Camping Altercations?

I have witnessed some amazing domestic altercations during my camping years, especially back when most everyone camped in tents. The worst was the night the parents got into a alcohol induced screaming match and one of the kids walked into the campfire. They were too drunk to drive so my husband had to take the boy to the hospital. The saddest was a night of canoe camping when we learned there had been a fatality in the group behind us on the river. lizzie

Dog Trainer wrote:

code3run wrote:
Why do dog owners assume we all love their dogs as much as they do? I have a dog but I dont just let him jump on people figuring they love it too....

I mentioned in another post that years ago a guy pulled out an ak47 and fired at my friends for some reason. Nobody was hit but the guy did go to jail. That was desert camping not a campground.

I guess it is the same reason that people think we love their children and grandchildren as much as they do and then excuse their terrible behavior as cute.

Exactly!

I had two run-ins with campers next to my site, not altercations. Both involved the use of guns in an area prohibited for use. I left the campground both times.

Once, in Yosemite NP, I advised my site neighbor to put away his chrome Colt before he actually shot one of the bears and I had to clean up the mess.

Man, you guys camp in some really wild places. Guns, wild dogs, drunks, fights, screaming kids. LOL

I've been doing this in state and private CG's for over 20 years and never once saw an "altercation" unless you consider some Dad yelling at his unruly kids to settle them down. Maybe I just mind my own business too much, or maybe I am just too laid back, but I only see people having fun.

We rarely use camp grounds so I can't think of any real altercations. I have been annoyed but nothing is worth getting tick off.

I guess I am guilty of allowing my size to have a calming affect on those I deal with. I find most people become very rational as they get closer with their eyes rolling up and then their head tilting back......

Good thing too because at my size I'm not really allowed to hit stupid people.

jdog wrote:

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?

Boondocking on the NFs is allowed and common courtesy would dictate that if a site is taken, the second group should find another dead end road to camp on (there are lots of them). If at a campground, almost all require a fee. Once you've filled out the envelope and posted your tag, the site is yours. The rules are that you have to occupy the site that night with your person. This is to prevent someone coming on a Wednesday or Thursday and leaving a tent or trailer (even if they pay for those days), and then returning with their family for the weekend, when the campground may be full, effectively having guaranteed themselves a site. Since JnJnKatiebug did personally occupy the site that evening, he would have been ok even in a NF campground.
-Retired USFS recreation program manager

Reminds me of a time wife, her sister, brother in law and older brother were camping with inlaws and sister, brother in law and older brother decided to go swimming after dark and campground ranger caught them and told them to get out that swimming hours is in the daylight hours. Needless to say brother in law was in his underwear along with her brother while my wife was on the swing laughing her head off. Fun really began when they got back to camper and brother in laws wife popped a cork and the next day everyone rubbed it in.

I made a hard to get weekend water site at Fort Desoto, When I arrived at 1:00pm check in time there was a Class A in the spot with no one around. The bus was painted with a name of a local church.

I went to the office, they said that they were suppose to move to a inside spot. However, the rangers said they could not do anything about it.

So I looked up the phone number for the church and called it. I spoke with a lady who said the bus was the pastors but she could not give me his cell phone number.

So I called back and said that there was a big problem with his camper and he needed to get to the campground ASAP. I did not say I was a ranger, but didn't say I wasn't.

I told the ranger what I did, they thought it was great since their hands were tied. They told the owner when he arrived in a few minutes that he needed to move his unit but it was not them who called.

Needless to say, he gave me dirty looks all weekend. :W I was waiting for him to say something so I could point out how rude he was.

I guess he thought I would take the inside spot.

Veebyes wrote:
Fired the genny up, a Honda 2000, for the last hour or so of genny hours. Well, I let it run a few minutes past the bewitching hour as I was in the middle eating dinner. Mr Silence..

I let my neighbor run his 23 minutes past the cutoff. I couldn't take it any more, so I knocked on his door and told him.

He wasn't apologetic, he was full of excuses. "I don't know what time it is." " I didn't realize.." blah blah. He kept it up until I was getting a little pissed. We exchanged a few more words until we were standing there glaring at each other. I walked off. Close call.

He had his genny in a trailer, thinking it was quiet enough to get away with. I know that's what he was up to. He knew darn well the generator hours. My favorite CG rule: "You are responsible for knowing ALL the rules."

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. 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.

An internet search quickly finds the story about the parents being killed by lightning at Crystal Lake Utah in 2003, however not a thing anywhere about a murder in the area during the same time period. Strange, since such a coincidental occurrence would surely have made local, if not national, news. Maybe two separate and unrelated occurrences have merged over the years, or maybe a little poetic license is being applied?