6X12 Haulmark "Fly Fishing Camper"

[Prem]

Two layers of clear bubble wrap makes a good insert insulator for a translucent, 14" x 14" vent all winter too. Beats paying $22 for the opaque, factory, retail version at my local ACE Hardware in the RV dept. for this kinda single layer stuff with velcro:

[lrrowe]

Prem, could you explain more about this cover you made. I cannot understand how it is put together.
Thanks,

[Prem]

Bob,

You just take some clear bubble wrap---the kind with the smaller cells, fold it in half (to get two layers), cut it to fit inside the screen of a 14x14 inch crank-up vent. Stick it up in there and put the screen back in place. Still lets some light in, came free in some shipment box and no velcro required. Cut it to fit snug and put a slit for the crank mechanism. In the alternative, if you don't want the light coming in, just cut two or three layers of foam board from the dollar store to fit snuggly.

[Doublacola]

Prem you made me have another...why didn't I think of that moment. Great idea.

[Prem]

I'm cheap and a good scrounge.

[lrrowe]

Bob,

You just take some clear bubble wrap---the kind with the smaller cells, fold it in half (to get two layers), cut it to fit inside the screen of a 14x14 inch crank-up vent. Stick it up in there and put the screen back in place. Still lets some light in, came free in some shipment box and no velcro required. Cut it to fit snug and put a slit for the crank mechanism. In the alternative, if you don't want the light coming in, just cut two or three layers of foam board from the dollar store to fit snuggly.

Thanks Prem.

[Gonefishin]

Here's a wierd one, but hmmm. Boat and camper all in one. "Sealander" German engineered.

[dustboy]

That's pretty nifty, there are a lot of lakes where I go kayak camping that would be more comfortable with that little Sealander.

[Gonefishin]

So . . . I'm 30 days into a 36-day, 3,000 mile road trip bouncing back and forth from river to river in Idaho and Montana, gone fishin' of course. A few updates might be in order.

I'm thrilled with the 15-inch long hitch/ball mount I put on the truck. I can open the tailgate on the truck with no worries, turn as sharp as I want (can still make u-turns on wide two-lane roads), and I haven't banged my shin even once. Nobody else has either, or run into it in a parking lot. I should have found one of these on day one.

Speaking of the truck, it now has just over 12,000 miles on it (since Jan 1!) Towing the trailer I get 12 mpg in a moderate to strong head wind, 13 in no wind, and 13.6 with a moderate tail wind. Mostly highway driving at 65-75 mph between spots. Its better slower on the side roads, of course, but Montana side roads are 65 mph too. Not towing, the thing gets over 20 highway, but what fun is that? F-150 V-8, not Ecoboost.

We had a heat wave in late June and early July. It was just about 100 everywhere in Montana and northern Idaho. I don't have 110, a generator, or air, but I did decide before leaving to try out that silly redneck swamp cooler contraption with the youtube videos by the wierdo. Hey, what did I have to lose? I had just about everything on hand to give it a try. I first tried the cooler-with ice-with a fan blowing in over the ice thingamajiggy. Nope, that didn't do it, and i didn't want to be buying more ice.

But a swamp cooler, just like I use in my home, only smaller? I'm always near water, so I did it. Drilled the bucket, lined it with window screen and mesh, put the fan on top and rigged a small can over that so I could put in a pipe and direct the air. In short, it felt wonderful sitting in the 90+ degree trailer with cool air blowing on me. Just like having a fan on, only the fan blew cool air. It DID NOT cool the actual air temperature in the trailer more than a couple of degrees. But, it made a nice little personal cooler. I even took a few afternoon naps inside with the fan blowing directly on/over the bed, and slept like a baby despite the thermometer reading 95 inside. Its not a substitute for an a/c, and wouldn't work in humid climates, but for the few weeks a year we have a heat wave in the Rockies, it made napping, tying flies, reading, and just being inside cooler than being outside, even parked without shade. No bugs, no dust, negligible power draw, just add water, and I get a nice cool breeze. For those who have forgotten or laughed it off as I did, here's the link. There are many others, but all with the same idea. https://youtu.be/aHbQYajfGqM

I had the non-pleasure of staying in a few campsites and camping areas where there were folks running generators. If I ever contemplate getting one, someone please grab me around the neck and shake me. Those damn things are nearly as bad as ATV's for ruining the atmosphere.

I began to think about a permanent mount for my solar panel after reading some of the other posts by members I admire. But, I contemplated that idea every time I parked, quickly plugged in my panel, and pointed it directly at the sun. I think I like it that way. There are mornings and evenings I need the panels pointed at the horizon more than straight up. That will be even more important in late September and into the fall as the sun becomes lower in the sky (south). I like the option of changing the position for maximum efficiency, and it take less than a minute to plug in the panel and lean it against the trailer or put it on the roof. Easier to clean the bird poop off it too!

So now its cooled off, and I've run that Dickinson furnace a few times the past few nights! Yep, July in the Rockies. I should have known to never leave home without at least one propane bottle, even though it was 90 and forecast to get hotter when I left. Lived and learned, so now I have three!

I have a few long weekend trips between now and fall, and then its off again for a week at the end of August, and for a month or so later in September. Those will definitely be heater and blanket trips. Kids back in school, a lot of the other fishermen hunting, uncrowded rivers, low water, "just right" day lengths . . . good times on the horizon.

[tony.latham]

Sounds like a great trip, but how was the fishing?

I took these pics during that brutal hot weather somewhere in NW Montana:





I wish I was standing in that water right now.

T

[Gonefishin]

Nice photos Tony. I do this annually, and I'd call this year "average" at best. Good fishing, but not exceptional. I'll be posting some pics from this trip on my blog soon. I fished Henry's Fork (RR Ranch) last month, and am in the Silver Cr. area now. Those are my two Idaho favs. I fish the big rivers and some spring creeks in MT. The MO was pretty good. Beav. was ok, which is still good. Creeks are always good, as they are spring fed with reliable hatches and cold water regardless. Didn't get to Missoula area, points north of there, or northern Idaho on this swing.

Two spring creeks I used to fish annually are now closed to the public at any price, and a third is ruined due to an "enhancement" project involving tractors and dump trucks.

[Rainier70]

Looks like a fun project.

Which two spring creeks are closed??? Bought out?? Dang!

Well, still worse are the ones who buy the land that a national forest road goes through, and then they close the road. Cuts off all public access to our national forest and gives them a private playground at our expense.

[Gonefishin]

Looks like a fun project.

Which two spring creeks are closed??? Bought out?? Dang!

Well, still worse are the ones who buy the land that a national forest road goes through, and then they close the road. Cuts off all public access to our national forest and gives them a private playground at our expense.

Milesnick's on the MZ ranch outside Bozeman. Some guest sued 'em over their own trip and fall, and they said we don't need it. McCoy's spring creek outside Dillon was sold, and new owners said they don't want the public's $125 per person per day, thank you very much.

Then, the Beaverhead Watershed whatever-they-are decided to take the perfectly good Poindexter Slough, a tributary of the Beaverhead near Dillon, and dredge it back into an irrigation ditch. Well, they did, and it not only looks horrible, but is fishless. It will recover in time, but its worthless this year, and probably for several to come.

So I've been spending more time on the Paradise Valley Creeks, Armstrong's and DePuys. They're wonderful, but a little more variety would be nice like I used to have. I can't find any others.

[Rainier70]

That is a shame on the closing because of some sue happy idiot.

Pointdexter though is downright criminal! It was about the best public spring creek water available. That is state land.. I wonder what they are thinking. Someone downstream need more water quicker?

Progress! That is depressing.

[hankaye]

Gonefishin, Howdy;

Thanks for the link to the port-a-swamp, sorry to hear about the "I'm better than thou" types
and their "It's mine and you can't play here..." attitude. The wonders of Nature don't need to be
sequestered by a few.

hank