Weekend Revelry

It's Friday, and our world is filling up with visitors who want to camp up here. Any shoulder on the side of the road will do. Who cares if it's private property or an illegal campsite? After arriving, the first step is to cut down some trees from around the campsite and get a bonfire going. Then, take out your gun and start shooting without checking where houses, trails, and people might be. Last but certainly not least, don't concern yourself with whether your campfire is out before you leave the campsite.Yes, it's a summer Friday in the mountains.

This behavior makes me seek the deepest woods far from the roads. I also try to seek the quiet of the mornings, since most people don't get moving until way after the sun rises. Unfortunately, due to the mind-numbing and sleep-inducing migraine preventative medicine that I'm taking, I am a zombie during most early mornings these days (but not Shyla, as you can see in the next photo).

Last fall, the Runner and I cleaned up some local campsites after a summer of abuse, hauling out about a dozen large garbage bags of junk from one campsite alone. And, then, shortly after the snow had melted this spring, I found that irresponsible campers had already taken up residence. With incredible wisdom (not!), these campers thought a screen would keep the wildlife away from their disgusting pile of food.

Surprise, surprise - a short time later, their campsite looked like this, obviously ransacked by wildlife.

At another site, the campers needed firewood. What's the most logical thing to do? Cut down the live trees next to your campsite. Never mind that green wood won't burn or that you've killed thriving trees, creating an eyesore for everyone else.

I call the Forest Service whenever I see this abuse underway but it is very rare that there is a timely response. The federal agencies are too underfunded to have personnel who can deal with rogue campers or shooters. I have no problem with the responsible visitors but they seem to be the minority this summer.

So, in this beautiful season, I carefully craft my outings to avoid the abusers, going places that require long walks from a car, so few people visit them.

I love this place, and I don't understand the disrespect shown to it by so many people. How can they not want to soak up this kind of beauty?

Obviously, the campers have already corrupted at least one bear, teaching him/her to look near human scent for food (I'm basing this statement on the ransacked food stash at the campsite in the earlier photo). I love our bears so nothing makes me more upset than that. I want them to stay wild and safe.

Fortunately, most of the bears seem to stay far way from the places that visitors inhabit, even though there is lots of unsecured human food available in campsites (contrary to the laws). I hope that trend continues.

So, we will spend our weekend seeking the quiet of the deeper forests, appreciating even the tiniest gems that have sprouted from the forest floor.

We still enjoy the bounty of summer, but there is a hint of bittersweet in my heart, knowing what's going on nearby and that the agency that's supposed to protect the land can't do their job. It's too dangerous for untrained residents to try to enforce the rules so we are forced to watch helplessly.

One benefit to having dogs is that they make a huge ruckus whenever someone comes onto our land. R is vigilant! We haven't yet had anyone try to camp near our house.

I love living in the mountains. I wish that people would visit here because they love the natural beauty rather than because they want to escape the watchful eyes of the law in more urban areas.