Campgrounds are full. This was Plaskett Creek Campground, early on a Tuesday afternoon.

Tourons enter the wilds.

They leave footprints every where they go.

And by next weekend, the sign will be run over again. And a few, rare people at the Ventana Wilderness Alliance wonder why I get bent out of shape.

bigsurkate

Appointed appellate counsel for indigent defendants (retired.) I have lived in Big Sur since 1984, first on the north coast, and on the South Coast since 1989.

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  • Kate,
    Is that really some idiot trying to light a "campfire" with those logs? The rangers actually gave a guy a citation because he had a six foot log in his fire ring and couldn't understand why everyone around his campsite was so upset. Oh, and it was on June 21, 2009! Love the tree shot.

  • Who knows? I've seen the ends of very long (6-8 ft) logs burned before. And the pile of "firewood" is of pretty large logs, etc. I may have to go throw them over the edge next time I come out.

  • OH for heaven's sake!!! Whats with these idiot 'turons'? The sign/signs are clear, NO CAMPING OR FIRES.

    I know its good that the campgrounds are full because it brings in money, but safety is an issue when it overflows onto private property.

    Its not as if you can sit on your road at the gate or elsewhere 24/7/265 protecting your land (or your neighbors).

    Maybe larger signs (6' x 12') posted every few feet, warning the tresspassers,tourons will be shot, and if they don't die they will be shot again? LOL

    I'd like to know if they the turons would also like one of those 6' logs up their butts.

    Anyways Kate, I truly feel for your plight.

  • I'm with Tom above. Maybe a bounty for each touron we catch/shoot, and then the state could reward us with a IOU? LOL

  • Hey Kate:
    Have you ever Googled Earth'd your neighborhood? I did so here to the north of you for mine and was dismayed by the dirt bike and ATV tracks everywhere along the ridgelines. There is no area untouched. These tracks are not caused by tourists but by the local boys, self-referred to as "rednecks."

    Have you read the book "Trespass" by Amy Irvine? She mentions in the opening of the book how stereotypical it is to see these ATV and dirtbike owners as having a run-down home or trailer, with a brand new V8 truck and shiny off-road vehicles. All the love goes into the machinery, not into the(ir) habitat.

    Just a rant,
    :)

  • Coastroad, I may be mistaken, but as far as I know, the google Earth hasn't been re-shot in years, hence said tracks would be old, so there's probably even more now.

    Too many people, too much technology (giving a false sense of safety and entitlement), too much access, and not enough supervision to go around. The first signs of this for me was Soberanes Canyon many years ago...boy the stories I can tell of the idiots I encountered there. I stopped going.

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