High Sierra Topix

iHartMK wrote:I hope they never fix that road. Let it get rougher and rougher.. til it's 4WD only. Then maybe DLW will be pristine and quiet again. I have been going up there for 25 years now, and every year there is more and more people. We were up there 3 weeks ago and saw 6 different fires burning at night around First & South lakes. The campfire ban was in full effect. If I only had phone reception...
I guess it's true what they say about the Forest.. "Land of Many Abuses"

Only 6?

Slow night....

iHarkMK wrote:
We were up there 3 weeks ago and saw 6 different fires burning at night around
First & South lakesThe campfire ban was in full effect. If I only had phone reception...

Did you call the Ranger Station when you got out to report this? I hope you did! The last
thing we need is another major fire in the Sierra.

I'd bet most didn't have wilderness permits either, but it should be reported.

Sometimes it's not healthy to approach them at the time of the foul, but sometimes it is. I wouldn't approach there. I'd take a pic of what you saw, and call the ranger station as Mav pointed out. I'd also take a quick pic of the license plates in the parking lot on exit, but that's just me.

When I first arrived at Swede Lake, I looked around for campsites. I found an established site, but decided against it when I saw a two large fire rings in the same site. One of the rings was built against a backdrop of a large boulder and had a six foot band of recent soot from the ground up the rock face. Call me whatever you want, but I did not want to be associated with that campsite! No respect for the wilderness.

No, but I should have. As many people go there, I would think the rangers would patrol it more. I don't understand why people can't just abide by the rules. Not having a fire at night isn't that bad. See more stars that way.

iHartMK wrote:
No, but I should have.

Still can, just give them the dates and the locations, or PM me the dates
and the location and I will call them. If you do decide to call them please
let us know what they say.

Going up to a group of strangers and telling them what to do in the wilderness can have unfortunate consequences. I personally wouldn't confront anyone out there.

I did see one suggestion for that specific scenario that seemed like a decent idea though. If you walk up to the group with a friendly smile and say something like "Hey, I just thought you might want to know that fires are illegal here right now and I just saw a ranger down the trail about a half a mile from here."

That is probably your best bet at actually getting people to put out their fire, and they'll think you are doing them a favor instead of enforcing the rules.

at pear lake I walked down to tell the ranger about the guy peeling a pine tree to feed his twig stove. think I have been in the dinkey ranger station twice reporting illegal fires - they got right on the radio.