Welcome to the future we deserve

I'm glad I haven't had experienced that myself. I try and avoid big campgrounds but its not always feasible.
 
I think Ski/Julie had one of the best examples of this problem when they woke up to someone setting up camp in the campsite they were camping/sleeping in-they need to tell that one because it is a perfect example of what we are talking about (and it happened to me too :oops: ).

Smoke
 
A few years ago Ted was camping at Kings Canyon NP and had a side paid for with the camp tag on the post.
They went out exploring and when they came back there were other people camped in their spot.
The other campers even moved Ted's gear that they left behind to show the site was taken.

It's sad these things happen.Don't know the solution to this though.
Frank
 
Common decency is at times too uncommon. We avoid this by avoiding people if possible and if not we make a point to fully occupy our site as long as we want it. Has worked so far. No issues with difficult people on the trip we just returned from.
 
Actually I took some of the information in the article as good news. The person interviewed reported it was now up to about 10% of visitors who had trouble following the rules. Honestly, based on what I see all around me in daily life, I would have thought it was up around 30%.

Last winter we stayed twice over on the north coast in Sonoma County campgrounds. There are no longer ANY first come first served sites or opening up sites from canceled reservations because of the fights that broke out over snagging available campsites. Now, you can get in only if you have a valid reservation.
 
ski3pin said:
Actually I took some of the information in the article as good news. The person interviewed reported it was now up to about 10% of visitors who had trouble following the rules. Honestly, based on what I see all around me in daily life, I would have thought it was up around 30%.

Last winter we stayed twice over on the north coast in Sonoma County campgrounds. There are no longer ANY first come first served sites or opening up sites from canceled reservations because of the fights that broke out over snagging available campsites. Now, you can get in only if you have a valid reservation.
Ditto Oregon State campgrounds, at least on the coast and many Washington Stat3 campgrounds wher3 we would b3 able to snag a spot that wasn’t reserved. I do not like the reservation fees either.
 
We decided to get away from the fireworks on New Years and went to a near by Texas State Park that had good hiking trails and was far from a town. Cars were lined up and they were tuning folks back that did not have a reservation. Even for day use! As a recent article said “we are loving our parks to death”.
The biggest problem I have is with the reservations is people now play the game of book it when you can and then cancel if you can’t go, taking up spots and pushing the timeline out even farther.
 
I know this is a serious topic, but if you are open to the possibilities it is not too hard, out here in the empty lands, to find a place that will not likely ever be competed for. For example, I would be quite surprised if this reliable spot of ours is ever filled up, or even if anyone would ever go there at all: 38.55592, -117.2275

If people need infrastructure of any sort, then the competition and dumb behavior will always be there. It really boils down to avoiding popular places at popular times. On our most recent trip we thought about dropping into Goblin Valley State Park -- it was not surprisingly full up. However we drove on a bit to a lesser known BLM campground and of the thirty-odd sites only two others were occupied. This is the campground where we noted, on our walk around, two husky bearded young men in their late 20s or early 30s camped across from the upper pit toilet bathroom. Later, we observed with some surprise, the same two fellows DROVE about 100 yards to the lower bathroom which had flush toilets, presumably did their business, then drove back to their campsite. We had occasion to use both facilities while camped there and can't say the pit toilet was anything other than clean and well supplied.

Well, happy camping y'all. The reason you have a camper is to get away from the maddening crowds.
 
Tony, that is familiar terrain. And just south of the "Loneliest Golf Course in America." We've never played there and never will. :)

Thirty years ago, especially for right after a storm powder runs on backcountry skis, we had two spots we could assess off of highway 50 near Echo Summit. We lost them both about twenty years ago due to "No Parking". This is due to the sheer number of vehicles now using this roadway and the unfortunate deaths of "snowplay" visitors wandering into the roadway, etc. People just not paying attention. That applies to drivers also.

I could add so many other examples of where we can no longer access, but all this impact - and regulatory responses to address it - is a result of our skyrocketing population. This problem will never be solved and I'm glad I will not live long enough to see the inevitable horrific outcome.

Complaining about the hordes invading our recreation areas is the least of our worries.

Indeed, welcome to the future we deserve.
 
Monte

I have faith in population growth, and decline, curves so well documented by so many studies. We happen to live at a time when humans are reaching peak population. It is a wonder we have any free, open space at all. It is just the fortunate circumstance of living at the edge of the petri dish where resources are thin, I suppose.

I am grateful to be able to access the remote empty places at a time when we have the time, health and means to do so.

I look forward to your further wandering adventure stories.

Tony
 
Cramming more people into fewer and fewer places is going to be a disaster. I'd like to see some serious fines and jail time, not a slap on the wrist but enough where people go, hmmm, maybe I shouldn't do that. Might not need as much law enforcement then.
 
craig333 said:
Cramming more people into fewer and fewer places is going to be a disaster. I'd like to see some serious fines and jail time, not a slap on the wrist but enough where people go, hmmm, maybe I shouldn't do that. Might not need as much law enforcement then.
Who will foot the bill for the incarcerated?
 
For example, I would be quite surprised if this reliable spot of ours is ever filled up, or even if anyone would ever go there at all: 38.55592, -117.2275
I did that once in the early 1980s, sleeping in the back of my 1970 Ford F-250 4x4 on nearby Jett Canyon Road. Got a late start from my home in June Lake, CA and overnighted there. My destination was farther north up Twin River in the Toiyabes. Ended up getting literally washed out of that canyon during a flashflood. Ended up overnighting with friends in the old town of Round Mountain, which wasn't buried by mine tailings as the mine was far smaller then. Photo taken the morning after a sleepless night.
 

Attachments

  • twinnrvr_smoky2.jpg
    twinnrvr_smoky2.jpg
    59.8 KB · Views: 32
. . . I'd like to see some serious fines and jail time, not a slap on the wrist but enough where people go, hmmm, maybe I shouldn't do that . . .
I have advocated for 'community service' instead of fines for a while. Everyone has the same number of hours in a day. Whereas a $200 fine might be trivial to some, 40 hours of picking up trash along the highway would not.

Ideally, grunt work at the place of offense would be best but probably not practicable.
 
I count my lucky stars I was born before the tidal wave of bad behavior. Having lived in Japan I saw a society that cherishes polite behavior, and remarkable demonstrations of this in the world cup where the team cleaned the stadium and locker room! And I mean clean. Here people seem to have ten times more now than before yet seem to feel they must shove to the front of the line. There is a saying in Japan that has its plusses and minuses to it but I do see it as good in this instance... "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down".
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom