Off-grid camping: Pros and ... wait, only pros!

Imagine waking up to the soothing sounds of chirping birds and the smell of fresh juniper trees. Picture yourself watching the day come to life as the sun rises bringing light to the canyon below, breathing in the crisp, clean air, while remembering stargazing the night before, the heavens adorned by our Creator, without any light pollution, None at all.

All this was part of our time camping in Rabbit Valley near Mack, Colorado. Four days and three nights of our time in the beautiful state of Colorado were spent in McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area which includes five campgrounds. Among them is one dedicated to horseback riding which is so cool. The one we chose can be only accessed by trucks and other high-clearance vehicles. A stay in the Knowles Overlook Campground with breathtaking views of the Colorado River is only for tent camping or overland-style campers. Pull behind campers are a no-go. It was the perfect place for Honey the Moonlander. Our amazing God went ahead of us not only on this camping adventure but throughout our travels providing the perfect opportunities with several last minute, "only campsite available" blessings!

At the Knowles each site provides ample room to set up home away from home. There's no electricity and only vault toilets so also no running water. Our preparations and research with lots of list making, as well as our experiences with cabin life at home (where we maintain an off-grid capable lifestyle), prepared us well for camping at here. Packing Honey well enabled us to enjoy a multiday stay with our favorite espresso coffee in the mornings, delicious meals, great sleep, beautiful hikes and the sounds of a train whistle along the river. As avid birdwatchers, we were excited to meet a new one: the adorable Juniper Titmouse, with a song not so different than that of the familiar Tufted Titmouse back home.

Want to know more about camping without all the typical campground facilities? Spend a moment on these photos before checking out our packing list below.

Because Moonlanders are uniquely designed with sleeping platforms that run east to west, our tatami mat and futon fit perfectly in the camper. This is a huge deal considering our truck bed is only five and one-half feet long making it too short for north-south sleeping. There's even additional storage space in the pod extensions to which we've added small dollar store baskets to hold items such as keys, cell phones, essential oils, our lavender lip balm and flashlights. In case you are wondering about the Moonlander's sleeping platform, other types of mattresses such as memory foam would work as well but we have chosen healthier organic cotton and naturally fire-retardant wool for our sleep with feather pillows, an all-cotton quilt and organic cotton linens. Actually this mattress set up goes from our cabin bedroom to Honey when we travel. Multi use is a plus!

Storage space beneath the platform is substantial and allows us to carry four 7-gallon totes of our own well water from home. For cooking, cleaning, brushing teeth, and keeping the Travel Berkey filled with drinking water, these totes provided sufficient water for a three week trip. Our storage system also includes a small folding table which slides easily on the bedrug on the floor of the Tundra's bed ... think pull-out storage. Upside down and opened, this table holds four large plastic storage bins. The lids of these bins have gaskets which keep dampness and dust out of their contents. The bins are where we pack dry and canned foods, items for food prep and cooking, our clothing, our one-burner butane cookstove and the all important coffee accoutrements. Yep, we have a hand coffee grinder and a Roc manual espresso maker for camping. Important things first, right?

Also under the bed is a large tool box for projects or repairs, our Yeti Tundra cooler for all the cold food plus our all important heavy cream and the best Vermont maple syrup (from Shelburne Sugarworks) for our morning coffee.

An Ecoflow portable power station is in the camper when in use and in the cab of the truck for charging while driving. While in sunny Rabbit Valley we were able to charge with the solar panels as well. Have any questions about using a portable power station or connecting it for charging to the alternator in your truck? This is the perfect place for a "just ask Fred" column.

Not sure if you noticed the weather info on the campground website but here's what the temps can be like in the McInnis Canyons area: extremes range from below zero to 105 degrees. During our short autumn visit we experienced low 30's at night and low 90's during the day. Our only plans to heat the camper included body heat and a tiny power hungry electric heater to be used if absolutely necessary. Good thing that Honey really can hold body heat but this also creates condensation on the walls of the camper so that MaxAir fan came in really handy! Actually the fan always needs to run at night while sleeping in the camper. For staying warm we have some good news. We have recently added a small propane My Buddy heater to our supplies for future trips.

Bugs weren't a problem in this part of Colorado but we were prepared with a magnetic bug screen from company supplying a van build goods.

The last bulky item in our storage is a box of wood shavings which also holds compostable plastic bags and a collapsible bucket-style composting toilet. This set up can be really handy for off-grid camping.

Remember that the Tundra has a large four door cab. The back seat is where everything else needed for long trips is tucked. Things like hiking backpacks, toiletries, jackets, extra shoes, the big 70 bottle essential oil case, our daily supplements, bag filled with books to read and notebooks to write, laptop backpack, first aid kit, and bag of dirty laundry.

Looking back over our camping set up, this is a great time to point out that it took months of planning while we waited to hear Honey was ready to pickup. There are items we pack that may not be important to others such as an espresso maker or filtered water so everyone's camping set up will look different. Camping, especially off-grid camping, is something we have been looking forward to for a long time and adding needed equipment was a part of our monthly budget. Some people collect things, go to car races or ball games or on ocean cruises. We hike and camp. By the way, a great book for the super simple truck camping lifestyle is Renegade Car Camping: A Guide to Free Campsites and the Ultimate Road Trip Experience by Bryan Snyder.

Future blogs will include anything forgotten in this blog post. Questions? Just post in the comments!

*You'll notice that there are links with purchase info for some of the more specific items. We do not receive payment from these sellers. Just want to share our great finds with others.