This may be stupid question. I'll be camping in moraine park campground in RMNP in September. I have a hilleberg tent that is not cheap. Is it generally safe to leave it while you are day hiking only? It would be pain in butt to break down an put in car each morning. Is theft generally a problem in campgrounds?

I would not leave my stuff unattended in a drive in campground.

Depends. For Yosemite backpacker campground you're told to leave your tent up when you reserve your site as an "I'm here, taking this spot", and a lot of other people leave theirs all day. Personally? Screw that, if you want a tent to just leave up the whole time, and are doing dayhikes from a car, just buy an el cheapo tent, leave the fancy gear at home. my 2c

Probability of someone walking away with your whole staked- down tent in RMNP is really low. Like almost zero. If anything, we're to get stolen, It'd be loose, easy to snatch stuff like a sleeping bag that wouldn't be immediately noticed. Even that likelihood is extremely low.
We are talking about a fee-entry Nat'l park and a ranger patrolled campground.

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Edited by RogerDodger on 06/14/2012 16:54:36 MDT.

Man, I totally dig the hippie comment! I see packs of bell bottomed, tie died, long hairs roaming National Parks all wacked out on 'shooms and Mary Jane. They really need a hair cut, a job and to get behind Nixon. I love the smell of patchouli in the morning, it smells like victory . . . .

I go with the cheapo tent when car camping, and leave anything valuable locked in the car if I leave for the day. I highly doubt anyone would steal your staked down tent, especially in a patrolled National Park campground... but there's a first for everything.

"Hippies like to do mellow drugs such as acid as pot in the national parks because its natural. and they get stupid ideas to mess with your stuff.

if you've been a lucky guy all your life, it won't happen to you, but if Murphy's law applies to you... some teenagers are gonna be making babies in your tent.
"

Stereotype much? Just curious, have you actually heard from a reliable source about a single instance of hippies taking a "mellow" drug like acid and fornicating in other people's tents in a NP?

Hippies come in two flavors in my experience.

Really cool mellow folks who just want to live and let live, eat some biodynamic local organic pizza, and smoke a bowl. They wouldn't do it because they don't want to harsh your day, and are generally cool folks.

Super angry trust fund kids who protest everything, can't calm down, and don't get the happy dynamic that the other group does. They wouldn't do it unless there was media coverage and it was a protest. They might steal your stuff, if you represent something they don't like. Generally they just want to be seen, and make others (mom and dad) angry to make their point. They verge on anarchists.

I have never heard about any instance of hippies getting down in somebody else's tent. I have run into lots of the first group out here on the trails when I was going to school in Eugene. I don't always sync with their dogma, but they are usually good neighbors on the trail. And genuinely concerned with the world around them, for as long as they can focus their attention span.

Now if you park an unoccupied tent at the Oregon Country Faire for a day, I think you have a higher probability chance of seeing this happen. Just hope that they practice LNT. :)

K

Edited by keith_bassett on 06/06/2012 10:27:40 MDT.

I have never had an issue with theft in a campground or heard of anyones camping stuff getting stolen.

I have heard of peoples electronics, wallets and purses getting stolen from cars parked at trailheads. I leave my tent set up with all the sleeping stuff, chairs, tarps etc at my campsite when I leave for the day. I have done this throughout the North Western US and Canada without ever having an inicident.

I would suspect issues with animals, especially rodents, or UV damage in wide open camp grounds is a far greater risk than someone stealing your tent.

The people who know the acutal value of the equipment generally aren't theives. Theives go after mass market appeal like electronics that can be flipped quickly.

For me its not worth worrying about.

Puerile ad hominems are usually thrown by egos needing to compensate for their social inadequacy. Have you been feeling atavistic lately? Random shotgun blasts only make it worse. They puff you up but rot out your core. Try humility - builds character from within rather than knocking down the forest around you.

Plus one on Keith's comment. Well said

We car camp a lot and have never had a problem with anything missing - not even firewood. If you're really concerned you can do what my sister does. She car camps alone a lot but always puts up two chairs around her fire. Even if someone watches her drive away there's always the question: "Is the other person in the tent?"

Having the two chairs may seem like a silly idea, but it's probably enough to make someone go elsewhere.

With that said, we were in Shenandoah National Park camping over Memorial Day (at Big Meadows) and we saw something I'd never seen before. The people at the campsite across the street were gone for the day but had left their coolers and other food out on their picnic table. A Ranger saw it and then took everything that had food in it away (including going into the tent and through all the bags there). He left them a citation with a note telling them where they could pick up their coolers and food boxes. He was clearly unhappy, but they deserved it.

So - No problems leaving your gear, but make sure you comply with the local regulations (which were very clearly stated at Shenandoah National Park) if you're leaving your campsite for anything more than a call of nature.

Pretty much a non-issue in most campgrounds. However, coolers are a target for thieves who are looking for beer and such (where coolers are allowed to be left out).

I often leave my camper unattended in campgrounds or even dispersed campsites, using it as a base camp for backpacking trips. Sometimes I will leave it the camper unattended for several days. I leave stuff outside the camper, to make it look like I am not gone for a long period of time, and to try to avoid the nasty note from the Ranger that a camper cannot be left unattended for more than 24 hours.

Also if you are in a busy campground, your neighbors will usually look out for your stuff if you ask. Generally most campers are as nice as the folks here on BPL.

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Edited by RogerDodger on 06/14/2012 16:55:06 MDT.

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Edited by RogerDodger on 06/14/2012 16:55:37 MDT.

Nathan-

I'm pretty sure that the original hippie comment was tongue-in-cheek. Maybe follow your own advice and mellow out a bit? :)

That said, I've always had a lot more trouble from redneck white boys than from hippies or "certain demographics." Yes, I've run across a few dreadlocked scumbags (who were probably NOT hippies in any way) who have given me pause, but my experience leads me to consider the dude with the Larry-the-Cable-Guy wardrobe to be the bigger threat.

Edited by acrosome on 06/07/2012 07:26:06 MDT.

So this Rodger Dodger fella is not only angry about "hippies," but brown people too? Great. Thinly veiled racism much?

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Edited by RogerDodger on 06/14/2012 16:56:38 MDT.

Racism isn't just saying directly racial things. But your language screams thinly veiled racism.
" a large very large family of a certain demographic" that you compare to a swarm of locusts.
"Language barrier too"

Give me a break.