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A few years back I was camping on a Holiday, I knew the folks next to us were going to be loud so helped them end their night sooner by giving them a big bottle of rot gut tequila, later in the night I layed awake laughing at the sounds of them as they got sick, the next morning they left.
Last year the wife and I went camping a privately owned camp grounds down close to Mohican State Park here in Ohio, which as usual like all private camp grounds turn into party central. The 6 ladies next to us sat up until 2 in the AM laughing and talking until I asked in a loud voice, "Ladies could you please keep the noise down"? And of course they complied, said sorry, chuckled about it and toned it down for the rest of the evening.
But, early in the morning was a different story which I ended up chuckling about my self. It seems that these particular ladies in the tents and pop-up campers were doing a little "Moaning" themselves in the AM "louder than needed" , with not one men around I might add . They did come over the next MOrNING and apologized for the noise they were making the evening before, and thank goodness not saying a word about that same MOrNING activities.
Well, I don't know if I would have gone that far , but they did turn out to be some really nice folks. I never try to hold what people do in their personal lives against them, you may find that they're the nicest folks you've ever met.
Well, I don't know if I would have gone that far , but they did turn out to be some really nice folks. I never try to hold what people do in their personal lives against them, you may find that they're the nicest folks you've ever met.
I think (901) was talking about my friends who ran the generator all night. What the ladies were doing probably doesn't rate for sugar in the gas tank
I did receive a response from the state forest manager apologizing for my bad experience. As I figured, they're short staffed, especially over the holiday weekend (when you need people the most). He said there were numbers posted on the board for employee contacts (wish I'd looked harder) that I could have called.
I would have wanted to make a lot of noise, starting at 6 AM.
Bang some pots, Beethoven or Wagner or maybe the voice of Gilbert Gottfried, borrow a yapping dog, work on the truck engine that necessitated revving it over and over.
I would have wanted to, but wouldn't have had the nerve to.
That said, I have done the musical revenge bit on some neighbors who used to party until 4 AM.
I think "Time" by Pink Floyd would have been most appropriate
Sorry about your bad night, but you should have talked to both parties a lot earlier in the night (half an hour after posted quiet hours) and nicely asked them to quiet down and explain your situation (4 year old child camping). They might of still have been jerks about it, but there is a much better chance of them complying this way, than when someone starts swearing at them at 2 a.m.!
Quote:
Originally Posted by steveusaf
Of course, there was no campground host to complain to. I did not see one ND State Forest vehicle pass through the campground the entire time we were there. There was no presence that I could see, hence no one felt the need to follow the rules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornerguy1
Might have been an idea to call the Forest Service office at the time and see if a ranger patrol was handy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steveusaf
I did receive a response from the state forest manager apologizing for my bad experience. As I figured, they're short staffed, especially over the holiday weekend (when you need people the most). He said there were numbers posted on the board for employee contacts (wish I'd looked harder) that I could have called.
As the wife of a USFS ranger, please don't take the rangers to staff. Not sure about ND State Forest system, but USFS offices are not open after 5 p.m. and usually not on weekends. Rangers usually stop patroling after 6 p.m. (unless the campgrounds are close to major metro areas) because there is no money to hire evening patrols, nor money for overtime. Plus, they have families to get back to, too. Often, there are only three or four rangers in the summer, even less in the off season--maybe just 2, the staff officer and the assistant. Once, my husband was the only Rec staff. He had to plan, budget, attend management meetings, resolve issues, and do maintenance,clean the potties and haul garbage.
Finding hosts is difficult too, especially in out-of-the-way areas. Finding good hosts is even more difficult!
First time posting in the Camping forum, but want to bounce a situation off of you folks and get your take on it.
I just spent the first two nights of the 4th of July weekend at a North Dakota Forest Service campground (not a state park) and had a bad experience with a couple of campers, but one in particular stands out.
Background - this is a small, primitive campground on a nice little lake in what North Dakota calls the Turtle Mountains. No hookups, about 15 sites. No campground host, although it is patrolled during the season (per their website). Sites are well spaced and have lots of undergrowth for privacy. Quiet hours are posted on the self registration board at the entrance to the campground, and are from 11pm to 6 am.
It's 1130 pm, and neighboring camper still has his generator running. Not the loudest I've ever heard, but not a super quiet honda or yamaha either. Low drone continues throughout the night. I'm losing my patience. Can't hear birds chirping or breeze rustling the leaves. It does slightly mute the sounds of drunk people hooting and hollering around the campfire at a different site, though.
0230 - I've had enough. I walk over to their campsite and ask them if I'm going to have to hear their generator run all night. They say "probably". I remind them of the campground quiet hours. They tell me there are no quiet hours at this campground. We agree to disagree, and I tell them (3 of them) over the loud drone of their generator that this is bu##s$!%. Maybe a few more expletives than that, I don't know - I was pretty ticked off. I walked away (there were three of them and one of me). If I stayed any longer, it might have turned into a physical altercation. I wan't going to be changing their mind anyway.
I went back to my camper - their generator is still running and it ran until it ran out of gas at about 0800. Meanwhile, it's 330 am and the idiots next to me are laughing loudly around the fire and start breaking what sound like large sticks into smaller sticks for their campfire. I get up and tell them that I shouldn't be hearing them at 0330 in the morning, remind them that the quiet hours haven't changed, and ask them to keep it down. They are nice and apologize, but don't quiet down until at least 0430. Actions speak louder than words.
Of course, there was no campground host to complain to. I did not see one ND State Forest vehicle pass through the campground the entire time we were there. There was no presence that I could see, hence no one felt the need to follow the rules.
Now I know what you're saying in your head - you should expect that on the 4th of July weekend in a campground with no hosts or rangers. Well, I can accept that to a point but the guy with the generator running ALL night has really gotten to me. That shouldn't happen at ANY time, even the 4th of July weekend. It just flabbergasts me, and I guess I'm just venting my frustration here.
I got their site number and vehicle registration, and shot off an complaint to the ND State Forest supervisor today. Not sure if I'll hear anything or not from them, but overall I felt helpless through the whole night. I wanted to be a vigilante and shut down their generator for them, but did not want to go there with my wife and 4 year old in my pop-up camper. I was not armed. We had planned on leaving today or tomorrow, but last night's events plus a finicky LP fridge that warmed my food to room temp hastened our departure. This makes me want to ditch the popup and go back to a trailer where I can be sheltered from some of the noise. But that's not why I go camping, to sit in a box and be sheltered from idiots making noise. I want to hear the birds chirping and the breeze rustling the leaves.
Water under the bridge now, but how would you have handled it?
Not much you could do if without a campground host or security personal on site.....
some where on the web these two groups of people have most likely made a post about you....talking about some crazy person coming onto their site cussing and yelling about how they are supposed to act....see there are always three sides to every story when it is being told......
when you camp at places like this you have to expect the unexpected
and not everyone is going to agree with how you think everyone should be camping.....many people go for the peace and quiet and others so to get together with friends and party....
You have two choices, you can go to an out of way campground like you did and hope for the best or you can go to a very structured campground with a long list of rules and regulations that are enforced 24/7
Sorry to hear about your lousy camping experience steveusaf! My question to you is, was your 4 year old bothered by the sound of the generator and unable to sleep? If so, I would have complained to the offenders, also. If not, and your child slept soundly through the night then I would have just sat outside with the wife and enjoyed each other's company and surroundings until you got sleepy & went to bed.
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you'll love this one
, with not one men around I might add 
, but they did turn out to be some really nice folks. I never try to hold what people do in their personal lives against them, you may find that they're the nicest folks you've ever met. 
