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Camping with your bronco!

76BroncoPete

Full Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
373
Before this thread fades into forum history, I came across a couple of vintage pictures of camping out of the back of the Chariot that I had almost forgotten about. 1982 actually. All summer camping at 9500 feet. The tailgate saw lots of use.

Awesome throwback pics Mars
 

Nothing Special

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Nov 25, 2016
Messages
804
.... I've done the motorhome thing. Real camping is so liberating. A lot less crap.
You should at least try it.

I've done both and like them both, but differently. Before I was married I camped with a friend or three. It might be traveling in a Jeep (no Bronco in my life back then), or canoes, or bikes, or backpacking. We went hard all day and stayed where we found ourselves when it was getting dark. Tent camping was the only option for that and it was great.

Then I started tent camping with my family. My wife didn't like to push as hard as I did, and after we had kids, they couldn't. We did one "backcountry" trip, but found it was a lot nicer having a base camp to get back to, especially one with a swimming pool. Plus the CJ5 we had back then wasn't tolerable on the freeway, so once we decided to have a base camp we were free to tow it and leave the truck in camp. We tent camped on a trip like that once, but decided that if we were going back to a campground every night we might as well have a comfortable bed. So we got a small slide-in camper for the pickup.

As my 2 boys grew up we got into Boy Scouts. I was their Scoutmaster, so we did a lot of tent camping together (along with the rest of the troop). Back to canoes, backpacking and bikes, but a lot of it was car camping too. And while less can be nice, it's really nice to be able to be comfortable and eat well because you have room to bring folding chairs, a good cooler and a Dutch oven. So the car camping really was my favorite.

Now my boys are out on their own and it's just me and my wife. It's fun to be able to get away from most of the crowds with the Bronco in low range. But it's also nice to get back to a shower, good food and a comfortable bed in our motorhome (pictures of my setup are in post 27 in this thread). We might do a backcountry trip or two at some point (I'd love to run the Rubicon, and I wouldn't plan to take the motorhome on it!). But most of our trips will be camping in the motorhome.

I readily admit that camping out of a motorhome isn't the same as camping in a tent. And for people that want to go tent camping, great, do it that way! But for people who want to camp out of a motorhome, or for that matter, who want to stay in hotels on vacations, great, do it those ways! Life is too short. Live yours the way that works for you. No one has to live someone else's life.
 

DirtDonk

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...1982 actually. All summer camping at 9500 feet. The tailgate saw lots of use.

Where were those taken Mars? Looks like a nice area.
After all the water under the bridge now, I wonder if it's still that nice!

Paul
 

FordFarmer

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A pusher wouldn't fit or be allowed in the campgrounds we stay in.
Campgrounds and RV parks aren't even on the same planet.%)
I've done the motorhome thing. Real camping is so liberating. A lot less crap.
You should at least try it.

Blu,

Are you serious here? Why do you keep assuming everyone who tows their Bronco now has never done "real" camping. When I was a younger man I flew bush in Alaska for a living. I was once forced to land on a random beach because of weather. Stayed overnight with no tent and and just my survival gear. But I did sleep in the plane, so maybe that's not "real" camping. But you couldn't have driven your Bronco there, you should at least try it. I've backpacked on three continents. No, not the skip year, hooking up with foreign girls at the hostle backpacking. Real backpacking. Couldn't have got your Bronco to any of those spots either. You should at least try it. When my wife and I first met she had a 2 door Chevy Blazer and she was a pretty avid rock climber. It would probably go anywhere a stock Bronco would, we tent and car camped the hell out of that thing. Yes, in places a DP would never reach. Is that "real" enough? We spent 3 weeks in New Zealand in an RV two years ago. We base-camped it and took some pretty serous mini expeditions for a family that included a 2 and 7 year old. Ran out of clean underwear and went commando one day, it was pretty liberating.

Text likely can't convey that I'm not pissy and defensive....just giving you a little s**t! My point is that our trucks can be enjoyed in the outdoors in many ways. And if a large family or persoal preference dictates towing your Bronco so the hell what? At least it's not sitting at home collecting dust.

Cheers!
 

bronkenn

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Bronco Guy
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Apr 27, 2017
Messages
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Loc.
Southeast Ohio
Hey Farmer, That sure is a nice looking Bronco you have there in your garage. If I went camping with that I would have to make sure my sleeping bag would be big enough to fit me and the truck. Ken
 

blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
11,795
Loc.
Ridgefield WA
Blu,

Are you serious here? Why do you keep assuming everyone who tows their Bronco now has never done "real" camping. When I was a younger man I flew bush in Alaska for a living. I was once forced to land on a random beach because of weather. Stayed overnight with no tent and and just my survival gear. But I did sleep in the plane, so maybe that's not "real" camping. But you couldn't have driven your Bronco there, you should at least try it. I've backpacked on three continents. No, not the skip year, hooking up with foreign girls at the hostle backpacking. Real backpacking. Couldn't have got your Bronco to any of those spots either. You should at least try it. When my wife and I first met she had a 2 door Chevy Blazer and she was a pretty avid rock climber. It would probably go anywhere a stock Bronco would, we tent and car camped the hell out of that thing. Yes, in places a DP would never reach. Is that "real" enough? We spent 3 weeks in New Zealand in an RV two years ago. We base-camped it and took some pretty serous mini expeditions for a family that included a 2 and 7 year old. Ran out of clean underwear and went commando one day, it was pretty liberating.

Text likely can't convey that I'm not pissy and defensive....just giving you a little s**t! My point is that our trucks can be enjoyed in the outdoors in many ways. And if a large family or persoal preference dictates towing your Bronco so the hell what? At least it's not sitting at home collecting dust.

Cheers!

You're right.
With family, you are certainly subject to everyone's comfort requirements.
Keep the family camping any way you can. That's what really matters.
 

MarsChariot

Contributor
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Albuquerque, New Mexico
Yes, the area of that camp is still very much as it was then. It is a little north of Green's Peak in the "White Mountains" between Springerville and Show Low Arizona, aka the "Springerville Volcanic Field". I have plenty more pictures from that camp site as I spent most of every summer there for four years there. I past by there this last summer when we went to Springerville to give a slide show about the area to all the local folks. About the only thing that has changed is a few more side tracks, mostly from those ATV pie wagon things that hunters are addicted to these days. The Forest Service folks mus be banging their heads against the wall on how to contain those folks. They go EVERYWHERE in those things. (Of course, I went everywhere in the Chariot in those days, too.) And everybody who shows up after they do, go there, too. But the old camp site is unchanged.
 

coachbarnes

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Grand Canyon
4d6f885cf22ff47ac473f80c6f7a4b0f.jpg
 

FordFarmer

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Hey Farmer, That sure is a nice looking Bronco you have there in your garage. If I went camping with that I would have to make sure my sleeping bag would be big enough to fit me and the truck. Ken

Thanks Ken! It looks almost as good in person, but a keen eye like will find plenty of flaws. Some of those eyes here helped me scrub pictures before I bought it, big help. That's one of the things I love about it, it's nowhere near perfect. I don't fear rock chips, scratches etc. Very easy to just drive and enjoy.

Chees,

Mark
 
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Lawndart

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Nov 23, 2014
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31832106638_cf4f4f9260_c.jpg


Another good camp. Last fly fishing of the season. Caught, cooked, ate; livers tortured.
Over 500 Bronco miles ;D
 

blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
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Jun 11, 2007
Messages
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Loc.
Ridgefield WA
There's a place that's special to my family. We've camped there for generations. So many camp fires, so many trout, so many meals, and so many stories.
We still camp there.
It's a magic place!
Here are photos of my mother, grandparents, and me as a tot.
Real camping is real important!
 

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MarsChariot

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Here is me camping with the Chariot in 1971. Ha! Actually of course this is the 1971 Ford Bronco dealer brochure. But it proves the point that Broncos were made for camping.:cool:
 

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blubuckaroo

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I routinely use our Bronco to both tent and trailer to hunting/fishing trips. I've been able to put my trailer into some crazy places using low range.
The second photo I'm camping in a horse camp at 8500' in the Sierra Nevada.
 

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FordFarmer

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Great pics Blu! Is that a Trail 110? My grandparents used to bring two of those when they took us camping.
 
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