We Made a Mistake...5 Nights Camping at Big Bend National Park
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- We drove down from Austin Texas towards the Big Bend National Park where we spent five nights camping there. Since this was our first national park we unfortunately made a mistake when arriving but we figured it out eventually. We dealt with some harsh weather our second night there and experienced some of the most beautiful stars at night. We hope you enjoy this video of our learning experiences!
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Who are we?
We are Yvonne and John! We're both from Queens, New York and in 2018 we left our full time jobs to travel. We spent two years saving our money and have visited 17 countries and over 30+ cities so far. We are now heading on our next adventure, road tripping through the USA and enjoying the great outdoors! This channel will take you along on our journey as well as show you everything we learn along the way. :)
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FYI: In this video we are at BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK. Forgive us for saying state park. 😅
@MysteriousOklahoma woah!! We’d freak out if we saw a UFO. Thank you for watching our video!
Too hard to edit out such a MAJOR MISTAKE? Shame on you.
@MysteriousOklahoma Ya I saw it too. If you drink enough beer you can see it too.
LOL that did make me laugh
@@markplimsollnot a major mistake bro chill
It's Big Bend NATIONAL Park! The STATE park is a different park 20 miles away. That one is largest in the state park system. As for the wind, it's very normal in the deserts for the wind to blow hard AT TIMES. Non-locals ( tourist ) often say to me " WOW that was freak wind storm yesterday " and my response is always the same "Na ,not really" and "It's not a freak wind storm if they happen all the time!" No short cuts to experience, you just got some and nobody died, good job! People in hurry out here often get in to trouble. Take time to learn slowly about a place so that you can come to understand it. That way it sticks in your soul. Viva Terlingua
Absolutely, You either love Big Bend NATIONAL Park or you hate it. My wife a landscape designer hated it as it wasn't "green enough" (we were there last week of December). I first visited it in 1972 before any roads were paved south of Fort Stockton. I took us eight hours from the BBNP sign north of Persimmon Gap to Johnson's Ranch. Wish it could be that desolate again, frankly, but, the desert is what it is. I do love it. Try to make it twice yearly from the midwest.
Love: "so it sticks in your soul"
We went to Christmas mountains there . Awesome .glad the ranch there gives the permits out . Yes a person can get lost out there pretty easy and it is far away from hospital so everyone should be careful. It was on terlingua ranch . Might of butchered name
@@robertstewart7228 thank you for watching Robert!! And exactly, we’re not experienced hikers(more like never done it actually) so we knew better not to start in the middle of BB. Thank you emphasizing it’s not easy to just roam around there.
@@yvonneandjohn3979 Lost Maples state park is a really nice area . We always carry a backpack for water and snacks .
Good for you guys. " We're learning " that's what's important.
Thank you so much Stan! We’re enjoying ourselves and we’re proud with what we’ve done so far as beginners. Thank you for watching our video.
Good for y'all that you're getting out there and learning and experiencing. You'll take some heat in the comments at first, but soon you'll be experienced pros. Hope you create some great memories along the way, making this all worth it and more!
We appreciate your kind words, you’re very kind! We definitely travel for our own good and experience and make it as a priority. We make videos and share it for others to enjoy or learn from. People will have negative thing to say no matter what but we’re happy with what we’re doing and you’re right it’ll be worth it in the end. Thank you for watching our video as well.
Thumbs up to > @Sights Less Seen 's positivity
Heh, you all had a very similar experience to me and a college buddy of mine when we first camped out in Big Bend National Park, in the spring of 2002 I believe. We were in an ooooold style (steel bar exo-skeleton ground tent, and we couldn't get the wimpy stakes it used to go into the ground without bending/breaking due to the rocky soil, so we put the biggest rocks we could carry in the interior corners to hold it down, and simply jammed the ends of the steel bars into the ground. Well, as you learned, the winds at night can be brutal, and our poor tent got bashed and we got no sleep. We kept having to "reach" though the tent material to grab the steel supports and pull them back into position. At one point, the tent finally collapsed on us, and we both "abandoned ship" into my '98 Jeep Wrangler TJ. Well, my buddy could somehow sleep sitting upright (the back of the jeep was full of gear so we couldn't recline seats). But I couldn't sleep like that, and besides, the winds had my jeep rocking and rolling on its suspension anyway. So at some point, when I was so tired I could have cried, I finally got out of the jeep, crawled back into the collapsed tent (which was much calmer/quieter once it collapsed, since it didn't catch nearly as much wind being so close to the ground), back into my sleeping bag, and finally fell asleep.
There were a lot of other learning events that trip, which we called "Welcome to the Desert."
Holy moly!
I knew you guys were in trouble when you kept calling Big Bend a state park, lol!
LOL promise we knew we were in a National Park. Didn’t realize John was saying state park in the video. It was also our first NP, we’re getting the hang of it. 😄 Thanks for watching our video!
@@yvonneandjohn3979 Keep them coming I really enjoyed this one.
@@yvonneandjohn3979, actually you are both right. There IS a Big Bend state park next to the National Park.
There is BBNP, and BBSP, so the mistake could be made either way.🤦♂️
@@xcentriclithium5467 Only a greenhorn would make that mistake, hence my comment about getting into trouble. BTW, it is hardly confusing, there's Big Bend National Park and then there is Big Bend Ranch State Park. I frequent both often and the parks are nowhere near the same in geography, location, and accessibility.
You guys are awesome! I’ve really appreciated watching your videos. Good to see people getting out of their comfort zones and experiencing new things. Looking forward to more videos and upgrades! Hats off to you both!
Love this and so appreciate this! Thank you so much for your support!
We loved the Big Bend experience. However, we parked our RV in a park in Terlingua and drove in each day. The remote, windy harshness of the place is part of the draw...nearest hospital is at Alpine, 100 miles away as the crow flies! I appreciate that you bared your souls and showed us what your experience was really like.
Thank you so much for watching our video Kevin. We do our best to be authentic to hopefully help other people.
Love this place. Attended the funeral of a childhood friend and stay for a few weeks to hike, paddle the river and enjoyed the stars filling the night sky. Great place and people but nothing like our cabin in the northern forest of northern Wisconsin….
It is nice to see young people doing what we all did, learn and laugh... that is the joy of it. Thank you for your video.
We really appreciate this comment Dave. And thanks for watching our video!
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off too.” Keep adventuring!
Awesome quote! Very meaningful. Thank you so much!
taking risks or die.
Well, you’re learning. As someone who grew up camping, I was entertained at your expense. Tents on the ground aren’t necessarily more precarious, in fact you could set them up so your vehicle, or when possible, trees, etc. can protect you from the wind. Wind loves deserts, especially at night. The Toyota you’re driving is a high clearance vehicle with legendary capabilities. Keep exploring.
We’re very grateful for your support Hollis. We didn’t know much about camping before starting this trip and we’re loving it so far. We didn’t know what was considered high clearance at that time but we learned afterwards. 😁 thank you for watching our video!
You guys are doing Great! Do you know how many people sit home and never step outside, how many never leave their county, how many people wait til they're retired to ever take on an adventure. I think this was a great start. Keep going! BTW, that Toyota will do everything in BBNP, even Black Gap.
You both are troopers!
When you go through rough times it makes you stronger. It’s all part of the “adventure.” Your relationship with each other will be strengthened as well.
Tent on the roof....good thing you don’t sleep walk! 😉
Thanks for sharing.
Ram
Thank you for watching our video! It was definitely a unique and difficult situation for both of us. We told each other at least we were there together and comforted each other. And thank goodness neither of us sleepwalks, otherwise we’d have to get a portable fence too. LOL
High winds that seem to never stop can drive people crazy. I like to backpack a lot, and I've had some extremely frustrating windy experiences over the years.
I’ve been there many, many times. I love to go up into the basin area up in the mountains. There you could hike or ride horses to a huge waterfall called the window where you could see hundreds of miles. I slept in a one man army tent and never had a problem with the wind. I don’t live nearby anymore but it was my favorite places in the world to go. Always hated to leave.
We’d love to go back and explore further. We didn’t realize how massive Big Bend really was until we got there. Someone pointed out to us that rooftop tents are more susceptible to wind more than ground tents as it is on top of a car, especially an SUV. The wind gusts was the most terrifying part, something we were not used to. It must’ve been an incredible life experience to have lived near a NP. Also, thanks for watching our video! 😁
@@yvonneandjohn3979 I hope you can sometime too. It takes a lot of trips to see it all if you can see it all. Every time I went back I would find something different to see or someone would tell me about a new place. I love the mountains but the desert has such a different kind of beauty. I know what you mean about the wind. I hate the wind like that unless I was on a sailboat. Love your videos. Keep it up 👍🏻
@@kellyspann9845 thank you so much for your support Kelly! 🙂
I camped in the same spot that you spent your last three days in 2017. I had extreme high winds also. I use a Kodiak 6098 model 9 x 8 tent. It is considered an all-season and supposed to tolerate winds to 50 miles an hour. It held up beautifully. I had no problem. I used to have a rooftop like yours but I was in New Mexico one time with such high winds that it tore it off of the frame. So now I would rather be closer down on the ground I feel safer. I enjoyed your video. Thank you.
🙀😲 omg! Our tent falling apart like that is our worst nightmare. That must’ve been terrifying. We learned to close off our RTT if there’s high winds in the forecast. So many lessons have been learned since Big Bend. Lol thank you for watching our video!
Wow!
I was there in October and it’s so beautiful. Did y’all go to Santa Elena Canyon? Wow. Really cool. I have a couple videos on my trip. I want to go back!
I don't know you guy but I just wanna say that I'm proud of you 😅 Took the challenges of camping like OG'S. You won't ever learn until you get out there. Congrats on a bright camping future!
Don’t get discouraged guys.you learn more each time. And with weather you always make accommodations.
Aww thank you so much for your support Jodie and Linda!! We’re really doing our best and we just like to share our experiences.
Your 4runner has 9.6 inches of ground clearance, that exceeds the clearance required to be a high clearance vehicle. We are taking ours to Big Bend later this month and should be able to go anywhere without clearance concerns.
Mistakes are how we learn. Now you know. Don’t let it discourage you.
Everyone has to start somewhere right? We both don’t have much experience with camping and it was our first time at a National Park. We can now pass on our mistakes and experiences to our future kids and that’s what life is about. Thank you so much for your support and for watching our video John!
I spent a couple of nights there in 1971. I was sleeping in the top bunk of a pop top Volkswagen Camper Bus. The only thing I remember about it is that I was afraid the wind would tear the top off of the camper and blow me away.
Hah!
You guys are doing awesome.
Never worry about what people say.
Camp wherever you can
Congrats on catching the algorithm. Great video! Wish you all the best and stay safe!
Thank you so much!! Glad people are enjoying this video. 😄
Tents on the ground is better than that setup, tents don’t flap like that when well setup.
Maybe you’re right. But we really like being off the ground to sleep. The annex was flappy and loud but we’re glad we had it for our own comfort during that time. Also, thanks for watching our video Roberto!
Ground tents are equally as bad in the wind. It’s the same materials. I think the issue was just the annex walls are taller than the roof of your truck so you have a lot of extra fabric to flap around
Rooftop tent are safer than the ground tent because what if you have a bear coming to your ground tent and you are asleep.
I live out here in this area and people have no idea how crazy the wind can be out here. It literally shakes my house some nights. Nothing wrong with y’all s set up. ❤
@@Dusther210 never had an issue with my tent flapping in the wind, it stays still. It’s all about facing your tent in best direction against the wind and setting up your guy lines correctly
I used to backpack in BBNP every chance I had way before the days of GPS. I have seen it get way down in the teens during the winter and well over 100 in the summer. Anyone going should be a good Boy Scout and be prepared for exteams in temperature, wind and pack a lot of water and go with a buddy.
Ha! Yes, the wind. The tent vibration! The sound all night gets to you. A lesson from an old time camper - SIMPLICITY.
Thank you for watching our video. We’re very new to this so everything is a learning lesson for us. We will eventually find our own “simplicity”.
Woohoo we are making our first backcountry camping trip the end of next month! Thank you for sharing! New to your channel
Thank you for watching and happy camping!!!
I was at Big Bend National Park in 2004... and I swore that the wind was going to blow my converted school bus over like a tumbleweed! What you experienced was a light breeze.
Woah!! That must’ve been terrifying. We had no clue about the desert wind. Glad you were ok though. And thank you for watching our video Thomas!
I was down in Big Bend myself when you were! I was camped at Grapevine Hills 4 and really windy conditions developed January 19. I had to downsize from my large tent to my Kelty Mesa 2 and use all guy lines. Wind can be a real issue in Big Bend desert country. January 20 was overcast but less windy. That night it rained but only enough to wet the top inch or so of soil. The next day started out wet, but by about noon it started clearing and the weather turned beautiful and stayed beautiful.
Oh so what a coincidence! It was a rough night. Good thing you had your back up Kelty Mesa with you. We definitely did not see all that wind to come out of nowhere. We’re glad we chose to stay for 5 nights because we got to enjoy plenty of beautiful days in the heart of Big Bend. Thank you for watching a video!
That harsh weather is tough when you are living through it but somehow it is always some of the most memorable trips. Cool video !
Thank you for watching! It definitely was a night to remember. It also put our annex and RTT to the absolute test. 😄
When cold weather camping, moisture is your enemy. It's counterintuitive but all that insulation, and especially the Buddy Heater will wind up leaving you cold. That insulation will trap moisture in the tent, and a by product of burning propane is water vapor. Get that stuff out of the tent and instead, get low temp rated sleeping bags and some good fleece to wear and make sure the tent is ventilated well. You'll be much warmer even in temperatures well below what you experienced.
Great advice!
I don't know if things have changed since I was last there a couple decades ago, but the primary camping area is down in The Basin. It has concrete pads with overhead cover and good tent sites. Also has running water and flush toilets. There is an amphitheater where they give Ranger talks . Very pleasant and scenic place to camp, just a little crowded.
If the wind is rough, you could sleep in the suv. A buddy heater will easily warm it on the lowest setting.
Yes! We have learned how to do that ever since this experience at Big Bend. We now always check for the weather forecast and wind direction so we try to face where the wind is going.
Get used to it! It blows 12 months/yr in SW Texas. Anchoring my tent against the wind, I used the 1/2 thick pegs yet my tent would bend over two feet giving to the south wind. For your viewers going there, in January, yes the temp will fall to 30's then by 10:30 am the temp inside the tent can reach into the 90;s. Finally don't tell anyone that in the city I drove through an intersection four times from four directions before I realized it.
It's Big Bend NATIONAL Park! The STATE park is a different park 20 miles away. That one is largest in the state park system. As for the wind, it's very normal in the deserts for the wind to blow hard AT TIMES. Non-locals ( tourist ) often say to me " WOW that was freak wind storm yesterday " and my response is always the same "Na ,not really" and "It's not a freak wind storm if they happen all the time!" I personally began exploring the national park in 1982 with only old 69 chev 2 wheel drive pickup and no gear, sleeping in the bed of the truck under some of the darkest skies in North America. No short cuts to experience, you just got some and nobody died, good job! People in hurry out here often get in to trouble. Take time to learn slowly about a place so that you can come to understand it. That way it sticks in your soul. Viva Terlingua
We’re both from NY so desert wind was very new and abnormal to us. We were clueless but it was a unique experience that we’ll never forget. You’re a true adventurer! Our hats off to you Sir, that’s incredible! We made a good decision to spend 5 nights there, as we were able to savor every moment. Thank you for watching our video.
I've camped in a tent on a windy night before. The nice thing about having your tent on the ground is that you can use your car as a Windbreak
WOW! That was something, love your spirit. BTW, y'all gotta learn to camp, serious. See I was laughing all the way through the first part cuz I believed you were doing some kind of, tongue in cheek satire. You know, like what not to do... But is good to see you kept your sense of humor and got through it. And like you said you learned some things and that makes it all good.
We jumped into this trip without any experience with camping nor any outdoor experiences. We wanted to see the rest of the country safely and this is our journey and we’re happy to share it. Haha We’re just glad you enjoy our dorky personalities as well. Thank you for watching our video Ken!
@@yvonneandjohn3979 I thought it was funny how at one point y’all said “imagine if someone came out here and put their tent on the ground.” I do that all the time in big bend 😂 you just have to know what to expect. The wind is a lot more manageable with a smaller tent as well
@@nathanlockhart3876 hehe😅 we’ve learned by now that we definitely feel more of the wind cos we’re up there. Thank you for watching our video Nathan!
It's all good, stay safe and keep on camping/hiking!! Vic..
Woohoo!! Thank you for your support Victor!!
Damn y’all. Hope you e learned a lot more about camping and reading maps since this video. Stayed in that same campground before. We were at BBNP the same time in the basin campground and having a blast in the wind. At least y’all didn’t need a rescue.
that happen to us too. Strong wind super scary, we finished sleeping inside the car, but soon we got to the car the wind stop.
Great video. RTT's are terrible in the wind. I just had a similar experience (wrote about it at fitzventure.com). Also, cooking in your tent isn't the best idea. You end up making your whole tent smell like food and the next time you're in bear territory, your tent will smell like a meal.
Just read your article about the pros and cons of a RTT. Great blog! I totally agree with everything that you mentioned. We’re doing this full-time so we get to be more flexible with where we camp and for how long so we get to enjoy our time in it and packing out is not much of a drag to us. Not to mention we’re 2 active 29 yrs olds that have no problem doing some extra work. Lol We def. would’ve invested in a hard shell though but then we’d lose the Annex and some $$. You also made a great point about cooking in the annex, didn’t think of that. We’ll keep it in mind from now on. thankfully we only put it up when it was really cold. And we constantly air it out and clean it since we use it often. And Thank you for watching our video! -Yvonne
@@yvonneandjohn3979 Yeah, everyone will have their use case/pain threshold. I do really enjoy the RTT for many reasons. Looking forward to more of your videos.
@@fitzventure we appreciate this so much!!
When you come to a fork in the road. Take the one less travelled as it will make all the difference.
There is a Big Bend State Park and a Big Bend National Park. They are two completely different parks but are in the same general area.
Nights are always cold in the desert, especially the farther south you go.
Food in the tent... anyplace in the wild u run the risk of attracting wild animals... fire in a nylon tent... a no no... nylon burns really really well... tighten the tent ... stake it out better...
we were there feb 7-9th, and it was wonderful. we are in a 25 ft class A. cold at night, beautiful in day, went for a swim in rio grande. in San Diego for a week now, come over for a visit! best wishes.
Maybe you can get some guy wires to attach and tighten it up for winds
I really do hope I get the chance to take a trip to Big Bend one of these days.. Its only 14 hours from my place..
Yeah as long as you were safe when you pulled over and made a campsite it's all good.
Want to take a trip out here, what was the rule for bathrooms ? Did yall have a tiny composting unit ?
Big Bend is unlike any other National Park. Dispersed camping is REALLY dispersed... If you stay on old ore road, it may take you 1.5 hours to get to your campsite. We had to do that at night during a storm. Do come back and try other areas and drive around. Beautiful place.
It was an amazing experience for us. We’re glad we got to do it. We’d love to be back again some day. Thank you for watching our video Scott!
The small tent is portable restroom? You also bring guns? How much water did you carry?
Hey! Yes the green pop up tent is our restroom area with our foldable toilet sit. It’s great! We love it. We don’t carry guns but we have pocket knives and pepper spray. We’re always careful and do our research where we camp. We carry about 15 gallons of water when we do 5 days off-grid camping. Thank you for watching our video Myung!
Just subscribed because you're enjoying the adventure, earplugs or not, and I've already learned things. Have you been anywhere cold? Keeping warm gets technical. I'm insulating a camper and will be traveling after retiring, rather soon now. If you're not having tremendous fun everyday, you can remember it that way later. Not traveling is something a lot of people regret... I say, Make the chance and take it. You're going well.
wow we really appreciate this awesome encouragement Eric! The coldest we’ve ever experienced was at Gila NF about 3 weeks ago. Below freezing temp. we layered up and bundled in our sleeping bags so we were fine but we woke up with frost all of over our tent and our stuff. 😆 thank you so much for watching our video and subscribing.
awesome video, if you ever venture to missouri i can point your way to awesome stuff
That’s be awesome! We’d so appreciate that and thanks for watching our video.
What time of year did you guys go when it dropped to 20 degrees? I'm planning to head over there in November. Nice tent also, I have the OVS Nomadic 4 and need to get an awning and the annex!
We were there during January. The awning was great! Made us feel pretty safe, considering.
I'm not sure about those roof top tents. Doesn't look any easier to set up than a free standing tent and how do you drive to get resupply?
Hey Larry! There are definitely lots of pros and cons with RTT and it’s what works for us. We like being off the ground. We built our setup to make sure we have all the stuff we want and need for at least a week of primitive camping. We have a dometic fridge, a container with dry goods, about 12 gallons of water and solar electric system. We made a video of our walk-through if you’re interested. bit.ly/3ufedwe thank you for watching our video!
Live and learn! 👍🏻👍🏻
Yesss!!! Thank you for this positivity David. That’s what life’s about. Thank you for watching !
I'm in north Texas DFW area...looking to plan a trip to BB for some milky photography near El Capitan and BB area. Just wondering about the safety aspect considering what's going on at the southern border. Sucks that this needs to be factored into the equation, but it is what it is nowadays. If the 4Runner is 4WD, the factory clearance should be okay. I have a 90's model 4WD Suburban that I use for outings. If the weather gets to be too much, I can ditch the tent and have plenty of room in the Suburban, even with a large camping fridge.
Where do you go for needs? Any restroom or tap nearby?
We brought our own gallons of water, about 6 gallon of filtered drinking water and 10 gallons for cooking, showering, etc. we also jst went out in the nature for restroom.
We also used a pop-up shower tent and a foldable toilet seat for times u need privacy.
Thx for the response. 👍
Awesome 👌. Very underrated national park. Can't wait to get there & check out the lower canyons! 🌿
Big Bend is an excellent park to hike and camp.
I’ve watched the first minute into the video and knew I was gonna enjoy the rest of it. Subscribed!
Yay!!! So awesome to hear! Thank you for your support squiddy!
I loved the video! Your honesty made me laugh so many times, I had tears in my eyes. That’s life! Thank you
🥲 that’s soo great to hear! So awesome to share our funny moments with people with the same type of sense of humor as ours. Thank you for watching Mike!
Was in the same situation while camping in Whittier, Alaska. It was a horrible night of freezing wind and rain that forced us to remove the annex and the rain fly. It was so bad we even forgot to take a video of the whole fiasco. RTT just isn't a good idea in windy situations. We plan to camp in Big Bend this year with the same set-up you have. We'll see what happens. Or maybe we will just bring our Intech Flyer.
The same thing happened to us at the Grand Canyon we were awoken about midnight by a ranger telling us we were in a improper camping area this guy was so cool he let us stay till the morning and then we moved
Aww that’s awesome! Most rangers are super cool and nice. Glad they didn’t give u a hard time. Thanks for watching our video Sam!
mac n cheese, rice n beans, and 20 degree weather sleepin on the truck roof, with wild animals smelling your just cooked food,......so what is the mistique about doin this , please share?
STRETCH out the annex floor as far as you can, then stake down ALL points on the annex.
Not your fault, map was so wrong!
Keep learning and sharing.
We didn’t get to film it but we did eventually saw all the other points of the annex besides all 4 corners and staked it down. It helped a bit but our car isn’t tall enough so there was still some slack. Thank you so much for watching and supporting our channel!
When did y’all go? What month?
Pine canyon camp sites are really good . Higher elevation more trees ect . We camped at robbers roast but be sure you have good tires out there the rocks can be hard on your tires . X off road app helps if you download map before you get there and in some places you might actually have a signal to tract yourself .
Thank you for these tips. We have brand new all terrain tires so it’s pretty good and we use Gaia GPS for offline navigation but unfortunately it lead us to that spot also. Thank you for watching our video Robert!
With as easy as it is to pack down why didn't you guys explore the park more during the day and come back to your site at night? Just curious and glad you didn't blow away.
We actually thought about it but I guess after the whole thing with the wind we just wanted to enjoy our time and finally relax, read our books and sunbathe. It was also our first time at a NP so we were just in awe. We just figured we’d explore when we leave which we did. Thank you for watching our video, glad you enjoyed it. 😄
I gave it a thumbs up but that was pretty scary, just glad you are both ok
More aerodynamic tents on the ground are probably much better for the wind that your current set up.
I went to big bend with some college buddies back in mid January after a snowfall. Didn’t get above 30 degrees the whole time.
Woah! That’s very cold. We got lucky that it was nice and warm during the day when we were there besides that one windy night. Thanks for watching Jake.
When you look around and don’t see any trees or other vegetation above 3 feet it means y’all are in for some windy times. Welcome to desert camping
We’ve learned a lot more about the desert since our trip at BB, so we definitely adjusted the way we camp. But we’ve been enjoying it especially around Arizona. Also, thank you for watching Nikki!
Goodness y’all...less than five minutes into this video and I had to stop to add comments. 1) MOVE YOUR STOVE OUTSIDE! CARBON MONOXIDE CAN KILL. 2) Move your stove far far away from, I don’t know, your TRUCK AND ALL YOUR BELONGINGS! 3) if you’re going to cook over an open flame, be sure to wear cotton or other fire resistant clothing, and for the love of Pete, don’t hold your arm over the stove. 4) Recognize that tent fabric, even your fancy $3000 rooftop tent, is not only flammable, but it melts and fuses to the skin, and anything else it drips onto. 5) I see what the wind did to your stove and think...what if that had hot food in it? What if that food were flung onto whoever was cooking or huddling next to the stove? What if in the chaos of rendering first aid to a 2nd Degree Burn sustained by your companion, you forget to turn off the *&$#kn PROPANE STOVE YOURE BURNING INSIDE YOUR TENT! 6) WHY THE $&#k aren’t you using a #$&#$n BEAR BOX? YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW! 7) and now that you’ve spilled food all over the inside of your fancy tent, you realize it instantly becomes Bear bait, right? Anything from toothpaste, to unwashed pots of leftover Mac n cheese (gross), to even shampoo will attract bears!! Derrrrrrrrp. I can’t believe so many people are telling y’all that you did a great job, and that you’re “troopers”. You’re lucky no one got hurt, you’re lucky you didn’t attract bears, but most importantly...the BEARS AND OTHER WILDLIFE are the luckiest because they didn’t have to get put down by the Rangers because you gave the animals a taste of human food...which all experienced backcountry campers know...when an animal gets a taste of human food, especially bears or raccoons...they become unnaturally aggressive and often must be killed. Bad look y’all. Do better! Listen to your Ranger briefing sessions!
A young couple were found deceased today after a tragic tent fire at Big Bend National Park, W.Texas.
Last night, in darkness the young couple had pitched their tent illegally and were already facing heavy fines, the seizure of their equipment and vehicle, potential imprisonment and facial tattooing with the nature of their offences.
However, fate intervened and they escaped prosecution only to lose their lives to tragic recklessness.
First responders and fire investigators noted the close proximity of an unguarded propane cooker to the highly flammable tent walls “and, if this weren’t foolish enough”, a spokesperson said, “the tent’s close proximity to their vehicles’ fuel tank almost guaranteed their demise in any kind of fire related incident.”
Several of those present, including this reporter, were visibly shaken by the grisly scene.
“I just wish people would think more carefully about what can go wrong.” said a parks officer of some twenty years service… “But they were just dumb kids. It really breaks me up. And now we have to tell their parents.” he said as he climbed into his parks service vehicle for the drive back to town and some difficult conversations.
That’s all from Big Bend, W.Texas and now it’s back to Stephanie and Greg in the studio.
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Ok people. Come on… let me have it! 😝
I camped in Big Bend yrs ago. It is very desolate with few amenities. It is beautiful but not for the faint of heart.
Yes! We were literally in the middle of nowhere. Lol but we were equipped and enjoyed our time despite the heavy winds during our second night. Thank you for watching our video Larry!
You guys had such a tough time lol. I hope that you enjoyed yourself though. Those will definitely be the good memories.
Lol 😅 we felt safe and maybe little terrified but we enjoyed every minute of it. We also learned so much since then. 😀 thank you so much for watching Damon!
I spent a week camping in sub 20 earlier this year in Dallas...in my house, thanks to ERCOT.
What you guys had to go through back in Feb. was terrible. Hope nothing like this ever happen again. And we hope you and your family are doing well now. Also, thank you for watching our video.
I was there solo camping in november in my 4runner too. What did you do to the rear suspension to combat sag from the weight of equipment?
Was it this windy for you too back in Nov? And we eventually upgraded our suspension to OldMan Emu with medium coil and 1 inch spacers in the back. Worked out perfectly. We did the Mojave trail with no issues.
How are the night skies for star gazing?
We found out after leaving that Big Bend is one of the darkest place in the USA. It was life changing the way we saw the sky at night. If you wasn’t to star gaze, this is the place!!!
Just curious, are y’all from California?
love it. just wing it and learn what not to do.
Keeping it real. Love videos like this.
We appreciate that!! Thank you for watching 😃
I just slept three nights there in the desert and also drove black gap. I didn’t even use a tent I slept with a mat and a couple blankets. You just have to know what a national park is and how to camp properly. Y’all did make a big mistake by going to big Bend, lack of experience
So much props to you for camping without a tent! That’s incredible. We can’t say we made a big mistake as we enjoyed our time and made lots of memories. Thank you for watching our video!
It’s like a big f**king puzzle moving all that sh*t around! Just get a hotel room with flush toilets, electricity, air conditioning or heat, towels, soap, beds, television….none of this damn confusion……”we can’t find our campsite and it’s going to get too cold”…….hotel folks!
loved the video adventure.
Yay!! Thank you for watching!!
Great quality video, thanks for the info!
Thank you for watching Geraldyn! Let us know if you have any further questions.
4runner is high clearance btw. A Subaru is marginally at best High clearance and a Mini van is not high clearance 👍
Thank you for this info. but we think due to the weight in our car our 4runner is a bit lower now, we measured it at around 8 inches clearance so the road we saw we didn't want to take that chance of scraping the bottom of the vehicle. We are actually thinking about investing in getting a 1-2 inch lift at the moment so that we can go on some trails. Thank you for watching our video Trent! 😀
@@yvonneandjohn3979 Clearance is the distance from the bottom of the vehicle's differential to the ground. That measurement does not change regardless of how loaded down the vehicle is.
well you can do a full review on normal wear and tear of you're tent stuff!
Such a great idea! We’d like to put them to the test a bit longer than a couple of months though. But we will definitely make this video. Stay tuned for that. 🙂
My only advice is to learn before you go. You don't buy a car unless you already know how to drive. You will get there by trial and error but that can put you off to camping. You look like you spent a lot of money on a lot of stuff. Keep it simple
Hey! totally agree and it’s a great advice. But to each his own right? And this is what we feel comfortable with. Also, camping and driving are very different? We’re not putting other people’s lives in danger by not knowing how to camp the “right” way. We also spent the least amount of money for the type of camping we decided to do. We did a lot of research. But thank you for watching our video.
Well I learned something. I never want to go there!
Enjoy the memories! We've been in wind where our then nice airy land tent "scissored." When that tent finally was experiencing wear and tear, we opted for lower profile to handle those winds out west. Journal/ video along the way so you can look back and laugh in years to come! My family and I have traveled to much of the US...when one has trouble recalling what the campground was like, the other reminds about some storm or mosquitoes or something wonderful yet all memorable... enjoy! We've camped 31+ years...our teenager has been camping since a baby...you live and learn!
We love this positive energy and encouragement you’re giving us Roy! We really appreciate these kind words especially coming from pro campers like yourself. We’re happy we made a decision to record our travel experiences, fun to rewatch over and over again. 😀 thank you for watching our video!
did you see santa elena canyon?
Oh no we didn’t. We didn’t know about it. Definitely next time we’ll check it out. Thank you for letting us know and for watching John!
One candle & your toasty
That is a great rig.
We did our best! Also, our walkthrough video is coming soon. 😀 thank you for watching Bob!
Greenhorns. They'll learn eventually. Wind? Meh!
Thanks for watching Thom. We are learning and we appreciate the process.
@@yvonneandjohn3979 You have to realize that I grew up in New Mexico, have camped all over and wind is just the reason I own a tent capable of handling 100+ mph winds! Really....you should see the North Face in a full blown Mongolian Sandstorm by the way! "True Grit". It was the only tent that stood the night.
Y'all have fun with your adventures! All the best!
QUITCHURBITCHEN!