2014 Camping Thread

[Madman]

Anyone ever driven down to Polson, MT with their RV? Google and others all tell me to head down through Cardston and then Going to the Sun Road....with my 35ft 5th wheel, no thanks. Even Good Sam's special RV planner sends me that way - not very special if you ask me.

There are options to get there while still going through Cardston, but it seems simpler to just head over to BC and down south through Eureka as if I were going to Kalispell.

[Hevishot]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

How was the traffic heading back to Calgary? I heard it was horrible all afternoon

Going out there we had a 2 light wait. Some other people in our party came out later on that night and claimed almost 2 hour wait. On the way back did not even have to stop.

[brocoli]

Originally Posted by Madman

Anyone ever driven down to Polson, MT with their RV? Google and others all tell me to head down through Cardston and then Going to the Sun Road....with my 35ft 5th wheel, no thanks. Even Good Sam's special RV planner sends me that way - not very special if you ask me.

There are options to get there while still going through Cardston, but it seems simpler to just head over to BC and down south through Eureka as if I were going to Kalispell.

For you sanity, do not do Going to the Sun. That road is beautiful, but a nightmare with traffic. I couldn't image towing while going through it. I would just bite the bullet and go through BC.

[Hevishot]

Originally Posted by polak

Weather was fantastic around Koocanusa.

The weather was great!. We made the last minute decision to go there instead of go racing. 41mm of rain and snow fell in the porky's at race camp and it was cancelled and rescheduled for this weekend.

[TSXCman]

I was in Kaslo BC this weekend. Drove out Thursday without any issues other than a couple of hippies sleeping at the wheel (20km/h under limit often).

The drive home was a mess on the south highway, full stoppage west of Fernie for hours at around 4pm. I got a warning from my brother and detoured north past Radium. Once I got to Hwy 1 it was a mess... about 20km of stop and go traffic up to 30km/h. Never could see what the cause was either. Just a nice 9.5 hour travel day for me.

[polak]

Wow I'm really happy I left early.

Was out of Calgary at 3 pm on Friday and got through on one light. On the way back we didn't wait at all.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Madman

Anyone ever driven down to Polson, MT with their RV? Google and others all tell me to head down through Cardston and then Going to the Sun Road....with my 35ft 5th wheel, no thanks. Even Good Sam's special RV planner sends me that way - not very special if you ask me.

There are options to get there while still going through Cardston, but it seems simpler to just head over to BC and down south through Eureka as if I were going to Kalispell.

Not allowed. The road restriction is no vehicles over 23 ft(?), or something like that, and you are not allowed to tow anything, not matter how short or long it is. This restriction begins after the rising sun campground. There are two options I ouwld consider. One is crossing at Carway (Cardston) and taking the "Duck Lake Road" US 464 this road is just south of Babb and will take you to Browning, it is a flat prairie hiway. the other one is to cross at Del Bonita US 44 and head to Browning, this is a small crossing but is not busy, it is also the quickest rt. The only problem is there is 8 miles of gravel. Either way both roads end up in Browning. From there take hi way 2 all the way to Columbia Falls. East Glacier to West Glacier is a nice drive with a couple climbs and lots of trailer in the summer.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by brocoli

For you sanity, do not do Going to the Sun. That road is beautiful, but a nightmare with traffic. I couldn't image towing while going through it. I would just bite the bullet and go through BC.

If you cut down through Cardston, right after Babb, take duke lake road (464) all the way to Browning. It's flat and fast. From Browning take East glacier on the 2, and over to west glacier. It's way faster to go this route.

Or you can go through Crowsnest down through Eureka.

or just read what Derek said...because I obviously didn't

[Madman]

Thanks guys.

You both said take 464 - is it better than 89 from Babb? (89 does look a lot twisty-er)

Taking 464 vs the Crowsnest route is almost the exact same distance, so is it just a matter of preference, or is the 464 route a better drive?

[bossy22]

When I owned property in whitefish, I took Eureka mainly because I live in Cochrane, and taking hwy 22 down to the Crowsnest was quickest. However, on long weekends, when Eureka can be a good 1-2 hr wait at the border coming home, I'd always go through the other way. 464 is a good route, and it's a really easy drive. You just need to go through Browning, which is a little depressing. My buddy who lives in Calgary, and owns in Whitefish usually goes the Browning route because he finds it quicker. He only goes through the Crowsnest unless he's planning to stop in Fernie.

the 89 is slow and not recommended.

[Hockeyguy15]

Dealership fixed the issue(s) of/from the water tank falling out of the support. Warranty was up long ago but they covered the cost, so that's nice.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Dealership fixed the issue(s) of/from the water tank falling out of the support. Warranty was up long ago but they covered the cost, so that's nice.

Good on them. What dealership?

[Hockeyguy15]

Woody's

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Woody's

Wow. Woody's is notoriously ####ty with service so that's awesome.

[Canehdianman]

Took the new (to us) trailer out for the first time this weekend, down to Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Weather was glorious, trailer worked perfectly (although I didn't take any water, since the campground there is well-equipped).

So happy I convinced the wife to get a trailer and start camping. Once the little one is a little older I imagine she will love it (and start the generational trend all over again)

[MacDaddy77]

Question,

If I have a generator and plug my 30 amp plug into it, does the generator charge my 12 volt deep cell battery while it's running? How effective of a charge is this way.

I see some generators have battery jumper cables to plug in to generator and onto battery terminals (like a house charger).

What is the difference between these 2 ways of charging the battery?

Thansk,

[Calgary14]

Alberta imposes province-wide fire ban effective immediately: http://www.610cktb.com/news/national...aspx?id=466374

[Madman]

Yes, it'll charge - just like you're at home.

Plugging your trailer into the generator will be relying on your trailer's system to charge the battery.

Connecting the battery via jumper cables would just be a direct charge. I'm not sure how a direct to battery charge is for a battery though - would affect it's lifespan at all? There has to be a reason there are charging patterns built into dedicated chargers.

[firebug]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Alberta imposes province-wide fire ban effective immediately: http://www.610cktb.com/news/national...aspx?id=466374

Doesn't seem to be entirely true although things may get updated throughout the rest of the day.

Current ban is in effect for all of Alberta's forest protection areas (frankly, most of the province) but areas outside of that may or may not have bans.

Source:
https://albertafirebans.ca/

[ken0042]

The oversimplification- the deep cycle battery is designed to be charged slowly, and then discharged slowly. As opposed to your car battery which is designed to deliver a whack of power at once to start the engine. The car battery can also take the whack of power back.

My "Plan D" for dry camping does involve charging my RV battery using jumper cables from my running vehicle. However as mentioned, that is a last resort as doing that frequently is not good for the lifespan of the battery.