Innehållsförteckning för The Camping Issue 2021 från Sunset

It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, a lastminute road trip to a campsite a mere 30 miles from my house. I’d had my second shot, the skies were clear after a week of rain, and evening temperatures were in the delightful slumber-inducing low 50s. On the California Parks web site I found the last spot available in Malibu Creek State Park, possibly the closest cushiest campsite in the L.A. area. Here, between the coast and Calabasas—Kardashians notwithstanding—you can commune with herons, hawks, ground squirrels, and coyotes, amble through oak savanna, and wade a stream where steelhead trout swim. It was the sort of outdoor hard reset I needed. I closed my laptop, threw a steak in the cooler, and in an hour we were eating that steak in the quiet of…

Pamela Shamshiri, the founder of Los Angeles–based Studio Shamshiri is an unlikely camper. If you’ve seen her award-winning restoration of the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, glamorous Ojai retreats, or regal estates in California wine country, you’ll be forgiven for thinking she’s not the kind of person who chooses to sleep outside very often. But the Shamshiri glampsite is a thing to behold, a rustic-luxe, casbah-meets-Orvis immersive nature experience. There are sheepskins and kilims layered over Japanese camp chairs from Snow Peak and shish-kebab feasts prepared over portable gas stoves. Word of Shamshiri’s enthusiasm for getting outside traveled to Texino, an L.A.company that outfits Mercedes Benz camper vans. “We’re doing our first-ever custom-designed camper for Texino,” Shamshiri says of the collaboration, which will be released later this year. “It…

The outdoor kitchen at the home of caterer and event planner Kai Loebach does not have walls. That’s the only thing this cooking space has in common with just about any other outdoor kitchen out there. Loebach relies on none of the sensible trappings of a typical backyard cooking area. He doesn’t even own a charcoal grill. Instead, he cooks on a sturdy, industrial six-burner range with a built-in grill. It’s just outside—under a roof but otherwise exposed. “I prefer it,” Loebach says with a shrug, as if putting a stove outside is the most normal thing in the world. “I have six stoves. I like to collect things.” Evidence of these collections is everywhere you look in his lush garden. Stepping through the gate of the home in Nichols…

2019 CELLER TUETS, TOT BLANC “Tropical aromas with hints of citrus pith and salinity on the palate. This white has a balance of savory and aromatic with a nice mineral backbone.” 2019 A BOIRE, NE SOUS X “Fun burnt-sunset-orange hue in the glass. Light on the palate at first, then ends with a spritzy mineral finish. A complex and high-energy skin-contact wine.” 2019 JOAN RAMON ESCODA, NAS DEL GEGANT “One of my favorite producers. A medium-bodied and fresh red wine from Catalunya. On the nose, ripe red fruit and Mediterranean forest. On the palate, cola vibes with hints of earth and spices.” 2018 LA PETITE BAIGNEUSE, JUSTE CIEL “A full-bodied and energetic white wine. Philippe’s high-altitude vineyards are located in Perpignan, 20 kilometers from the coast, resulting in a bright…

THE TIP PACK RIGHT “I always bring my Backcountry All Around duffels for gear, clothes, and dog supplies. They’re extremely rugged, have internal waterproofing, and can be carried like a backpack or slung over the shoulder.”…

While I never considered the outdoors to be an enemy, we’re definitely not close friends. Family trips throughout my childhood included bonfires and, as I recall so clearly, no toilets. My apartment is warm, covered in pink décor, and has a fully stocked fridge and a TV that plays ocean sounds while I sleep. It is hands-down my favorite place. Why would I leave? So when my boss asked me to spend a night camping for this issue, I responded with an “uuuuhhhh” and then an excited “yes!” Realizing I needed professional advice, I called Evelynn Escobar, founder of HikeClerb in Los Angeles. Hike-Clerb’s mission aims to equip BIPOC women with the tools, resources, and experience they need to collectively heal in nature. Evelynn suggested I try primitive camping, but…

Hoka Anacapa Mid GTX These super-lightweight hikers are ideal for summer, with a cushy sole and a load-reducing design for extended forays into the wild. $170; HOKAONEONE.COM Filson Merrell MQM Trail Runner Seattle-based Filson collaborated with outdoor footwear leader Merrell on this waterproof and breathable shoe that combines the best of running and hiking to provide both flexibility and support in tough terrain $160; FILSON.COM Danner Campo Trail 2650 Inspired by the Pacific Crest Trail, the Campo Trail from Portland-based Danner is a hike-ready shoe with a well-ventilated hybrid leather upper and a grippy Vibram outsole, and it hugs your foot like a sock. $140; DANNER.COM New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro Trail V6 The latest addition to New Balance’s Hierro line shaves an ounce off its predecessor and offers one…

Olympia Auset founded SÜPRMARKT in 2016 with the goal of putting an end to food deserts across the South Central area and Los Angeles as a whole. Since then the organization has purchased the recently closed neighborhood health food store Mr. Wisdom with the goal to open South Central’s first organic grocer. We talked with her about access to healthy food and what opening this space will do to inspire others to put an end to food inequality nationwide. Where did you grow up? How did your personal background influence the nonprofit work you got involved in early on? I grew up in neighborhoods across Los Angeles, from South Central to Inglewood to West L.A. I left L.A. to attend Howard University in D.C., and that is where I learned…

The California summer camp experience is just as deep and storied as its East Coast counterpart, but with a Western twist. Kids sleep on rustic open-air platforms at Jameson Ranch camp and feel the ocean breezes in the Santa Cruz mountains at Kennolyn Camps. They spend hours in the cold, clear water at Skylake in Yosemite, unplug at Farm Camp in off-grid coastal Sonoma style, or retreat to the remote woods at Bar 717 Ranch at the southern edge of the Cascade Range. When my kids returned from their first session at Farm Camp, after weeks spent feeding and caring for pigs and goats, gardening, hiking to the Pacific, and sleeping under the stars, they had acquired two distinctly Western traits: Their favorite camp meal was pozole, and they knew…

Of all the chefs working in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Brandon Jew might be the most devoted student of the neighborhood’s foodways. Trained in high Italian cuisine, the protégé of legendary San Francisco chefs Judy Rogers of Zuni Café and Michael Tusk of Quince, Jew, a third-generation Chinese-American, pivoted hard from European traditions in 2016 when he opened his modern Chinese restaurant Mr. Jiu’s. Located in the opulent old Seven Seas banquet hall, where his family celebrated milestones, Mr. Jiu’s offered Wagyu fried rice, dumplings stained vivid shades of beet and turmeric, and other dishes that ever so gently tweaked the food Jew had grown up eating. He opened a sultry cocktail bar called the Moongate Lounge upstairs in a room where wedding banquets used to take place. Mr. Jiu’s garnered…

You could swear you hear the jingle of spurs when you walk the dusty main street of Pioneertown, California, and find yourself hitting the cadence of a gunslinger’s saunter. You pass the apothecary, the potter, and the Likker Barn. Old TV fantasies of a West that never was die hard in Pioneertown, the little Roy Rogers–built cowboy town that served as a set for the Cisco Kid, Gene Autry shows, and other black-and-white Westerns. Virtually unchanged in its 75 years, Pioneertown is an easy drive from Los Angeles and checks the boxes of so many of the clichés, which goes toward explaining why there’s a 50/50 ratio of families and Echo Park hipsters on any given weekend. There’s an OK Corral, its sign and posts framing the mountains and nothing…

THE EXPERT: Kalen Thorien Adventurer and photographer, Salt Lake City, Utah For me, it’s all about the dogs, good camping, and yummy food, so an easy choice is a road trip through Southern Utah that hits the national monuments and state parks often overshadowed by the surrounding national parks. From Salt Lake City, head south to Goblin Valley State Park, where you can immerse yourself in psychedelic hoodoos and excellent camping. As you head west, make a stop at Stan’s Burger Shack in Hanks-ville then continue on highway 24 toward Capitol Reef NP. If you’re feeling adventurous, take a left on Notom-Bullfrog Road to the famous Burr Trail Switchbacks. Continue to Boulder for a mandatory stop at Hell’s Backbone Grill. After you roll yourself out of the restaurant, make the…

Recover 180 A long day behind the wheel or a hard day on the trails can leave you high and dry, and far from a fresh water source. Pack this electrolyte-loaded recovery drink for an instant hard reset to recharge for another day of exploring. DRINKRECOVER.COM Tolago Hard Seltzer A crew of L.A. creatives and athletes collaborated on this grownup version of what all the cool kids are drinking. Keep some chilled in the cooler to crack open when you’ve settled in for the night. TOLAGOHARDSELTZER.COM Equator Instant Coffee Oakland, California–based Equator’s instant coffee is single-origin, Fair Trade, and organic and makes early-morning starts easy and delicious. EQUATORCOFFEES.COM…

Fjällräven Abisko Midsummer Jacket This packable hooded jacket is built to handle summer showers, the beating sun, and crisp morning air. Bonus: It’s made of organic cotton and recycled polyester. $200, FJALLRAVEN.COM Snowpeak Flexible Insulated Cardigan Japanese cult camping brand’s functional and fashionable cardigan is an outdoory classic that never goes out of style. $230, SNOWPEAK.COM Clutch Field Liner K3 Jacket Modeled on traditional military liners, this handsome jacket can be layered with Port-land-based Beyond’s other technical offerings as the destination and weather call for. $150; BEYONDCLOTHING.COM…

THE EXPERT: Chris Clearman, Founder, Matador, Boulder, Colorado It’s near impossible to compete with a road trip from San Francisco down Route 1 toward Los Angeles. The inland highway is a lot faster, but I cannot think of a drive that is more about the road than the destination. Forget where you’re headed and take a couple days to make your way down the coast slowly. Endless incredibly scenic pull-offs, secret cliff enclosed beaches, and vistas that just cannot be matched. Highlights include the Land of the Medicine Buddha in the redwood forest outside Soquel. There’s a retreat center here, but we actually came for the hiking trails. What makes this place remarkable is actually what it lacks—a single sound. If a tree falls here, I doubt anyone would hear…

IT'S three days before the one year anniversary of the California stay-at-home order, and Nico de Leon and Chase Valencia are, for the first time in a very long time, starting, just maybe, to relax. It’s a breezy afternoon, rain clouds blowing by, palm fronds whispering overhead. “It’s almost tropical,” someone says. “This totally could be Manila,” says Nico as he fans oak logs smoldering under a glistening pork belly rotating on a rotisserie, the fat rendering from its crackling skin. It’s not the usual whole roasted pig lechon you see at Filipino parties and backyard barbecues throughout the West, but a pork-belly slab stuffed with stalks of lemongrass and ginger and other aromatics, guaranteeing the perfect ratio of crispy skin, unctuous fat, meat, and flavor in every bite. Mesquite…

THEN Pioneertown was established in 1946 by Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and a dozen more rebellious actors who bucked the Hollywood machine by building their own Western film sets just on the outskirts of union jurisdiction. The Red Dog Saloon was a cornerstone for many scenes shot for Western films and episodes of the Gene Autry Show. It also became the local hangout for the cast and crew. The original owners were Don Kokx and Al Lipps. Starting in 1948, the “offroad” Pioneertown Pass Golf Tournament was founded and is still played today. Pioneertown and the Red Dog Saloon appeared in films such as The Valiant Hombre (1948), The Gay Amigo (1949) and Satan’s Cradle (1949). It caught fire in 1959 but didn’t burn down and was quickly repaired. Dazzlin’…

Keep Your Cool The Yeti Roadie 24 is our favorite road-trip cooler. It’s light but sturdy and well-insulated, can perch in the footwell of your vehicle to keep snacks chilled and within reach, and is tall enough to accommodate bottles of wine. $199.99, YETI.COM Grill On the Go This handsome and lightweight portable gas-powered Kuchoma grill from Primus lets you spark it up and get straight to cooking, without having to worry about packing in and cleaning out pesky pans and skillets. $189.96, PRIMUS.US Board Certified Prep and serve your meal with this compact kit that includes a sharp scaled-down chef’s knife, an oak board that can serve as a plate, and washable case that expands your prep area and keeps it all tidy. $69.95, PRIMUS.US…

EXPERT: Tsalani Lassiter Wildlife and Landscape Photographer, Lake Tahoe My excursions are all about the epic views, so a trip through the Pacific Northwest is ideal for me. In this corner of the country, we get to see mountain peaks, waterfalls, lakes, and forests. My first stop would be Lassen National Park, where there are endless day-hiking trails. Redwood State Park would be next on my list. The hikes are fairly easy and those gargantuan trees provide plenty of shade for escaping the summer heat. As we head north, Bend, Oregon, is always a nice pit stop. It’s a cool town with local breweries and coffee shops. There are also many scenic sites in the vicinity, such as Smith Rock State Park. Here you will find unique rock formations that…