Camping in Bear Country
This past week Trev and I took a trip to the mountains. We’ve talked about going camping with just the two of us for years but never really put any effort into it. Well two weeks before our trip we were shopping around in REI (just because they have the coolest stuff and it’s fun to go there) and we started talking about camping again. We decided then and there we’d go in two weeks. Within that time span we bought a shit load of camping gear all from REI, Walmart, and Amazon (along with borrowing some gear from our parents) then we were out!
The journey there was honestly insane and was a fat curve ball and truly tested our patience. In order to get to Mammoth in a timely manner we planned to cut through Yosemite otherwise it’d add on a couple of hours. We were aware that Yosemite required a day reservation to hang out in the park but we didn’t think anything of it. I had no clue where the highway we needed to take was and Trevor thought we didn’t have to enter Yosemite to get to it. Well big fat plot twist we had to enter Yosemite in order to get to our highway and we were at the normal entrance that’s near Mariposa that takes you to Yosemite Valley. Well they didn’t let us through and one ranger told us to turn around and gave us directions on how to get to our highway. After backtracking for half an hour and taking 2 crazy ass highways that were all up hill and scaling mountains we finally reached where the ranger told us to go aka the second Yosemite entrance that also required a reservation!!! We pulled to the side and panicked real quick then pulled up to our second ranger and told her all about our shit show and how we just drove hours just to get turned around and how we didn’t want to be turned around again. This amazing ranger lady gave us a pass that allowed us 2 hours to get through the park (which idk why the first ranger couldn’t do that). We saw an amazingly beautiful side of Yosemite that we’ve both never seen before so I’m really not too mad that we got turned around the first time. After finally getting out of Yosemite with just about less than 10 minutes to spare we were on our way to Mammoth! One of my favorite drives ever to get there honestly. We had some great music, I had my fav adventure buddy, and I had on my favorite overalls. It was destined to be a great trip. I got a lot of film pics and super 8 footage too that I’m stoked to develop!
So our campground was so awesome and Trev was so lucky to be looking at camping spots when he was. Someone dropped their reservation while he was looking and he was able to snag that! Originally we planned to do first come first serve which good thing we didn’t because we saw people circle around campsites every morning and it was honestly a shit show for a lot of them. Our campsite was right across from a little river and a huge forest where bears came down from every single day. On our second night there in the middle of the night our neighbors were yelling “Hey bear!” so Trev ran out of the tent and I poked my head out and we watched a ginormous black bear (who was actually brown) eat something out of our neighbors ziploc baggie. He was seriously so close to us I cant even explain and he was a ginormous bear. He came back later to try to break into our neighbors bear canister that locks their food up and I woke up to hearing the bear throwing things around. So aside from the bears, we were also a short walk to a lake! We fished a lot (didn’t catch any and I lost my new lure), cooked some great camper meals, hiked, went off roading and just explored the whole area. We knew little to nothing about Mammoth prior to this trip. We knew about the snow resort but never put much thought into it. It was by far one of my favorite trips and we made a buddy across our campsite who gave us the scoop on where to go since he’s been going there for years.
Our journey back was a wild ride too, but not quite as wild as our trip there. We had to take a very long way through the mountains over to Pinecrest which took us home without the troubles of having a Yosemite reservation. This highway was honestly insane and had very steep uphills but the view was great! We made a pitstop in Bodie which is a cool little abandoned gold mining town from the late 1800’s. It was cool to witness a historical town so preserved like that. This was truly an amazing trip and now I have the travel bug. I’m aching to get back to the mountains now even though I’ve only been home a couple of days.
Some camping gear we used:
Coleman Hooligan 3 - a 3 person tent with a little porch area that’s 3 seasons and very affordable
Coleman 2 burner propane stove
GSI Outdoors Enamelware
MSR PocketRocket Stove - Great for backpacking and camping in general and attatches to tiny propane canisters.
Pop up shower tent- There’s no showers where we went so this came in handy plus it doubles as a changing room and bath room if you camp out in a place lacking bathrooms - make sure to bring a camping shower too!
Hammock - I have the Winner Outfitters double hammock that comes with straps and everything you’d need that’s $28, but Eno is also a great and more widely known brand just a bit more pricey! They typically go for $50 for a single and $70 for a double and I dont think they come with straps.
Yeti 45 cooler with wheels (borrowed from my parents) - Rtic is also a great brand and more affordable!!
Brightech Ambience Pro Camping Lights (strung up between the trees) and Revel Gear Trail Hound 30ft Camping Lights (hung on tent) - both are usb.
Black Diamond Spot 325 Headlamps
We obviously used a lot more gear but these items were some of my favorites or were very useful! Maybe someday I’ll do a whole post on everything we bring!
Pro tip: Always pack very warm clothes. It was extremely cold and we weren’t very prepared for that.
