Hello Fellow Campers!
I made a recent trip up to Butano State Park, just north of Santa Cruz, and had reserved a walk -in site, as all of the drive- in sites were taken. It was the first time I stayed in a walk in site, and was aware upon making the reservation that there were no showers in that part of the park.
Normally I would panic, but I have in my possession a wonderful piece of equipment that I first observed at Plaskett Campground in Big Sur, which also has no showers. It is called the ‘Stinky Pete’, an hysterical name given to a tall tent structure used by hunters along with a small portable toilet for those trips out into the wilderness with no facilities.
Since the walk in sites at Butano have a toilet, I used mine instead as a shower stall. I set it up next to my tent, and hung my solar shower bag on a convenient hook in the top of the structure. It has a floor so your feet don’t get muddy, and the floor has netting attaching it to the tent so that any accumulated water flows out, so you have to make sure it will flow away from your tent. It also comes with a plastic mirror and a pouch for your shampoo and conditioner!
I placed a small camp chair draped with my towel just outside the door of the Stinky Pete and have an indoor/outdoor rug that connected it to my tent just steps away. That way I could wrap up in my towel and race into my tent to get dressed without anyone seeing me.
It works like a charm! Neighboring campers were constantly commenting on how much they loved my set-up and were clearly jealous that I could take a shower every day. Here is what it looked like (Stinky Pete on the left):
So, true to the Gourmet Girls Creed, ‘Why suffer? ‘ This is Gourmet Camping! With the right set-up you never have to fear that by the end of a week of camping you are going to smell worse than that bear hiding just behind that nearby tree.
Until next Tuesday, Happy Camping!