This post is probably gonna be long, so I apologise in advance.
Last Wednesday evening, my girlfriend and I were driving through Grand Teton National park, headed south down U.S. 191. The sun was setting and we were driving a bit below the speed limit, in awe of the beauty surrounding us. The foilage was brilliant, greens, gold's, and oranges, the mountains were towering and majestic, the lake between us and the mountains, when it peeked out from between the trees, was glass still, a perfect mirror for everything surrounding it. I stopped on side pullouts so she could take some photos, here and there. As we drove around a slight right hand curve, I spied a dirt track road leading off towards the lake. It was surrounded by aspen and pine, and didn't look like it was used much. But there was no where to pull off and inspect. Driving a crew cab f250 with a 23 ft jayco baja edition TT isn't huge, but you can't just pull off on the itty bitty shoulder with all the blind curves, or go barrelling down some unknown road not knowing what the terrain is like or if there's a spot suitable to turn the rig around. So I blew it off and kept driving. A few bends later and we come across a stunning meadow with aspen and oak, all ablaze with color, but the pull out is on the other side of the road, I have cars behind me, and the room to pull a u-turn is iffy at best, so I proceed ahead, with a disappointed gf, who really wanted to take pictures. Another mile or so up the road, there's a pull out large enough to turn around. Wanting the GF to be happy, I bust a u and head back. We pull off at the colorful meadow, she shoots a few pics, and then I'm faced with the issue of not being able to turn back around and head south, so north we go, looking for another turn around. Again, I pass the spot with the road going off towards the lake, thinking how awesome it would be to pull in there and just spend the night, but on I press, finding a place to turn back around, a few miles up the road. Heading back south, we again pass the little dirt road, slowing down this time to see what I could. No signs, definitely a road, but some small deadfall laying across the tracks. Maybe it fell there, maybe someone put it there... Oh well, on we press, except now GF says how great it would be to pull off there and spend the night, so about a quarter mile up the highway, there's a pull off. I stop, grab a walkie and walk back up the highway to the little road, to inspect. At this point it's getting dusk. Light enough to see, but getting dark quick. Cars are whizzing by, with their headlights on, I'm sure, wondering what the heck this guy is doing, wandering up the shoulder on the highway, as they keep their eyes peeled for wild life. Yes, this is also the magic hour for all the wild animals to come alive, and play in their forest. I can hear them, as I'm nearing the little road. Specifically I can hear the bugling and grunting of an elk. It's growing louder, and a bit more disconcerting as I get closer to my destination. The forest is so dense here that you really can't see more than a few feet off the road, so every noise got my pulse up a bit, as I also remembered I am in grizzly country. Probably wasn't the smartest thing to only arm myself with a walkie talkie, no gun, no bear spray, not even a phone or flashlight... Oh well, undaunted, I press on. I get to the little road, it is indeed a road, that leads back quite a ways, complete with multiple sets of relatively fresh tire tracks. I look for signs. Nope no signs in sight. Nothing saying what the road is, or that I can't camp there. The grass is high in the tracks, telling me the road sees light use. I walk back on the road a little ways, and see that there's a place large enough to turn around, and so I head back to the truck, contemplating whether or not we should spend the night there. I come back across the deadfall bisecting the tracks. Pretty sure someone layed it there, but it's broken and starting to rot. Perhaps someone layed it there trying to hide the road?... It's been there a while and has tracks easily going around it. It's not very big, and I easily pick up the two pieces and move them to the side. I get back to the truck, still undecided about going back and staying there. Mostly concerned about bears. We keep a clean camp and I really don't intend to spend much time there outside. Still we have a little dog that needs walked and I would hate for my beautiful GF to get gobbled up taking him out ;D. But to get to listen to wild elk bugle all night, and maybe wake to see them around us in the morning, it took me back to my childhood, camping with my family in secluded places, surrounded by untamed elk herds. When GF said we should do it, I couldn't resist, so back we went. Pulled off the road, it was steeeep! Bent the step cage coming off the highway. I couldn't really take it at an angle for fear of tipping the trailer. Anyway it was dark. We went down the road a bit less than 1/8 of a mile, you could just barely see the cars as they drove past, but we were fairly hidden. Didn't even disconnect from the truck. Planned to wake up first thing the next morning and head on to our next destination. Set the stabilizer jacks down, the steps down, and went in for the night. Ate a quick dinner, and fell asleep to the sounds of the wild, thrilled to be where we were.
I woke up around 6, and spent the next hour listening to the elk. They were a ways off from the sounds of their calls. I watched it get lighter. I got up and opened the blinds so I could see any wild life happen by, from my cozy spot in bed. Around 7 my GF gets outa bed and heads to the bathroom. Upon her return to bed, she's looking out the window, and then startled and a bit fearful, proclaims, "There's someone out there!!!" She tells me there's a man outside, looking at the truck. I figure it's some camper who made it down the road a bit further than we did, looking to get out, and we're blocking his way, and I hurriedly get up to put some pants on and apologize to this guy. Then she says it's a ranger... Hmmm. Ok she jumps back in bed to cover her naked, and I, now kinda bent some ranger is sniffing around our rig, open the door in nothing but my boxer briefs. Low and behold, there's two rangers! Primary ranger immediately says "are you armed?"... I look down at my near nakedness and laughingly say, "um, no..." To which he replies, do you have any weapons in there. Suddenly, this seems a while lot more serious than what it should be. I reply, "yes" he asks what, and how many. I reply 1, and a 9mm Glock. He asks if it's loaded and chambered, to which I reply yes. He asks where it is in the trailer, I nod to my left, saying it's on my bedside table. He then asks me to get dressed, while leaving the door slightly open and not to move in the direction of the gun. I dress, but before I finish, he interrupts and says "sir, I would feel more comfortable if I can come in and secure the firearm. Can I enter and get the weapon?" I hesitate for a moment. This is the United States. Wtf is going on here. I have done nothing wrong and this guy is acting like I'm a suspect of some sort. I think about declining his offer, and telling him no. My mind then flashes to ruby ridge, and to Jack Yantis. I had just come from Idaho a few days prior and had been reading about both those incidents. I thought about where this situation could go, and that it just wasn't worth risking losing my life over at this point. I looked at my girlfriend, who has the covers pulled up to her eyeballs (because she was cold and naked, not because she was scared. **** the gun belongs to her and she knows how to use it) and ask what she wants. She says let him come in. So, reluctantly, I oblige, and I let the officer know, it was against my better judgement, and I didn't appreciate it, but to keep him happy, he could come in and retrieve the gun. He did, and once out of the trailer pulled out the clip, and cleared the chamber. Then he said "come outside and let's discuss all of your violations.." WTF!
I get outside and he informs me that we are illegally off road, and camped. Says nothing further about the firearm. To be fair, I'm not up on my legally possessing a loaded firearm in a national park, but I believe it is illegal. I'll have to look that up. Anyway. Back to my multiple violations. I point out the road, and say, I'm not off road, this is clearly a road. He asks if I moved the logs that were blocking it, I say yes, but to be fair, I could've driven over them, they look like deadfall. Where I come from, blocked roads have large logs, boulders, barricades, and or signage informing me that I am not allowed to go down said road. He then says we are illegally camped. That we aren't allowed to camp anywhere but designated camp sites put up by the park service. Again, I argue. See, the previous evening, when my girlfriend and I were sitting a quarter mile down the highway, we had cell service. I asked her to look up if it is ok to camp in a national park. She plugs that into Google and the response that comes back is this: you can camp anywhere around the park in the national forest or blm land (we misread what it said, to mean we could camp anywhere in the park and national forest surrounding it.)
Now, unbeknownst to me, this was the Dyrt website, not the national parks website, or Grand Tetons website. But we tried to do our due diligence and were acting on information we thought to be accurate. We were wrong, and I conceded the point to the ranger, but letting him know that we didn't just drive down into some random meadow without a care in the world and tearing up the terrain. Anyway, there was much back and forth between us. Eventually he excused himself and went back to the vehicle where he, his partner, and someone he was on the radio with conversed about us and our situation. He comes back, letting me know he appreciated our due diligence, and was "only ticketing us for illegally camping"!!! So again, I argue back, knowing it wasn't going to change his mind, but not just gonna stand there and take it either. IMO, his job is to protect the park. We were in no way harming it. He didn't come upon a fresh made track, nor did he come upon a trashed campsite. We didn't spend any time outside, no fire, no trash, nothing. He could easily see we were upstanding citizens, just out camping, responsibly, and we made a mistake. Educate me on my error and let me off with a warning, but no, got to get that revenue.
What do you all think?
Last Wednesday evening, my girlfriend and I were driving through Grand Teton National park, headed south down U.S. 191. The sun was setting and we were driving a bit below the speed limit, in awe of the beauty surrounding us. The foilage was brilliant, greens, gold's, and oranges, the mountains were towering and majestic, the lake between us and the mountains, when it peeked out from between the trees, was glass still, a perfect mirror for everything surrounding it. I stopped on side pullouts so she could take some photos, here and there. As we drove around a slight right hand curve, I spied a dirt track road leading off towards the lake. It was surrounded by aspen and pine, and didn't look like it was used much. But there was no where to pull off and inspect. Driving a crew cab f250 with a 23 ft jayco baja edition TT isn't huge, but you can't just pull off on the itty bitty shoulder with all the blind curves, or go barrelling down some unknown road not knowing what the terrain is like or if there's a spot suitable to turn the rig around. So I blew it off and kept driving. A few bends later and we come across a stunning meadow with aspen and oak, all ablaze with color, but the pull out is on the other side of the road, I have cars behind me, and the room to pull a u-turn is iffy at best, so I proceed ahead, with a disappointed gf, who really wanted to take pictures. Another mile or so up the road, there's a pull out large enough to turn around. Wanting the GF to be happy, I bust a u and head back. We pull off at the colorful meadow, she shoots a few pics, and then I'm faced with the issue of not being able to turn back around and head south, so north we go, looking for another turn around. Again, I pass the spot with the road going off towards the lake, thinking how awesome it would be to pull in there and just spend the night, but on I press, finding a place to turn back around, a few miles up the road. Heading back south, we again pass the little dirt road, slowing down this time to see what I could. No signs, definitely a road, but some small deadfall laying across the tracks. Maybe it fell there, maybe someone put it there... Oh well, on we press, except now GF says how great it would be to pull off there and spend the night, so about a quarter mile up the highway, there's a pull off. I stop, grab a walkie and walk back up the highway to the little road, to inspect. At this point it's getting dusk. Light enough to see, but getting dark quick. Cars are whizzing by, with their headlights on, I'm sure, wondering what the heck this guy is doing, wandering up the shoulder on the highway, as they keep their eyes peeled for wild life. Yes, this is also the magic hour for all the wild animals to come alive, and play in their forest. I can hear them, as I'm nearing the little road. Specifically I can hear the bugling and grunting of an elk. It's growing louder, and a bit more disconcerting as I get closer to my destination. The forest is so dense here that you really can't see more than a few feet off the road, so every noise got my pulse up a bit, as I also remembered I am in grizzly country. Probably wasn't the smartest thing to only arm myself with a walkie talkie, no gun, no bear spray, not even a phone or flashlight... Oh well, undaunted, I press on. I get to the little road, it is indeed a road, that leads back quite a ways, complete with multiple sets of relatively fresh tire tracks. I look for signs. Nope no signs in sight. Nothing saying what the road is, or that I can't camp there. The grass is high in the tracks, telling me the road sees light use. I walk back on the road a little ways, and see that there's a place large enough to turn around, and so I head back to the truck, contemplating whether or not we should spend the night there. I come back across the deadfall bisecting the tracks. Pretty sure someone layed it there, but it's broken and starting to rot. Perhaps someone layed it there trying to hide the road?... It's been there a while and has tracks easily going around it. It's not very big, and I easily pick up the two pieces and move them to the side. I get back to the truck, still undecided about going back and staying there. Mostly concerned about bears. We keep a clean camp and I really don't intend to spend much time there outside. Still we have a little dog that needs walked and I would hate for my beautiful GF to get gobbled up taking him out ;D. But to get to listen to wild elk bugle all night, and maybe wake to see them around us in the morning, it took me back to my childhood, camping with my family in secluded places, surrounded by untamed elk herds. When GF said we should do it, I couldn't resist, so back we went. Pulled off the road, it was steeeep! Bent the step cage coming off the highway. I couldn't really take it at an angle for fear of tipping the trailer. Anyway it was dark. We went down the road a bit less than 1/8 of a mile, you could just barely see the cars as they drove past, but we were fairly hidden. Didn't even disconnect from the truck. Planned to wake up first thing the next morning and head on to our next destination. Set the stabilizer jacks down, the steps down, and went in for the night. Ate a quick dinner, and fell asleep to the sounds of the wild, thrilled to be where we were.
I woke up around 6, and spent the next hour listening to the elk. They were a ways off from the sounds of their calls. I watched it get lighter. I got up and opened the blinds so I could see any wild life happen by, from my cozy spot in bed. Around 7 my GF gets outa bed and heads to the bathroom. Upon her return to bed, she's looking out the window, and then startled and a bit fearful, proclaims, "There's someone out there!!!" She tells me there's a man outside, looking at the truck. I figure it's some camper who made it down the road a bit further than we did, looking to get out, and we're blocking his way, and I hurriedly get up to put some pants on and apologize to this guy. Then she says it's a ranger... Hmmm. Ok she jumps back in bed to cover her naked, and I, now kinda bent some ranger is sniffing around our rig, open the door in nothing but my boxer briefs. Low and behold, there's two rangers! Primary ranger immediately says "are you armed?"... I look down at my near nakedness and laughingly say, "um, no..." To which he replies, do you have any weapons in there. Suddenly, this seems a while lot more serious than what it should be. I reply, "yes" he asks what, and how many. I reply 1, and a 9mm Glock. He asks if it's loaded and chambered, to which I reply yes. He asks where it is in the trailer, I nod to my left, saying it's on my bedside table. He then asks me to get dressed, while leaving the door slightly open and not to move in the direction of the gun. I dress, but before I finish, he interrupts and says "sir, I would feel more comfortable if I can come in and secure the firearm. Can I enter and get the weapon?" I hesitate for a moment. This is the United States. Wtf is going on here. I have done nothing wrong and this guy is acting like I'm a suspect of some sort. I think about declining his offer, and telling him no. My mind then flashes to ruby ridge, and to Jack Yantis. I had just come from Idaho a few days prior and had been reading about both those incidents. I thought about where this situation could go, and that it just wasn't worth risking losing my life over at this point. I looked at my girlfriend, who has the covers pulled up to her eyeballs (because she was cold and naked, not because she was scared. **** the gun belongs to her and she knows how to use it) and ask what she wants. She says let him come in. So, reluctantly, I oblige, and I let the officer know, it was against my better judgement, and I didn't appreciate it, but to keep him happy, he could come in and retrieve the gun. He did, and once out of the trailer pulled out the clip, and cleared the chamber. Then he said "come outside and let's discuss all of your violations.." WTF!
I get outside and he informs me that we are illegally off road, and camped. Says nothing further about the firearm. To be fair, I'm not up on my legally possessing a loaded firearm in a national park, but I believe it is illegal. I'll have to look that up. Anyway. Back to my multiple violations. I point out the road, and say, I'm not off road, this is clearly a road. He asks if I moved the logs that were blocking it, I say yes, but to be fair, I could've driven over them, they look like deadfall. Where I come from, blocked roads have large logs, boulders, barricades, and or signage informing me that I am not allowed to go down said road. He then says we are illegally camped. That we aren't allowed to camp anywhere but designated camp sites put up by the park service. Again, I argue. See, the previous evening, when my girlfriend and I were sitting a quarter mile down the highway, we had cell service. I asked her to look up if it is ok to camp in a national park. She plugs that into Google and the response that comes back is this: you can camp anywhere around the park in the national forest or blm land (we misread what it said, to mean we could camp anywhere in the park and national forest surrounding it.)
Now, unbeknownst to me, this was the Dyrt website, not the national parks website, or Grand Tetons website. But we tried to do our due diligence and were acting on information we thought to be accurate. We were wrong, and I conceded the point to the ranger, but letting him know that we didn't just drive down into some random meadow without a care in the world and tearing up the terrain. Anyway, there was much back and forth between us. Eventually he excused himself and went back to the vehicle where he, his partner, and someone he was on the radio with conversed about us and our situation. He comes back, letting me know he appreciated our due diligence, and was "only ticketing us for illegally camping"!!! So again, I argue back, knowing it wasn't going to change his mind, but not just gonna stand there and take it either. IMO, his job is to protect the park. We were in no way harming it. He didn't come upon a fresh made track, nor did he come upon a trashed campsite. We didn't spend any time outside, no fire, no trash, nothing. He could easily see we were upstanding citizens, just out camping, responsibly, and we made a mistake. Educate me on my error and let me off with a warning, but no, got to get that revenue.
What do you all think?
Attachments
Last edited:
