Jim Davis: Preserving the Desert Light

After decades of rock climbing, Jim Davis set out into the southeastern Oregon desert to capture the light of endangered wilderness. ... ... ... ... ... ...













There are many paths to a truck camper.  As total newbies to RVs, we researched all of the RV types and discovered that truck campers offered the best solution for what we wanted to do.  Many truck campers we’ve interviewed originally bought a towable or motorhome only to find that they were restricted from the very places and activities that brought them to RVs in the first place.  And we often meet people who started camping in tents or truck canopies and stepped up to a truck camper for more capability, comfort, and luxury.

Jim Davis fits in this third path.  Once Jim stepped up to a truck camper, he was able to take the places and activities he enjoyed to the next level.  Taking us up the rock faces of Oregon and deep into the winter desert, here’s Jim Davis.
























 

TCM: Tell us about your camping before you bought your truck camper.
 
Jim: I’ve been an active outdoors person since my backpacking days in early 1970s.  I started out sleeping in a crappy sleeping bag on the dirt and then moved up to a cheesy tent.  As time passed, the trips got more involved including bivouacs in hammocks on rock walls and thirty days on glaciers in Canada.  Eventually I got into exploring the Oregon desert and stepped up to sleeping in a truck canopy.  I had a long history of camping outdoors before I finally bought my Palomino truck camper.

 

TCM: What was it that brought you to a Palomino camper?
 
Jim: I’ve been climbing, backpacking and car camping for about thirty-seven years.  Over time, you just start thinking about your systems in an effort to make your trips more comfortable and pleasant.  Today, I don’t do as much climbing and have taken to solo photography trips.  These photography trips often require getting up early in the morning and coming back to camp well after sunset.  After years of experience with my truck and canopy rig, with the usual cooking on the back of the tailgate in a snowstorm, or trying to cook in the cab out of the wind, I found myself wanting something more sophisticated.
 
I have a friend who also owns a four wheel drive Toyota truck and enjoys exploring the Oregon desert.  With our Toyota trucks, we go to places that are really out there.  He switched from a canopy to a Four Wheel Camper about ten years ago.  When I saw his Four Wheel Camper it was intriguing, but I wasn’t ready to commit to the level of luxury that goes with brand a new camper purchase.





























That’s when I started watching for truck campers on my local Craigslist.  After looking for a few years without luck I had pretty much given up.  Then one day after not looking for a few months I noticed a pop-up Palomino truck camper at a reasonable price and with some intriguing modification work done to it.
 
I had my friend go through the camper and it looked to be in great condition.  I thought to myself that now was the time to do this,  and if I didn’t end up liking the camper, I could always sell it and not lose on the deal.

























 
TCM: That was a lucky break finding the camper like that.  Tell us about your maiden voyage.  It was on New Years Eve?
 
Jim: That’s right.  I took the camper to a spot I go to quite a bit, the east side of the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon.  It’s beautiful with Steens Mountain dominating the western sky and the Alvord Desert covered in snow.  On the east side of the Steens, the winter weather can be less severe and the whole area has incredible views.  I’ve gone on a number New Years Eve trips with friends now for about four or five years.  We always meet out in that area.  Some years it is stormy with wind and snow and sometimes amazing mild, very unpredictable.
 
Anyway, I got out of town late and decided I wanted to camp in the Alvord Desert with the full-moon bringing excellent illumination.  When I arrived around 11 pm, I popped up the camper roof, turned the heater on, and did my photography thing with a warm camper to return to; I was hooked.

 

TCM: That sounds beautiful, and cold.  What was it that made a pop-up camper right for you?
 
Jim: I went for a pop-up camper because of my friend’s research.  I liked the idea of a lightweight camper that offered better fuel mileage.  I also like the smaller and more fuel efficient trucks like my Toyota.  
 
My photography takes me on trips to funky out of the way places mostly on BLM lands.  I prefer a maneuverable vehicle for these places.  In some locations I couldn’t imagine having to turn around with something bigger than my Palomino pop-up.  The rig is really well adapted for off-road desert trips and has made my photography trips much nicer.
 
As for the cold, winter is great because it’s lovely to go to places without people.  Most people go skiing, they don’t go out to the desert.  My group of friends took to the desert because we were tired of seeing people all the time. Even climbing has gotten really popular and a lot of our old haunts are just crawling with people.  
 
I did upgrade the furnace of the camper to one that’s more efficient and quieter.  I’m also working with a friend to find ways to place insulation in the soft wall to make the camper a bit warmer.  I may also add a catalytic heater.

 
 
TCM: Where do you like to camp in Oregon?
 
Jim: I live in central Oregon and moved here when I was twenty-eight for the climbing opportunities.  At the time, the desert was far from my mind.  I just wanted to get away from the rain on the west side of the Cascades and was focused on climbing.  At a certain point, I realized I wanted to explore my world a little more and started to visit southeast Oregon including Steens Mountain.  My interest was peaked as I found more obscure and remote places that hardly anyone gets to see.
 
I have a pretty strong environmental ethic and as I educated myself about the American West and it’s development for mining, grazing, or water use.  I began to focus my photography on areas that are threatened by this development and also on lands under consideration for protection as wilderness areas.  My volunteer work with the Oregon National Desert Association, a desert protection group based here in Bend, eventually led to helping them start publishing their Wild Desert Calendar.  This provides a way to feature these endangered places in Oregon and help people to connect to them.



























 

TCM: On your website it says that you build green and energy efficient custom homes.  With your expertise in that industry, how could the truck camper industry make their campers more green and energy efficient?
 
Jim: The truck camper industry could push towards lighter construction materials.  For example, molded composite pop-up camper roofs.  LED lighting is certainly a big thing.  I’d like to switch all of my camper lighting to LED lighting for dramatically less battery drain.  I see rising fuel costs driving design for more aerodynamic, lighter and perhaps smaller campers with lower impact energy efficient trucks.  For example, they’re using smaller and more fuel efficient diesel powered trucks with campers in Europe.
 
TCM: Is there anything you’d like to add to your interview?
 
Jim: As I mentioned my volunteer work for the Oregon National Desert Association has for me become a big motivator.  I really think in some small way we have to give back to the landscapes we all love so much to spend time in.  Whatever one can do, volunteer, contribute funds or by your vote, every little bit helps.  To visit my blog, go to www.desertdustimages.blogspot.com.