sharing camp sites

[MichaelJ]

There was a lot of deviation on this thread as people misunderstood or listed other situations and then others assumed that to be the case. Now that you've clarified:

You arrived at a lean-to that did not contain one large camping area but instead included three separate designated tentsites (pads or platforms) and all three were occupied in some fashion. So the awake couple weren't taking up the entire camping area - they were in one specific site?

I have to admit that in places that have already been subdivided into specific sites, I do think of those sites as per-group. I wouldn't encroach onto another's pad or platform unless directed to by a caretaker or if it was posted that one site was specifically for sharing or "larger groups."

 

[Grumpy]

I am familiar with the spot in question -- at Slide Brook on the Red State Trail into the Dix Range area from Elk Lake, Adirondacks. The designated "campsite" is a fairly good size area in the woods just off the trail that should easily accommodate several tents.

Along the trail immediately past the camping area there is a leanto situated in a good-size forest opening that also should accommodate a few tents, if necessary.

All of this is about 2.5 miles from the trailhead.

It is unrealistic for anyone to expect solitude in places like this, which now are set up to by regulation to concentrate camping and campers' impacts in relatively compact areas (this one spans a length of 100-150 yards along the trail and maybe 40 yards wide).

I have been tramping in the Adirondack High Peaks for close to 50 years and never have done so with an expectation of solitude at shelter and designated camping sites. I have long preferred leanto camping if room in a shelter is available.

In those years I have sheltered with strangers an uncounted number of times, and never have had a bad experience doing so. I have always understood that trampers' ethics called for sharing shelter and site space to the extent it can be done without putting oneself out in the cold or rain. It is a good ethic.

From what I can tell of the current story, the tenters were selfish jerks who just don't know how to behave properly out in the woods. I don't think confrontations with jerks like that are especially constructive or comfortable. At the same time, I won't be intimidated out of claiming my rightful spot and won't put up with being harassed for doing so. It is surprising how the words, "leave me alone," spoken in a calm, deliberate tone convey that message as I go about my setting-up-camp business.

G.

 

[MichaelJ]

Okay, then that's different and so my prior stated opinion is withdrawn. The posts prior made it sound like the area had several individually designated "pad" areas, not one large multi-user area.

 

[Little Rickie]

Okay, then that's different and so my prior stated opinion is withdrawn. The posts prior made it sound like the area had several individually designated "pad" areas, not one large multi-user area.

I still love you.

 

[andrewb]

What I have gathered from reading all of the posts seems to be that the couple basically posed an inconvenience in how they set up for the night. While I may or may not have said something to them, given that it really wasnt an emergency, the best thing is avoid rudeness. That's why we go to the mtns in the first place ... there is no "schedule" nothing needs to be rushed (we therefore should be impatient or rude) -- and nothing is certain. It's all good though!