Time for Camping? |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2587 |
Topic: Time for Camping? Posted: 03 May 2020 at 9:33am |
That sounds like a responsible way to gradually open campgrounds. Each campground has its own challenges in regard to avoiding the spread of SARS-CoV-2, but with a little creativity, many can be gradually opened to the public.
But, that being said, we need to pay special attention to not putting the park employees at risk, either through the failure to use masks and keep a safe distance during interactions, or in not cleaning up after ourselves. Garbage, water and toilet facilities are likely the most difficult to protect from the spread of the virus and should be opened very cautiously. This is gross, but remember, when you smell the stinky vault toilet, the reason for the odor is that aerosolized molecular bits of fecal matter are landing on your olfactory nerves. The virus is even smaller and can be aerosolized far more easily. We have reservations at the Merrill Campground north of Susanville, CA. I am hopeful that Lassen County will withdraw its stay away request to the public and that the campground will be open on a limited basis for fully self contained RV's. If it is and we can safely camp without being unreasonably endangered or endangering others, we will probably go. For the time being, widely disbursed camping in fully self contained RV's seems to be a reasonable step in very cautious reopening.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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JandMA
Newbie Joined: 20 Jun 2019 Location: Walnut Creek CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 03 May 2020 at 8:39am |
Back on topic: Pinnacles NP CA campground is now open for reserved spots only, no walk-ins, no day use. And they seem to have opened only about 1/2 the campsites, so more dispersed. This seems like a responsible way to open up. We're off there next week in our Rpod and plan to stay self-contained.
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John and Mary Ann
2015 R pod 171 Hood River 2019 Kia Sorento AWD v6 |
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tcj
Senior Member Joined: 05 Jul 2018 Location: Central WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 141 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 5:57pm |
We went on a recon mission yesterday to see if some of my "Secret" dispersed sites are free of snow yet. We drove up Chinook Pass. As I said in an earlier post, developed camp grounds are closed but camping is allowed at dispersed sites in the Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest. There were people camping in almost every dispersed site we passed on the way up. I had to walk about a half mile over a snow covered road to get to this one. I was surprised to see a tent already set up there. This spot is just off a paved road. We drove up some gravel roads and didn't see anyone camping and lots and lots of spots to park an Rpod. |
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2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition
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EchoGale
Senior Member Joined: 10 Mar 2019 Location: FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 463 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 3:44pm |
thank you. I appreciate you doing that.
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Julie
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 3:20pm |
Our rule here is no political talk. I've edited one post above, and others are coming very close to crossing the line. Let's keep it non-political.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 1:51pm |
+1 to lostagain. Our society is less and less able to do anything for the good of the community. Many perhaps most don’t care. Others see everything through a political lens and ask only what any particular topic means in terms of furthering their side’s cause. Or even worse, others are only interested if they see the topic as damaging to the other side. Not only can we not agree on what to do about a problem, we can’t even agree whether or not there even is one. And forget learning anything from what other countries have done, we’re way to unique and special for that.
These are symptoms of civilizations heading downhill. One would have hoped that an outside apolitical threat like Covid would tend to unite us but it appears that the opposite is true. Some other nations have responded similarly but others have been able to set aside their differences and successfully contain this. Sadly for us, in my opinion those are the societies who are likely to be more successful going forward. Back to camping or not. One thing this has taught me is that camping, even dispersed/boondocks camping, is a very public activity. I’m leaning toward getting out of camping and have recently started looking (online only so far) for a small, nearby yet isolated cabin instead. Nearby so access and disease exposure are less likely to be issues, I also expect Covid to be around for some time. I don’t need or even want to travel, I’ve done plenty of that. And we llike the Appalachian mountain environment. We just want a quiet natural experience. We tend to go to the same few favorite campsites every time anyway. We no longer live by the Beach and need to evacuate for hurricanes, which was one of my reasons for buying the rpod to begin with. We’ll see but right now I’m leaning toward the not camping side of the equation. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2587 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 12:45pm |
The decision to open campgrounds is a difficult one that involves many elements of public health. We all have our opinions, whether fact or fantasy based, but the overriding consideration we should all have at the forefront of our actions is whether will we be hurting others. Many people are raising the issue of their ability to do as they please in the cloak of personal freedom, while others are reminding all of us that with personal freedom comes the responsibility to consider our actions vis-a-vi our neighbors. Some don't fully understand the science that drives very hard decisions that we have to take, while others simply don't believe in science at all. We all have opinions that are driven by our own personal preferences, desires, and prejudices. Some say "me, me, me" while others say only "we, we, we." Most of us fall in the middle, trying to navigate the delicate balance between the two extremes. In truth, none of us is truly objective.
My personal opinion, which I freely admit is partly driven by the mental disability of a very severe case of cabin fever and the beauty of spring days, is that we can reach the fine balance between being utterly self centered and utterly self sacrificing for the common good by camping in remote areas in fully self contained trailers where we take home all our "by-products" of camping and dispose of them there. As I stated in other posts, we also have to consider the effect we are having on those who have to work in the campgrounds we want to visit. Though we may use the utmost care to avoid spreading SARS-CoV-2, others could care less about the workers in the campgrounds. I see this in everyday life in my own community. When I go to the supermarket it amazes me how many people pretend the virus doesn't exist and don't follow even the basic mask and distance practices. I wear a mask, knowing full well it does little to protect me, but I tolerate the discomfort knowing that I don't want to infect others by a sneeze or cough that could make someone else ill, potentially fatally. I wish others would think of the common good too, but they seem to only be able to think of themselves. We need to also recognize the preference of the locales where we wish to camp. Not everyone wants us there. Lassen County, CA, in its county website has specifically asked people to stay away. Their policy states: "In summary, if you are not in already in Lassen County, please do not come here. Everyone can walk, run, hike and bike in their local community, and nearby forests. When the COVID-19 crisis is over, we will be happy to share our beautiful county with you but until then, please exercise and recreate close to home." Maybe it's time to respect the feelings of others instead of trying to gratify our own wishes. Sadly, the ability to put the needs of one's community above one's own ego is disappearing from the American experience.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 12:38pm |
Yes, let's get back to camping or not, depending on your views of the situation.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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poston
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 28 Mar 2018 Location: Nevada Online Status: Offline Posts: 195 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 11:34am |
Can the mods change the title of this thread to better reflect what's being discussed?
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-- Jim Virginia City, Nevada 2016 R-pod 180 2015 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 02 May 2020 at 10:54am |
You just did. We hit 6.6 billion ppl in 2006, 14 years ago. We're at 7.8 bil now. But what's a measly 1.2 billion here or there?
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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