When Another Bf Group Invades Your Campsite - While Your Still In It!

[Guest]

This happened to us regarding a regular camping trip in the National Forest. Fortunately one of our group had gotten a permit for the spot for the full 5 day trip. We didn't necessarily NEED a permit, but one of the group was "detail oriented". In fact the Local Ranger Office only gave it to us I think to get her out of the office after she pestered!!

As it turned out we ended up waving the permit in no less than 3 different folk's faces in the middle of two different nights along with cell phones with a guarrentee the issuing Ranger was on speed dial along with the State Police, having given us his cell number. (He didn't) However they believed us. We also wrote down vehicle plate numbers as insurance. Still can't believe that's what it's come down to in the Park System in the back country, but was I EVER glad my friend is as thoughtful as she was.

I'm very sorry your trip was ruined by inconsiderate people and you surely did take the high ground!! :D

(I'd of been very much less inclined)

[Guest]

I recommend adding a set of nice loudspeakers to your equipment list. When people like that show up, start playing long loud bursts of fog-horns, and when they ask you why, tell them you are call blasting for the Loch Ness Monster.

When they tell you Nessie isn't in that campground, tell them before they showed up you were playing loud long bursts of flatulence and sure enough, a bunch of butt-holes showed up...

I just spewed coffee on my computer screen!!!

[Guest bsruther]

You could always accidentally drop some skunk bait, near their tents.

[Guest wudewasa]

Cap'n,

Here is a song that would be appropriate for this thuglette that ruined your research. The lyrics accurately describe your feelings toward her:

[Guest CaptainMorgan]

OMG Danzig! That's hilarious as was the foghorn joke, THX I needed that. Classic.

I always thought Danzig and Henry Rollins should be put in some sort of cage event and fight for who gets to rock that night. $Ka-CHING$

Comedian Natasha Leggero is at the Comedy Club here this week and I thought about going to see her, but I just washed the Pathy and unloaded everything. I'm so tired from all the loading and unloading this week I doubt I'll make it.

The USFS says that camps are "first come first served" but then they say "you can't block access to a camp and you can't keep anyone out as long as there is room for anyone else to park or camp.

At any rate, I intend to call them again and thank them for sending someone out, as well as for how nice the other USFS Wildlife Biologists and technicians out there were. These folks are out these picking up our trash for low pay in an often thankless job, so when someone does something good for me, I want to make sure they get a good review.

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Edited July 8, 2011 by CaptainMorgan

[Doc Holliday]

Not to mention that the road construction crew fellow that's camped on that road till October has to get up as 5:am every day

captain, possible silver lining here perhaps.?

this guy camping here till october?has he already been there a while?

if so & this area has activity it might be worth striking up

a conversation w/ him. he may have heard/ seen a few things in his extended stay.

possible lead that may be worth looking into,imo.

Edited July 9, 2011 by slicktrick

[Galahad]

CaptainMorgan, This is a most unfortunate set of circumstances. Oh how I wish that I could have been the one that came into camp. I can assure you our conversation would have been very pleasant. May I set the table for discussion?

I am an Ex-BFRO member and I know the very camp you were in. I was invited to attend this Birthday party. I know the individual that you had words with. She is not a BFRO member, but knows of this place through BFRO connections. I have very sincere regrets that you felt compelled to leave. Even after your frustrating conversation. If you would have held your ground you would have met some of the most sincere bigfoot investigators from the area. Not only that, but you would have been informed of the history we have of other locations.

Your methodology, from what I gather, is a loner strategy. Am I correct in this assumption?? The BFRO strategy is not. Could this be part of the frustration??Please don't misunderstand I have no judgment in this regard. Just last September we had a group of 12 in this very camp. We watched something watch us with a thermal monocular, (no recording camera capability). It had arms and legs, it went from upright to crouch then upright. The next day we were able to determine it was about 200ft away. We have other stories from this camp where lots of people have been present.

My reason for reaching out to you is to try and right a wrong if at all possible. I do apologize for the turn of events, that I know could have been and should have been averted. We have a history here too and I will bet you a nickel that our roots have the same connection. I would like to encourage you to PM me so we can share telephone numbers and talk some. I can give you some really good locations for your next trip there. I would like you to meet some of these BFRO investigators and thaw the chill.

Galahad

As some of you may know, when I go out, it's more like an expedition than a 2 day trip with an arm load of stuff.

I waited till the 5th for Bumping Lake to clear out and left early in the morning to go set up. Set up cameras on hundreds of feet of cable in multiple directions, trail cams, you name it. In the tent I have a PC, a monitor, KB mouse, 2x 110AH batteries that weight 71 lbs each. So saying it takes a couple of hours to set up and a couple to tear down is no joke. And to do this, I expect to be able to camp for a full week at a time to justify the labor.

Now for the good stuff.

So this morning after only 2 hours of sleep, I was awakened by the sounds of a dog and children at 7:00am. I ask the lady what she was doing in my camp and she said she was with the BFRO, and asked if my name was #####. I said, no this is my camp, I'm already set up here doing full-time recording and that they need to go to any of the OTHER 2 dozen plus camps along the road there. She told me she wasn't leaving, they were "all gonna be there for ###'s birthday" and despite pointing out that she is uncouth has a huge lapse in common sense, she proceeded to pound stakes in the ground and set up camp! She informed me that this was "public property and that I couldn't make her leave and that several others would be arriving with dogs and children for the rest of the week."

The USFS won't do anything about it so I had to pack up all my gear, cameras, cables, tarps, PC, batteries, ice chest, tent . . . . and leave. I had to forfeit my bonafide research camp for her celebrity BFRO b'day event because that's the exact spot they wanted.

I recall a huge fuss about one group outing another groups location, but actually SEIZING IT and telling someone "if they don't like they can leave" is one of the most ignorant things I've ever encountered. This person isn't even a researcher herself, she is loosely associated with some WA folks and floats around to these events.

Anyways I'm hopping mad and if she hadn't had her small children with her, well things may have gone differently, but I took the higher road.

As far as I'm concerned they owe me a public apology for this selfish and unethical behavior.

/rant

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Edited July 9, 2011 by Galahad

[Guest TooRisky]

Hmm maybe Bear spray has one other purpose... Shoot a big can of it in their tent and tell them to have a nice day... If they get aggressive, give em a mug shot of the Bear spray... Remember to explain to them their errant ways while you are doing this... And just walk away, no blood no foul... In a weird sense you may be actually saving their lives, for they pull this on someone not so stable and well, who knows...

Bear spray, not just for Bears anymore....

[Guest]

Or bear spray. Just for bears.

[Guest Tsalagi]

Just pour honey around the outside of tent that way every bee, wasp and fly for a mile will be attracted to their campsite.

[Guest]

Oh that's a good one, it would attract fire ants here, the bane of my outdoor activities.

[Guest TooRisky]

LOL with you guys i feel sorry with the next person that muscles in on a camp site... God I love the honey idea, and flies are what we all hate...

[Guest wudewasa]

Galahad,

People like the Cap'n want to be loners for a number of reasons. A big one is to not have to deal with folks like the individual that stormed his research area. Why the Cap'n would want to stick around and meet folks like yourself after dealing with her makes no sense. She ruined his first impression of your group. Perhaps you can do something to get her to be more open/diplomatic, and contact Cap'n with an apology for her behavior and ruining his research opportunity.

Your comrade did some serious damage, and needs to be held accountable. Your involvement won't fix the problem, unless it provides a route for reconciliation.

[BobbyO]

That last thing I said to this lady at 7:15 was "is this how you want to go on record as representing the BFRO?" as she gave me the "talk to the hand" sign and stomped away.

.

That really isn't good at all but sadly, it takes all sorts to make a World..

The are some good Eggs within the BFRO Ranks however & they should be all tarred with teh same Brush in my opinon..

[Guest CaptainMorgan]

CaptainMorgan, This is a most unfortunate set of circumstances. Oh how I wish that I could have been the one that came into camp. I can assure you our conversation would have been very pleasant. May I set the table for discussion?

I am an Ex-BFRO member and I know the very camp you were in. I was invited to attend this Birthday party. I know the individual that you had words with. She is not a BFRO member, but knows of this place through BFRO connections. I have very sincere regrets that you felt compelled to leave. Even after your frustrating conversation. If you would have held your ground you would have met some of the most sincere bigfoot investigators from the area. Not only that, but you would have been informed of the history we have of other locations.

Your methodology, from what I gather, is a loner strategy. Am I correct in this assumption?? The BFRO strategy is not. Could this be part of the frustration??Please don't misunderstand I have no judgment in this regard. Just last September we had a group of 12 in this very camp. We watched something watch us with a thermal monocular, (no recording camera capability). It had arms and legs, it went from upright to crouch then upright. The next day we were able to determine it was about 200ft away. We have other stories from this camp where lots of people have been present.

My reason for reaching out to you is to try and right a wrong if at all possible. I do apologize for the turn of events, that I know could have been and should have been averted. We have a history here too and I will bet you a nickel that our roots have the same connection. I would like to encourage you to PM me so we can share telephone numbers and talk some. I can give you some really good locations for your next trip there. I would like you to meet some of these BFRO investigators and thaw the chill.

Galahad

I appreciate the sentiments and will meet you at the "our roots have the same connection". I also know some of these other folks you mention and I'm not out to burn them at the stake. If by "set the table for discussion you mean "let me persuade you how a group of people would not have really affected your research area" I'll pass on it. If you mean "we're all in this together", then I would say "great, then you can all load my %$#@! Pathfinder the next time I HAVE to move to get out of YOUR way." Anyone want to pitch in on that labor?

If you want to right a wrong, "reign in" your pets and keep them on a tight leash! Like my pun? There's plenty of other detrimental remarks I could make, I'm still taking the higher road.

After I spoke with the USFS officer, he best outcome was to continue to wait for reasonable people to arrive and hope they would persuade her to move her tent. If that wouldn't happen, then it would be even a worse outcome for me. I would have to pack up in front of everyone else which as previously stated, is a freakin considerable amount of time.

You know who it is, now you know how to handle it. How you handle things is your business, as long as it never becomes my problem again.

Believe me, I have no frustrations about being part of your group or not. I've been very transparent in my dealings with folks in the BF community, and I'm not willing to kiss arse to get the secret decoder ring and Koolaid survival kit. I've been told I could only go out with any of these factions as an invitation until people "trust me". Really? Trust ME? As a group, take a look in the mirror. Again, I'm fine to the extent a group doesn't descend on me and stake a flag.

I think I've pretty much heard all the Bumping legends already, the one about the one-eyed bigfoot, and the footfalls, and the guy that got his leg grabbed, and the various thermal stuff. At least I know to stay out of there in Sep when the Thermal mob arrives to chase them all down to the Gifford Pinchot.

"We watched something watch us with a thermal monocular, (no recording camera capability)"

No recording capability? Really? And to think I just packed up about $1500 dollars worth that I spent 6 months building and testing. I got a whole 2 nights out of the deal, thanks a lot. Anyone want to pitch in on that cost?

I used to be an extremely nice guy, people and situations like this taught me better.

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