Show and celebrate your adventurous truck camping spirit with a 2019 Truck Camper Magazine calendar for just $14.99. Check out which winners made the cover and months and order yours today!
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The Truck Camper Magazine Calendar seems to get better every year! How is that possible? At a minimum, the 2019 edition is one of the best since we started the calendar contest 13 years ago. Thanks to our incredible readers, it’s truly spectacular.
The stories behind these gorgeous shots is as varied and fun as the images themselves. What follows is a behind the scenes about each winning entry. Get your truck camping bucket lists out. You might need them.
We want to thank each and every Truck Camper Magazine reader who entered the contest this year. You may not have won, but your images have inspired our passionate community to find new places, explore old favorites, and keep on truck camping. Thank you!
Cover – Chaucer Ka Chun Wong
Kananaskis, Alberta
2012 Ford F350
2011 Adventurer 810WS
January – Anne Kavajian
Alabama Hills, California
2013 Ford F-350
2004 Bigfoot 25C10.6E
When winter had ended, it was time to leave sunny Southern California and head north for a summer in Washington State. I had my heart set on taking the coastal route the entire way but, due to the previous year’s mudslides in Big Sur, there was a major road closure.
I decided to take the 395 North and come up through the Eastern Sierras. After living in California for eleven years, I had never explored this side of the mountain range. I had been missing out. The Eastern Sierras are an incredible region and Alabama Hills is perhaps its prime jewel.
The road in is uneventful, but then you see the landscape change and it feels like you are on Mars. The massive boulders with the backdrop of snow covered peaks and Mt. Whitney make it a visual stunner. There are an abundance of campsites that are all free. It was a dreamy place to spend a couple of days.
February – Scott and Angela Woodhams
Cotopaxi, Ecuador
2002 Ford F-250
2017 Phoenix Custom Camper
This photo was taken on our drive up the tallest volcano in Ecuador. Chimborazo has a summit of just over 20,500 feet. We made it just above the clouds and up to the first refuse at nearly 13,500 feet. The air was thin and the temperatures freezing, but our trusty Ford and Phoenix Custom Camper combination made the trip exciting!
We found ourselves exploring this beautiful landscape as a part of our year and a half journey down the Pan American highway. Starting in Augusta, Georgia, we drove across the Mexico border and spent nearly four months exploring before crossing into all of the Central American countries. Then we shipped our truck and camper across the Darien Gap into South America.
We seemed to be chasing an eternal summer ever since we took off on our excursion. The weather remained sunny and hot the entire time. This trek to the top of Chimborazo was a welcome cool down. Two hours back down would find us back in hot and humid coastal weather again.
Based on previous ventures into Mexico and Central America, we knew somewhat to expect. Based on this knowledge, we sketched and designed our Phoenix Custom Camper to handle almost anything we would encounter. It has solar power, an indoor hot shower, a bathroom, queen size bed, and a kitchen. All of this is within a hard side shell, which made for a comfortable sleeping in the camper every night. We encountered the unexpected such as alpacas and llamas. Monkeys were also very common.
After having conquered the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, we now have future plans to overland through Canada and Alaska. Then, we’ll ship our rig to Europe and eventually Australia! Hopefully many more pictures with us exploring and living, “Life All Out”. Check us out on Instagram and Facebook under that name. Safe travels!
March – Okan Ataman
Death Road, Bolivia
2007 Dodge Ram 3500
2015 Hallmark Everest
Our family of three, Okan, Donna and five year old, Indigo, are on a multi-year overlanding trip from Canada to Argentina. We stop along the PanAmerican highway to visit places and enjoy local experiences.
The Bolivian Death Road, or Yungus Road, has been on our list of roads to travel since the beginning of the trip. The road is known for the notoriously large number of deaths that occurred when it was the only road between La Paz and Coroico. As late as 1994, there was still one car falling off the cliffs every two weeks.
In 2009, a new super highway was built over the pass. That’s when the Yungus lost all of its bus and trucking traffic. The Yungus has been improved as well, but is now mostly used by tourists and mountain bikers.
Instead of descending from the cold fog into the Amazon town of Coroico, we traversed uphill so that we could stay on the left side of the road that hugged the cliff wall. For some reason Bolivia has decided that for the Yungus road, drivers should drive on the left, not the right.
This causes another type of fear when coming around a turn, because you’re hoping the oncoming drivers and mountain bikers remember this Yungus Road’s specific rule! After all, if I were barreling down this road on a mountain bike, I really wouldn’t want to be on the outside edge, and many of the more nervous bikers did indeed ignore the rule and hugged the cliff wall.
We didn’t know exactly where the iconic photo spot was along the road until we drove past it and saw a group of cyclists posing. After craning our necks to see what they were up to, we saw the beautiful spot and and the iconic view. We decided to turn around on that narrow steep road and get our own photo. While I snapped the photos, Donna held Indigo from racing to the edge to peer over the cliff.
After taking our turn at the scenic view, we completed another nerve racking U-turn on the narrow road where Donna stood outside making sure to stop bikers and cars, and make sure Okan didn’t fall off the cliff. We finished climbing Yungus Road to its end, where the fog and rain greeted us on the last several miles, diminishing our visibility and making the drive more eery. It also made us more reflective as we passed the remaining crosses along the road that mark the many lives that were lost in years previous.
April – Bruce Allison
Moki Dugway, Utah
2017 Ram 3500
2012 Adventurer 910FBS
After spending time in the Cedar Mesa area of southeast Utah backpacking and day hiking, we were heading home to Southern California via the Moki Dugway. This was not our first time on this route.
We flat tow a Jeep behind the truck camper. At the top of the Dugway we unhitched to negotiate the tight turns ahead. As Kathy drove our Ram truck and Adventurer truck camper ahead of me, I foresaw this photo in the switchbacks ahead. I pulled the Jeep over to whip out my iPhone and take this photo. There was no cell service here, so she didn’t even know I was stopped and shooting!
May – Marcos Gadaian
Boundaries of the Kluane National Park, Yukon
2005 Ford F350
2005 Lance 881
We were driving to Kluane National Park, Yukon. I was tired and it was raining. We found this spot and decided to stay overnight. In the morning the sky was clear and it was beautiful!
June – Aaron Wirth
Dalton Highway, Alaska
2016 Ram 3500
2017 Lance 825
My wife and I spent the summer traveling with our two dogs from Oregon to Alaska. We drove the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle following the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. We experienced a lot of rain that made the highway extremely muddy. Although we built our truck camper to withstand conditions like this, we were happy to move on to better weather in other parts of the state. Some of our favorite places were Homer and McCarthy, but Alaska and northern Canada satisfied our desire to experience epic wildlife and the grandeur of mountain scenery. We will definitely go back. Follow our adventures @wirthexploring on Instagram.
July – Chloé and Toby Conroy
Salmon Glacier in Hyder, Alaska
2004 Dodge Ram 3500
2017 Cirrus 820
As full timers for the past five years, we have learned the value of rounding that next corner and seeking out that road less traveled. Building a rig to meet our needs of comfort and maneuverability, we went with the very capable Cummins 5.9 powered Dodge 3500 and the well appointed 820 Cirrus truck camper. With huge insulated windows, modern finishes and intelligent design atop a beast we are able to drop our luxury hotel room into any setting. We also spent 2.5-years in a Northstar pop-up camper which we loved. We drove it from California down to Argentina.
Wanting to complete the Pan-American highway that goes from Deadhorse, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, we ventured north this summer in our new rig. About 20-miles north of the random outpost in Hyder, Alaska, along a well maintained though potholed and occasionally bolder strewn dirt track, is the popular Salmon Glacier lookout. This is often the end of the road to those visiting this spectacular location. Around that next corner, about a mile later, is a smaller dirt track off to the left, cutting back along the hillside.
The first few hundred feet are less inviting, but past that it opens up into a nice solid track with spectacular vistas until a rockslide abruptly ends the adventure. As a less traveled road, we had the place to ourselves and camped right there overlooking the glacier. It was a remarkable introduction to Alaska which we thoroughly enjoyed for the rest of the summer. We completed the Pan-American Highway and did a few laps to celebrate. You can see more from this location and our journeys at Carpe Viam on Facebook.
August – Susan Boettger and Jonathan Harris
Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland
2006 Chevy Silverado 3500
2006 Lance 1191
This picture was taken on Sunday, May 27, 2018. A storm was approaching and several truck campers converged on the Bullpen at Assateague Island National Seashore. We were on the OSV (Over Sand Vehicle) Zone to get the safety of the dune instead of being at the water’s edge. Our truck camper is the one on the foreground. It was neat to see the line of truck campers huddled together. There were nearly forty campers in the row.
September – Derek Hansen
Hurricane Gulch, Alaska
2002 Ford F-350
2004 Lance 1010
Visiting Denali National Park in September is a family tradition. Seeing the animals among the vibrant autumn colors with the enormous snowy mountains in the background is a special bit of eye candy that brings us back every year.
Since we now have a truck camper, this was our first time spending the night at the Riley Creek Campground near the park entrance instead of in a hotel outside the park. We always stop at Hurricane Gulch on the drive up from Anchorage to stretch our legs and admire the view of the highway bridge that is 260-feet above Hurricane Creek.
It was near sunset when we arrived. I hurriedly launched the drone to photograph my wife driving the camper across the bridge in the golden light. The sun sank behind the Alaska Range to the west just minutes later, before I even landed the drone. That night we camped under the stars and saw the Northern Lights. We had road lottery tickets.
The next day we unloaded the camper and drove the truck deep into the park seeing moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, and of course Denali itself. Truck campers get it done.
October – Scott Zeitler
Owl Creek Pass area, Colorado
2015 Ram 2500
2011 Hallmark Ute XS
We found this nice little spot off the Middle Fork of the Cimarron River. It is not far from Silver Jack Reservoir and Owl Creek Pass in western Colorado.
We just happened to find this spot the night before starting a backpacking trip and it was near the trailhead. The next day we hiked the Wetterhorn Basin trail to Coxcomb Peak and Wetterhorn Peak. It was a beautiful couple days. Thanks to all for liking and voting for our picture.
November – Paul Kellagher
Coney Island, County Sligo, Ireland
2008 Landrover Defender 130
2009 Ranger Camper
Coney Island sits in the mouth of Sligo Harbor in the west of Ireland. On an unusually calm day in January we overnighted on the island beside the sea. You can only get off at low tide and there’s a wonderful feeling of isolation. The beach and tidal causeway leading to the island is exposed for a few hours each day at low tide. The crossing is marked by 14 stone pillars and is three kilometers (about two miles) across.
In Gaelic the name is, “Ui Mhuolchluich”, which means, “the island of rabbits”. Local legend has it that, in the last century, the merchant ship Arethusa used to sail between Sligo and New York. Observing many rabbits in New York Island, the ship captain named it after his own Coney Island in Sligo Bay. Or so the story goes… (source; Strandhill.com)
The island is overlooked by the mountain of Knocknarea. On top of that sits a medieval burial chamber believed to be the resting place of Queen Maeve, legendary warrior queen of Connaught.
It’s one of the many spots in west Ireland that we wild camp and seek solitude from the pressures of everyday life. I often spend winter evenings at home scouring high detail ordinance survey maps looking for small tracks leading to old harbors and coves. The west coast can be truly stunning. Facing west into the setting sun you can’t help but think about the expanse of the Atlantic.
December – Doak Walker
Icefields Parkway, Alberta
2015 Ram 3500
2017 Arctic Fox 865
This was on our way back from a 12,000-mile five-month trip from southern Arizona to Alaska. We stopped for the evening along a small creek. There was already a foot of snow. That night brought another 6-inches. It was a winter wonderland and our truck camper made it possible.
