Say Hello to Pinnacles, Our Newest National Park

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Rock Formations at Pinnacles National Park (source: Wikipedia)

Pinnacles National Park became the 59th national park in the U.S and the ninth in California on January 10th this year. Located about 80 miles south of San Jose,100 miles west of Fresno, and the nearest city being Soledad, CA, it’s about midway up California. This park’s highlight is its rock formations (“pinnacles”) formed by an eroding ancient lava field that resulted from its location near the San Andreas Fault. However, it features many other unique qualities and recreation opportunities, from the unique chapparal and woodland biome, to a notable wildflower season in Spring, and of course hiking, interpretive programs, and camping.

Camping and Attractions at Pinnacles National Park Continue reading →

Weather Safety While Camping

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This is a guest post from Mark Clements, who works for McCampbell Enterprises. He invites you to feel free to contact him at rainponchosonline@hotmail.com if you have any questions regarding weather safety. If you would like to guest post on CampingBlogger, please contact me or check out our page on guest posting.

Camping is a blast. Since you are here at this website, I’m sure you feel the same way. Camping is one of the most relaxing ways to spend free time, and it’s a great way to get away from stress. There isn’t a better place to spend quality time with family and friends than the great outdoors. While it’s easy to go camping for a weekend and forget all of your problems, this article will detail a few ways to avoid creating new problems for yourself involving weather safety. This summer we’ve seen our fair share of nasty weather, from the wildfires out west, hurricanes out east, storms in the Smoky Mountains, and unbearable heat all over the nation. Continue reading →

L.L. Bean Sale This Weekend – Sept 14-16 – Plus $10 Gift Card Through Oct 1

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I L.L. Bean Boothappened to stumble upon this earlier today. LL Bean, a popular camping and outdoors supply company, has a 20% off all camping and hiking gear, footwear, and apparel this weekend, September 14-16, on top of a deal offering a $10 gift card for a $50 purchase which is going on now through October 1. L.L. Bean is well-known for its quality gear, satisfaction guarantee, and of course its famous American-made boots.

L.L. Bean is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year, and this may be related to that. Or it could be trying to boost sales during that slow time of the year between the summer camping peak season and Christmas and holiday shopping. Anyway, who needs a reason – if you’re looking to stock up on quality camping and hiking gear, check out their sale. The 20% off is all over at 11:59 PM Sunday. So get ready for fall camping and hiking, or get a jump start on that holiday buying.

Solar Eclipse Tomorrow, May 20th.

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What the Eclipse tomorrow will look like for many people

I can’t believe it’s been almost 18 years since the last solar eclipse was visible in the U.S. but as I think about it, I was in school playing with index cards with pinholes in them – and sneaking a peak at the sun because I didn’t really believe it would cause blindness. (I turned out OK, but I should also not recommend trusting your eyes to the judgement of a then young kid.) Continue reading →

Changes to CampingBlogger

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Frequent readers may have noticed fewer postings on CampingBlogger recently (which will change in the coming weeks, so don’t worry about rare posting in the future). CampingBlogger has a new editor, Eric Ridenour. After running this site for several years, Roy has decided to pass the site on. I hope to continue this site in his spirit, offering camping news, tips, reviews, and plenty of guest posts. I look forward to sharing my travels, tips and experiences with you. Continue reading →

Quick Takes

Death at Corona Arch

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Corona Arch, Utah

Corona Arch (Source: MSN, link below)

On Sunday, a 22 year old tried to replicate the viral video called “The World’s Largest Rope Swing” at Corona Arch in near Moab, Utah. While the video is incredible, I have to say I’m very much against stuff like this, though not for the saftey reasons. Continue reading →

This camper doesn’t rough it when it comes to meals

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When he goes camping today, he looks more like a master chef than someone who just is searching for a quick and easy meal.

Love this story – looks like I need to get more dutch ovens!

When he goes camping today, he looks more like a master chef than someone who just is searching for a quick and easy meal. He often brings three sizes of Dutch ovens, a cutting board, an assortment of meat, vegetables and fruits, various canned and boxed mixes, and plenty of charcoal.
– The Kansas City Star

Henry Coe Park to remain open

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Henry W. Coe State Park, a sprawling expanse of oak trees and rolling green grasslands on Silicon Valley's southern edges, will not close after all.

I hope you will indulge me this one bit of hyper-local news. Henry Coe is a great (and huge!) state park, here in the Bay Area, and it happens to be right outside our front door.

Henry W. Coe State Park, a sprawling expanse of oak trees and rolling green grasslands on Silicon Valley’s southern edges, will not close after all. The 87,000-acre park east of Morgan Hill was included by Gov. Jerry Brown on a list of 70 state parks slated to close next July as a way to help balance the state budget. But on Friday, state parks officials confirmed an agreement had been reached with a nonprofit group to keep the park open for at least three more years.
– Mercury News