Tag: campsite

Bureau of Land Management Camping

Bureau of Land Management land is available for camping. It is less popular than more refined campgrounds because it is less refined. The least refined lands are classified as ‘primitive’. They are merely bare land without any facilities. There is no fee for camping on primitive Bureau of Land Management land for as long as two weeks monthly.

It was tempting. I noticed a few locations for such camping while vacationing in the Southwest during the past two weeks (while I neglected to post on this blog). I made the same observation while vacationing for two weeks in the Pacific Northwest about a month earlier. After all, while away from home, I was essentially homeless.

Furthermore, I did happen to indulge in camping for a few days while in the Los Angeles region. It was not within a campground though. It was in the backyard of my colleagues home. Both the weather and the situation were splendid. I could have stayed in a hotel, but there was no need. Actually, I could have engaged in more camping if accommodations had not already been arranged at my various destinations.

So, why is such camping so socially acceptable while houselessness is not? Houselessness is not vacation. Nor is it typically a choice. For most, it occurs within their home Community, where they formerly lived within homes, worked and paid taxes. While vacationing, I choose to go to regions where I have never lived, worked or paid local taxes, and am unhoused while I do so. I essentially exploit local resources. No one seems to mind.

Perhaps I should indulge in primitive camping on Bureau of Land Management land as an alternative to more refined accommodations. Now, I am wondering how many of the unhoused do so as an alternative to stigmatized houselessness.

Moving Day II

Trail leading down from the vacated camp site

One would think that moving camp would be easier than relocating from one home to another. In some ways, it is. Obviously, there is less to move. Almost everything in a well outfitted camp can fit into a few large boxes or trash bags. This particular site involved a bit more than that, since it stored extra bedding and clothing for others. Nonetheless, we moved it all with only two partial loads of a tiny station wagon. It was reasonably efficient.

The difficulty is removing the baggage discretely from a location that is not easily accessible, and then relocating it even more discretely to another site that is even less accessible because the trails are not yet cleared. Moving out is of course easier than moving in, not only because the trail is somewhat cleared, but also because discretion is not quite as important. By the time someone complains, and deputies respond, we will be gone.

Yes, there are those who complain while we are moving out. Deputies don’t mind. They are accustomed to it. If they have time, and they know we must park on the side of a busy road, they might even come out to park behind the station wagon with their red and blue lights on for safety. In the past, they have helped carry the baggage to get us off the side of the road more efficiently! Seriously! We have some AWESOME deputies here!

It is more important to be discreet while moving into the new site. We typically wait a few hours before doing so, just because stalking haters like to pursue the station wagon after leaving the abandoned site, in order to identify the location of the new site. Even if the new site is on private property with the permission of the property owner, haters want to know about it, and often trespass onto such properties just for the sake of stalking.

Anyway, we are sort of done for now. We just need to sort through the baggage so that some of it can be put into storage, and only what is necessary can be taken to the new site.