Use caution camping in the Chilcotin!

I am so sorry to read this story. Firstly..this is a cut and pasted story, not an actual verified event to one of our members. And I am grateful to member Crowe for pinting out the rather obvious..drunk and leaving keys in the ignition is asking for trouble.

Having said that, is it only fair to acknowledge that there are issues in the Chilcotin between some First Nations people and non-natives. To suggest otherwise would be untrue. Prince George is listed as the most dangerous city in Canada...whew...I didn't know that till I researched this note. That was from a study in 2012, but I guessing it's not a lot better. And most, many, of the stats will have been involving FN people. Just as in many parts of our country there can be serious problems when dealing with First Nations folks.

I travel thru the Chilcotin often and to get there, Prince George and I will say that I have never had any problems. Ever. But...I probably would be very mindful of where I was leaving my RV if I were to be going off hiking or fishing from a remote location.

This whole thing troubles me a great deal but it would be a huge dis-service to pretend that all is rosy. I stop and assist where I see a need and never would I not, just in case. However, I do remember..this was their land and I am polite and respectful, especially to elders. And..if I had an encounter with dudes in a vehicle that were yelling as quoted? I'd leave.


Gary Haupt

Seriously? He had been drinking, left his keys in the truck, didn't wake up when someone stole it and people are SURPRISED? That was a crime of opportunity if I ever saw one. The turkey is the guy who lost his truck!

romore wrote:
It is no worse there than anywhere else but is isolated so reasonable precautions need to be taken for protection from two and four legged predators. Sounds like this guy had a few too many and got careless with his keys.

Well no, I'd say this is much worse than most isolated campgrounds. I've been camping 40 years or so and have very rarely heard of this sort of thing. Around urban areas caution is warranted many times. The one other time I know of such a thing was in the Wind River Range and we personally experienced hostility from the people living in the area. That was more than 30 years ago.

It is no worse there than anywhere else but is isolated so reasonable precautions need to be taken for protection from two and four legged predators. Sounds like this guy had a few too many and got careless with his keys.

Also this...
I spoke to the owner of the stolen pickup and the RCMP officer knew exactly who it was but there is no proof. To add insult the remaining members of my friends group were sitting around the camp the next night when a pickup slowed, backed up and stopped and one of the guys inside yelled " hey white man, how do you like having no truck? F' you" and drove away.
They also got a quad out of the camp the same night as the pickup was stolen.
Apparently they are hitting all of the lakes in the neighbourhood and Palmer is supposed to be worse. They are going through camp in the daytime also.