Filed under: Arizona, Arizona Road Trip, camping, Cooking, family, Friends, Grand Canyon, Happy Campers, Life, National Parks, Oregon, Road Trip, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Travel, Utah, West Coast Road Trip, Zion National Park
Has the economy got you down? Are you yearning for a vacation but just can’t afford a plane ticket to paradise? Fear not my friend, PARADISE is in our own backyard, explore the great outdoors! Happy Campers is a unique camping tour service. For those that don’t know “how” to camp, we teach you. For those that do, we show you more! Your trip guides are a chef and an archaeologist. Both of us are experienced campers and will show you the ropes on everything from pitching a tent and building a fire to hiking “smart” and getting the most out of your nature experience.
We take groups of 2-12 people on camping trips lasting from 3 days to 2 weeks. Each trip is custom fit to YOUR NEEDS & DESIRES. We can camp on the beach an hour away or at one of our Nation’s beautiful National Parks 5-6 hours away. We tell you what to bring, show you how to set up camp like a pro and even cook gourmet campsite meals for you! Abigail, our resident archaeologist, will teach you about the geography of the area we camp and hike in as well as show you how to keep an eye open for traces of old civilizations. We will also teach you basic survival skills. Don’t worry, this isn’t boot camp, there is plenty of time for relaxing and just enjoying your surroundings.
Trips start as cheap as $50/person. This fee includes all your meals, snacks, firewood and campsite fees for the trip. You bring your tent & sleeping bag and we’ll show you how to use it. Make your reservations now! We will be guiding trips from April to August anywhere within 8 hours driving distance from Southern California. Camping is fun & affordable and there are many BEAUTIFUL places here in the US worth exploring. Come enjoy Nature with us!
Leave a comment with your email address and we will contact you about planning your trip. Gather your family or a group of friends and lets go camping!
Check out some of out past trips:
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Filed under: camping, Cooking, Life, National Parks, Road Trip, Travel, Utah, Zion National Park
Since its almost that time of year again, I thought I’d post up a trip from last October. Zion National Park is an amazing place, add the colors of Fall and it really does feel like heaven on Earth. I’m planning another trip to Zion in the middle of this October 09 and would love company, if you want to come along… let me know!
Zion is part of the “Grand Staircase” which includes the Grand Canyon and Brice Canyon. The Grand Staircase refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon. In the 1870s, geologist Clarence Dutton first conceptualized this region as a huge stairway ascending out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon northward with the cliff edge of each layer forming giant steps.
Zion is about a 7 hour drive from Long Beach and is about an hour past St. George, Utah. On this trip we left at midnight. Along the way we stopped for breakfast and grocery shopping so we arrived around 10 am. There are two campsites in the park but South Campground doesn’t require reservations. There are no showers in the campground but take a two mile drive into town and there are pay showers available. We set up camp and thought we would sleep for a couple of hours before exploring our surroundings. After about 3 minutes in the tent, we knew it would be impossible to sleep. We were too excited AND tents are like saunas during the day time. It was in the 80’s and the skies were bright blue. It made a beautiful contrast against the beautiful red rocks that make up Zion’s canyon.
the view from our campsite at South Campground
We got ready and went out to hike and explore.
Junebugg, your favorite happy camper
Zion is open year round but April through October, cars are not allowed to drive to the points of interest. There just isn’t enough room to accommodate all the cars during this busy season so the park offers a wonderful tram service that runs very frequently and stops at every point of interest. The tram is air conditioned, free and offers an audio tour during its route.
the Zion tram system is also powered by natural gas or something like that
Zion rocks!
Fall leaves in Zion. This pic was taken along the trail up to Weeping Rock
Weeping Rock in Zion National Park, 800 year old water filters through drips from the rock. I felt like I was getting blessed by holy water
Fall leaves against crisp blue sky
Love is everywhere
Fall leaves
the colors were simply amazing!
reds, oranges & yellows against the last of the green
Along the hike up the Three Pools... almost to the 3rd pool!
deer aren't afraid of people & wander comfortably thru the campground
Wild Turkey was our poison of the trip... and it was wild!
Chicken Curry with boilermakers was a nice way to end the day
The Mighty Junebugg - a June of all Trades 