Newbie boondockers left a mess in Eastern Sierra

[profdant139]

Not surprising, but depressing -- last summer's flood of novice boondockers left a lot of trash and violated a lot of the rules:

Sierra Wave article

Unfortunately, there is not a lot we can do about the slobs who are wrecking things for the rest of us, other than cleaning up trash when we encounter it.

[Let_s_Go_Explor]

Some don't know and others will never care.

The best thing to do is lead by example.

[profdant139]

Grodyman, I'll let you know what I see on the ground, after the snow melts. It would be nice if this article were fake news. Unfortunately, the source (Sierra Wave) is a pretty straight-ahead local publication, not known for inflammatory reporting, so it is hard to discount their story.

But we'll see.

[Grodyman]

Perhaps there really was a large mess to clean up, but I didn't see any pictures of said mess. I am all for responsibility, but the government is partly to blame here if there is any truth to this article (which I doubt), by closing all of the campgrounds and related facilities. This article smells.

So before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, I am for a clean environment and leave no trace, but there is too much mis-information and propaganda out there for me to just read some article and take it as the gospel.

[dedmiston]

When our kids were little (too young to be much help setting up camp or packing up to leave), we issued each kid a garbage back and told them they weren't allowed in the truck to come home until they each filled their bags. They got pretty good at it after a few trips.

After a year or two, they had completely cleaned up all of our favorite camps, including all the bulky stuff like tires and bumpers.

When they were finally old enough to help us back up, they still instinctively made the rounds around camp to pick up any of the clutter. There are always a few grocery bags and old mylar balloons in the bushes around camp. I'm glad to see that the routine was kept alive with them. They're adults now and they still do it.

[Lwiddis]

“You can run your gray water out a hose.”

Not fun to be the camper after those that dump on the ground.

[garyhaupt]

And sadly, it is everywhere. Last yeras stay at home crowd discovered the outdoors and trashed it pretty much anywhere they could get to. Every Rec Site and foresrty road in BC was jammed with boondocking grandstanders with their chainsaws, atv's, motorcycles and over-ran pretty much anywhere they could get to and probably a few places they boated or flew into. And when all else failed, they abandoned their broken and busted **** where it last worked. I am quite sure Washington and Oregon suffered a similar fate, judging from the social media groups I belong to.


Gary Haupt

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I see dozens of people posting on social media everyday

We boondock, you can full time out there also. You can run your gray water out a hose. It's not hard and no one will care.

Makes me sick.

[Lwiddis]

rlw brings up an a point interesting to me. Inyo NF is fast and first to close its campgrounds for a reason and for no reason. Last to open up too.

[rlw999]

Seems like the ignored the obvious solution:

they escaped to an area assumed to be germ-free and serene, found area campgrounds closed, pitched their tents wherever and left a mess behind them

I think most people (especially those not accustomed to camping) would prefer to stay in a campground. So if they want to prevent all of these damage due to dispersed campers not following (or even knowing the rules), then keep the campgrounds open. Or maybe even expand them if there's too much demand.

[Lwiddis]

Terrible behavior.

[bgum]

Require a 8 hour training class and issue a identification card as proof of attendance. Required for anyone over 10 years of age.. Fund additional staff requirements with a $10 fee for 3 days camping. Enforce laws on books and any funds derived from fines used for above. Encourage clubs such as Good Sam to help clean after the slobs.

[gbopp]

We can't fix stupid and we can't turn hogs into humans.