Follow along as I head into Nevada’s Gold Butte National Monument. It was just made a national monument less than a month ago, and the place is absolutely spectacular. I visit the Devil’s Nostril, the Devil’s Throat, Little Finland, some sand Dunes, and Gold Butte itself. This is the first of two videos from my time in Gold Butte. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
All posts by Tristan
Climbing Moapa Peak, a Big, Scary Mountain in the Nevada Desert
In this road trip vlog, I climb a big, scary, dangerous, remote, and beautiful mountain out in the Nevada desert. I’ve climbed close to 150 mountains in the western United States, and this was definitely one of the best. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
Exploring Cliffs, Caves, and Canyons
In this video chronicle of my road trip adventures, I leave Utah, cross the northwest corner of Arizona, and end up at a remote and incredible campsite in Nevada. Along the way I check out some awesome cliffs, caves, and canyons. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
Internet Access and Storing Food
Another day, another vlog. In this video, I go over the mobile Internet setup I use, show you some of the food I eat, and talk about how I store that food. (If you can’t see the video below, click here to watch it on YouTube.)
Testing Out My New Camp Shower Tent
In this video (#4 in my UT-NV-AZ-CA series of travel vlogs), I head over the border into Arizona and test out my new pop-up shower/privacy tent. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
Wild Animal Spotting & World-Class Hiking in Zion National Park
I went on another world-class hike in Zion National Park and saw some unexpected wildlife along the way. (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
The Best View in Zion National Park?! (Road Trip Vlog)
Fleeing South to Escape Winter, Camping in the Desert (Road Trip Vlog)
This is the first vlog video from my current trip through Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California. Enjoy! (Click here if you can’t see the video below.)
Camping and Living in an Isuzu Trooper SUV
This video (embedded below) by Bob from Cheap RV Living is an interview with Dave, a retired Greek Orthodox and Episcopal priest who is now a Buddhist priest that leads clients on vision quests in the wilderness. He took the back seat out of his 1991 Isuzu Trooper and laid a wooden platform in the back, and that gives him a surprising amount of space inside the vehicle. He also took out the passenger seat to give himself and his dog even more room. He has a metal divider between the front and back sections of the vehicle that he uses to hang gear. I love the headroom and large windows that the Trooper offers.
Dave’s approach to living in his SUV is very minimalist:
“My style and approach to living from … the Isuzu Trooper is more of a mountaineering/backpacking approach, so the gear that I use and the mindset I use tends to be a mountaineering/backpacking/expedition-type mindset. So I cook outside as much as I can. I tend to use backpacking equipment, and so the Isuzu is what carries it from one place to another. But I like being as close to nature as I can and having really good gear, so that if it is blowing a blizzard, even if I’m in a tent, I’m warm, I’m safe, I can make hot coffee, I can cook.”
To which Bob replied:
“Instead of having to fit it all into a backpack, all you have to do is fit it into an Isuzu Trooper.”
As a mountaineer and backpacker myself, this is definitely something I can relate to. If backpackers can spend 5 months walking with everything they need on their backs, you and I can certainly fit everything we need into any vehicle.
The first half of the video is Dave telling his story of how he came to be living in an SUV. If you want to skip all of that, the SUV talk starts at 16:35.
(Again, click here to view the video on YouTube if you can’t see it above.)
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I was going to leave on my trip this morning, but there are snow storms a few hours south of here in the mountains, so I’m putting it off for one more day. Ugh. But I am definitely, definitely leaving tomorrow (Friday). Definitely.
Gas-Powered “Solar Generators,” Battery Banks, and More
I just saw via Gear Junkie that Goal Zero, the company that makes “solar generators” (i.e., portable battery banks) and solar panels is making a gas generator. The thing is, it’s not a traditional gas generator. You don’t plug things into it directly but plug your Goal Zero battery bank into it. The generator then charges the battery bank, and you run all of your electronics from the battery bank. According to the Gear Junkie article (go there for pics and more info), this setup is 20 (!) times more fuel efficient than a traditional generator.
The knock against Goal Zero stuff is always that it’s expensive compared to what you could make yourself, but for those of us who don’t have much interest in cobbling together our own battery banks and charging setups, I think they remain a good solution.
While we’re on the subject, I’ve been eyeing this enormous battery bank by Anker. I’ve used Anker battery pack products in the past and had good experiences with them. This particular battery bank can charge a laptop 15 times, and that’s exactly what I’d use it for. It’s also much smaller and lighter than the Goal Zero equivalents.
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In other news, my trip down to the desert has been delayed by a couple of days because of the weather. It’s snowing outside right now as I type this (we’re getting an uncommonly high amount of snow this year in northern Utah), and I want to wait for the snow to stop and the roads to clear a bit before I make a run for it. And if you’re not already doing so, consider following my new @SUVRVing account in Instagram.