Camping

[0773|=\]

^Yeah that one's nice, especially since everyone knows if your going to party, you go to Brewer's, but if you want peace and quiet, go just up the road to Lakeview instead. The officers seem to let a lot slide @ Brewer's (from my experience, anyways)

[ExcaliburKid]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

What kind of problems?

Garbage it sounds like. People being careless and just leaving or tossing their trash onto the beach which then blows into the water. I had mentioned to a former local that I had a great time at Kal beach and the response went something like "Kal beach?! Really? Wow they must have really cleaned it up"

[Calgarian]

Just got back from camping and I can say I will never even consider going to Elkwater again. The sites are very small, are extremely close together and the Conservation Officers are a bunch of power tripping assholes. They saw a bunch of guys in their mid 20s pull in and started plotting how to get us to leave, we were booked in for 3 nights but got kicked out after the first for being too loud, this is after we got harassed all night by those pricks. We were standing on the road @ about 11 talking to a couple girls and watch their dog play with our friends puppy and these 2 COs come walking up to us, blinding us with their flashlights and tell us to pour out our beers, we then ask why we need to pour them out and ask if beer is allowed in Elkwater, they then reply very rudely that we are indeed allowed to drink, but only on our site, now pour out the beer, so I take one step back onto my site and say is that better, then the guy shines his flashlight right in my eyes again and tells me to pour out my beer, so I do, my friends do and we go back to our site. About a half hour later the neighbours come and ask if we are going to be staying up late, we say we are but we will keep it down and he leaves, we then decide to go for a walk so as not to be too noisy, in an attempt to avoid the Gestapo we go into the woods, find a path and walk for a bit, we end up back on the road after a bit and sure enough, the 2 Cos were hiding in the bush waiting for us, they then call in backup and take our information and issue us $115 tickets for having alcohol in a public space, we are very annoyed and frustrated so we start giving them some shit back which Im sure didn't help our case but at least made us feel better. After all this we are walking back to our site when we run into the girls on their site so we stop and talk about our encounter and within 5 minutes the COs show up again and tell us that we are too loud (which we weren't we were talking at a reasonable volume) and that we have to go to sleep now or we will be forced to leave (its about 12:30 by this time, 3 encounters with the COs in an hour and a half), so we go back to our site and turn in. We are woken up by 4 more COs at 8 the next morning and are told that we were too loud and we have to leave, turns out there was some ornery old guy across the road that decided we were trouble and started calling the COs pretty much the minute we showed up, and that was enough to get us kicked out. As we are packing up the guy who was at the site beside us asks us why we have to leave and we say apparently there were a bunch of noise complaints, the guy said that's bull and went and talked to the COs telling them he was less than 20' from us all night and didn't hear a thing, the guy across the road was easily 2x as far and complained several times. After this we went back to Medicine Hat, decided that since we had all of our stuff in the car we should at least try to find another campground, we made a few phone calls and found a place near Maple Creek called Eagle Valley that had a few spots left so we went there. This time we were really nervous pulling in since we already got the boot from one place, bit we met the neighbours, they were pretty chill so we partied with them all weekend, this place turned out to be great and we had a blast with no problems from anyone, and by the second night there we were actually getting pretty loud, but no one bothered us. Getting booted on Saturday morning with everyone watching was extremely embarrassing and I wouldn't wish for that to happen to anyone. I advise very strongly against going to Elkwater unless you are a 65 year old woman or if you are a family, and even then I advise against it based on the way they treated me and my friends.

[ExcaliburKid]

Sorry to hear about the BS you had to go through there. I've had similar scenarios at a campground south east of Edmonton at Miquelon Lake. We've been kicked out of there on more than one occasion, but it didnt help that the CO's there were douchey pricks. Always coming by, asking how many of us were in the site, how long we planned on staying, if we were aware that it's a family campground etc. I dont get why some of these campgrounds and other campers automatically assume that a group of 20 somethings are always bad news. We carry on the same way at every campground we go to so I never quite understood the treatment we got a Miquelon. Oh well. I will be adding Elkwater to my list of "must avoid" for camping.

[MichaelS]

Bumping this thread up as summer is fast approaching. A question for all of you, would Waterton Park be worth visiting during the May long weekend, or should I wait until later in the summer? I have never been there, but definitely want to make it down there this summer at some point.

Thanks.

[0773|=\]

I've never been in May, but I understand that it's windy anytime of year, so you might want to wait until the thermometer's a little warmer. Then again, if you hate crowds, you should probably come before they all arrive.

IMHO, the Waterton townsite is an infinitely nicer experience than Banff or Jasper, because it's smaller, more compact, and less touristy. On the other hand, if you prefer the outdoors and you have a day to kill, you should make sure to hike the Crypt Lake Trail. It's a full-day hike (a little under 20 kms), but it's probably one of the funnest day-hikes I've done in the Canadian Rockies, granted you aren't competing with crowds (and it is a popular hike). I don't want to give any of it away, just take my word for it... DO IT.

[240glt]

We've just renewed our lease on the lot at Pigeon Lake, going out this weekend to open the trailer and hopefully get a round or two of golf in.

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by 0773|=\

I've never been in May, but I understand that it's windy anytime of year, so you might want to wait until the thermometer's a little warmer. Then again, if you hate crowds, you should probably come before they all arrive.

IMHO, the Waterton townsite is an infinitely nicer experience than Banff or Jasper, because it's smaller, more compact, and less touristy. On the other hand, if you prefer the outdoors and you have a day to kill, you should make sure to hike the Crypt Lake Trail. It's a full-day hike (a little under 20 kms), but it's probably one of the funnest day-hikes I've done in the Canadian Rockies, granted you aren't competing with crowds (and it is a popular hike). I don't want to give any of it away, just take my word for it... DO IT.

Thanks for the tips. I will have to talk it over with the GF to see if we go in May, but we both want to go at some point. That hike sounds great, we will definitely check it out.

Thanks again.

[freeweed]

*bump*

Anyone having fun trying to find a place to camp on the long weekend that allows adults to have a beer in front of the campfire?

[Phil McAvity]

Calgarian, I think I would have tried to get the names of those conservation officers and complained to someone about the way you guys were treated.

You were at a campground not a library.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

Calgarian, I think I would have tried to get the names of those conservation officers and complained to someone about the way you guys were treated.

You were at a campground not a library.

Sadly, national and many provincial campgrounds in Canada ARE being turned into libraries. Here are some of the recent (or recently heavily enforced) rules of note:

1. Long weekend liquor bans. Vehicle searches included. No exceptions.

2. "Quiet time" after 11pm - complete zero tolerance including NO alcohol whatsoever, and NO campfires allowed. That's right, a single person sitting by themselves at midnight sipping a beer will get a massive fine. I've personally been warned (nicely, but still...) in this exact scenario.

3. No alcohol off your site - and as Calgarian points out, this is a bit of a nebulous definition. Hell, I've been in trouble for not having my tent "on the gravel pad". Sure felt like gravel under my tent, and there were only 2 of us. This "on your site" rule was originally intended to stop people from packing 10 tents on a site and having a wild party zone, but now it's just gotten stupid.


Personally, if the gov't would just make some campgrounds for 25+ (like some bars in Calgary have) and enforce the hell out of the others, I bet this could all be a non-issue. It's an incredibly small demographic that ever causes problems, but because we have to treat everyone fairly, we end up with this ridiculous zero tolerance nonsense.

[Phil McAvity]

^I'm always happy to see the further encroachment of big brother into what few freedoms and liberties we have left in this country.

The problem with your idea is that many people would be pissed off about it because they wouldn't fit the age category so the campgrounds they have always loved would now be off-limits. How it works in bars in Calgary is a mystery to me but i'll bet it pisses a lot of people off there too.

[Xelebes]

There are such things as private campgrounds. A bit more expensive but eh.

[Phil McAvity]

^In my experience they are not only more expensive but they also aren't nearly as good as provincial campgrounds. Campgrounds are one thing that for some reason, the private sector does not do well.

[240glt]

I find BC provincial campgrounds much better than AB ones, Sites & facilities are nicer, There are still some of the same rules regarding noise etc- which is fine by me... who wants to camp next to some jackass running a generator 'till 3 am or a bunch of beer filled mooks screaming & hollering all night... A buddy & I camp at Kokanee creek about three times a year, we keep it low key, keep the fire a little lower past 11 and pick a site that's out of the way a bit & we've never had any trouble. The one time a warden came & asked us to turn our music off he was very cordial about it.

You want to act like a buffoon ? Go to Waiprous.

[Calgarian]

Anyone ever been camping in Whitefish MT? I've been there snowboarding, but not in the summer. Just wondering if it will be busy, if the drinking rules are different in the states, if Flathead Lake is nice, etc.

[Denscity]

I can camp across the street if i want to.

[Calgarian]

I'm going camping in the Shuswap on Aug. long in a place called Cinnemousun Narrows (where the 4 arms of the lake meet), but I've never been there before, anyone familiar with it?

[0773|=\]

I've only landed there from a houseboat, and then spent the afternoon hiking in the area. From that perspective it's very beautiful. Not sure about the camping though.

[Calgarian]

I'm sure it will be nice, I just have to find out how to get there. I'm pretty sure I have to take a boat.