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| Ladies' Week Part 2: The Adventures of Barbara Hartman |
| Angela White | Tuesday, 02 February, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||
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Barbara Hartman has canoed with alligators in Florida, hiked Root Glacier in Alaska, crossed the Arctic Circle, and viewed Mount McKinley in Denali NP. ... ...  Babara Hartman emailed us last September with five spectacular photos of her truck camping adventures in Alaska. We are complete suckers for anything to do with truck camping in Alaska so we emailed her back for an interview. What follows is the story of a lady who loves the outdoors, travel, and adventure. Barabara seems absolutely fearless about whatever challenge awaits her from loading or unloading her camper by herself to walking across glaciers and paddling past alligators. Here's to you Barbara! We are fans.
TCM: In your email to Truck Camper Magazine, you said, “I bought a used twenty-four foot fifth wheel back in 2006 and, after one trip to the Northwest, I knew it was not for me.” How did you know the fifth wheel was not for you? Barbara: I had always planned to have an RV, most likely a truck camper by the time I retired. I bought a used truck from a co-worker, but found that it would not safely carry the size of camper I would be interested in. The salesman convinced me to try a fifth wheel. He thought it would be easier for a woman to handle alone. When I found a good used one that was the right size for a good price, I went for it. On my first extended trip, which was two weeks on my own, I decided it just wasn’t any fun dragging that thing across the country. I started thinking about truck campers. TCM: Why did you choose Travel Lite? Barbara: That fall I went to the RV show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the models there were too heavy and too expensive for me. The next spring I went to a local RV show in Dayton, Ohio and saw Travel Lite campers. Travel Lite was just what I needed. The model I chose had just the necessities and was pleasantly decorated. I enjoy nature and outdoor adventures and still enjoy the simplicity of roughing it. As a single person who often travels alone, I just wanted a basic truck camper. I was not interested in all the ornate features some campers have. My camper is just under 2,000 pounds dry. I did get the SuperSprings added on to my three-quarter ton truck. With the SuperSprings, my rig handles great.
TCM: What advice can you give other ladies out there who want to get into truck camping? Barbara: I would want other ladies to know that it was not difficult to load and unload the camper on my own. After about ten times, I’ve got it figured out. I knew I could handle the truck camper because I was a volunteer firefighter and EMT for years. The rig is about the same size as an ambulance and the feel of the rig is very similar. If you enjoy the outdoors truck camping is a great way to access the adventure. Give it a try. I teach outdoor backpacking classes and tell my students that if everything went as planned, you wouldn’t have great stories to tell. That’s what makes a trip neat; the unpredictable things that happen. TCM: What are you towing behind your rig? Barbara: I towed my brother’s Sylvan Go trailer. It’s very lightweight and the top folds down and a big tent comes out. There are sleeping compartments on each side and a table. Since I was having people join me in Alaska, I needed additional sleeping quarters and gave us the ability to bring more gear. It’s a fairly new trailer that I saw at a RV show in Syracuse.
TCM: What do you tow with your trailer? Barbara: On the Alaska trip I used the trailer to haul dog food. TCM: Dog food? Barbara: In the winter of 2008, I went dog sledding in Alaska. It was an authentic Alaskan bush experience as I lived with homesteaders and then sponsored them on the Yukon quest dog sled race. The homesteaders invited us to see visit in the summertime. Last spring there was a devastating flood on the Yukon River and it left the homesteaders stranded in the wilderness until July. They needed some help because they have thirty dogs. The Sylvan Go handles about eight hundred pounds of payload so we loaded five hundred pounds dog food and hauled it to our friends in Eagle, Alaska. We spent three days rebuilding their trail between the cabin and the river. TCM: Did you carry anything other than dog food? Barbara: We carried camping and backpacking gear, and our bicycles, but we could have added kayaks to the top as well. The great thing is that you don’t even know it is there. I can’t even see the trailer when I’m driving. I can only see it when I turn. TCM: How did the Sylvan Go do on the roads of Alaska? Barbara: We had a some trouble with the tongue bowing from bouncing around on the rough roads. My brother took the trailer to a welding shop. They welded a splint to strengthen the tongue. Unfortunately, they also melted the wiring and then later we had wiring issues. It made for some of those great trip stories. Sylvan Go later replaced the tongue with something heavier because the original design of the optional extension wasn’t strong enough. It was a relatively new product when we bought the trailer. They are a great company and have since improved the Sylvan Go design. They were willing to send us a replacement tongue up in Alaska. TCM: Are you a trip planner or do you just set out for adventure? Barbara: I definitely believe in pre-trip planning. I enjoy the anticipation of it all. I sent for literature, read books, and researched on the web to make sure I don’t miss anything. The Milepost is a “must have” resource for the Alaska Highway. In Alaska, I only had two deadlines to meet. My nephew and niece arriving in Anchorage, and I had to get home by a certain time. We had a basic itinerary with options but it kept it very flexible. Since we have dogs, I like to be off the road in a safe place for them. I stayed at a lot of campgrounds with an outhouse and usually near some place where you can hike or safely walk a dog. Alaska in the summer has such long days that you don’t need to worry about getting somewhere before dark. I try not to drive more than two hundred miles a day. If I didn’t like a place, I could keep going because it’s still light outside. I liked the government campgrounds. They were very scenic, clean and easy to park a truck camper for sure.
TCM: How far north did you go? Barbara: We drove up to the Arctic Circle. The Dalton Highway was quite an adventure, but it wasn’t as bad as some of the other roads we were on. You just don’t want to plan on going very fast. We had no problems because we were patient, traveled slow, and in no hurry to be anywhere. We timed the Arctic Circle for the Summer Solstice. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so it didn’t work out as I had hoped. On the longest day of the summer, the sun goes down and just kisses the horizon before it rises again. When we were driving back through southern Canada, we noticed that it got dark before bedtime. Of course we noticed this because we hadn’t seen the dark for the previous forty some days. TCM: How did your niece and nephew meet you on your trip? Barbara: Family members often join in on my adventures. My niece and nephew had heard about my wonderful journeys and flew up to meet us in Anchorage. They spent two weeks with us and slept in the trailer. TCM: What interested you in a truck camping trip to Alaska? Barbara: This was my fourth trip to Alaska, but my first time driving there. I have met people in Alaska and have contacts there. In 1991, I flew up and did three backcountry trips with outfitters, then a small boat cruise, and the dog sledding trip. I’ve been planning this road trip for five years and finally just did it.
TCM: Any interesting encounters with wildlife? Barbara: Timing is everything. You need to spend the time. People expect to see wildlife and don’t see much because they rush through in one day. We spent five days in Denali National Park and saw lots of wildlife – grizzlies, wolf, lynx, caribou, moose, fox, coyote, dall sheep, eagle, and more. You will even see Mount McKinley if you’re lucky. I’ve talked to people who had been to Alaska and they can’t believe what we had seen. They didn’t spend the time. For Mount McKinley, your best chance to see it is when it’s sunny and clear. But a cloudy, cool day is the best time to see the wildlife. I really recommend going early in the year. It will be colder, but there will be fewer people and fewer bugs. Go early in the season if you want to see wide open views and lots of wildlife with their young along the side of the road. TCM: When did you go? Barbara: I left Ohio in mid-May and got to Alaska on the first of June. I had no trouble getting campsites and RV parks were not crowded. Often I was one of the first at the campsites in the afternoon. The only disadvantage was some of the tourist attractions in Canada were not open yet, but we caught some of them on the return trip in July. TCM: What was your most memorable moment in Alaska? Barbara: This trip is a toss up between the hike on Root glacier or the scenic flight around Mount McKinley. If you have an opportunity to go on any scenic flight in Alaska, do it. The best way to see Alaska is from the air by helicopter or bush plane. I have been on at least twelve scenic or commuter flights in Alaska. I have landed on glaciers, fjords, sloughs, and gravel bars as well as remote landing strips. TCM: Where else have you been with your Travel Lite? Barbara: I took my eighty-two year old mother on a ten day trip to Florida around Thanksgiving. She’s a real trooper and loved the trip. We stopped at several places along the way and visited friends who spend winter in Florida. We canoed with the gators and manatees. We also visited the Space Center. My first trips were to state parks in Ohio and then did a trip to Niagara Falls and the Adirondacks for a week. I’ve also been on a three week trip to New Mexico and Arizona. TCM: That’s fantastic. Thank you for getting in touch with us. Please keep us up on your truck camping adventures. Barbara: You’re welcome. And I will. |
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