A Weekend at Bald Eagle State Forest

Joabmc

I’ve needed a shakedown cruise for awhile now but work and life have had other ideas. This past weekend opened up, weather appeared to cooperate, so I called the forestry district on a whim to inquire as to any open dispersed sites. I’ve spent many weekends exploring trails, hiking, fishing and tent camping at BESF over the years and decided what a better place to go out and play. We were in luck and a few spots were available! I threw everything in my TV and we headed out after work on Friday evening. Packed and ready to pull out. I threw the generator on the tongue as we’d be Boondocking all weekend and wanted an insurance policy.

This is one of my two repurposed fuel cans. Bounced around on white balls and spider trails for about 100 miles with no leaks or issues... I believe we have a winner and they fit perfectly in that location.

It was actually a busy weekend in BESF due to the opening day of Trout season but we were fortunate to be located in a more secluded area and only saw 3 passers by all weekend.

Pulled into the site which was open and peaceful, and with a little shuffling, we settled into a fairly level spot. Forgot my leveling blocks so rocks were an inexpensive fix to that issue.

Having always been vehicle or tent dependent, it didn’t take much to get used to all of the luxuries the trailer had to offer! We ate well, drank well, slept well and couldn’t have been happier.

I made a wind break for the stove as William and others have posted in other threads. It worked well for boiling water and my smaller skillet but when I threw the griddle on to make breakfast Sunday morning, it was apparently too big and suffocating the stove. Couldn’t keep the burners lit until I removed it. One of those “Note to Self” moments...

My concern or what-if has been would the solar keep up. I brought the generator along just in case but wanted to run everything without hesitation to see how it would do. I turned the Fridge on Thursday night, Friday was overcast most of the day and a few stronger storms rolled through on Friday night. Saturday was gorgeous and full sun all day. We hadn’t given much thought to parking other than a rather level location and I faced the rear to South. Ended up never turning the Generator on for 2 1/2 days, ran the fridge continuously, the radio whenever we were at camp, lights, fan and watched 2 movies Saturday night. I’m happy to report that it did quite well! It definitely made hay while the Sun was out on Saturday. The screen shot below was captured Saturday evening. That is what was considered “today” on the display.

Anyway, it was great to finally get the T@G out in the woods for a little relaxation and hiking. Most of the miles were on dirt/ gravel roads and nothing flew off. I’ll call it a successful weekend. The GX pulls it like it isn’t back there... had to remind myself a few different times that I was dragging a hitchhiker along for the ride. The 4.7 doesn’t sip, it drinks gas but I still managed about 17 MPG which is actually better than my norm. Had the back loaded, the tongue loaded and she didn’t squat. I had been considered reworking my rear suspension but the overland rear coils and shocks worked like a champ.

SueBHunny

We're practically neighbors if you were at Bald Eagle. I had my T@G out this weekend as well at a music fest in eastern PA. We had some soggy weather on Friday and I remembered all the things I had forgotten since last year.

Joabmc

Awesome! We plan to take a few more trips to Bald Eagle and Roosevelt until I get all of the bugs and cobwebs worked out. Friday was intense but luckily it didn’t stick around long. Sunday evening into Monday morning I was glad to be back out of the woods and waking up to a roof still on the house!