1st Time Dispersed Camping

[setopete]

So noob question; planning a 2 night trip (Sun-Tues) to a national forest near me. There are plenty of yellow post and dispersed sites. I use a ground tent and plan on doing some exploring during the day. My plan is to leave my tent and some items at the site as a "home base/this is my site" while I explore. Is this smart or should I pack up everything and if the site gets taken just move to another one?

 

[MMc]

If you are looking for base camp I would leave the tent and a couple of chairs. If You are going tp Lytle Creek take it all with you.

 

[setopete]

If you are looking for base camp I would leave the tent and a couple of chairs. If You are going tp Lytle Creek take it all with you.

I'm heading to Thomas Mountain area, but good to know for about Lytle Creek for the future.

 

[grubworm]

we did the same thing years back and i bought a crappy tent for $15 and left it staked on site as a place holder and nothing else. nobody ever messed with it, but if they did, i would only be out a few bucks.

 

[pluton]

Generally, in actual National Parks campgrounds, security concerns and theft are nil. But...in NF/BLM campgrounds that are near big or small cities, I'd assume that sleazoids can be present. I like the low-budget tent as placeholder idea. Yellow post sites are marked because of extreme demand and overuse problems in the area.

 

[SwampFox]

We have been fortunate to never have anything taken while in a National Forest. So far we have only been camping on the east coast - Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia. We typically carry our valuables like iPads and such but leave our cooking gear, lanterns, and other items at base camp.

 

[Nickel]

I am headed up to Thomas Mountain mid-week in a couple of weeks (mid week the week of Memorial Day). Doing either a single night or a two nighter. Going solo creeps me out a bit, any concerns at the yellow post sites on Thomas Mountain?

My backup is Santa Rosa Mountain if it even opens up by then. Still closed as far as I know.

 

[setopete]

I am headed up to Thomas Mountain mid-week in a couple of weeks (mid week the week of Memorial Day). Doing either a single night or a two nighter. Going solo creeps me out a bit, any concerns at the yellow post sites on Thomas Mountain?

My backup is Santa Rosa Mountain if it even opens up by then. Still closed as far as I know.

Not sure if the Thomas Mt area is open ye though either but things change pretty quickly.

When I went I stayed at YP6 it was nice kinda close to the main track though; YP4 & YP5 were taken and I didn't really like YP3. Talked with the guy @ YP4 a bit and he said YP5 is the best spot. I think I saw maybe 5 vehicles in total.


I wanted to check out Santa Rosa but did get over there. If you go let me know what it was like.

 

[Nickel]

Not sure if the Thomas Mt area is open ye though either but things change pretty quickly.

When I went I stayed at YP6 it was nice kinda close to the main track though; YP4 & YP5 were taken and I didn't really like YP3. Talked with the guy @ YP4 a bit and he said YP5 is the best spot. I think I saw maybe 5 vehicles in total.


I wanted to check out Santa Rosa but did get over there. If you go let me know what it was like.

Yes Thomas Mountain is open. Reviews on TrailsOffroad confirm. I should probably double check the forest website though! (edited after post - weird the ranger website says closed but they refer to 6S13 as Trabuco Canyon Road which is farther west. There is a review on trailsoffroad from just 2 weeks ago stating it was open. Even reviews back in Jan and Feb although they said it was muddy!)

Sites 3, 4 and 5 are at the peak, right. I thought all 3 would be the best. What about site 3 didn't you like (edited after post - I was just reading reviews and they said site 3 is next to the cell tower)? My plan was to drive to all of them then circle back to the best one that was open and that I liked.

Sounds like you had no issues with strangers or creepers?

 

[Advtres]

I do a bit of solo camping, and have never had a problem with stuff going walk about.
I have yet to run into creepers, annoying people yes ( can you please turn that music DOWN!) lol!
I always just follow the rule of don't leave things out that would "tempt" the "devil" in someone to steal it, ie power banks or solar panels, - and things that would ruin my trip if they went walk about, ( eg sleeping bag!)

Thanks for sharing the area, might have to check it out next time I come back from Anza !

 

[John and Mandi]

We have been fortunate to never have anything taken while in a National Forest. So far we have only been camping on the east coast - Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia. We typically carry our valuables like iPads and such but leave our cooking gear, lanterns, and other items at base camp.

We have dispersed camped all over the country and can say, from our experience, there is a different approach depending on where you are. In the south, retribution is common and accepted even though it's somewhat changing due to demographic shifts. If someone is bold enough to take someone's stuff or site they are bold enough to suffer the consequences, or they are stupid. Someone stealing your site doesn't warrant death but removing all of their equipment to re-setup your own is acceptable, or running it all over with your jacked up truck (a funny thing to witness) is good old fashioned entertainment for everyone else around. We would say it's akin to an honor system or code but in reality it is more related to self-preservation. There is a reason "hold my beer" and "Florida/Georgia/Alabama Man" are popular. Even pretentious west coast/north east vacationers are wary of which species they may encounter or unintentionally offend. There are much worse things than the Deliverance treatment, compounded by all the spectators drinking beer...albeit, no longer Bud Light.

 

[setopete]

Yes Thomas Mountain is open. Reviews on TrailsOffroad confirm. I should probably double check the forest website though! (edited after post - weird the ranger website says closed but they refer to 6S13 as Trabuco Canyon Road which is farther west. There is a review on trailsoffroad from just 2 weeks ago stating it was open. Even reviews back in Jan and Feb although they said it was muddy!)

Sites 3, 4 and 5 are at the peak, right. I thought all 3 would be the best. What about site 3 didn't you like (edited after post - I was just reading reviews and they said site 3 is next to the cell tower)? My plan was to drive to all of them then circle back to the best one that was open and that I liked.

Sounds like you had no issues with strangers or creepers?

I did not run into any creeps or jerks. I think going during the week there's a lot less chance of that happening too.

 

[grubworm]

There are much worse things than the Deliverance treatment

hopefully i can spend rest of my life not knowing what they are...

 

[Nickel]

We have dispersed camped all over the country and can say, from our experience, there is a different approach depending on where you are. In the south, retribution is common and accepted even though it's somewhat changing due to demographic shifts. If someone is bold enough to take someone's stuff or site they are bold enough to suffer the consequences, or they are stupid. Someone stealing your site doesn't warrant death but removing all of their equipment to re-setup your own is acceptable, or running it all over with your jacked up truck (a funny thing to witness) is good old fashioned entertainment for everyone else around. We would say it's akin to an honor system or code but in reality it is more related to self-preservation. There is a reason "hold my beer" and "Florida/Georgia/Alabama Man" are popular. Even pretentious west coast/north east vacationers are wary of which species they may encounter or unintentionally offend. There are much worse things than the Deliverance treatment, compounded by all the spectators drinking beer...albeit, no longer Bud Light.

See if I'm the type of person bold enough to move or steal someone's stuff, odds are I am the type of species the others already don't want to encounter. And they've (Sorry I edited this - it originally said "I've probably got 4 or 5 friends with me, I meant "They've) probably got 4 or 5 friends with the exact same mindset. The pretentious west coaster in me calls them white trash or rednecks. They know they are trash, they don't care, and have the "what are you going to do about it" attitude. We all know the type.

 

[John and Mandi]

See if I'm the type of person bold enough to move or steal someone's stuff, odds are I am the type of species the others already don't want to encounter. And I've probably got 4 or 5 friends with me with the exact same mindset. The pretentious west coaster in me calls them white trash or rednecks. They know they are trash, they don't care, and have the "what are you going to do about it" attitude. We all know the type.

We've witnessed many of the type gurgling on the ground. It's not the 5-10 friends, it's the 100-200+ family members that will heed the call.

 

[Nickel]

We've witnessed many of the type gurgling on the ground. It's not the 5-10 friends, it's the 100-200+ family members that will heed the call.

Sorry I had a typo in mine. I edited it. It should have been "And they've probably got 4 or 5 friends with them with the exact same mindset."

I agree with you, they have a mob mentality that doesn't need any riling up to get into attack mode. Trouble looking for more trouble. Not something I like to encounter.

 

[grubworm]

The pretentious west coaster in me calls them white trash or rednecks

the thing to remember about even the most backward or toothless redneck is that they ALWAYS have a hot cousin...

 

[Nickel]

I went up Thomas Mountain on Monday (Memorial Day) started around noon on the north entrance. Encountered one Jeep that was coming down. YP #1 at bottom had people, YP#2 had people. Every other site was vacant. I don't know if people left early Monday morning or if it wasn't that crowded over the weekend.

I stayed at YP #6. The spur to the top was a little rutted up for my tastes and experience level. #6 was great, flat, spacious. A little bit of trash but I spent about an hour cleaning it up and packed out a lot of broken glass, bottle cpas, random pieces of plastic, spent ammo shells, paper/plastic trash, etc.

Saw maybe 5 vehicles go by the rest of the day. Left Tuesday around noon and didn't see a sole all the way down.

One of the sites at toolbox springs with the vault toilet had a lot of trash but I didn't have time to clean it up. And the vault toilet, eh, what a wreck. Bring our own porta potty if you plan to go there!

Shame people don't leave the place better than they found it.

 

[MidOH]

I'd pack up. You're as likely to find a better site during your day travels, as not.