I have to admit, it took awhile to come down from the high of attending the Four Wheel Camper (FWC) Owners Rally held on June 7-9, 2019 in the incredibly scenic town of Beckwourth, CA. If you’ve never been to Beckwourth, it’s located in a large, flat valley of beautiful country within the Sierras near Truckee & Lake Tahoe, at an elevation of about 5,000 feet.
The event’s base camp was stationed at hospitable Diamond S Ranch, with mountains/trails directly behind and expansive landscape to the front. There were some fun on-site activities, seminars & entertainment at the ranch. The weather was spectacular and the showing was strong.
Over 70 individual campers/rigs were present, with close to 150 people attending. In a nutshell, it was a Four Wheel Camper paradise weekend of adventure and comradery!
Four Wheel Camper Hospitality
The event itself is exclusive to Four Wheel Camper owners. Unquestionably, FWC appreciates their customers. A catered dinner was provided on Friday night and the FWC staff prepared and served the Saturday dinner. The FWC staff also prepared a Saturday and Sunday breakfast. The main barn of the ranch contained a long row of tables and benches extending the length for all the attendees to relax and enjoy their meals amongst good company.
Saturday evening featured a 3-piece blues band called Johnnie Harmonica Walker and campfires prevailed at night, where everyone settled down to enjoy the ceiling of stars overhead before calling it a night to their comfy FWC domiciles.
And, Four Wheel Camper Service Technicians Jessica, Ricardo & Matt were even on-hand to help owners with mechanical related questions or fix anything possible.
Bonding with FWC Owners
Throughout the weekend I spent my time taking footage of the FWC rigs in attendance and bonding with their owners to learn about their experiences and ideas. I never get over how kind & pleasant (chill) the community of FWC owners are, and how creative & ingenious they can be with their camper setups. As Mrs. Athalie Lowrance stated while I interviewed her and her husband Dave,
“I think the thing I love the most is seeing how everyone tweaks their campers. You can have so many people with the same model, but they’ve done different things to it. I think it’s great how Four Wheel Campers lend themselves to creativity and individualization.”
Well said Athalie!
Seminar: Off-the-Grid Communication Technology Considerations
Master Overland/Off-Road Expert and head of the Off-Road Safety Academy Bob Wohlers (who also happens to be an FWC owner) was in attendance. He held a very informative seminar on the different technologies, devices & capabilities to consider for safety/communication when in the backcountry. In general, Bob holds some very awesome overland training seminars & courses regularly, as well as different level overland tours/training right out in the backcountry.
Sierra Valley’s Diamond S Ranch
The most visible feature of Diamond S Ranch is it’s main Dutch-style barn, which was built well over 100 years ago (the ranch estimates between 1884 & 1900). It’s since had some modern structural & power updates to accommodate a crowd. Antique relics sit around randomly on the ranch’s landscape.The “Itchy Back Saloon” is integrated into the old barn where FWC provided wine and beer for Saturday evening’s blues jam.
ATV tours
The ranch property extends back into the mountains with miles of trails of varying levels where they offered ATV adventure tours for the event attendees.
Eco-Bike Adventures
Also offered on the ranch are electric bike tours. I can personally attest if you’ve ridden mountain bikes, this is an absolute blast! Basically, these are quality mountain bikes custom fit with electric drivetrains that provide variable assistance. So you can pedal as you would normally do with a mountain bike, you can throttle in some assistance, or even just hit the throttle and take off fully powered. Visit the Eco-Bike Adventures website to learn more.
Future Four Wheel Camper Events
If you’re an FWC owner and are interested in attending future FWC events, they typically hold an annual NorCal & SoCal event specifically for owners here on the west coast. FWC also has a strong presence at the major overland rallies throughout the U.S, where owners will come together and camp out at the event. For more information, please visit Four Wheel Campers Events