Eastern Sierra Part I: Dispersed Camping, Alabama Hills, RAV4 Overlanding, Highway 395

This is Part 1 of our Eastern Sierra Trip over Memorial Day weekend 2021. We started near June Lake, then headed down Highway 395 to Alabama Hills. We explored the back roads in search of a campsite & enjoyed the amazing views of Mount Whitney.
Questions? Thoughts? Hit us up in the comments section!
Gear:
GoPro Hero9: amzn.to/3gN27FU
Folding Table: amzn.to/3j3evDp
Tembo Tusk cooking system: amzn.to/3qhWseg
Luminoodle Light: amzn.to/3wNYAgj
Dometic Fridge: amzn.to/3gNF1z7
Dometic PLB40 Battery: amzn.to/3wQbLNR

[@randybeadling6362]

Love seeing the TRD in action. Keep it up!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Yea! Thanks!

[@Davidanderson-zu9wn]

Love and appreciate your content!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thank you so much for watching :)

[@tandycalifornia]

Love that area! Thanks for sharing!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Eastern Sierra is amazing. Thanks for watching!

[@robbergstrom943]

Stunning landscapes. Super cool you found a secluded spot. Memorial Day was nuts!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

It was nuts! There we people around every corner at Alabama Hills. But once we left the more popular spots it was more manageable. Part 2 of the video will show the rest of the trip!

[@lolotus4borderless]

Awesome as usual.great footage!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thank you! It is easy to get great footage when the scenery is as beautiful as the Eastern Sierra :)

[@adventureineverydirection3210]

I’d love to visit the Alabama Hills and be able to see some snow on Mt Whitney. You’d think there would be some in May when you guys were there!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Yea that year was definitely not as snowy as this year! Im guessing there will be plenty of snow up there for a few more months this year.

[@mikeyy_4]

Awesome! Where did you guys camp exactly? Thanks for sharing!

[@LunarLanderXplor]

We camped in a few different locations on this trip! There are so many dispersed campsites along the 395, you kind of just have to explore & look for a spot that works for you. At the beginning of this video, we were across the highway from June Lake. There is a big area with a bunch of dirt roads & potential campsites there. Later in the video, we were at Alabama Hills, which has become pretty popular & crowded. Hard to find a campsite there on weekends now.

[@niteranger6376]

I was wondering what road do you take off on 395 to get where you went to... Loved the video . Oh yeah what tent are you using? Love the set up! Tks Frank

[@LunarLanderXplor]

The place we camped is right across the highway from June Lake. The other parts of the video are further south down the 395. Our rooftop tent is the iKamper Skycamp Mini 2.0! We love it. Thanks for watching!

[@davidwelty9763]

Epic music during drone sequence.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Hell yea, thank you!

[@HotSizzleTV_]

I am getting the Rav4 xse hybrid plan to camp just like you guys I’m looking forward to adventures in the rav I am glad you talked about the rav how it does on trails, this is a good middle ground. If I get serious into this I might look into the 4Runner, but the rav fits everything and daily life.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thanks for watching! Yes, agreed on the 4runner if you are serious about more difficult off road trails. However the RAV is great for easy off road trails & forest roads.

[@kevinpatrickcrone4218]

Love watching your adventures! Did you use spacers to raise the clearance of your rav4, looks like you have crazy good height on your rig.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thanks for watching! Yes, we have the Rough Country 2.5" spacers + stiffer rear coils from rnofitfabrication.com/store It has made a huge difference. You can see in our earlier videos we were sagging a lot in the rear when carrying a lot of weight.

[@kevinpatrickcrone4218]

@@LunarLanderXplor ohhh I keep seeing this coming pop up! Good stuff. Did you notice any large difference in vibration roughness when driving highway?

[@LunarLanderXplor]

No vibration or anything like that with the spacer lift. However, the stiffer rear coils do create a stiffer ride, especially when the trunk is empty. When we are carrying weight (going camping), its pretty normal. Either way, it has been totally worth it, and most of the time we don't even notice any difference in driving.

[@JDS-Dalton]

Absolutely beautiful out there. I'm jealous of you west coasters. Out here on the east coast, I go down one trail, and a few miles in, run into a gate, then have turn back, get back on pavement for about 30 minutes to the next 3-5 mine long trail before I get to a closed gate.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Ah, yes the West Coast has much to explore. So much public land that is generally open to adventure & camp! Not too familiar with East Coast options, but I bet there are offroad / camping groups that may have some tips for places to try out there!

[@JDS-Dalton]

@@LunarLanderXplor planning on getting out there one of these days to explore. Used to live in the PNW, and I miss it. And I'm actually a member of one of local softroading groups, plenty of trails in my state, but they're all separated by gates.

[@justlivelovelaughfrugally]

What cooler is that? That’s nice. Great videos also. You always have the best food too

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thanks! Our refrigerator is the Dometic CFX50. We power it with a Dometic PLB40 battery & solar panel :)

[@ABSVabeautifulsunsetvlog]

So I spend a lot of times on dirt roads (in my 2019 RAV4 Adventure) and consequently my brakes have developed a pretty consistent squeal when braking (specifically at slow speeds) in the city. Do you guys ever have this issue with your RAV? Congrats on 2K subs guys!! That’s awesome.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thanks! No we don't really have any squeaking break issues that we have noticed. So far the car has been doing great on & off-road.

[@petenolis5171]

Do you have the appropriate coordinates for that spot on the other side of 395 from June lake where you camped. Looks great! Thanks.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

I don't share GPS locations on KZbin to avoid areas getting over used. However, if you head out to the June Lake area, across the 395 there are tons of camping areas. If you explore around, I'm sure you will find some amazing places to stay.

[@kaiarevalo2952]

No camping skills at all so pardon my question lol What navigation device is bets to use for no signal or remote places? ...also the gas,what to do to ensure you have enough?

[@robbergstrom943]

When exploring off grid we like to use an iPad mini (must have cellular but no sim or plan needed) with preloaded maps in GaiaGPS and the built in GPS keeps track of our position and helps keep us on our uploaded tracks, record routes, and mark waypoints. We tried some dedicated Garmin GPS products but find the iPad solution a better experience.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Completely agree with Rob B's reply on the iPad Mini. Personally, we use our cell phones & Android Auto, with pre-downloaded Google Maps for the areas we plan to explore. If you have maps downloaded, the GPS still works. We usually download maps on both Google Maps and Gaia GPS to be safe. In terms of gas, it just takes a bit of planning. If we are traveling for several days in the backcountry, we have to plan for gas stops along the route. If we are just going into the forest or desert, we make sure we use less than half our gas on the way in so we have enough to get out lol. Many "overlanders" recommend bringing extra gas in a gas can. We have not had the need to do this yet.

[@robbergstrom943]

@@LunarLanderXplor I wish our car had CarPlay or Android auto! Our 2019 Lexus GX has ancient 15 year old tech, well behind the RAV4. It’s tough to carry extra fuel if you have a small vehicle with a roof rack that is filled by a rooftop tent. This is one of a few reasons we’ve held off on getting one. We add rotopax with fuel on top for long treks like the Mojave road and Death Valley. But every time our friends roll in and set up camp in 5 minutes we question our ground tent. That said, I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve saved folks with our spare gas over the last few years. It also just reduces range anxiety.

[@jlj209]

the undercarriage of the RAV looked like it was sealed by large skid plates. Is that a factory set up?

[@LunarLanderXplor]

The factory set up does not have skid plates for the 2020 RAV4s. I think 2021 onward, the Adventure / TRD came with a factory skid plate. Ours is aftermarket and has saved us a few times!

[@davidfantle6721]

I like what you're doing, some nice footage, good information, nice editing pace and music. If you don't mind my saying, the grading of your non-drone footage looks weird. Very flat, and with a strong orange or red color cast. It doesn't fit with the much punchier and cooler color temp of the drone footage. Did you shoot in a flat profile and not grade it, or apply a strange LUT to it in processing? Keep up the good work :)

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thanks! Yes the non-drone footage in this video is all shot on a GroPro with the flattest settings possible on the camera. We did add a warm tone LUT to the video in post production to help it pop a bit more, but perhaps not done properly. We did not really color grade each shot individually, just applied a LUT to all the gopro footage. Probably could spend more time making it look a bit better next time. Ultimately we have no experience with video editing and we are just learning & improving as we go. Thanks for the tips!

[@davidfantle6721]

@@LunarLanderXplor I figured it was something like that. Good that you're trying things out and looking for a 'signature look' to your videos.

[@zerokool-2058]

Living in the east coast. Is a little hard finding some trails that I can go on.. I’ll keep on googling I guess.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

There must be other youtubers out on the east coast that have found trails! Try checking with forest park service also.

[@heckyeahimcrzy]

What kind of iKamper do you have?

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Ikamper mini 2.0

[@Sergiop4x]

You only used a gopro for this?

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Yup! For all the handheld shots in this video we used a gopro hero 9. Aerial shots are a drone of course. In other videos we have also used a mirrorless camera.

[@zerokool-2058]

Anyway you doing gear review and walk around to can get an idea.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

👍

[@zerokool-2058]

Also wish my RAV4 had a bigger gas tank.. would like it to be around 17-19 gallons.

[@LunarLanderXplor]

That would be nice! Just gotta bring an extra jerry can of gas if you are planning long trips with no gas stations!

[@zerokool-2058]

@@LunarLanderXplor Working in adding a roof rack and adding extra fuel for that reason. I’m used to having vehicles with 24+ gas tanks that’s why. Still like my RAV4.

[@albertgee92]

I love your drone footage! Diana is very beautiful as well :)

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Thank you! Yes she is :)

[@claudiufloroiu7957]

Where does Diana come from?

[@LunarLanderXplor]

Bosnia & Herzegovina :)