Now that we're about an hour from most places in the gorge it was time to upgrade our camping setup. The two person tent with two people and two dogs was believe it or not, slightly unacceptable for our needs. I had been looking at pop-ups for a while, and Aliner was regularly at the top of my list for functionality and ease of travel. We landed on the Aliner Ranger 12 with the off-road axle.
Requirements we had in mind when looking:
Accessibility - We had talked about the possibility of a van or class B RV but knew we wanted to get to some climbing areas that were at least AWD necessary, and occasionally preferable to have 4WD. The price increases pretty dramatically when looking at vans/RVs that would achieve those needs. For us it made more sense to let the tow vehicle be how we access those areas, and the camper can be parked somewhere close by.
Easy Setup - We wanted the pop-up to be comparable to getting to a site and setting up a tent. Pick a relatively flat spot and then have a quick and painless setup. Aliners are great with 4 jack stands to keep the RV sturdy and 2 latches hold the frame down and down require much strength to pop it up. The photos below show the straight forward process:
Towing - Since this would be our first time towing anything I wanted something relatively light and that wouldn't obstruct view to terribly while on the road. The dry weight for this is just under 1,800 lbs and while it is slightly larger than I originally expected behind the Tacoma, it's not too bad.
Features - We knew we wanted to be able to accommodate some of the normal tasks we do when tent camping which include cooking, cleaning, sleeping space for the dogs (and us), and gear storage for climbing and camping. I for sure didn't want to deal with a bathroom or black water system so that was one of the major features we knew we for sure didn't want.
Aliner Ranger 12 Features:
Furnace, 2 way refrigerator, 2 burner stove, sink with folding faucet, 12v Water Pump with 11 gallon tank, hot water heater, outside "shower", vent fan, dual propane tanks (with options to run either or both), deep cycle marine battery, off road axle, 4 stabilizer jacks, sofa bed, and a dinette that converts to a bed as well.
The sofa bed gives us enough sleeping room for the two of us and the clingy dog (Beau) while giving Kosar ample space to hide away wherever he sees fit. At first I wasn't super excited about the table being able to move pretty easily, but it is surprisingly nice to be able to move it outside during nicer weather windows instead of being cooped up inside. The grill also conveniently stores in an inside/outside storage area that quickly and securely mounts to the exterior while also providing a propane hookup. Each access point does also have clips to keep the area open (it took me longer than I'd care to admit to notice).
The camper has definitely been fantastic for enjoying poor days of weather while out. I was thrilled the time it poured rain and we smiled, sipped some bourbon, and raced some Mario Kart on the switch. This might become a slippery slope towards glamping (if we aren't already there), but to run with that thought process we picked up a 3" foam mattress topper, cut it down to size, and have been sleeping better ever since.
We had a few minor inconveniences with the camper but they have all been put to rest for the moment. Our dead bolt would inconsistently lock (mostly from the inside), and it turns out there was just a little resistance behind the latch guard that needed to be filed down. Some of the weather stripping needed to be taped back up to remain in place as the camper pops up and down. Finally we added a switch to the CO and LP detector to be able to kill it without pulling the fuse. We have had two instances of being woken up to an alarm fault, and not looking for any more slow resolutions there.
