Camping Altercations?

JnJnKatiebug wrote:

jdog wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
When our kids were still at home my brother and I always took our families in the fall to the NF. We would camp and ride 4-wheelers for a week. We always stayed at the same spot at the end of a dead end road. We went up one morning and put up our tent and put the chairs around the camp fire ring then headed back for the travel trailers. My brother was first back because he lived closer. When he got there the tent and chairs were thrown out in the woods and three men and three trailer (from out of state) were set up in our spot. It got really ugly and they were threatening him. He told them they better sleep with one eye open. He was still mad the next day and went back with a couple of friends but they were gone. They had told him they were staying for a week but I guess they changed their mind. We always teased him about it, said you might be a redneck if you ever got in a fight over a camping spot.

Per the National forest service rules, you are required to occupy the site and not just leave something there to "reserve" the spot. What did you expect to happen?

That's nonsense. We had occupied the site by unloading our first load. You are saying you cannot leave camp. We setup camp (tent, chairs, firewood, tables)and went after the rest of our stuff. What about people that have camp setup and go out to hunt. Is it OK to throw their stuff out in the woods and move into their site.

Sorry, I was thinking of a Forest service camp site. Were you setting up a camp that was out in the woods like a deer camp and not a Forest service a camp site?

A Friday night and in comes one camper, a couple of sketchy looking women and a brood of dirty children. Out comes a folding table completely covered with a variety of liquor. This can't be good.

Fast forward to midnight when one of the dads and his girlfriend came looking for his kids. Apparently, it wasn't the mother's weekend. Mix in some yelling, crying kids, the girlfriend, a lot of liquor, and we had one major cat fight on our hands. Well, every male in earshot jumped into action to pull the tangled mess of women apart, including my husband. Wow, he can be intimidating! Enter the cops. The dad took the kids, the cops took the mom, and the camper cleared out too, except for a huge mess left behind.

That made for a very interesting breakfast conversation.

jdog wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
When our kids were still at home my brother and I always took our families in the fall to the NF. We would camp and ride 4-wheelers for a week. We always stayed at the same spot at the end of a dead end road. We went up one morning and put up our tent and put the chairs around the camp fire ring then headed back for the travel trailers. My brother was first back because he lived closer. When he got there the tent and chairs were thrown out in the woods and three men and three trailer (from out of state) were set up in our spot. It got really ugly and they were threatening him. He told them they better sleep with one eye open. He was still mad the next day and went back with a couple of friends but they were gone. They had told him they were staying for a week but I guess they changed their mind. We always teased him about it, said you might be a redneck if you ever got in a fight over a camping spot.

Per the National forest service rules, you are required to occupy the site and not just leave something there to "reserve" the spot. What did you expect to happen?

That's nonsense. We had occupied the site by unloading our first load. You are saying you cannot leave camp. We setup camp (tent, chairs, firewood, tables)and went after the rest of our stuff. What about people that have camp setup and go out to hunt. Is it OK to throw their stuff out in the woods and move into their site.

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
When our kids were still at home my brother and I always took our families in the fall to the NF. We would camp and ride 4-wheelers for a week. We always stayed at the same spot at the end of a dead end road. We went up one morning and put up our tent and put the chairs around the camp fire ring then headed back for the travel trailers. My brother was first back because he lived closer. When he got there the tent and chairs were thrown out in the woods and three men and three trailer (from out of state) were set up in our spot. It got really ugly and they were threatening him. He told them they better sleep with one eye open. He was still mad the next day and went back with a couple of friends but they were gone. They had told him they were staying for a week but I guess they changed their mind. We always teased him about it, said you might be a redneck if you ever got in a fight over a camping spot.

Per the National forest service rules, you are required to occupy the site and not just leave something there to "reserve" the spot. What did you expect to happen?

We were in Charolete NC. for a nascar race several years ago. Met a couple of
guys in the sight next to us. Said they left the Wives & kids at home for a
brothers week end. As it would be it was a very cold race.
The next morning we were awoken to a lot of noise. Come to find out from the
police that when the wives didn't here back from them they called the track.
The guys had put a habace gin the tent to stay warm over night. End of story

imadtchmn wrote:

I put in a kill switch for my daytime running light just for that very reason

Sorry no one told you after 16 years that on GM trucks of that vintage, you just apply the parking break one click and it kills the day time running lights. Not enough to engage the parking break but the dash indicator light will go out indicating the day time running lights are off. Hans

TucsonJim wrote:
I think my son had the worst experience I've ever heard of.

He was camping at high elevation in the national forest of Utah. He took a hike, and met a couple and three kids while hiking in. While fishing, a terrible lightning storm came up, so he took shelter as best he could. As soon as the storm passed, he hiked back to the parking area. Both of the adults that he'd met were laying near the parking lot and had been fatally injured by a lightning strike. All three of the kids were injured. He used his cell phone to call for help, and after the authorities arrived, he returned to camp very shaken up.

Earlier, before he went fishing, the couple in the campsite about 50 yards away had been arguing, but he didn't think anything of it. When he returned to camp, the woman had been shot to death and the husband was gone. He raced back down to where the authorities were taking care of the lightning victims. Dozens of law enforcement personnel arrived around the campground to investigate the crime scene. Unfortunately, my son had his family with him, and although he tried to protect the children from seeing anything, they still understood enough to be traumatized.N The whole family needed some counseling after these events, and they were pretty anxious during their next few camping trips.

They can all joke about it now as the recall the camping trip from hell, but that's an experience I never want to endure.

You win!

I think my son had the worst experience I've ever heard of.

He was camping at high elevation in the national forest of Utah. He took a hike, and met a couple and three kids while hiking in. While fishing, a terrible lightning storm came up, so he took shelter as best he could. As soon as the storm passed, he hiked back to the parking area. Both of the adults that he'd met were laying near the parking lot and had been fatally injured by a lightning strike. All three of the kids were injured. He used his cell phone to call for help, and after the authorities arrived, he returned to camp very shaken up.

Earlier, before he went fishing, the couple in the campsite about 50 yards away had been arguing, but he didn't think anything of it. When he returned to camp, the woman had been shot to death and the husband was gone. He raced back down to where the authorities were taking care of the lightning victims. Dozens of law enforcement personnel arrived around the campground to investigate the crime scene. Unfortunately, my son had his family with him, and although he tried to protect the children from seeing anything, they still understood enough to be traumatized. The whole family needed some counseling after these events, and they were pretty anxious during their next few camping trips.

They can all joke about it now as the recall the camping trip from hell, but that's an experience I never want to endure.

Well, there have been several occasions where I could have ended up in some kind of altercation. However, I carry a gun, AND my camping house has wheels. I've always simply decided to LEAVE and find another place to stay.

We're seasonals and a couple yrs ago a weekender was walking his dog who decided our fire pit needed washing and our lawn needed some fertilization. The guy smiled and waved to me and walked off. I quietly followed him to see where he was camped, went back to my site and scooped up the pile and calmly walked into his site a droped it at his feet and said you forgot something and walked away. Never seen him again.