NorCal Sprinter Campout - Oct. 10-14, 2019 - We're going to Taylorsville

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
NorCal Sprinter Campout (fourth annual)

An Informal Campout for Sprinter, Transit, Promaster style Vans/RV Owners and Enthusiasts
October 10-14, 2019
Taylorsville County Campground, Plumas County, California - New Location
http://indianvalleychamber.snappages.com/Camping.htm

Hello Sprinter Enthusiasts:
I’m pleased to announce a new location for the fourth NorCal Sprinter Campout, 2019.
I've been in Taylorsville for three days camping with friends and reacquainting myself with this beautiful area. The location and site is well suited to our camping and recreational needs with a rustic mountain NorCal flavor. Just take a look at these pictures.




For the unfamiliar, the NCSC is an informal, un-sponsored, grass roots production by me, Dale, with some assistance from my wife, Karen, and you, the attendees. The premise is to get the rigs together doing what we enjoy, camping and sharing company, knowledge, stories, insight with a little food and music in a beautiful setting. The only fee to attend is the camp fees. A few donations and t-shirts offset the music and other expenses. I do it for the fun of it and have found the first three years rewarding.

This location is 56 miles east beyond the previous Concow location and worth the extra miles. Due to its distance from the metro areas, it remains a stunning landscape with modest, down-home infrastructure.
There is a plethora of activities I know attendees are sweet on:

Mountain and road bicycling, fishing (onsite and miles in either direction along Indian Creek), hiking, short and scenic jaunts, photography, dining, tennis/pickleball court, horseshoe pits, even a basketball hoop...swish.
Onsite there are a few water hookups, showers ($1 in quarters), RV dump ($5), flush toilets and ice for sale benefiting the Junior Rodeo. Dogs are welcome on leash.


The town of Taylorsville is a 1/2 mile saunter where Young’s Market (deli, hardware, post office), the pie shop, the museum, and the bar are open for business.

Six miles east into the Genesee Valley is the Genesee Store, now a newly rebuilt restaurant with grass fed meat, organic ingredient meals, and a somewhat controversial helicopter pad.


4WD and stout adventure vans can enjoy steep routes out of the valley to nearby peaks.

Driving or biking the valley loop between the towns of Greenville (where there is fuel, groceries and a health food store), Crescent Mills and back to Taylorsville is super scenic all the way.


Schedule:
This is a rough draft. By design a lot of hang out and relaxation time is programmed.
Thursday: Early entry and set up
Friday: Potluck Dinner at 6pm. Meet and greet
Saturday: Folk Band Live Music 6-8pm
Illuminated Decorated Bike Parade 8pm-8:03pm
Sprinter Jeopardy Game Show 8:10pm
Sunday: Pancake Breakfast.
(due to the extra mileage for many, we will skip the big rally this year in favor of some smaller self-guided or small group trips).
More items will be added to the schedule.

Free Box: There will be a place to give away, trade, or sell Sprinter/RV items that others may find useful.
Peddling your designs and wares is fine too. Such as Graphite Dave's new water heater plans, or Harry N's self contained power systems.

This link will be the NCSC 2019 GuideBook with updated information on the event as it nears.

Location:

Taylorsville is situated at 3500 feet in Indian Valley south of Lake Almanor and Greenville, and north of Quincy California. 7000’ mountain peaks cradle the valley floor. Weather should be fall brisk at night 40s perhaps 30s and mild 50-60s in the daytime.
From CA Hwy 70, it is six miles north on CA Hwy 89 from the junction in the Feather River Canyon. Then 5.5 miles east on Arlington Road (A22) from CA Hwy 89.
The Reno and Tahoe folks are a 30 miles closer. I reckon some local Plumas and Lassen County rigs may attend.
The Sacramento Valley and Bay Area folks will drive 56 miles farther than Concow east on CA Hwy 70 through the scenic Feather River Canyon. The CA Hwy 89 turn off Hwy 70 is about 15 miles beyond Belden Town for those that rallied there in past years.
Nevada and Placer Counties can omit the Sacramento Valley by taking 49 to Lakes Basin cutoff then down through Quincy on CA Hwy 70 west to CA Hwy 89 north in the Feather River Canyon.
Those coming from points north can shortcut Chico by taking CA Hwy 36 east to CA Hwy 89 at Red Bluff or Hwy 89 at Mt. Shasta. It's shorter, more scenic and will avoid the valley dump truck debris removal traffic.
There is also short route from US Hwy 395 at Susanville from the north. It’s 18 miles shorter and 6 minutes faster from Portland coming in the back way ...Eugene, Bend, Klamath Falls, Tule Lake, Bieber, Susanville to Taylorsville.

Routes and more scenic variants will be posted in the guidebook as the event approaches.



The camp hosts, Mike and Barbara, have reserved half the campground where it is flat and close to the creek where vans can be parked in any fitting fashion (no pads or stay on pavement rules). I used 1.5 inch levelers this weekend. There are 30 sites but we can fit more. 30 more sites are adjacent to our official reserved area. 28 rigs attended in 2018.
The campground closes (according to the website) Monday, Oct 15, but the host says folks can camp longer as they will remain onsite wrapping up the season. Folks can arrive earlier than the 10th. Fees apply for each night of camping.

Camping fee is $14 per van/RV per night.
There is 24/7 access to the campground. Last minute attendees and late night arrivals are always welcome.
This is a pay onsite, no pre-registration campground. Check made out to Plumas County or cash is accepted onsite (no cards or online pay).



If you plan to attend, or have any questions let us know.
Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones and having fun at the campout.
Dale and Karen

This forum thread will have all the related information and updates.
More ways to follow (same information)
Instagram: #norcalsprintercampout
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696506667103539/

P.S.
You can probably tell we are jazzed about the new location. But we keep Lake Concow Campground close to our hearts as they slowly rebuild from the #campfire alongside Paradise, Butte Creek Canyon and Butte County in the coming months and years. The amount of stuff happening (we are in the debris and dead tree removal phase) up here is an amazing effort that some of you will get a peek at if you drive up east on Hwy 70. I’m sure there will be plenty of fire talk at this year’s campout.

Log pile on CA Hwy 70 at Jarbo Gap
 

GSWatson

2013 144
Thanks for doing the legwork, Dale! This looks fantastic – I am really looking forward to it!


Cheers,
Greg
 

HarryN

Well-known member
Dale - if we can get everyone to bring along an extra solar panel or 2, I can look at pulling together a power system to run the stage.

I simply cannot bring enough panels to power everything in my van, but hooking them into the system should be straightforward.
 

kcshoots

VanTripping.com
Fantastic work selecting this wonderful looking place and location, and working to bring us together Dale. Thank you. I am planning to attend.
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
Dale - if we can get everyone to bring along an extra solar panel or 2, I can look at pulling together a power system to run the stage.
Great. I have 320 watts, 18.5 V in parallel that is relatively easy to tap.
The almost confirmed band is going to be a folk/Americana/new-bluegrass trio or four players which is easy on power consumption. I will bring LED lighting rather than the rock'n'roll high wattage par lights. Power draw will range from 5-10 amps. The new digital mixers sip the juice compared to the analog counterparts (and are less prone to voltage sag issues-part of the classic 'analog' sound)
That will save me some space and borrowing my Dads 4k genny which I don't like to tote around (it's smelly).

Fantastic work selecting this wonderful looking place and location, and working to bring us together Dale. Thank you. I am planning to attend.
Thanks KC. You and I are meeting in the middle...88miles from Chico, 102miles from Reno. Like most routes into Taylorsville, you can make a scenic loop out of it by heading back through Lake Almanor to Susanville US Hwy 395 junction for just an additional 40 miles.

I encourage everybody to map out scenic loop routes in and out of the mountains. Many add just a few extra miles.
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
Music confirmed:
The Lost Sierra Ramblers from Quincy, CA will be performing Saturday, Oct 12 at 6pm. They offer an Americana-Folk based mountain music flavor with a little Dead-New Grass flare. This is particularly fitting as I met and be-friended these folks at the Taylorsville Campground at a yearly event in the early 2000's. Happy to have the Plumas County local musicians on the bill. Quincy has been host to the High Sierra Music Festival July 4th weekend which is one of the consummate musical gatherings for jam, funk, bluegrass and songwriters. This festival has worn off on the local musicians in the best way.
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
That is correct Sail. If you zoom in on the map, we will be camping in the area marked as the ‘picnic area’ south of Arlington Rd. alongside Indian Creek. The campgound is on both sides of the road. Everyone is welcome to camp as close or far from the action as desired. The camphost told me some rodeo stories, and we are a mighty tame bunch compared to the ropers. :)
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
Sprinter 1104;771409... Here is a link to a video I took about 3 weeks ago less than a mile from the park/campground. [url said:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e9lxn3xf6v611de/6600B8A1-A898-4BE3-82D8-5A2EF0813CB6.MP4?dl=0[/url]
Welcome to the Forum!
Your video sums up the beauty and flavor of the area in 19 seconds. Look forward to meeting you in the fall.

An informal survey of Sprinter campers tells me; besides travel and touring, just about all have a pastime to which the vans offer support and comfort. Biking, hiking, fishing, photography, rock hounding...the list goes on.
This makes our new camping location particularly exciting.

Marc1 - year3 attending - woot. Hope there's an ebike in your cargo-hold. :)

I was camping at Mill Creek this weekend at the foot of Mt. Lassen and we had 2-3 inches of snow Saturday night. That'll teach me to remove the propane heater before June.
Hope everybody has a pleasant Memorial Day Weekend.
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
T-minus 4 months to the NCSC.
Summer is in full tilt and many of us are in adventure mode as witnessed here on the forum and on Instagram. This thread will get busier as the date approaches. Comments, questions and conversation are always welcome here. Heck, it's a chance for us non-expert lurkers to get posting on the forum. What have ya'll been up to?

Summer Fun:
Karen and I did 650mile NorCal loop this weekend down to Gilroy then over 88 to Carson City, NV for a couple concerts with Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours. https://www.unhitched.com I've been hired as the drummer for west coast shows. A fun new musical chapter and a great excuse to get in the T1 and travel, perform, then linger after the run like we did in Tahoe the past couple days.

The office last Sunday in Carson.


Down Hill Mountain Biking:
Mt. Hough has a downhill mountain bike trail with shuttle service that will be operating during the NCSC. Shuttles depart from Quincy, about 30 minutes from Taylorsville. My buddy Kevin (aka Gravybrain bassist) pictured here at the summit looking over Crystal Lake toward Taylorsville and the Indian Valley.



Comprehensive Information here:
http://www.yubaexpeditions.com/yuba/mt-hough-trail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy25xCVgFTM

See you soon, Dale and Karen
 

glasseye

Well-known member
That is insanely good footage. Especially the crystal clear audio. How was it shot?
 
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SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
That is insanely good footage. Especially the crystal clear audio. How was it shot?
It's just a video from a Mt. Hough search. At 11:32 you can see one of the guys has a chest mounted compact DSLR camera. Looks like good digital stabilization happening in the camera and a good windscreen on the mic. It blows away IPhone footage with a similar harness.
 

glasseye

Well-known member
Oh. I thought it was your shoot. Whatever, it's the best I've seen of that subject matter. He even managed to keep up a good narration. :cheers:
 

kcshoots

VanTripping.com
T-minus 4 months to the NCSC.
Summer Fun:
Karen and I did 650mile NorCal loop this weekend down to Gilroy then over 88 to Carson City, NV for a couple concerts with Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours. https://www.unhitched.com I've been hired as the drummer for west coast shows. A fun new musical chapter and a great excuse to get in the T1 and travel, perform, then linger after the run like we did in Tahoe the past couple days.

Darn! Bummed that I missed you guys playing at the summer concert series in Carson. I live about 25-30 mins north of there and sometimes attend those concerts. Will there this weekend for some of the Carson City Epic MTB race and events. Hopefully catch you at a future show or MTB ride and say hello.
 

SprinterSnale

'05 T1N 3500 - NorCalSprinterCampout
Carson City Epic MTB race and events. Hopefully catch you at a future show or MTB ride and say hello.
We will be back in the area for fun later this summer...
The amount of going's on in Carson and Brewery Arts is impressive. Antsy and the Troubs get up there once a year. He is received like an old friend here (and at all the gigs). This is due to genuine-lighthearted songwriting nature and topics, which include; life's simple joys, family, childhood memories, crazy friends, dogs and funny characters. Favorite titles included, Aunt Beulah's Roadkill Overcoat, BobbyJack-The Croquet King, Skippy and Rover, and (Sweet Talk Made Me Love You) Prozac Made Me Stay, a duet with Tommy Smothers (recorded here in '07).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQrlCTBVZ1Y

The band will be in Sacramento Aug 31 2019 @ The Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for The Arts
Grass Valley, Newman and Felton, Ca 10-24, 25 and 27, 2019.
 

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