By Cheri Sicard
In the video below, the team from Less Junk, More Journey (one of the winners of our 2024 RV Video awards) discusses the topic of boondocking in the heat, and specifically how to survive temperatures of 100 degrees or more! One of the couple’s recent trips took them through Wall, SD, at a time when temps were expected to be in triple digits. Not wanting to miss their favorite boondocking spot in the world, they decided to go anyway.
Prep for boondocking in high heat
Knowing what was in store, our hosts started taking steps to boondock in high heat before they left the comfort of full hookups at their previous campground.
Should you boondock in 100-degree weather? It depends on you and your personality. Our host says that after watching the video you are either never going to want to boondock again, or you’ll immediately start packing your bags to try it yourself.
#1. Check the generator, make sure it’s running properly, and have fuel on hand. Our host needed to clean the carburetor in his. And yes, in this kind of weather, you should be carrying a generator.
#2. Before they set out on their drive, the couple got everything inside as cool as possible. With a 5-hour drive ahead of them, this proved to not be an effective strategy, but that’s what they did.
#3. Top off your batteries before leaving. Our hosts had some issues with this in the video that they explained; but best practices, your batteries should be full before leaving.
#4. Balance energy usage. This video talks a lot about the use of solar and the power usage of an A/C and how they balanced this with generator usage.
#5. Sometimes you get lucky. Our hosts encountered an unexpected rainstorm on the way to their boondocking spot that significantly cooled things down to a balmy 90 degrees. (You may laugh, but that 10 degrees makes a big difference!)
But wait, there’s more!
In addition to discussing how to survive triple-degree temperatures while boondocking, you also get a South Dakota travelogue with two interesting stops you can make, even in a big rig, without unhitching.
- Minute Man Missile National Historic Site
- Badlands National Park
In the end, while enjoying their million-dollar view at their free camping spot in the Badlands, our hosts decided that boondocking in high heat was definitely worth it.
##RVDT2395
Thank you, Cheri! 🙂 Pretty creative is this pair. But, of course, they ARE from Tennessee (although it is Middle Tennessee and not East Tennessee, and yes, the three grand divisions of the state are legally defined https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Divisions_of_Tennessee). 😉 In any case thank you for calling my attention to this video. I’m sure that I will enjoy it. Maybe we’ll even catch up with the real people one day and have a nice chat. 🙂 Meanwhile, thanks again, and may you have comfortable and safe travels! 🙂
I routinely camp in 100° heat for about two weeks straight. The best thing besides essentials like water is a shade structure to sit under…and hold activity until sunset.
We don’t intentionally camp in 100° heat, but we got stuck doing it in Quartzsite a few years back. We were on our way home from Houston and our day ended in Quartzsite. It was 120° when we pulled into town. We have never stayed in an RV park in Quartzsite. We usually boondock out on Plamosa Rd. But, with this heat, we pulled into an RV park. Oh, and our slide was not working either – GASP! So we plugged in and turned the a/c on. By morning we were at a crisp 90°! We love Quartzsite, but not in the blazing summer heat.
Great video! Love Marissa and Nathan and yes, they are from Middle Tennessee as I am!!! We are heading to South Dakota and just added the Minuteman Missile site to our must see list! Can’t wait to visit this area and see everything!!