Last weekend Ben and I hosted the first ever DirtRoadTrip Summer 2015 Camp Out and we were able to meet readers of the site from all over the Mid-Atlantic.
With the help of our contributor David, we were able to locate a top-notch camping spot in the George Washington National Forest. After a survey mission that was carried out by some local ADV riders and our own Jason Grogg, we determined that it would be large enough to accommodate at least 25 vehicles and tents. The only catch was it would require some work to make it comfortable (it was overgrown and needed a haircut).
Aerial View of Camp DRT – Courtesy of David Hopewell
Ben and the rest of the crew left Friday afternoon with the goal of securing the campsite and starting the long process of mowing down the overgrown grass and briers. Thanks to Ben’s expert landscaping skills, he was able to clear the entire campsite after a few hours of work while I processed firewood in my signature ExOfficio’s and Jason made sure to find enough time to brush his teeth.
When Saturday afternoon came around, the temperatures were starting to heat up and we were worried that only a few people were actually going to show up and we were glad we had shade from our numerous awnings (thanks Tony). At around 3PM all of the trucks started rolling in, and we went from a open clearing to a tent shanty town.
Now by shanty town, I mean full on luxurious overland style camping setups. While we thought we lived the overland life of luxury in our OzTents, these guys showed us up with their Kodiak canvas tents and pop up trailers. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any more awesome, Chris broke out a generator and fans to help us beat the hot as hell July heat.
In a DirtRoadTrip first, we even had a few guys come out on bikes. Tony dragged his Honda Grom along for the trip and Paul brought out his Ducati, proving that not all Ducati owners are douche bags afraid of hitting the dirt.
We finally received a reprieve from the heat when a rainstorm decided to roll in and stick around for a little over and hour. All of the tents held up admirably well during the storm and Chris saved the day again by covering the fire wood and the fire pit with a tarp. We took advantage of the cooler weather to knock back a few more cold ones and check out each other’s rigs.
As the night rolled in, we all had dinner and then settled into some comfortable chairs for an evening around the fire. Everyone shared stories, planned trips, talked shit about Land Rover guys, and I gave a pretty terrible speech. Luckily for us, a few of the guys brought out their photography gear and really took some amazing photos. Our favorite is featured in the banner (and below) and was taken by my good friend Agung.
Courtesy of Agung Fauzi – Seize the Day Photography
The goal of the Summer 2015 Camp Out was for us to be able to not only meet some of our readers, but it gave us an opportunity to thank everyone for supporting the site (through hot dogs and beer) over the past 2 years. It also proved to be a great forum for getting feedback from our readers on what they enjoyed, and what we could do better.
We’re already in the process of planning the next Camp Out. We hope to see plenty of familiar faces and we’re looking forward to meeting plenty of new ones.
To everyone that came out this year, thank you for coming and being a part of DirtRoadTrip. We were humbled by your strong showing and are grateful that all of you derive enjoyment out of our website.
When is the summer camp out going to be?
We’re hashing out details but we’re shooting for June.
that looked like a lot of fun. how far was it from northern virginia? did you all go on trails together, or just hang out?
Tron, it was about a 3 hour drive to the campsite from Northern Virginia. A few groups headed out throughout the day to run some of the local trail. Just for future reference, we were about an hour drive from Flag Pole, and right next to Second Mountain/Dictum.