If that was one boy scout group then they were too large to be in a Wilderness area. The tent in the foreground looked to me to be 2 people not connected to the boy scout group. There were approximately 20 tents in that little basin, and only a few of them were camping in legitimate sites. That same day I also saw people camping on the wildflower meadows near Russell Lake.Aridd wrote:miah66 wrote:I don't see why it wouldn't. Unless you have a permit, you won't be camping by the lake at a designated site. You'll have to camp directly on the meadows 20 ft from the trail. Sorry, what I meant to say was, you'll have to camp off of fragile vegetation 250 feet away from the lakes.scrambler2 wrote:
Will these new regs apply to thru hikers? Section hikers?
A littlle backstory on that photo: I actually came in the same day as Mattisnotfrench and saw the same thing (thought he was using my photos even ha!), I asked the group leader what was up with it. He apologized and said their group (young boyscouts) tried to make it to Jefferson Park but it got dark on them while descending the ridge, so they setup in the first place they could. Doesn't make it okay, or right, but there's the whole story. I have never seen anything else like it in my numerous trips to the area over the years, so that picture is not a good example of why the reservation or permit system is needed.
FWIW, when I went to Canyon Creek Meadows last year there were a couple of groups camped on top of the upper wildflower meadows, seemingly oblivious to the excellent sites in the trees just 100 yards away. We have a long ways to go in educating people about wilderness ethics.