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Old 02-25-2016, 09:09 AM   #1
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Cold weather camping

I am in Cottonwood Arizona camping. Thinking of visiting the Grand Canyon but I see temps dropping below 0 c overnight. Cameron seems to be above 0, but can I see the Grand Canyon from there? I do not have an insulation pkg. on my 2006 17b. Anyone have comments or suggestions for me? How cold of weather can I camp in without freezing up my systems?
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Old 02-25-2016, 09:41 AM   #2
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We have overnighted several times when temperatures dipped into the lower 20F's, daytime temps rising back into the 50 range. No issue in our 2008 17B sans insulation package - water heater ON and furnace running at lower setting. I think I recall seeing a note from ETI, long ago, that may have suggested that night temps could dip into the high teens (F) without damaging the water system, as long as daytime temps rose comfortably above freezing. Enjoy...
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Old 02-25-2016, 09:44 AM   #3
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I'm assuming ur at Deadhorse state park in Cottonwood, which is an awesome park. You can day trip the Canyon from there if you just are wanting to see it. About 2.5 to 3 hrs each way drive time from Cottonwood. If you move N from there this time of year you could encounter some serious weather and temps. Trailer Village in the park is open year round, but wouldn't recommend it in Feb.
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Old 02-25-2016, 10:13 AM   #4
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Hi: All...We seem to be doing a lot of cold weather camping here in the south... Not by choice but by chance. Weather can be quite fickle along the Gulf of Mexico. Alf
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Old 02-25-2016, 11:27 AM   #5
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Have cold weather camped, once in Bryce when at 7am it was still in the teens and walking from the truck to the edge my fingers almost fell off. With propane and that furnace never had freeze issues in ET-19.


Tip: We also keep our sleeping bags in the trailer.
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Old 02-25-2016, 03:44 PM   #6
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We are in Benson AZ at the SKP. Was 29° night before last. Ran the heater, no problems other than it was brrrr.
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Old 03-11-2016, 07:20 PM   #7
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We're looking at some nights in the mid teens F and days only in the 40s as we head into northern New Mexico and then southern Colorado. Our 2010 17b does not have spray foam on the bottom. Anybody tried the these temps? If it was getting into the 50s during the day I'd feel more comfortable
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Old 03-11-2016, 07:41 PM   #8
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I camped in January where it RAINED and temps were 37-39 at night, 43-48 during the day. Used the furnace during the day and the Vornado at night. I know that's not the teens you're talking about.... I wasn't hooked up to water, but had plenty of electricity. Have fun and make good memories.
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Old 03-11-2016, 08:11 PM   #9
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...Have fun and make good memories.
Thanks Donna, we have been.

Not so much tonight as Patagonia State Park AZ has turned into one large very loud party tonight. We had to move from a quiet loop to the middle of the apparently loud family designated area as we could only get 2 nights in the first site. Approximately 15-20 people in the site right across the road from us. So much for this place being full of birders this time of year as we were led to believe. We can watch the U of A basketball game on the big screen TV in the next site over.
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Old 03-11-2016, 08:15 PM   #10
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We have camped several times in below 0 F temperatures
The coldest was 17 below zero F. Our water system was drained and winterized. We hauled jugs of water in our vehicle and used RV antifreeze for flushing the toilet. When temps get that low every thing tends to freeze , so we carry very little with us except for frozen food , alcohol and plenty of propane.
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Old 03-12-2016, 07:51 AM   #11
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We have camped several times in below 0 F temperatures
The coldest was 17 below zero F. Our water system was drained and winterized. We hauled jugs of water in our vehicle and used RV antifreeze for flushing the toilet. When temps get that low every thing tends to freeze , so we carry very little with us except for frozen food , alcohol and plenty of propane.
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Old 03-12-2016, 08:08 AM   #12
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Thanks Steve. I'm hoping to not have to rewinterize, but sure would in the temps you're talking about. We may just need to change our plans and stay further south if the forecast stays the same
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Old 03-12-2016, 10:30 AM   #13
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Thanks Steve. I'm hoping to not have to rewinterize, but sure would in the temps you're talking about. We may just need to change our plans and stay further south if the forecast stays the same
The problem for us is we live too far north to get out of the cold quickly. When we left home on or trip south it was about
25 below F ,17 below where we camped the first night and 7 below on the second night.
When we finally got to Alabama there was snow in the ditches.
We have camped for 3 or 4 days when the lows were in the teens and highs in the 30's to 40's .
Living in Wisconsin you realize how short our summers are so we do some Spring and Fall camping to extend the season.
We are up to a sunny 48 deg this morning and I am outside enjoying the warm weather . Ice on the lakes is showing signs of starting to go ,maybe 2 more weeks and it will be gone . Only about 14" of ice is remaining. Been a very mild Winter!!
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Old 03-13-2016, 08:58 AM   #14
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It is truly a strange time of the year .On the North end of our lake they are ice fishing and on the South end they are out in boats fishing. It got into the 60's yesterday , next week we are supposed to get a bunch of snow. Spring is a great season.
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Old 12-24-2017, 11:39 AM   #15
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The problem for us is we live too far north to get out of the cold quickly. When we left home on or trip south it was about
25 below F ,17 below where we camped the first night and 7 below on the second night.
When we finally got to Alabama there was snow in the ditches.
We have camped for 3 or 4 days when the lows were in the teens and highs in the 30's to 40's .
Living in Wisconsin you realize how short our summers are so we do some Spring and Fall camping to extend the season.
We are up to a sunny 48 deg this morning and I am outside enjoying the warm weather . Ice on the lakes is showing signs of starting to go ,maybe 2 more weeks and it will be gone . Only about 14" of ice is remaining. Been a very mild Winter!!
Saw this post from a while back. I’ll be leaving from Wisconsin on Tuesday (12/26), and the temperature is likely to be about -15F. Heading to Arkansas, where it will be warmer, but still below freezing at night. I plan to pretty much dry camp the whole time. Might let the water jug at the kitchen sink drain into the gray tank and empty that before heading back north. I have spray foam and tank heaters. Any suggestions on getting prepped for leaving? Should I run the furnace the night before to warm it up, or just let is stay cold till I stop for the first night?
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Old 12-24-2017, 11:52 AM   #16
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DED, you should be warm in your Bigfoot in sunny Arizona.
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Old 12-24-2017, 12:03 PM   #17
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DED, you should be warm in your Bigfoot in sunny Arizona.
True, but is has been in the low 30's overnight all this week here at Quartzsite. Of course it is hitting the mid 60's during the day.
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Old 12-24-2017, 01:09 PM   #18
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Saw this post from a while back. I’ll be leaving from Wisconsin on Tuesday (12/26), and the temperature is likely to be about -15F. Heading to Arkansas, where it will be warmer, but still below freezing at night. I plan to pretty much dry camp the whole time. Might let the water jug at the kitchen sink drain into the gray tank and empty that before heading back north. I have spray foam and tank heaters. Any suggestions on getting prepped for leaving? Should I run the furnace the night before to warm it up, or just let is stay cold till I stop for the first night?
We ran the strip heater in the A/C and our furnace for about 48 hours before we left Wisconsin .
We got up early in the morning ( 5 AM) , loaded our trailer and hooked up to the tow vehicle .
Put jugs of warm / hot water in a tray in bathroom and kitchen
We then left for Georgia , the temp outside was 25/ 27 below zero depending on where you looked .We drove through Wisconsin down in to central Illinois and camped for the first night . The jugs of water in the trailer were frozen solid, as well as most of the stuff in the refrigerator.
We never tried running the furnace while driving , we wanted to get to our first campsite with full tanks of propane. ( Running out of propane at 2:00 AM is not desireable)
Pre heating the trailer does little good , the heat is gone in a couple hours of travel .
We did the trip South for about 4 years and then decided it just wasn't worth the effort for us. We now make late Summer / Fall trips to places we really want to see , we no longer go someplace just because it's hot .
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Old 12-24-2017, 01:35 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by RF Paul View Post
Saw this post from a while back. I’ll be leaving from Wisconsin on Tuesday (12/26), and the temperature is likely to be about -15F. Heading to Arkansas, where it will be warmer, but still below freezing at night. I plan to pretty much dry camp the whole time. Might let the water jug at the kitchen sink drain into the gray tank and empty that before heading back north. I have spray foam and tank heaters. Any suggestions on getting prepped for leaving? Should I run the furnace the night before to warm it up, or just let is stay cold till I stop for the first night?
We ran the strip heater in the A/C and our furnace for about 48 hours before we left Wisconsin .
We got up early in the morning ( 5 AM) , loaded our trailer and hooked up to the tow vehicle .
Put jugs of warm / hot water in a tray in bathroom and kitchen
We then left for Georgia , the temps outside was 25/ 27 below zero depending on where you looked .We drove through Wisconsin down in to central Illinois and camped for the first night . The jugs of water in the trailer were frozen solid, as well as most of the stuff in the refrigerator.
We never tried running the furnace while driving , we wanted to get to our first campsite with full tanks of propane. ( Running out of gas at 2:00 AM is not desireable)
Pre heating the trailer does little good , the heat is gone in a couple hours of travel .
We did the trip South for about 4 years and then decided it just wasn't worth the effort for us. We now make late Summer / Fall trips to places we really want to see , we no longer go someplace just because it's hot .
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Old 12-24-2017, 04:20 PM   #20
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We've started to run the furnace on low while we travel. Before we tried that we carried the freezables in the truck and didn't worry about the trailer. We did stay in a hotel that time and took the stuff in with us.
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