I recently got an Instagram post from Lisa Mudie at Mill Valley Yurts in Cornwall, U.K, along with some photos. (They rent yurts and cabins in a rural setting.) I asked her to email me, and she wrote:
“Thirteen years ago we started a rustic campsite in our beautiful Cornish Valley a few miles from the rugged Atlantic coast which has evolved over the years into a crazy mix of hobbit huts, wooden yurts, cabins, and gypsy vardos. All handmade by us using reclaimed materials and all Cornish timber. Our latest purchase is a mobile sawmill and 26 tonnes of local oak … now we can really start building!”
Milt (don’t even know his last name) stopped by here last year and showed us his drawings from travels in Baja. I think they’re really good. Here’s a link (scroll down to get to Baja):
www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/17817-milts-baja
Another link to Milt’s other travels: www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13516-milts-illustrated-journals-in-review
I’ve probably posted this before, but I just ran across it again. 1983 Toyota 4×4, a few years before they had independent suspension for front wheels. The Baja natives preferred it because the front axle was stronger. Air Camping tent, made in Italy; this was before rooftop tents were even known in the USA. Up off the beach, or desert floor, no worry about snakes or scorpions, breezes blew through mosquito netting. I’d drive 12 miles east of San Jose del Cabo, then down an arroyo to beach, then let air out of tires and go another 2 miles on soft sand to a secluded spot where there was surf, fish and a shipwreck. I’d orient the tent so that I faced the water, put up the 12′ by 14′ flea market tarp (anchored by hanging sand bags), and spend 4-5 days in solitude. No need for clothes.
In summer heat, I’d pretty much stay inside the shade from 11 AM to 5 PM; the sunrises and sunsets were exquisite times of day. Go surfing or paddling or swimming, run on beach, wander in desert. The tropical desert in Los Cabos area (just below Tropic of Cancer) is subtle. When you get to know it, you see all kinds of life and beauty therein.
I’d remove all signs of having visited the beach when I left.
Of course, I hear there’s a house there now, and I’ll bet some gringo has blocked beach access.
208827
Unique handcrafted mobile unit. Jay, Rachel, and their two girls spent a recent weekend in it in Big Sur. Jay and I did a joint talk / slide show about camping rigs.
Lloyd,
A tiny house on the move — Russian style — sited along the “road of bones in the Kolima gold fields in Siberia. Bones referencing the Stalin-era prisoners who built it — millions were sent, few left.
Maybe useful for your blog? … I honestly don’t know much about the house. The truck is a Ural 6×6, ubiquitous in this part of the world.
I’m passing through with twelve baby bison in transit from a farm in Denmark to Pleistocene Park near the arctic coast. We made it to the end of the last dirt road in Asia and are now floating down the Kolima river on a river barge piloted by the local mafia boss. 11 time zones from Denmark, already more than a month on the road. Drive, hay, water, shovel bison shit, sleep, drive.
–Luke Griswold-Tergis
(Luke is a filmmaker, sailor, and world-wide adventurer. His backyard chicken coop shack complete with model train in San Francisco was in Tiny Homes, and his sailboat was featured in Tiny Homes on the Move.)
I stopped by Jay Nelson‘s house in San Francisco Wednesday on my way to Santa Cruz (to check out the sliding doors on his shop — for the sliding doors I’m about to build on my curved-roof shed), and this was parked out in front. The body is made of wood, and there’s a copper roof which lifts up.
The vehicle is a Subaru Brat (which, in Subaru-ese) stands for “Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter.” 4-wheel drive.
According to Autoweek:
“The BRAT came with one engine at launch, a 1.6-liter flat four mated to either a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission. Two trim levels were offered, DL and GL. The GL had four headlights, the the DL had two. In 1981 displacement was raised to 1.8 liters while power grew from 67 hp to a whopping 73. In 1983 an optional turbo engine was offered with 93 angry Japanese ponies. Early models had a single-range transfer case; later models came with a dual-range unit. The strange Subaru Baja eventually came to continue the legacy, but only 30,000 were sold in the four years (2003-2006) it was produced.”
We are doing a new book, Hit the Road, Jack: Adventure Rigs, and Jay’s unique vehicles will be featured, along with those of Mike Basich and other creative builders.
Note: if you have anything to contribute, or know of cool road rigs, contact evan@shelterpub.com.
Left to right:
- My 1983 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 with 8-foot bed parked at Roosterfish Cove, Destilladeras (several miles farther out on the East Cape from Shipwrecks). This model did not have independent suspension for front wheels; desert rats preferred it because it was tougher.
- Air Camping tent (made in Italy) on roof. When flap was up, it faced water. Had mosquito netting, mattress, pillow, sheets inside. Ladder holds up cantilevered section. Great for the desert, no worry about snakes, scorpions. I would 4-wheel it out in the desert on my travels in Baja at night, go down into arroyos and sleep. Stealth.
- 9-foot Haut 3-fin board
- Yakima Rocket Box on roof, which contained:
- 10-by-12-foot flea market tarp for shade. There was a solar panel on the Rocket Box that charged up an extra battery. Note sandbags hanging in corners to hold tarp down in wind; no stakes nec.
- fishing rod
I would fly into San José del Cabo, pick up the truck at my friend Chilon’s house, drive out to an arroyo on a ranch, down to the beach, let air out of tires and go 2 miles or so on the sand to Roosterfish Cove. All alone for days. No clothes nec.
This set up was in the Mattole river campgrounds the night before I left on my Lost Coast hike.The couple had just bought it from Tepui Tents of Santa Cruz, California. I used a tent like this for about 10 years in Baja California and it was great.No need to scramble into the back of a pick up truck to sleep. It folds up into a compact, fairly aerodynamic shape on the roof and in the desert, you don’t have to worry about snakes or scorpions.The ladder acts as a cantilevered support for the foldout section, and the mattress and bedding and pillow are inside so that after unfolding it, you just climb in and go to sleep.
I had it mounted on a 4 x 4 Toyota Tacoma and would 4-wheel it to an isolated beach (where there was surf), and face the screened opening towards the ocean.
The different models run from about $1,000 to $2500.
