Nirvana, year 3

[DutchmenSport]

If anyone is following my continuing saga, we are now currently at Pilot Mountain State Park in North Carolina as camp hosts for the months of July and August. This is our 3rd year as camp hosts at Pilot Mountain. And I'm glad to report, .... IT'S STILL NIRVANA!

The night is just as dark as I remember, the only noise heard at night are the cascades singing in unison, there are no electric lights except for battery powered flashlights or an occasional string of battery powered tacky lights and campfires, there is still no traffic on this mountain, quiet hours are still strictly enforced after 10:00 pm, and pretty much, everything else is exactly the same as the previous 2 years.

The only difference is, the bath houses have been spruced up a lot! And some of the folks I grew to know have moved on. There are a few new park staff members I'll no doubt get to know also, before leaving the end of August.

For anyone not familiar with my previous posts, Pilot Mountain State Park in North Carolina is a primitive campground, mostly designed for tent camping. The sites are really great, every one of them. No two are anything alike. They are situated on the side of pretty steep slope, some are up hill, opposite side of the road they are down hill. Each site has level and well packed sand tent pads. Some have 2 pads per site. It's rocky, hilly, deep woods and did I mention ..... it's DARK at night!

There are a few sites that will accommodate a 40 foot RV. But, there are no hook-ups here. No water, electricity, or sewer hook ups on any of the sites. There is also no dump station anywhere in the park. There are 11 water spigots through the campground loop and 2 modern bath houses. So, it's primitive all the way around.

The exception is the camp host site, which is a full hook-up site which makes the experience here absolutely wonderful!

Tent campers truly ARE a different type of camping people. They have not been spoiled by the luxuries of air-conditioning and soft beds at night, having access to a television, computers, and keeping a cell phone charged up! It seems, they are much more "conversation" conscience. Campsites are left clean (no trace behind), no garbage left in fire pits, and folks are very conscious about noise. Las Vegas night lights at RV sites don't exist! No street lights, just a couple solar powered motion sensor night lights situated at the steps leading to the bath houses and near the camp host site.

Nirvana! Absolutely if you love dark nights, no noisy camping neighbors, the sound of Cassidas, deep forests, and don't mind climbing and walking hills all day and all night to get anywhere!

PIlot Mountain State Park ... here!

My son and grandson joined us the first week here. My wife and I were in Louisiana as camp hots at the Audubon State Historic Site near St. Francisville, LA the months of Jan, Feb, Mar, May, and Jun this year. So it was nice they came and joined us for a week at Pilot.

Here's some photos:

Here's the grandson at the top of the Little Pinnacle overlooking the valley and the Big Pinnacle:

Here he is again with our 2 dogs when we walked around the Big Pinnacle (Pilot Mountain itself):

Don't Jump KID! Don't Jump! (on top of a large rock!)

We went over to "Hanging Rock State Park" one morning and did some hiking over there too. My wife was teasing the grandson about being careful and not find himself "hanging from a rock" at "Hanging Rock State Park." Well .... grandpa just had to do this for grandma!

Actually, his feet are firmly planted on the ground. He's just reaching up to look like he's "hanging on!"

And just to show off the beauty of this park, here's a photo of one of the trails I took, just this morning when I walked the dogs. It really is just this beautiful! Photos don't do justice!

Just in case anyone is interested and want's to ready the history of everything since I seriously considered camp hosting, here's a list of the threads I've started and put on this forum. They've got lots of photos of Pilot Mountain and Oakley Plantation. Have fun, but the threads are LONG!

Campground Hosts (January 28, 2022)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86336

I finally reached Nirvana! (August 2, 2022)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87622

Is it still “Nirvana”? (August 16, 2022)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87729

Nirvana 2023! (July 5, 2023)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89505

Nirvana Report – 2 weeks in (July 15, 2023)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89566

Nirvana 2023 coming to an end. (August 30, 2023)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89850

Gearing up, getting closer, another camp host job (November 4, 2023)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90220

What would you do? (December 8, 2023)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90348

Follow-up on, “What would you do?” (January 5, 2024)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90460

The Adventure Continues (May 28, 2024)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91000&page=2

Nirvana – Year 3 (July 11, 2024)
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1295018#post1295018

 

[Creeker]

Glad you guys are still enjoying it. We've stayed many times at Mayberry campground with day trips to Pilot and Stone Mountain state parks. Love the dark sky parks. I can sit for hours staring at the skies through a good pair of binoculars. I don't think we've visited Hanging Rock. Is the campground RV friendly there?

We did stay at Pilot Mountain one late fall weekend many years ago in our truck camper. Woke up to a little snow and freezing rain the morning we left. Made it interesting driving off the mountain. Stayed at Stone Mountain a few times. Good trout fishing in the spring.

 

[DutchmenSport]

July 16, 2024.
Its hard to believe we've been at Pilot Mountain for half a month already. We are 1/4 way through our visit here. Time is moving so fast!

The campground was completely empty last night. We were the only ones in the entire campground. Awesome! So quiet, so peaceful, so DARK!

I wanted to go to the top of the Summit yesterday, but I got a late start. After attending to out-going campers and picking up their campsites, the outside temps started rising to the point I decided I didn't want to run any heat risks. I love this hot weather, (and it IS hot!). That's why great care needs to be taken in order to avoid heat exhaustion or worse, especially when one is 69 years old!

With no one in the campground over night, the opportunity was there to go to the top of the Summit this morning. So, the summit gate opens at 7:00 am and I was there. Got to the top about 7:15 and did the mile hike from the parking lot, around the Summit (big Pinnacle) and back to the parking lot. I took both our wiener dogs with us and they did marvelous. Of course I took my time with them, let them sniff out every step any living creature ever took on the trail, and only dream of catching a small critter (which never happened by the way).

Again, it doesn't matter how many times I go up and walk the Big Pinnacle, it's still breath taking every time. Being a Tuesday morning and early, and with this weather, I had the entire mountain to myself! Again.... AWESOME experience.

No wonder I love this camp host assignment so much here. It's truly an experience very few ever get!

This morning's walk on the Big Pinnacle.

 

[Jay & Bobbie]

Glad you are enjoying the area. DW and I began tent camping there in 80 after getting married. Haven't been there in a few years.
Hanging Rock is closer and we tend to go there more, especially in the summer with the grandkids so they can swim in the lake.
Enjoy the rest of your stay.
Thanks for posting such beautiful pictures.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I took this photo this morning on my first walk of the day with the dogs around the campground, checking things out. It was about 6:45 AM. It was so beautiful I had to share.

 

[mlh]

My kind of camp site. I’m a country boy our nearest neighbor is 200 yards in front of us. To the left and right and behind us it’s a half mile. I would enjoy that.
The best camp host place I know of is Bath County pump storage power station. There are 2 small lakes one 750 yards long and 350 yards wide. The other is about half of that. There is at least 50 acres that is kept mowed better than my yard. There are 30 sites that go for $10 a night and the nice thing for the host they get to keep all the money.
Lynwood

 

[Todd & Mary]

Sounds like you truly have it made there, ENJOY.

 

[DutchmenSport]

How about another photo. I took this one on another morning walk (August 31). So often we wonder in amazement at the "big" things, like the overlook at the Grand Canyon, or a vista of the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes, just by looking down, the simplest things have their own amazement. Sometimes looking "down" around our feet can reveal some wonderful things.

I had to look this one up on Google Lens. It's an Amanita Jacksonii mushroom:

 

[twindman]

I have only boondocked about 4 nights in my life. So I have a question about people that camp where you are located. With no water, sewer or power and it appears trees blocking the sun, how do people get along there? I assume maybe only stay a few days at a time?? Thanks.

 

[foldbak]

I have only boondocked about 4 nights in my life. So I have a question about people that camp where you are located. With no water, sewer or power and it appears trees blocking the sun, how do people get along there? I assume maybe only stay a few days at a time?? Thanks.

Boon docking requires a lot of preparation. Assuming you have a gen and solar, you'll need to utilize both at the appropriate times. You'll need a hefty mount of battery AH's. You will have to change your lifestyle a bit. Meaning you'll have to have a way to resupply water and dump your tanks. Dutch uses a water tank and a pump to refill the fresh water. Assuming there is a dump station near by, you'll need a dump tote. That's really about all you'll need. No AC or Microwave without your gen. I have on of these
https://www.rvpartscountry.com/rhin...MIsdmvyeDhhwMVtR-tBh3LJByJEAQYBiABEgIBKPD_BwE


I'll let Dutch talk about the water

 

[Carl n Susan]

I agree boondocking requires some, but not a lot of, preparation. We spend most of the Winter (Jan., Fed, & Mar.) and a number of weeks during the Summer boondocking.

Once you have an inverter to supply your 120V needs (TV, Satellite, WiFi, Laptop Charging, CPAP and what ever), sufficient battery power (we use 120 amps a day normally) and a way to recharge them (we use a generator as gasoline for it is much cheaper than a solar investment), then live is pretty normally.

We do have a bladder to add water if needed. We can go two weeks without dumping tanks so a tote has not been necessary. I admit, when we used to spend 3-4 weeks in Quartszite, we did use a pumper service or made a trip to town to dump. Now we tend to stay no more than two weeks.

This applies from the open spaces of the desert to the tree covered forests of the Pacific Northwest. Other boondockers respect your space and usually park away from you (except in Quartzsite )

 

[DutchmenSport]

... how do people get along there? ...

Pilot Mountain State Park is an all primitive campground. There is no sewer or electric on site. There are 40 reservable sites, designed for tent camping. Each site has a flat and level tent pad, framed in with timbers and packed hard sand filling it up.

There are 11 water spigots throughout the campground loop. The loop is 1/2 mile long (or oval), and the spigots are located ever few campsites apart. There are 2 modern bath houses with flush toilets and hot showers. They are kept immaculately clean by the maintenance staff (Camp Hosts don't mess with the showers and bathrooms here).

Even though this campground is designed with the tent camper in mind, each parking spot for each campsite is asphalt paved. Some are longer than others, and some are more flat than others. There is quite a combination.

Tent campers have a way of "doing it". There is one tent camper - solo woman with her dog here right now for a total of 14 days. She's doing fine.

The secret to this type of successful tent camping is to know where the grocery stores are and the local restaurants. People are always asking where the closest restaurants are and the closest grocery store. I suppose they stock up on supplies that last as long as the ice in their coolers will allow.

A lot of people bring along those small solar chargers that you can plug your phone into and charge up your phone. When folks come in and they are staying longer than just an over night, I always offer them to bring their cell phones to the host site and plug in their phones there. I always keep a power cord available outside. I have had a couple folks use it.

Of course, we sell fire wood at the host site also, and fire wood sales are always good. Folks do a lot of cooking using a wood fire. But, occasionally, I'll clean up a fire pit where someone used charcoal. We don't discourage anyone from collecting fire wood off the ground (IF the wood is in the campsite area AND it's small enough to burn completely up before they depart the campsite, and ABSOLUTELY no cutting any trees). Sometimes, people collect logs that don't burn all the way to ash. Cooking on a wood fire is the way most do it here.

RV's come in sometimes. There are a few campsites that have level enough car parking slots to accommodate even a 40 foot trailer (or a 40 foot diesel pusher easy). Generators are allowed to run from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. And when campers of that size come in, it's almost always just for an over night. Only a couple times has someone in any type of RV camper stayed more than 2 nights.

I am asked often by different RVers that pass through about dump stations. And unfortunately, there are none close by this park, that I am aware of, open for the non-camping at that place dumping clientele. I've learned, that the few private campgrounds in this area are restricted by county code regarding the usage of their septic system. Their septic systems are designed for only (so many) campsites, and none more. So, the private campgrounds in this are are not designed based on the available land, but based on the restrictions the county puts on the septic system. So, yes, this makes RVing camping a challenge at this park, and probably the biggest reason why we don't get more boondockers.

About solar? Well, in this campground, solar probably would not work. There is too much of a canopy of trees over the roads and over the parking spots at each campsite. It's shaded 100%. So, generators is the way people go here.

The good thing though for tent campers, is the fact that the closest grocery store is only about 2 miles North of the park, and 4 miles South of the park, as are ATM machines.

I think it's because of the uniqueness of the arrangement at this park, that makes it so magnificent here. The host site is set up with full hook-up, 50, 30, and 20 amp. A water spigot dedicated for the camp host, and sewer hook-up that's been tapped into the sewer lines for the 2 bath houses and lead down to a septic system and leaching field. The host site is located at the junction where the underground pipes come together for the 2 bath houses, which was originally a clean out.

So, the host site is set up sweet! The host site has all the advantages of full hook-up. Of course, the host lives here for 2 months at a time. But then, the host has the unique experience of living in the midst of tent campers with no electricity, making it DARK and QUIET at night. Because the gates are locked at 10:00 pm, there is no traffic running around all hours of the night. There are no street night lights anywhere in the campground or on the mountain (there are at the visitor center), and often the park is empty and the host is the only occupant in the campground. Or at best, during the week, maybe only 2 or 3 other sites occupied.

So, it goes without saying, I keep my outside lights shut off all the time (unless I am physically standing outside talking to someone after dark). It's wonderful to walk the campground loop after dark when the park is busy and enjoy folks enjoying themselves. It's really, really nice to see campsites with young families, kids playing in the dark with flashlights, climbing on the rocks, exploring, and a nice campfire glowing on their site with no other light.

RVers have gotten away from experiencing truly dark nights, with no light available except for the moon. Yes, with the over growth of trees, the moon light is completely blocked out and walking the asphalt loop after dark... yes... it's so dark you can't even tell where the edge of the road is. I've walked off the edge many, many, many times.

(Here's a secret I'll share...... Almost every night, about 10:05 pm, I walk the entire campground 1/2 mile loop .... without a flashlight on. After 3 years walking this loop after dark, I can pretty much tell where I am at any point, blindfolded. Why do I do this? It's because quiet hours start at 10:00 pm and if noise is coming from any campsite loud enough it can be heard from the road when walking by, they are too loud. I call the night duty ranger and they will walk the grounds also and if they are still too noisy or loud will instruct them about quiet hours. We walk the campground after dark with no flashlights so the campers DO NOT know we are there so they won't alter their behavior if they know they are being watched. Yes, that sneaky, but this park really enforces quiet hours).

That's another reason I like this park so much, the rangers have arrest authority (all of them) and they enforce the rules and back-up the camp host. The camp host IS the eyes and ears of the campground.

So, that's how it's done.

 

[twindman]

Thanks for all the answers! I foolishly forgot about using a generator! Mine sits in my garage for years at a time.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Thanks for all the answers! I foolishly forgot about using a generator! Mine sits in my garage for years at a time.

We have 2 Cummins Onan P4500i Inverter Generators I run in parallel for 50 amp service. We ended up keeping one at home for my son, who lives in our house and takes care of it when we are gone. The other one, we carry with us all the time. Why?

My wife still works full time (100% remote), still in information technology, software development. We carry at least one generator with us all the time in if in the event any campground we end up at looses power I can easily get the generator out and power up the trailer and keep her working.

We've never lost power at Pilot Mountain. But, when we were in Louisiana at the Audubon State Historic Site this year, (Jan, Feb, Mar, and then May and June) we lost power several times and I drug out the generator to keep her going. Fortunately, it wasn't so hot when those times happened we did not have to have both AC's running at the same time. And fortunately, within a couple hours power was restored.

But, at Pilot Mountain, we've never had to use the generator, and we've experienced some pretty "amazing" mountain rain and thunderstorms here.

Oh, let me say, there is nothing like standing outside (under the awning of course), when there is a thunderstorm going on in the Applica Mountain range. When it thunders, the thunder truly rolls and rolls and rolls across one valley to the next. It's an awesome sound, nature at it's best!

 

[DutchmenSport]

Tomorrow (August 30) is our last full day at Pilot Mountain State Park for this season. We will be returning home to Indiana on Saturday, August 31 and driving straight through. We decided we did not want to do an over night on our way home this time, especially with it being a holiday week-end. It's been a while since we've driven several hours without an overnight. The distance is 550 miles from the park to home.

We are heading for Nebraska on September 21 and then heading back to St. Francisville (Audubon State Historic Site) on September 27. We will be doing 2 overnights on our way there, about 375 miles apart from each other. We'll be at Audubon from September 29 through December 31 and then back to Indiana again.

So, even though we are leaving our loved Pilot Mountain, we have more commitments ahead of us. I am thrilled to be going back to the Audubon State Historic Site in Louisiana (Oakley Plantation) again.

Now, a word about my camp hosting experience at Pilot Mountain this year. For the most part, it was great and it truly is a different style of camping at this park. Being surrounded by all tent camping, no electric sites, dark at night, cascades screaming to the top of their little lungs all night long, hiking these mountain trails, the staff and administration, everything is still GREAT, MARVELOUS, and MAGNIFICANT.

But, this year brought a couple disappointments. Sad, but true.

First, the traffic on Highway 52 has picked up tremendously over last year. Trucks and cars are much noisier now. Whatever has happened, that sound comes rushing up the mountain spoiling the quiet and peace and tranquility. It's really, really noticeable this year, much more than ever before. Something changed!

Second, people are pigs! In many more ways than one. What is horribly disappointing are all the folks who feel they are ENTITLED to a free campsite. Oh, there were several experiences like this, this year. And every one of them were problems to deal with. I could not handle the situation and simply called in the rangers. They actually threw one person out because he thought he did not have to follow the rules.

That, I think is the 3rd disappointment .... what's with all these stupid, moronic, idiot, self-entitled nut cases that think rules don't apply to them. The crap they pulled with the fire pits alone is just plum right dangerous! Some people have no regard for anything.

This year, people changed also. Their attitudes changed.... a lot! Folks are sweet and appreciative this year, and just plain tickled pink to be here. They are nasty, mean spirited, and self-conceded. Now ... don't get me wrong, not EVERY(NE is like this, just the few that really spoils everything!