Campsite Rage Cure?

Next time just napalm their camp!
billy

I was camping once. Loud music. Wife asked them to turn it down. They turned it up.

Once there were loud people in the middle of the night. Lots of Fxxx Yous. In the morning the police came and hauled them away. I think they were using meth or something.

I camped once where I thought there would be few people. It filled up. Boy Scout group camped next to me. They kicked a ball which landed on my tent. I asked them to leave me alone. They sort of focused their energy in another direction. Kids have a lot of energy.

My initial reaction was to say "get up REALLY early and make lots and lots of noise" but then I read further and realized that, just as your indignation could not remain, neither could thoughts of revenge – however tempting that would be under most circumstances. It's great that you were still able to hear a little the owls you came for, and I admire you for not venting at the group as I'm sure some would have done.

In situations like that, I guess that concentrating on how much better the next day will be is my only refuge (or maybe feeling thankful I'm not one of the supervisees). I'm assuming you didn't consider sneaking off and stealth camping out of earshot…I might have tried that if it were possible.

Sound-deadening headphones with your favorite music?

I actually was fantasizing about revenge the next morning as they were sleeping – just like you mentioned. LOL In a purely theoretical way of course. I came up with a great one. I had decided to bring my iphone to do some reading, and my fantasy was to do this – record the 1/2 hour of yelling for echos, and then play it back at high volume in the morning before they woke up. Ah, the sweet justice of it!

Unfortunately I had neglected to pack my ultralight 100 watt amplifier.

"What do other people do in such situations? Are you somehow able to switch modes in your brain and enjoy the situation as it is, instead of the way you wanted it to be?"

Personally, I try to avoid expectations as much as possible and try roll with things as they come. It's the easiest way to avoid disappointment as far as I'm concerned. Look at it this way, you spent most of your night as well as the next morning frustrated, angry, and annoyed while they probably had a grand ol' time that they might be talking about for weeks.

It sounds like they were being obnoxious and it's unfortunate that lack of respect for others is so common, but I'm not going to let some goofballs ruin my night. Then again, I can fall asleep with a train rolling by so the noise wouldn't bother me. I think it was all the time spent having bush parties in my youth – it makes me impervious to the outside world when it's bedtime.

Cheers…

Earplugs, dude. I try not to go camping without them.

I really prefer to set up camp in an area without people. That way I can be as loud as I want without bothering anybody. Not that I'm especially obnoxious, but it sucks night hiking into a crowded trail camp and having to whisper, set up your gear quietly, trying not to flash peoples tents with your headlamp, ect. A good example of that would be walking into terrace creek camp in ventana at 3 a.m.

I almost never camp in a campground or anywhere near a trail for this reason.

But if you want something to meditate on when you encounter that kind of situation, try this:

"I am not dying in the hospital. I don't have cancer. I am not in pain. I am healthy enough to be out here backpacking. Life is good and in the big picture of things this disturbance this evening is small potatoes."

Billy

Thanks for the advice. It is kind of hard to avoid expectations as I had a specific purpose – to listen to the owls. As for earplugs, see the previous sentence. :-)

Anyway, it wasn't a question of sleeping in this case, just the invasiveness of the noise. In terms of my backpacking I am usually very antisocial. I can go with other people on my wavelength, but when I can't I go solo, and when I do if at all possible I don't want to hear artificially loud people – I'd rather hear the local sounds. So this never happens to me when I have a choice about it. Unfortunately there is no open camping anywhere in the Santa Cruz mountain to my knowledge.

Maybe I should ask for my $22 dollars back from the park service. LOL

I've spent many nights in campgrounds next to noisy people. Like others, I avoid camping in campgrounds now.

Nothing works every time except moving far enough away that you can't hear them.

– Earplugs help, but usually aren't enough, especially if boom boxes, yelling, or loud laughter are involved.

– Quietly walking into their camp, and gently asking them to be quiet works sometimes. Once I was threatened with a large hunting knife.

– Yelling loudly from an anonymous location works sometimes. After years of guiding whitewater rafts, I can yell quite loud when required. I often get thanked the next morning by nearby campers.

– Meditation, remembering that nothing is permanent, and lowering my expectations helps, some. Except for the part where I still don't get enough sleep.

Years ago, a BLM ranger told me they started charging $4 per night at formerly free campsites along the Merced River, to keep the party-hardy crowd out, and it worked. $22 per night, or even more, doesn't work any more.

Every noisy camping situation that I can recall involved too much alcohol. Makes me want to bring back Prohibition.

If I see boom boxes, cases of beer, or more than one cooler in a campsite, I move far away if possible.

— Rex

+1 to what Billy said. I use that approach for a lot of things in life. We forget–so easily–how wonderful our lives are and that Terrible Things can happen and do happen every day. But death isn't a normal part of our society, even though it's one of the most natural components of living. When I remind myself that Terrible Things aren't happening to me today, it makes the things that are happening seem less significant.

Unfortunately for you, this particular disturbance affected the very purpose of your trip.

In general, I avoid car-camping campgrounds. I am so different than the people I see in car-camping campgrounds. They don't see or care to see the trees or mountain or streams. They aren't there to listen to the conversation of the natural world, to try so hard to learn its language and maybe even figure out one if its secrets. They don't look at the mountain that's been there Forever, and wonder what Forever is like.

I'm there to ponder and connect.

For them, nothing has changed–their brains are still right at home. They've fired up the diesel generator, and are watching "The Price is Right" on an astroturf lawn under an RV awning, and after eating even more potato salad they realize they'd rather be watching it at home, but at least they've got the bed in the RV to crawl into, because it's getting chilly out here, and people shouldn't be outside in this kind of cold–maybe we should invite that quiet guy from the next campsite over to the RV–he's gonna freeze to death tonight, and *BURP* his tent looks like some kind of blue cocktail-napkin oragami and I'm sure a bear's gonna tear it to pieces,

"GAIL!"

he screams,

"GAIL, DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING FOR THE FELLA AT THE NEXT CAMPSITE OVER?!?" AT LEAST OFFER HIM SOME POTATO SALAD?!? HE MIGHT NOT HAVE ENOUGH FOOD–HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A TABLECLOTH…"

Indeed Adam! Well said.

I feel soooo out of place amongst the camp ground crowd… or even the JMT crowd for that matter…

Billy

I think you have to play it by ear.

We were once joined at a campsite by a group of boyscouts who screamed in joy at discovering that the day's hike was over. I immediately told them to pipe down, and their leader apologized and used it for a teaching moment.

And when they arrived at our campsite ten miles away the next day, the leader came over to apologize in advance, and promised us that we would never see them again.

I've also asked people to be quiet when we were car camping. They immediately got quiet, then slower rose the peak volume again. Happily, they then received a visit from a park ranger who pointed out that they were on federal land, and that dope they were smoking was a federal crime. Oops. The got realy quiet after that citation.

And if it was a group of disabled or mentally challenged kids, i might walk over and say hello, offer a bit of help, and figure that this was going to be a different kind of trip. And assume that it is all part of the journey.

No, I don't think it was my responsibility or prerogative to offer "help", and they needed no help, as they were just being who they were. Plus I personally hate people doing that kind of presumptuous thing. Not going to become one myself. As I hope was clear, I recognized even then that the "problem" was between my ears, especially as I had no easy escape – no car nearby to leave as this was a backcountry camp, and no place to move as reservation were required. I've had way more good experiences than bad, in group camping situations. In this case I just felt trapped, kind of like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7IkSS7Kk7w

:-O

Hi Marko

It seems to me that you acted the best way you could. You endured and didn't explode , and right now you are doing the best thing: Venting!

I can't see you could have done much else.

Just keep in mind that you are a good person! ;-)

Me?…. I would probably have exploded just a little… You know… In a controllable way… ;-)….

Although YOU were the one inconvenienced here, you handled it well.

I have re-thought my "I'll politely ask them to quiet down" idea more than once – because I didn't want a ninja sword waived at me like a post above mentioned! I have done so once and they politely complied.

While it was the wrong thing to do, I don't TOTALLY regret this one that I pulled after much frustration: As was also mentioned above, I did scream LOUDLY several times the next morning while a loud group was passed out. I'm sure it woke them but as drunk as they were they weren't aware that it happened within 30 seconds.

Adam, that is so darn funny and yet so true. While this is not a campground story, I have some neighbors several blocks away from me who are from Latin America…very large family with kids, dogs running around and great energy. Every night now from 8pm to 845pm they crank up the music in the style that they love, ie a true Mexican playlist. At first I was dreading the noise. And as the weeks went on, it was the same. My neighbors were joking saying we should give them a playlist if we have to listen to this. But then out of the blue, they put on some music by the Boston Pops. I had to run out and make sure it was coming from them. Sure enough, it was. I sat there and listened and then thought: is it ok for them to play loud music that I personally like but its an annoyance if its something I don't care for?

I now welcome whatever they play and take delight in hearing the squeals and laughter coming from the kids and the dog who will run to my house and zoom by me and zoom home.

My mother and I were on a car camping trip in Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan. We avoided the big RV camp and instead chose the "primitive" camping across the park. It was quite nice actually, and we had a lovely evening talking, playing cards, walking on the beach, having a nice campfire – a mother and daughter enjoying each other's quiet company and the relaxation that comes from staring at a campfire.

Well….

About midnight or so our neighbors (it was a true car camping campground) decided to meet up with some other campers at the fire ring RIGHT NEXT TO OUR TENT. I mean, this thing couldn't have been 10 feet away.

They were generally polite, but as the evening went on they started playing music a bit louder, and one person in particular just kept getting VERY, VERY animated in his storytelling.

By about 2am of this – we were both just lying in the tent wondering how much longer this could go on…my mom unzips the tent, stands up and very loudly – but primly – says "Hey. Shush."

That's it. That's all she said……she old-librarian-lady shushed them. And they meekly apologized and ended up moving to the other neighbor's fire ring.

My girlfriend and I were preparing for a backpacking trip far north in Glacier National Park. I had never backpacked before; she had been to Philmont. We hitchhiked from Apgar up to Kintla Lake, which is a beautiful drive-in campground that is remote and fairly challenging to access without 4WD. We arrived, set up camp, and tried to go to sleep early. Around 10 pm, we awoke to another group that had set up camp maybe 5 feet next to us, as the campsites were jammed pretty close together. They were a bunch of kayakers who were regaling eachother with amazing kayak stories. We could hear everything. The stories got more and more animated and louder and louder. At first, they were amusing, but as the night went on, we were getting increasingly cranky due to lack of sleep. Finally, we got frustrated since we had to wake up at dawn to head into the mountains. We got up, threw our packs on, and picked up our freestanding tent and moved it to an empty space (not an official campsite) about 50 feet away. During that time, there were these two young children that were running around screaming, and with our headlamps, we ran into this girl holding a giant bullfrog and laughing. We set down our tent in the new spot, turned off our headlamps, got ready to go back to sleep, and then realized how fortunate we were that this entire event happened. We looked up into the sky and saw the most spectacular panorama of stars that I have ever seen in my life. It was amazing. We went to sleep, woke up bleary eyed and hiked to our next campsite at Upper Kintla Lake, which turned out to be the beginning of a very ill-fated trip that involved a boat evacuation. But that's for another story…

I like to set up camp late in the afternoon, and I always avoid camping near anyone. If a group sets up camp near me I size up the situation and try to figure if their proximity is going to bother me. A single camper, no problem. A single couple, probably no problem. But if there are more people, and if moving is an option, I'll move away.

Of course sometimes moving is not an option. But by planning to avoid popular places, never camping on holiday weekends, and weekends generally, I have not had too much trouble with noisy neighbors.

Sound like the OP planned well but had bad luck.

Asking people to quite down might work, like the shushing did, but it could backfire, depending upon who you are dealing with.

The best way to avoid noisy neighbors is too not have neighbors.

Nobody here has ever been on the other end?

We've camped with our kids since they were infants and have had our share of epic 2AM screaming baby blowouts that had to have woke the entire world and had all of humanity wishing death on us and our babies.

Or simply having fun. Nobody here has ever partied and gotten a bit out of control with their friends, even if it was in their youth? Nobody here has ever been an excited 12 year old at 2AM, screaming, and telling scary stories and running around with friends in the night?

Has anybody here ever camped and instead of getting mad about the party raging next door, joined them? Invite your neighbors over for food and drinks at yours?

Yes, I've certainly been kept up and annoyed by knuckleheads making too much noise in the campground. I've also been that knucklehead.

Right or wrong, it's going to happen.

I'd carry some earplugs or walk a hell of a lot further if I was prone to rage over these sort of things.

Or talk to Nick Gatel for advice, the silver-bearded Zen master of avoiding our own species when camping and backpacking.

Skunk scent

State parks are the sewers of humanity, filled with drunken Neanderthals and their spawn. Loud music, roaring 4×4's, screaming kids, late night arrivals with diesels and and generators are just the norm. They are cheap motels, not wilderness.

The only cure is to lower your expectations. Earplugs indeed.

No one else is struck by the irony of the original statements and wording of same at all? "..in an area where in spring and early summer the Great Horned Owls really make a **ruckus**. I like to lie there in the evening and listen to them hoot at each other across the deep gorge…"

Definition of ruckus, A disturbance; a commotion. Or, a noisy commotion; uproar; rumpus. In general, ruckus can denote noise that is pretty loud and not harmonious.

Loud, inharmonious noises tend to bother me whether from human or animal, i would probably throw my shoes at either one, especially if i was trying to sleep. ;)

More seriously, yeah that does suck and i could see the annoyance of it. But with a shift of attitude and much bigger picture of things, one can bear much worse and even with a smile. We only truly have authentic power over ourselves, so it's best to learn how to adapt and change according to the need or situation. Getting overly stressed and focused on over what others do or don't do, only harms self. Course, easier said than done, there seem to be few consistent masters of the ability to look at things only from a big picture and/or self detach in a positive way. It's rumored that one carrying part of their own means to bodily destruction, made jokes on his way to the destination of his murder. Could we even begin imagine that kind of big picture perception and positive self detachment? Most can't, many can't even imagine going a week without a little road rage.

And yes to Craig's questions, i've been that ahole before in car camping type campsites, though generally i'm pretty quiet, even when i drink.

I could turn on my RV generator