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We ran into this last summer.
Did a LONGGGGG paddle to get to a Lake with 4 sites, all were taken. We had a valid permit for 2 nights on that Lake. Obviously 1/4 didn't have permission.....
We had to sleep on the portage trail that night.
How do you avoid this?
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You can avoid this by going camping in September / October 
But seriously, it's just shitty luck and there's really nothing you can do. You can paddle around to each site and ask to see everyone's permit, but you're not a park ranger and they probably wont show you.. especially the people that are off permit. If I got to the last site and it was taken, depending on the time of the day I would either go to the next closest lake and look for a site, or if there's not enough time for that, I'd ask to share the site. If it's an honest camper and you explain the situation, they'll probably be nice and share the site for a night.. if it's a non-honest camper and they're camping off permit, they'll probably feel guilty and share the site for a night.
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trippythings wrote:
You can avoid this by going camping in September / October
But seriously, it's just shitty luck and there's really nothing you can do. You can paddle around to each site and ask to see everyone's permit, but you're not a park ranger and they probably wont show you.. especially the people that are off permit. If I got to the last site and it was taken, depending on the time of the day I would either go to the next closest lake and look for a site, or if there's not enough time for that, I'd ask to share the site. If it's an honest camper and you explain the situation, they'll probably be nice and share the site for a night.. if it's a non-honest camper and they're camping off permit, they'll probably feel guilty and share the site for a night.
This.
I couldn't see myself asking each party for a permit. I'd probably just suck it up and camp at a non-designated spot or a portage. If I was solo and seen another solo-ist or a small group I'd probably ask to share a bit of their site, but I would't want to share with a big group or family... Usually I go to be alone or close to it.
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You can avoid this by going camping in September / October
But seriously, it's just shitty luck and there's really nothing you can do. You can paddle around to each site and ask to see everyone's permit, but you're not a park ranger and they probably wont show you.. especially the people that are off permit. If I got to the last site and it was taken, depending on the time of the day I would either go to the next closest lake and look for a site, or if there's not enough time for that, I'd ask to share the site. If it's an honest camper and you explain the situation, they'll probably be nice and share the site for a night.. if it's a non-honest camper and they're camping off permit, they'll probably feel guilty and share the site for a night.
Fully agree. Think a time I might approach a campsite would be if it was on a lake with a single site that I had a permit for. I'm also not a confrontational person, so I'd try to have a friendly conversation to work something out (who knows, they may have had an issue requiring them to camp before they got to their planned lake)... I've found 99% of people I've encountered in the interior have been super friendly...:-)
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I always feel a bit of trepidation when I'm pushing into a small "booked on" lake that I'm going to end up in this situation. So far it's never happened, but I'm a bit of a hothead about things like this and would have to be very careful not to do something stupid. As Ash says, on a one campsite lake there's zero doubt who the squatters are. I'd find it very hard not to confront them, even if it was only "So what happened that has you stranded here? Can I help?". If they don't have an answer to that then I'd know they're just dicks, and would probably end up asking them to clear off. Which also may not be smart considering it would be one of me and who knows how many of them... but I'd be dumb enough to do it anyway.
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Ya that's my feeling too Uppa. Planning a long route with really long days. I, trying to avoid this situation, but it seems to be stuck in my mind constantly.
Thanks
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I made a similar thread with some hypothetical situations to see how people would deal with them:
I don't necessarily agree with every response, but it's interesting to see the different perspectives.
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Excellent reading. Thanks
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