Harassed by a Ranger

“JimmySans, and she was beautiful too:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2164864720053536869yLmbKg”

“Whenever laws, regulations and opinions are written to restrict otherwise legal behavior to make it easier for enforcement to 'make a case,' some officers will simply enforce the letter of the law and this sort of crap will occur.

Some officers will be reasonable and put their careers at risk and others will be jerks.

I think we need to know who writes and supports these regs a jerk a knot in them ----”

“yea, ed, i was thinkin of doing something to get her to put the cuffs on me”

“I would have let HER search me!”

“she wanted me. bad.”

“The moral of the story.. when in NC carry your "jack" in a marinade bottle so when the rangers want to question what they smell you can show them.”

“harnessed by a ranger wouldnt be a bad idea if it was one of the female rangers at the grand”

“Boy iffin you had seen this one you'd never say that.She looked more like the head mistress at the school that "Matilda" went to.You know...the movie.”

“When I go shopping I put my groceries in the cab of the truck so I can carry them in when I get home.”

“Ha ha! The Trunchbull!”

“By the way, this Ranger, was he wearing a mask and did he have an Indian companion?”

“yerby, just one change to your analysis on ticket costs to the system. The officer doesn't go to court for one offender. he goes to court with all the offenders he cited over a specific time range. So the cost of his time spent in court should be divided among all the tickets/arrests he made during that time range.”

“Just think how much crap the rangers put up with from people who just don't care.

On the other hand, there are just some people who think a badge or public service position makes them some sort of god.”

“It sounds like SPAM was "touched by an angel".”

“BTW, Spam, was that campsite #4? Nice spot at the base of the hill with the creek running right next to it. I camped there once in January, we had 2 campsites and about 7 tents. We drank alcohol and built a fire you could see from the space shuttle. Rangers came around a few times but were pretty cool even though they they had to know we were drinking. I suppose it being 10 degrees and only one other group of campers in the park might have been the reason the rangers were so easy to get along with. I doubt that they were happy about that other camp site cranking up a chainsaw at 9 pm Friday night.”

“Ahhh, the mystery is revealed. Hyway camped there.

No wonder the rangers have that spot maked for increased security.”

“Some people mess it up for everybody,  LOL”

“Weekend before last, we had a stupid, drunken brawl in the no-alcohol campground. Boy would I have liked to have seen a ranger. No ranger ever showed up. Luckly the fracas petered out after about an hour of cussing and shouting (no gunshots fired.)

I can see why the ranger might get up-in-arms when the spot the potential for a mêlée like SPAM and his family would cause.”

“SPAM is a dangerous looking hombre'.”

“You asked, so: Anyone who goes to the woods to listen to a radio, sucks! It's too bad that there are so many of you around! I've run into two such groups my first three nights on my current trip. Stay home!

---

Even a soft radio makes noise. The sound really travels in the woods. There's only one volune that should be used: OFF!
last edited: 6/18/07 9:56:47 AM”

“and unless no radio is the rule then it's a moot point. He didn't say they were prohibited, but open to the obvious arbitrary judgement of a ranger.”

“ns, noise happens in car camping areas, thats why there are primitive campsites available to those who don't want to mix with the rest of humanity. None of us gets to decide what is the ideal camping experience for someone else. You only get to decide for yourself.”

“What about playing a guitar at one's car camping site??

Or.............a didgeridoo, pray tell?

Most campgrounds request that any such noise cease at 10:00 PM.”

“Yep, when I family camp at Cades Cove I expect a certain amount of noise. So do most people, the problems come up because everyone has a slightly different expectation of noise. Man I hate we're not family camping this year.

Summer 08 we'll be hitting Deep Creek for sure. 9.5 month old baby Addie will be hell on wheels by next summer.”

“I'd rather hear music from NPR than the countless number of dip#&%!$s tossing beer bottles into the fire rings and being incredibly loud until 2 in the morning, using large mallets to pound oversized tent stakes for 4 room tents into tent pads at 1 am, diesel generators for campers running all night and spewing stench for the rest of us to breathe. There's many greater evils than NPR in a campground.”

“It all depends on why you are there on that particular trip. Take Traildays for instance. People yell and scream all night long, bongos and guitars are ever present and not always played by people who know what they are doing. People walk thru and around your campsites at all hours of the night. AND I WOULDN'T CHANGE ANY OF THAT. But thats at Traildays where its expected.

Its also expected that any place you can drive over paved roads right to your tent/camper site will have neighbors who like their civilization - radios, TV, generators, etc.

If you are looking for wilderness experiences, then go to the wilderness. Car campgrounds are not wilderness experiences.”

“Car campgrounds are not wilderness experiences.

Damn straight.”

“There are many ways to have fun in the woods.
I hike to avoid other folks idea of fun.”

“BS did you just call me and my family troublemakers? You're forgettin that I still have your business card ain't ya?”

“I moved. Mobile phone number is still the same though.

I guess that anybody I meet, way back in the woods, with bib overalls on has the potential to be a redneck trouble maker. I'm not sure about your cousins (read: wife) or offspring.

We need to get together on another hike. I can't do the next one you have planned to Lost Cove or whereever it was.”

“Must have been a slow night at the campground. That, and I bet they've had numerous problems with people having a few drinks and then getting out-of-control rowdy. That seems to usually be the primary reason for most alcohol bans.

Alcohol regulations vary so greatly around here from state to state; it's almost like you need to do a whole bunch of research before you go out. And to make matters worse, many states, like New Jersey for example, delegate alcohol regulation to the counties, which may in turn delegate it to individual townships or boroughs, further adding to the complexity. I gotta tell you, sometimes I think I need to hire a lawyer just to figure out if I can crack open a cold one by the campfire.

That said, one of the reasons I like to go camping up to New York is because their state parks don't ban alcohol as long as you're not serving anyone underage (duh) and staying at the campground overnight. That and the Rangers pretty much leave you alone unless you're being too rowdy after hours (which is pretty much unavoidable with a good TT crowd -- but hey, you can't win 'em all...)
last edited: 6/18/07 11:13:40 AM”

“Remember this...

As an American, I will do my best to -

BE CLEAN IN MY OUTDOOR MANNERS.
I will treat the outdoors as a heritage. I will take care of it for myself and others. I will keep my trash and garbage out of lakes, steams, fields, woods, and roadways.

BE CAREFUL WITH FIRE
I will prevent wildfire. I will build my fires only where they are appropriate. When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out. I will leave a clean fire ring, or remove all evidence of my fire.

BE CONSIDERATE IN THE OUTDOORS.
I will treat public and private property with respect. I will use low-impact methods of hiking and camping.

BE CONSERVATION-MINDED.
I will learn how to practice good conservation of soil, water, forests, minerals, grasslands, wildlife, and energy. I will urge others to do the same.”

“Write 'em a letter and tell them you doubt you'll be going back after that treatment. as for fines as a reason to go all police state like - bull#&%!$.

The Ranger in SNP who went ballistic on the 05 TT buttkicker trip had every right to. She probably could have gotten us for a $1000 or so. She lectured, somehow kept her temper in tact, and told us the area better look like no one was there when we leave.

it twas.”

“I'll leave the legal definitions to legal beagles, but it seems to me that true harassment needs to inconvenience the harassee somehow. While I agree it is annoying to have the sense of being watched it seems that emptying the trash cans four times in twenty minutes is more in the line of exuberance than harassment. (unless of course they used in the inner city slam and jam techniques.) Who knows, maybe they were hoping you would discard the offending bottles or cans, in tact and unopened, for their own after hours enjoyment. Think of the disappointment you might have caused them.

Would I boycott the campground based on your description? Probably not. NPR is probably my least favorite radio broadcaster. For the most part their classical music is insipid and uninteresting and their commentary is ...ummm... how do I say this without inviting a further deterioration to the thread.... not in keeping with my political views.

it is completely possible that some other intrepid campers, seeking to divert attention from their own misdeeds decided to single you to the rangers, in hopes you would get kicked off the reservation and they could score your Edenic site. Who knows, maybe you caused people more aggravation than they caused you. Now that might be a comforting thought. :?)”

“I agree with Spam totally! It was wrong that he was harassed and it was better that it was him than me, I`m not so forgiving!

We cut our way in along a creek bed that later joined up to a river and we had the best time of our lives, we thought we were
to heck and gone so far back in even God would need directions to find us. Not so, it seems, a ranger did happen up on us our second night in, he was impressed to say the least that we had made our way so far in and offa the beaten path.

Mind you,.. this was years ago and long before the stuff we have to endure now days, but he was strict and he had fines totalling close to 3,000 bucks on us and he meant to make us toe the line.

Stupid farm boys that we were, we just laughed at him and wished him well on collectin` it, I think my words to him to be exact were, "charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it!" Yanno, he didn`t think that was a bit funny,.. neither do I NOW,.. He kept his composer, did his dead level best to mataine some sort of control over us,... we weren`t havin` any of it,...

Okay,.. maybe I might should explaned this a bit further than I did,.. I was then and still am as bad as they come, I broke every law they had, one by one, sometimes I even doubled up on `em. If they said it couldn`t be done I`d do it or die and try to out do `em. I was a mess in the makin` and not caring about the outcome of my actions.

Turns out,.. the land we envaded belonged to one of the seven men that still owned land within the state park,... That point was mute to us, we didn`t care, we were bad to the bone and for that NOW, I`m so sorry.

The Ranger had to get permission from the land owner to go after us in court,.. the land owner wanted to meet us and see for himself what and who we were. He was without a doubt me, but much older and I`ll never forget that light in his eyes, the laugh lines in his face, or the way he could look clean through us. Dang what a man and him as soft as he was hard.

He had us nailed to a wall and knew it, the ranger foaming at the mouth, but he had a heart of butter and a resolve of granite. He only wanted what was best for everyone, he was a man of compassion and understanding, he taught us and that ranger what fairness was.

He made us fix up his old home place, he treated us so kind, he then ofered to pay our fines and transgressions,.. the park ranger later dropped the charges.


For nine years after that, we still camped in the same place, year after year and on the same day each year that old man and that same ranger were there waiting on us to set up camp. The old man did die and the ranger set in on us after that, but try as he might, he never gained an inch on us and we looked forward to fall and the trouble at hand,.


I wish now I was a better person back then!

I did so many things wrong I can`t even sort `em all out anymore, but life was much different then than it is now,.. I`m sorry for my mistakes, but I pitty the ones trying to fit in now,,..


They`d hang me silly azz!LOL”

“I would love to hear the Park Rangers side of this contact. No one got a ticket despite a technical violation of the law.
prosecutor
8:27:19 PM
6/17/07

Doesn't matter whether you agree with the law or not, if you're not supposed to have alcohol at your campground or state park, then you're not supposed to have alcohol, period.
wanderer
8:33:42 PM
6/17/07

You two actually read what Spam posted? What was the technical violation? You suppose the Ranger smelled the sealed bottle under the seat in his truck?”

“What was the technical violation

The marinade. Duh. Bet he had rubbing alcohol/hand sanitizer, too. Spam is on dangerous man. Modern day Frikken Jesse James.”

“What was the technical violation

The marinade. Duh. Bet he had rubbing alcohol/hand sanitizer, too. Spam is on dangerous man. Modern day Frikken Jesse James.”

“good point”

“good point”

“thank”

“you”

“You only thanked him once.”

“Woah, someone just busted out the Outdoor Code -- this is getting hard-core...”

“No. It's twice. Each implies what the other mostly said”

“Heck our state parks (WA) are one of the only places that allow alcohol. City parks, no way. Although I notice the older I get the less the cops seem to care. The hash house harriers (my crazy running group) are drinking just about everywhere and rarely get in trouble for it.

This story reminds me of cops in the city I grew up in (about $80,000 population) Nothing to do but harass us kids.”

“Dang, if I had $80,000 could I buy the population?

I could start a plantation.............a Dalmatian Plantation.”

“I wonder why it is that so many Americans get crazy with alcohol. Are we just too stressed and not laid back enough?

A German student at my university told me about getting in trouble(just a warning) for drinking a beer in a public park here in town.
He was baffled?!?!?
Where he comes from a person can go get a bottle of beer and sit in the park, no big deal.
Here, its a "criminal" act.
Maybe its the Curse Of The Puritans.”

“Oops. I was doing up some financial spreadsheets earlier. LOL!

BTW, this is funny bear: "The marinade. Duh. Bet he had rubbing alcohol/hand sanitizer, too. Spam is on dangerous man. Modern day Frikken Jesse James.”"”

“BS I gave up them thar overalls a long time ago!
Nowslimmer I am a backpacker...my wife is not.To get her to car camp takes a special sales pitch and iffin she wants to listen to the radio and play spades then thats what she gets! I don't care what anyone thinks about that!

Bigfoot thats an awesome story.

Hyway I absolutly agree with you!

humanpackmule I love quiet and solitude more than anything and would have rather been in that situation but I did what I could with my family and did what I could to make sure that they were enjoying our time together. Now iffin I were selfish and had a single track mind I wouldn't have been car camping to start with.

Thanks to all for your opinions whether they suck or not!”