.
The next day we were more lucky and it was sunny and warm. We got in the lake but I wouldn’t call it swimming, we actually just wanted to wash off. The water is way too cold for two people from Savannah…We wanted to stay longer but with the weekend encroaching Victoria decided we should move on.
Next up Crater Lake, Oregon. Until then, “Buh Bye!”
