A Quick Note About Our Camping Trips

Just to give a quick explanation about the details listed below, all of our trips are primitive or backcountry camping. Our goal for most of our trips is to hike several miles into the wilderness and be as far away from people and civilization as possible. Of course, there are other things that are important to us as well... we like to see natural beauty, challenging trails that don't look like roads, and campsites with good amenities (i.e., close proximity to water, isolated from other campsites, fire rings). We also like the opportunity to see wildlife and Ted keeps promising Dale that one day he'll provide a fish dinner.

Also regarding the ratings or rankings, they are typically based solely off our personal experiences. This is why we may give a different ranking for the same park on two separate visits.

Content

2008
2007

Camping Trips 2008

Oct 17

Lake Georgetown
Trip Report | Photo Gallery | Trail Map

We planned a two night trip to Lake Georgetown, which is a park maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers and located about 20 miles north of Austin. It consists of the 26 mile Goodwater Trail that surrounds the lake and has primitive campsites scattered throughout. Based on other people's reviews, we decided to camp at the Sawyer campsite, 6.5 miles from the Cedar Breaks Trailhead. For the full trip details, click here.

Overall:
Solitude:
Trails:
Campsites:
Scenery:
Wildlife:

Jul 12

Sequoia National Park
Trip Report | Photo Gallery | Trail Map

Sequoia was our first trip outside of Texas. This four day, 25 mile and 10,000 vertical foot hike proved to be more challenging than expected. As a summary of the trip, most of our trails seemed to be up hill, Dale fell in a creek, threw up and then decided to walk through another creek to make himself more sick. We encountered more deer than people and the deer were less scared. I've posted the full trip details here.

Overall:
Solitude:
Trails:
Campsites:
Scenery:
Wildlife:

May 10

Big Bend National Park
Trip Report | Photo Gallery | Trail Map

Big Bend is one of the least visited national parks in the US yet it's surprisingly diverse in terms of plants, animals and geology. The elevation ranges from 1800 feet down by the Rio Grande all the way up to 7825 feet atop Emory Peak. Dale and I planned a four night trip to the park just when temperatures were starting to rise and the rain had long since fallen. For the complete trip report, check it out here.

Overall:
Solitude:
Trails:
Campsites:
Scenery:
Wildlife:

Mar 23

Bastrop State Park
Trip Report | Photo Gallery | Trail Map

Bastrop State Park is a fairly decent sized park that is located a short drive from Austin. One of the draws of the park is the 7 mile Lost Pines Trail that runs through the primitive area where you can camp anywhere you desire. While the elevation change is minimal (165 feet), the tall pine trees and the needle covered forest floor were supposed to make this one night trip interesting. But it took some equipment failures to provide any sort of excitement. Click here for the full trip report.