Outdoor Living

[GypsyMeditator]

may be able to encourage others to come here. We could create a quiet zone by camping together. This last winter I created a very comfortable camp by putting up a "monkey hut", then putting a tent, table and chairs inside of that. I'll try to attach a photo for clarification. It's a nice place and the weather is good during the winter months. For the summer months, there is another group of LTVA's  in the Bishop CA area. I only stayed for two weeks at the Tuttle Creek campground last year, so I'm not as familiar with these. I intend to go check them out later this summer. The cost for these LTVA's is $300. for the season which runs roughly from April 1 - Oct 30. They also have a further payment breakdown. You can pay daily, or monthly or for the whole season.  http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bishop/camping/ltva.html  So, in a nutshell, it's possible to live outdoors for $380 per year. I hope this information is helpful. Unfortunately I can't include a photo. When I tried the system says it's too large and I don't know how to reduce it. However, you can google "monkey hut" and see what that structure is. The idea comes from the burning man community. I've never been to that festival, but found the information online.

[GypsyMeditator]

Bear with me folks, I'm just getting used to this forum. Half of that post was lost in cyberspace 

I was bringing up the fact that there are some possibilities for living outdoors here in America. There are a group of long term visitor areas (LTVA's) in CA and AZ. I have spent the last two winters at the Imperial Dam LTVA in Winterhaven CA. The cost is only $180. for the whole season which runs from Sept. 15 - April 15. Most of the people that visit this area are retired and staying in RV's. Most return here every year. I am 47 years old and stay in a tent inside of a monkey hut. It's a very nice, clean, safe place. It has everything one needs. Flush toilets and sinks, vault toilets, outdoor cold showers, potable water, trash dumpsters and even free black water dumpstations for RV's. About two miles up the road are hot showers for quarters. It's located about 20 miles from Yuma AZ. One does need a vehicle to stay out here. The downside is that there are a lot of people there and it can be noisy. I would like to encourage other meditators to join me there in hopes of creating a quiet area. The weather is great over the winter. Way too hot in the summer, but that's when the Bishop area LTVA's come into play. I would also love to hear of other possibilities people have experience with living outdoors. Thanks!

[GypsyMeditator]

http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/camping/LTVA/imperial.html

[Jhanananda]

Welcome, GypsyMeditator, and thank-you for sharing with us your mendicant lifestyle, and camping options.  Please note that I moved the topic to Right Livelihood, where we discuss camping here.

I am sorry to say that the National Forest has become difficult for mendicants, like you and I.  How I make it work here in Central, AZ, where the 2-week camping limit/month is rigorously defended by rangers, is there are 5 National Forests in roughly a 50 mile radius, so I can just move from one National Forest to the next every 2 weeks.  And, since it is limited to 2 weeks per month, then all I have to do is spend 2 weeks elsewhere, before coming back.

About 10 years ago I lived 6 months of each year in the Inyo National Forest, which is in central California.  There the camping limit is 28 days per year; and they have 5 ranger districts, which means legally one can camp there for at least 5 months out of the year.  I also almost never saw a ranger, so I used to camp as long as I wanted in relatively remote spots.

When the ranger showed up, and asked, “How long have you been here?”

I would say, “I just got here.”  I then marked the date on my calendar and made sure I was gone on the 27th day.

Another solution is I camped for 2 years in the Prescott National Forest only 5 miles from Prescott.  I get up early so I would drive into town before sunrise, and return after sunset. Prescott happens to treat their homeless well, so there I got a shower plus 2 hot meals every day, plus free camping gear, and seasonal clothing monthly.  The food is served at several free-kitchens for the homeless, churches, Salvation Army, etc.

I do not mind driving in and out of camp too much, because I camp light in a van. Also, Prescott is not far, and I find: free waste oils there that I turn into diesel fuel, so my fuel cost in Prescott is nearly 0; my food cost there is 0; and my camping/shelter cost is 0.

Thanks for the ideas for camping.  I will have to check them out.  I have long since been migrating seasonally, and migrating between Bishop in the summer, and Imperial Dam LTVA winters sounds good to me; however, that would require several hundred miles of driving. 

On the other hand, in Yavapai County, AZ I can just migrate up and down mountain 50 miles in either direction, and not be too far from valuable resources that are abundantly available in Prescott and Cottonwood, AZ

I have camped at Both sites: Crowley Lake Campground and
Horton Creek Campground.  The nice thing about Horton Creek Campground is the creek runs right passed most of the campsite, so there is a very cold bath of glacier melt water to be had there at all times.

In 2 years of camping in the Inyo I never once saw a bear.  All I saw were squirrels, dear mice, ravens, coyotes and miscellaneous birds.  I specially liked the grouse, and migratory water fowl there.

I noticed from your photo that there were too many neighbors for my taste.  On the other hand, cheap rent, and no trouble from rangers.  And, as you suggested, we could interest a group of mendicants to camp together and create a buffer zone, between the contemplatives and the non-contemplatives.

Thanks again for the links.  To post a photo here you will have to down size your images from mega-pixel size to kilo-pixel size.  I do that, then I post my images on one of the free online photo archives, like PhotoBucket, then I use the URL to point to the image.