My Workamping Experience

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Camphosting in the Northwest

To begin, Washington was the only state I had not visited in the west. So I jumped at the chance to work there. As many of you already know I signed up for the job last January while visiting the annual RV Show in Quartzsite. I just happened upon the Hoodoo booth, since at the time I was not really looking for a job. After talking to Rob (who turned out to be my boss) I was offered the job at Panorama Point on Baker Lake in Northwest Washington. We went over the pay and job duties and I signed up with them. The whole process took about 15 minutes.

Then I had the whole winter to prepare for the journey north. The first thing I did was NOT work but spend time with my friends for a few months. I also took the time to go to Algadones, MX for dental work. Then it was off to see my family over the holidays, before heading north to WA.

VERY wet weather

When I arrived in the campground it was pouring rain and didn’t stop raining for several days. I hoped I didn’t make a mistake and come to a climate that continually rained. However the rain did stop eventually and the weather was a bit chilly but very nice. The summer turned out to be fantastic. It did rain a bit but nothing really bad until August when it poured and poured.

Camp Host at three different campgrounds

I parked my rig in a nice spot in the Panorama Point campground.

We had to drive 100 miles to orientation and then the campgrounds officially opened up on Memorial Day. The campgrounds I was responsible for were Panorama Point, Boulder Creek and Shannon Creek.

Panorama Point has 16 campsite including the host site. Many considered it to be one of the nicest of all the Baker Lake campgrounds. I ran into many people who returned there year after year. I even spoke with one man who’s father had brought their family to Panorama Point when he was eight years old and he had been coming back there every year since. He is not 62. WOW!

Boulder Creek is a small 10 site campground located on Boulder Creek. It doesn’t have any direct access to Baker Lake. It was located a mile from Panorama Point.

That is Mt Baker in the background.

Finally Shannon Creek is a 20 campsite campground at the very northern end of Baker Lake. It is located 5 miles from Panorama Point. It is also down 3 miles of gravel road. This is the view I have twice a day on my way to Shannon Creek.

This is a view from the beach at Shannon Creek. Many campers would park their cars at Shannon Creek and boat over to the other side where there were several dispersed campgrounds.

Most of the campsites are small and perfect for tent camping, but there are also many RV type campsites, especially down by the lake.

I had to make the rounds of all three campgrounds twice a day taking the money from the posts, writing receipts, cleaning pit toilets, firepits and campsites. I also had to charge campers for extra vehicles and sell firewood. It kept me busy most of the day.

Days off

Each camp host was assigned 2 consecutive days off where we were on our own to do what we pleased. That was GREAT! We still had to deal with campers that came to our door, but we could leave the campgrounds completely as I mentioned in previous posts.

However we had to fill in for camp hosts when they had their days off. It made for a long day, but that was only 2 days a week and the days off made up for it.

Company vehicle supplied

Each camp host was supplied with a company truck and all the equipment that was needed. We also had a cage that was filled with firewood for sale. If we needed anything at all Hoodoo supplied it for us.

No maintenace

Hoodoo has a crew that performs all the maintenance. That includes lawn cutting and weed eating. They also did all the repairs on the campgrounds whenever needed. It sure made or life easier.

Would I do it again

You bet!! All the camp hosts on Baker Lake were invited to return the following summer at our final camp host meeting. I am hoping to get the same campgrounds. It was a great job and the pay was good. I was able to save some money while also visiting much of the surrounding area. Washington is a very beautiful state. It was GREEN from the day I got there until the day I left.

Back in the Saddle

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Back in the saddle again

I just today realized how nice it is to have great Internet. I finished up my workamping contract with Hoodoo on Friday and hit the road on Saturday where I spent the first night in Ellensburg, WA. Then I drove to Redmond, OR the next day where I stayed in Crooked River Ranch at the River Rim RV Park. I have stayed here many times so know the area and besides it is a Passport America park so saved some money to boot.

Tuesday morning my destination is Alturus, CA and finally arriving in Reno, NV on Wednesday. I have checkups with my doctors in the area so will probably even get down to Fernley, NV. I may even get to see some of my friends who worked at Amazon in the previous years. Of course I have already decided to NOT work at Amazon this year. I don’t want to go through another winter like last year.

Life without GOOD Internet

Since I arrived at Panorama Point on Baker Lake back in May I realized that Internet or cell phone usage can be very frustrating. I was able to access the Internet using my Wilson Sleek booster, but I was only able to get a poor 3G signal. I could not upload or download any pics and reading other blogs was out of the question let alone post my own. Besides I was working, which took up a great deal of my time.

The worst part was when it rained. Then I had absolutely no Internet even with my booster. Yes, it does rain quite a bit in the Northwest. I had no cell phone usage either unless I utilized my booster. Sometimes in certain areas I could receive a 1 bar signal which at times would be enough to receive a text message, but not enough to make a phone call. So communication was very poor. At least I had a booster unlike the other hosts, who had to drive 10 miles just to make a phone call.

More to follow

I have many pics of my summer I would like to share once I stop traveling and can put together a post. I just wanted my readers to know that I am fine and enjoying not working at this time. I am not sure where I am headed after Reno, but will figure that out soon enough.

Spotted my first bear

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Getting settled into job

I am finally getting into a good routine with my camphosting job. My day is busy but I am able to schedule all my duties without killing myself. I make 2 rounds of each campground checking to make sure everyone has paid and are in their correct sites. Then there is 2 pit toilets per campground that must be attended to. Also each campsite must be cleaned and raked after each camper leaves.

But Washington is so beautiful and it makes my job so much better. Everything is really green up here and when there is no rain it is fantastic. It is so nice to be parked here for the entire summer.

Hi Yogi

I saw my first bear while driving on the road just about a 1/2 mile from one of the campgrounds I am responsible for. He/she was going up a ravine just to the side of the road. I didn’t have my camera handy so couldn’t get a pic. Bummer! I am sure that is not the only bear I will see up here over the summer.

I did come within 10 feet of a deer and he did not appear to be the least bit frightened of me. He just strolled off into the bushes.

Checked out a forest service road

There was a forest service road across from one of my campgrounds so had to see where it goes. I get a lot of hikers wondering where are some good hiking trails so I do my best at finding the trailheads just off of forest service roads. This one was just a one lane dirt road that lead way up the mountain.

I followed this road up about 3 miles where the road ended. The scenery was magnificent.

Relaxing in the sun

This is Chica’s favorite spot. She loves laying in the sun.

Weekends are busy

On the weekends the campgrounds are almost full. This past weekend was a free fishing day. Not sure what that meant but there were certainly a lot of fishing people. Then on Sunday night everyone goes home and it is usually slack through the week. However July 4th is approaching and it should be very busy.

New Jetpack

I just upgraded to the latest hotspot Millenicom offers in the hopes that my connection would improve. I had one of the very first hotspots they sent out. It was a Samsung and there was another upgrade after that which I didn’t get. Using my sleek I do have 4G occasionally but not very often and sometimes even the 3G was quite slow. Not enough to upload pics. I will find out later if there is an improvement.

BUSY, BUSY and a visit from friends

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Very busy

Since my last post it has been a very busy couple of weeks. I am learning each day how to handle visitors, cleaning pit toilets,fire pits, extra vehicles, Day Use areas, etc. etc. etc. It has been very busy to say the least. Even on my days off I find myself working doing this or that.

Covering 3 campgrounds

I am parked at the Panorama Point Campground, but I am also responsible for 2 other campgrounds as well. The first is Boulder Creek Campground with 1 group site and 9 normal sites. They also have 2 pit toilets. Boulder Creek is only a mile down the road so I can usually check on everything there in a short time.

Shannon Creek Campground is 4 miles north with 3 miles of it on a dirt road. This campground has 18 sites with 2 multisites. A multisite is a bigger then normal campsite with room for several cars. Shannon Creek also has a boat ramp with a day use area. This seems to be one of the campgrounds most popular with tent campers although there are a few larger sites for RV’s. Here are a couple of pics heading north to Shannon Creek.

Covering 3 campgrounds makes it a very busy day on the weekend as I usually visit each campground twice a day.

Extra Vehicles

I find I spend a majority of my time checking on those campsites with extra vehicles. One camper reserves the site and then invites a lot of family and friends to join them. This makes for cars all over the place and I have to see that they either pay a day use fee if just spending the day or an extra vehicle fee if they are staying overnight. Some campers can fit 4-5 cars in a campsite. HELP! But most people have no problem paying the extra fee.

Memorial Day Weekend

Most of the campsites are reserved online through recreation.gov. I have to put up signs showing that the person indeed reserved that site. I don’t have to collect any fees for these sites since the customer already payed online. I just have to collect the extra vehicle fees.

Both Panorama Point and Boulder Creek were totally full with only a couple of sites left in Shannon Creek. Friday it poured rain all day and I think it kept a few campers away. Saturday was beautiful and then it rained on Sunday and Monday. LOTS of MUD.

Concrete, WA

Concrete is a very small town and located 19 miles south of the campground. Prior to the Memorial Day, I spent my day off in Concrete doing my laundry. It is a great laundromat and also met one of my fellow host’s who was also doing her laundry and another workamper who works down the road at an organic farm. She was very interested in working at Amazon so I had to fill her in on workamping there.

More pics of Concrete.

It is a rather old town but has most of what I need such as small grocery store, post office and a great little diner.

Mount Baker

On my way to the Boulder Creek Campground you cross a bridge over Boulder Creek.

When driving south on the bridge on a clear day, you have a fantastic view of Mt. Baker.

My friends drop in

This past Monday Marti and Charlie as well as Kay and Paul all dropped in to see me after attending a Lazy Daze Northwest rally. It was really good seeing them but the weather was not cooperating. They set up a tarp in the Day Use area and we had a great Happy Hour. I got lots of tips from everyone for places to see up in this area. After Happy Hour they picked up the tarp and walked it down the road to my campsite where Marti and Charlie are letting me us it this summer.

I wish I had my camera with me as they were walking it down the road. It was a riot. to see. Thank you Marti and Charlie for allowing me to use it. Also thanks for the wine and brewskies.

I am posting this from the Burlington, WA library. There is also a Fred Meyer here as well where I will be doing any major shopping. I will try to post more regular, but I have to go into Concrete where I can get a 4G connection. The connection is 3G at my campsite and that is with a booster, but it is very intermittent.

Home Sweet Home – for 4 months

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Last leg of journey completed

I drove the last leg of the journey to my home for the next 4 months. It was only 51 miles but I was anxious all the way as I wasn’t sure the campground would be opened. When I arrived the gate was open and I just drove right in.

This pic shows the entrance to the campgrounds.

Then I found the host site and started moving right in.

Cloudy and Rainy

When I arrived it was raining and very cloudy. Chica and I walked around the campground and she was fascinated by the Canadian geese.

This was quite different then what she is used to seeing.

Sunny Day

The following day it was sunny and I awoke to some really fantastic scenery. I couldn’t believe how beautiful this place is with snow-capped mountains all around. The next couple of pics were taken about 50′ from my campfire. The lake is right there so I will have easy access with my kayak.

We took another hike around the campgrounds. This is the road leading around it.

The trees are very tall as you can see.

This is a view of the lake and mountains from the day use area.

Day use for fishermen

There is also a day use are for fishermen with a boat ramp

This is a sign that shows Baker Lake. We are at the dot at the very bottom portion of the lake.

There was a mom and pop Canadian Geese enjoying the lake.

Poor Internet

I was using my Millenicom Hotspot attached to my Sleek booster, but I was only able to get a very slow 3G. I tried uploading my pics but it took several hours for just 2 pics and then I would lose the connection every now and then. I had to pick up my mail in Concrete, WA so decided to check if the connections was faster down there. AHA! I got 4G in this small town and my pics loaded very quickly (4G).

Camp Host – Panorama Point

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Camp Host

In case you haven’t heard yet I was hired by Hoodoo to be their camp host at Panorama Point, a NFS campground on Baker Lake in the Cascades in Washington. I got the job while touring the big tent in Quartzsite last January. I have to report there on May 14 so will begin heading up there in the next couple of weeks. I am really getting excited about spending my entire summer in this beautiful spot. I copied a few pics to show you where I will be camp hosting.

It is located about 17+ miles from the small town of Concrete, WA where I will be doing much of my shopping. The next largest city is Bellingham, WA which is about 70 miles from the campground where I will probably do major shopping.

Last state to visit in the west

Washington is the only state in the west that I haven’t visited. I will now be able to fill in that empty spot on my map. At last!!!

Drop on by

If you happen to be in the area please drop on by, say hi and enjoy a beautiful scenic park.

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Category Archives: Panorama Point