Claiming a first come campsite

The Texan wrote:

NCWriter wrote:

57 Panhead wrote:


I will say that it ticks me off to arrive at a site and see a lawn chair or cooler sitting there with nothing else. They are taking a site and not using it for a day or so and to me that just aint right. If you want to be the "first come" then set up and use the sight!

Steve

Really?....maybe they've already been enjoying their paid-for site in a smaller RV ( for days, for all you know), and just drove their RV over to the nearest grocery store, or to visit other areas in the park to hike...or see some local sights, planning to return later for dinner and a good night's sleep???


To answer the original poster, most of us leave chairs, and some use an orange traffic cone to indicate that we've paid for a site for that night.

Sorry, but the USFS told us when we were CG host that there would be NO chairs, coolers small tents used to claim a site and if we saw it, we were to call the on duty ranger and they would remove the "equipment" and the site was available. Weekends like this one are prime for this behavior. People go up on Mon or Tues, claim a site then return on Friday.....USFS says NO WAY Jose, it must be occupied to claim it.

For those of you who jumped all over me... THIS is what I was talking about.... NOT just claiming a site and going to register. I am talking about those who go up on a day or two earlier than their intended arrival date and claim a site. Also those who will go to a CG and claim several sites and wait for a few days for the rest of their party. Though I have not seen it myself, there are stories out there of physical confrontations breaking out over this very thing.

Last season we arrived at a CG in the Trinity Lake area of No. Calif. While I was looking over a site another fella came up to me and asked if we were going to take it and I said I was thinking about it. He said he had several other friends coming the next day and he was hoping that site would be one they would use. There were plenty of other sites available so I told the guy to have a fun time and we moved to the far side of the CG and let him have the site... No big deal. Reasonable people can work anything out.

Steve