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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Chatsworth
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 4, 2005 - 06:31pm PT
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I had a brand new toyota truck with a shell, I covered up all the windows so there was no way to see in. So I am sleeping in my truck in sunnyside after a long day on middle cathedral. At 2am a ranger comes buy, must have figured I was sleeping in the truck. He slams what sounded like a maglite into the back corner of the bed. Putting a nice dent in the metal. Hoping I would hop out to complain. I did not and he left.
But then over the years I met very nice rangers that really helped me out.
But for a few years I was so angry. It is amazing how one event can stick with you for years.
Rockstar
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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there was this one time, at band camp....
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wildone
Social climber
the little ditch
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True, juan, at least you acknowledge they're human and different.
Looking at my last few posts regarding rangers, it would seem I'm all tool friendly. Not the case. I've felt their cuffs.
But some of them are really good people. Some are not.
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bryan howell
Mountain climber
truckee,ca
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after a REALLY REALLY long day on half dome, we came off and went to camp 4 to crash in my friends Westie.
Same story as Juans... drapes drawn, parked out of the way in the back corner, not bothering anybody. Around 2am, park rangers came, knocked and knocked and knocked. They actually semi climbed onto the hood and tried to peer in through the top. We finally had it and opened up and were promptly kicked out of the park. got to love it!
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StyMingersfink
climber
the 51st state.... denial
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One question that comes to mind is why the ones who are not are so much easier to cross paths with than those who ARE cool.
Sometimes I wish the tools had never been given their first taste of power with that hall monitor job in jr high.
Me? I would have been tempted to repay the dent with one of my own.
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Good Morning!
climber
Prescott, AZ
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Hi Juan,
so "I covered up all the windows so there was no way to see in." And any way to see out??? How'd you know it was a ranger???
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JuanDeFuca
Big Wall climber
Chatsworth
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Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2005 - 08:09pm PT
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It was not the first night they tried to get me. They knew I was in the truck, and I knew if I stayed quite I was okay.
They did the ploy, I can see you in there. But I knew from tests I had done back home in Torrance, that proved no one could see in the cracks.
I got the same treatment parking in the lodge.
So maybe out of frustration the ranger felt the need to !@#$ &* my new truck.
A cool ranger was one who let me sleep in my truck on the road out of the valley a few miles past waa-woona tunnel.
I told him I just got of el cap and their was no way I could safely drive any more. It was true.
He said get some sleep. Then you have to go.
So the next morning when I try to leave the valley the ranger at the gate asks for my receipt. I tell her I am not sure where it is. I have been in the valley for a month. She tells me I have to pay again. Its the only 5 dollars I have left. I was planning on food at the Macdonalds in Oakhurst. Sorry you have pay. I will go hungry. Sorry you have to pay.
Juan
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capndick4
Boulder climber
the land of the grasshopper song
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Jaun, have you heard of the parks pass? only fifty bucks for a year and then you would have your five bucks to fill up your grease trap at dickdonalds.
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Good Morning!
climber
Prescott, AZ
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"He said get some sleep. Then you have to go."
That's gotta be Ranger Bruno!
This is the fella who told a speeder in TM that if he could give him three reasons not to speed on the Tioga Road he'd let him off with a warning.
BRUNO: You rock, Amigo!!!!
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spleen
Big Wall climber
tacoma,wa
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Jaun.
I feel your pain. Me being a former ranger(not LEO) i know what other rangers in the nation are like and the yosemite rangers are the worse, I guess because of all the "crimes" they have to put up with. But a few years back Me and a partner were on t-trip in like the dead of winter and the yosemite rangers being the sharpest tools in the tool shed broke into my car barrowed our wallets and called our families saying they wanted to start a rescue. My family ensured the ranger that i was fine and that they should go solve a real crime. So when i got back to my truck i found our wallets in the glove box, doors (unlocked) and a note on the seat saying to call park dispatch when i return. oh and during their slim jimming they broke a part of my drivers side door. I was so pissed. I called them and read them the roit act. I informed them what they did was against the law. And they could of gotten all that info from my wallet simply from running the license plate. Before we left the park, park officials sent other rangers to appoligise for the other rangers actions. So yeah needless to say these rangers could of had a worse day if i decided to call my lawyer.
peace
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rick
Social climber
california
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seems like if you are going to be out in the backcountry or on a wall at an improbable time, a little note in the window saying 'hi my name is x and we are on such and such a wall, will be back (date)' might be advised. I had a friend who almost got 'rescued' while on a ski travese of the sierras, cause their car was parked at a snowy trailhead for many days.
rick
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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The problem is that El Cap meadow isn't exactly the great wilderness. Such a note is kind of like saying, "I am not around to make sure that you don't steal my stuff. If you do steal my stuff, you have this many days until I find out and start looking for it." No mandatory check ins for me. If I think that it's prudent that the rangers know where I'm at and what I'll doing, I'll call the ranger's station directly. Otherwise, my friends know where I'm at. Otherwise, I don't want anyone to know what I'm doing.
FWIW, I almost always have had good interactions with the rangers. When I've had a good reason for not abiding by the rules to the letter, they've been reasonable. The worst were things that weren't that big of a deal but annoyed me...The getting checked up on stuff, like when the ranger stopped as we were having dinner at Arch Rock Picnic Area a couple of nights ago to remind us that we could eat, but not camp there.
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rick
Social climber
california
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fair enough, perhaps not such a great idea in el cap meadows, though I might add that abandoning your car for five days is probably all the invitation a thief needs. I would still argue that if you are going to leave you car at a (semi)remote location in winter you really should tell the rangers (like you are talking about), or leave a note so the rangers that find your car buried in a ten foot drift dont have to do too much legwork before they find out whats up...seems like a waste of their time. I really dont think a note is going to cause someone to break into your car who woulnt have anyways, in that situation.
rick
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Shack
Trad climber
So. Cal.
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I had a bad experience back in the day.
I had been in the Valley already a couple of months when the
registraion on my huge Chevy station wagon expired.
Well, I hadn't even noticed, being busy with other things.
So this fat dopey ranger writes me a ticket for expired tags.
When I complained to him about, noting that my car had not moved, he told me as long as I only drove it to go to town and take care of it, there wouldn't be a problem.
I told him I planned on going the very next day do pay up.
He said "great" and the next day I drove down to Mariposa DMV
(I think).
Well, since I didn't wear a watch or a callendar I had neglected
to notice until I got there that it was Saturday and they were closed!
So when I got back to the Valley, that same F'ing ranger wrote me another ticket for moving my car! What a prick!
He could have warned me about the DMV being closed on saturday!
The best part is that when I told the guys on Yosar, like Deuce,
and a couple of others that were already having a problem with that same ranger,
they apearantly went to Link or whoever and
let him know how he screwed me!
The next day, a Sunday, that dopey ranger was hand paining curbs red in Camp 4, in his civi's.
Hahahahahahahahahah!!!
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Ouch!
climber
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OH! The Humanity! The legendary life of the dirtbag Bohemian Camp4 climber. The thrill of the chase, outwitting the park fuzz. What's with the whining? Takes your chance, take your medicine. If it gets too tough for you, pick a contest you might have a chance of winning...like jerking off a park bear with a handful of cockleburrs. In the end, you ain't gonna beat the rangers. Betcha your park privileges will be inversely proportional to your minor victories.
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capndick4
Boulder climber
The upsidedown house in Lee Vining
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All this talk of rangers reminds me of a story of someone who could be the greatest park ranger of all time....Edward Abbey.
That's right. You all may recall that he worked in Arches for a few years. he even managed to flip a government truck, totaling it and not even get in trouble!
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wildone
Social climber
the little ditch
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With any luck, I'll be living in Lee Vining this summer! I got a job with Big Brother, working restoration in Tuolumne (gaylor pit). I'll either have a cabin in the meadows, or live in a house near lee vining...
Stoked.
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euphoria
Trad climber
Slippery Rock, PA
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Speaking of Ed Abbey crashing a government truck (yes, he was the best ranger), I saw something really close to that a few years ago. It was early season at the Meadows campground and we were moving picnic tables up to backpackers' camp....well, suffice it to say that we had been backing up on an incline to unload them, and during one trip my coworker left it in neutral by accident. Next thing we know, the truck starts to creak, then roll downhill. She ran for it, I screamed at her to stop, and it picked up speed until finally bashing a lodgepole. The truck, not surprisingly, was hurt a lot worse than the tree.
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spleen
Big Wall climber
tacoma,wa
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Ever think of a permit system in order to climb elcap, to avoid all the confusion.
peace
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Good Morning!
climber
Prescott, AZ
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Nice try at a troll Spleen...
Here We Go...
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