Palmateer Point July 27, campground badness, update, pix

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washu
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Joined: December 29th, 2011, 4:15 pm

Palmateer Point July 27, campground badness, update, pix

Post by washu » July 28th, 2013, 7:34 am

So we had a pretty nice Saturday hiking the 10 miles from Frog Lake Sno Park up to Palmateer point. Views were amazing.
Here are some views.
Lower Twin Lake
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Mountain. I love this mountain.
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Looking down toward Devil's Half Acre.
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We got back to our campsite in Clear Lake Campground and we were getting snacks and puttering around.

We still had some of our gear in the car, and someone stole, right out of the car, right in the campground, in the middle of the day, with bunches of people around (including us), my husband's day pack all packed up still, with his water bottles, fleece, first aid, my dogs' water bottle, and, of course, you know it! Our almost new Garmin. I'm so mad! We were literally not paying attention for an hour, and we were around, not far away. It was a really brazen theft.

Strangely, we have a last pic of the lost pack (and the only pic at the top of Palmateer Point). We miss you!
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They didn't get the camera, which is amazing, it would normally have been in there, but they did get the zoom lens. So after I get through the grieving process, I'll post some pics.

That quickly ground our fun weekend to a halt... couldn't hike without water bottles....

I think I'm done car camping in that area. And I'd advise everyone to be very careful with their things when they are in that area as well. I obviously don't leave stuff in the car at trailheads, but I had no idea that my things would be in danger in the campground when I was there.

UPDATE: Filed a report with Wasco County Sheriff's office. Apparently, there just thieves in the woods up there this weekend. He said that some dispersed campers had their entire campsite stolen while they were gone. Guess just losing the GPS doesn't seem so bad. Really wish we still had the tracks, though.

If anyone sees a Garmin 62s for sale cheap with Oregon and Washington maps and lots of hiking tracks, let me know! ;)


washu
Last edited by washu on July 30th, 2013, 9:56 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Splintercat
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Re: Palmateer Point July 27, but nastiness in the campground

Post by Splintercat » July 28th, 2013, 9:00 am

Welcome, washu - and sorry to hear about your crappy experience. Thieves are getting bold these days in the national forests, as they know law enforcement is rare, at best. I had my car broken into at Lolo Pass last October and I was maybe a couple hundred yards away - the thieves nearly ran over me on their way through.

In my case, a smash and grab - but in the case of the campground, it's different: the USFS has sold the rights to that campground to a concessionaire, so given that they're collecting a profit, I'd complain LOUDLY that this happened -- to the concessionaire and the USFS. It's also REALLY important to file a police report -- in this case with the Wasco County Sheriff, located in The Dalles. When we don't report crimes in the backcountry, they didn't officially happen -- which makes it that much harder to draw law enforcement resources.

Good luck to you!

Tom

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Chase
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Re: Palmateer Point July 27, but nastiness in the campground

Post by Chase » July 28th, 2013, 10:11 am

Sorry to hear about that. Check craigslist and ebay for the high-dollar items and maybe you can catch 'em.

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Born2BBrad
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Location: The Dalles

Re: Palmateer Point July 27, but nastiness in the campground

Post by Born2BBrad » July 28th, 2013, 7:35 pm

Bummer about getting ripped off. It's sad that we have to go to extreme measures to protect our property when we recreate. I am ultra-paranoid about that and my wife sometimes makes fun of me for it. However, I've never had my vehicle broken into or have had anything stolen - yet.
Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
- Jean Luc Picard

Link to GPX tracks
Link to Trip Reports

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