Ripped Off at Jones Valley Campground on Shasta Bathtub north of Redding

[AreWeLostYet]

This campground used to be administered by the US Forest Service. Not it's partially 'privatized' being currently under the care of Shasta Recreation Corporation. There are no patrols other than the guy who comes around occasionally to empty the trash cans. The campground smells like a sewer. People drive through at all hours. Some park a while then leave because of the smell and sketchy characters that might be camped there (as the only camper). Others deive through, probably casing what ever unfortunates might make the mistake I made to camp there. I got robbed. Came back from town one day and my Coleman dual fuel, two burner stove (almost new), two large plastic tubs with all my food, cooking and other items, large duffel full of half my clothes (including all my pants and fleece sweater), Aquatainer, a really nice 10" Korean iron skillet and 7" skillet, container with all my bedside items like a clock/temp display I got off Amazon, supplements, etc., a soldering iron I was using in my solar setup experiments, several yard sale items I had on ebay that would have netted about $300, a new Gregory backpack with cover, a large, sturdy handheld umbrella I picked up at a thrift store. Other stuff. I had to make an inventory of what was missing so I could replace the necessities before "discovering" their absence in the middle of making a meal etc. Two runs to Wallmart and a few hundred bucks on the Visa to Amazon replaced most. But many items were 'unique' finds I'll probably never replace. Like the Korean skillet. Machined surface instead of the usual sand cast pitted. Cooked anyting and easy to clean as non-stick coating only you could scrub it with anything.

Other observations bout Jones Valley. Almost got T-Boned by some yahoo who blew through a stop sigh at 40mph like it wasn't there. I don't think he even saw me. The cash center of the property is the floating lodge - a fleet of houseboats where people stage drunken weekend parties. The don't seem to pay much attention to the campground. So is sets, like a spider web awaiting any innocent who might wander into it.

 

[WanderingBiker]

thanks for the info.... will be placed on my NO-GO list

 

[DannyB1954]

I don't know that there is a place safe from tweekers and other thieves. I have a van and a trailer. I would only take the trailer if traveling with a group. I am always afraid it will either be ransacked or gone when I got back from town. If I get another trailer it will be a small cargo type that I would never unhook from the van.

 

[Almost There]

And yet others of us can camp for years all over the continent and not have a serious problem - I often wonder what the difference is between us and them??

In all my years on the road I have only had anything stolen once from an unattended campsite.

2 years ago while camped outside of Cottonwood AZ I came back to a campsite that looked a little 'off' to me - it took me several minutes to figure out what was different.

I had left my campsite fully set up with 2 burner stove, water jugs, lawn chairs, privacy tent, shower tank, 20 lb propane tank etc. etc.

Someone obviously needed my folding table more than me because they moved all the stuff that was on it including the 2 burner Coleman Stove, and set it on the ground or on the chairs and took the table.

One $30.00 table - but it was a table that I didn't want anyways...   It was too small - I decided that it was some kind of omen that I could and should go get the larger table I'd been eying but couldn't justify buying because I already had a table.....

 

[MrNoodly]

And yet others of us can camp for years all over the continent and not have a serious problem - I often wonder what the difference is between us and them??

In all my years on the road I have only had anything stolen once from an unattended campsite.

I had an extension cord and a pair of sandals swiped at a campground in San Felipe, Baja -- while I was sleeping in the van. No big deal.

 

[BigT]

There are no patrols other than the guy who comes around occasionally to empty the trash cans.
The campground smells like a sewer.
People drive through at all hours.
Some park a while then leave because of the smell and sketchy characters that might be camped there.
Others drive through, probably casing what ever unfortunates might make the mistake I made to camp there. I got robbed. 

I'm just curious...  Did you know, or feel, this place was frequented by "sketchy characters" and routinely "cased" by criminals when you drove off and left your trailer there for the day?   :huh:

 

[AreWeLostYet]

I don't know that there is a place safe from tweekers and other thieves. I have a van and a trailer. I would only take the trailer if traveling with a group. I am always afraid it will either be ransacked or gone when I got back from town. If I get another trailer it will be a small cargo type that I would never unhook from the van.

I've camped all over and used to pack everything but tent into my car every time I drove to town. But locals told me I didn't have to worry about it there. But soon as I get back to California I get hit. And this happened just as the massive fire north or Redding was firing up. I'm wondering if there were looters coming into the area to sack the houses evacuated and decided to pick up a full camping setup while they were in the neighborhood. I feel bad complaining though when so many lost all in the fire.

 

[AreWeLostYet]

I'm just curious...  Did you know, or feel, this place was frequented by "sketchy characters" and routinely "cased" by criminals when you drove off and left your trailer there for the day?   :huh:

I'm tenting. If I'd had a trailer they'd probably have left it alone since the campground can be seen from the road and there was one other camper at the time. I was planning on camping in the Trinity National Forest near Trinity Lake. But that's where the fire happened. It's either ashes or socked in by smoke now and may be closed off any time.

 

[AreWeLostYet]

I had an extension cord and a pair of sandals swiped at a campground in San Felipe, Baja -- while I was sleeping in the van. No big deal.

I used to leave my food at camp since I wouldn't feel too bad if someone was hungry enough to steal my (usually) sparse eats. But I gradually got more and more careless. 

One reason I feel bad is I probably "armed" criminals to live out of the way law enforcement might find them. And among the items stolen was an aerosol can of pepper spray.

 

[wasanah2]

So sorry to hear of your misfortune.  I've always been extra suspicious of possible thefts, and I continually repack my gear into my van and leave the tent there alone to hold my spot.   I'm just that way, even in particularly safe places.  I don't have credit cards and such to replace anything.  Even food, if I have budgeted out what I need, if someone were to take it, I'll be going without for the rest of the month.

I hope you'll find a Korean cooking vessel again.  My mother was a teen mother, and later she married my step father, and they had their own children, so I lived mostly with my grandparents.  When I was very small, I went to a pottery factory with my school, and at the end, each of the kids could pick a ceramic toy or small other item.  I was the only kid to not grab a toy but got a spoon rest for my mother.  I was so proud to give it to her, and she kept it and used it daily and it was on her stove whenever I visited.  She made over it time and time again and said that she would never cook without it there to remind her of me.  After she died it "disappeared."  It was the only thing of hers that I wanted, and I scoured ebay for years looking for one just like it to remind me of her, and I FOUND one and ordered it, and now have that.  It's a silly sentimental little thing, but important nonetheless.   All that to say that you might be able to find your Korean skillet on ebay.  Just don't give up looking.  It might take time, but I bet you'll be able to replace it again.

Good luck!

 

[QinReno]

I'm sure there are some locals "everywheres" that cruise the local campgrounds looking for easy-pickings. I would never leave $700 worth of camping goodies out in plain view, and then go off for the day, especially in a campground where there are only 0 or 1 other camper, and no resident host. I hope they didn't get your
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-HT81204-18-Bolt-Cutter/471512940

When I was boondocking up in OR for 10-days in June, all I left in the campsite during the day was a $3 table I had bought at Goodwill in Redmond, plus a clothesline with a towel on it. Just enough to indicate someone was camping there. For reference, the local idiot pinhead fools came everyday to nearby campsites and shot up glass bottles with their semiautomatic weapons.

 

[BigT]

I'm tenting. If I'd had a trailer they'd probably have left it alone since the campground can be seen from the road and there was one other camper at the time. I was planning on camping in the Trinity National Forest near Trinity Lake. But that's where the fire happened. It's either ashes or socked in by smoke now and may be closed off any time.

Wow, that's even worse!  I thought they broke into a trailer, but you left all your stuff sitting out in the open, or in a soft-sided tent, and drove away from this admittedly sketchy campground??   :s

Sorry to hear about your loss, but I bet you won't do that again.

 

[AreWeLostYet]

Wow, that's even worse!  I thought they broke into a trailer, but you left all your stuff sitting out in the open, or in a soft-sided tent, and drove away from this admittedly sketchy campground??   :s

Sorry to hear about your loss, but I bet you won't do that again.

Been doing it over two years. Locals told me I didn't have to worry about people taking stuff. Then I returned to California. Maybe it's partly a consequence of other states being full of people packing heat. I'm not a gun rights fanatic. But there may be some benefits to having law abiding people with shootin irons close at hand.

 

[AreWeLostYet]

I'm sure there are some locals "everywheres" that cruise the local campgrounds looking for easy-pickings. I would never leave $700 worth of camping goodies out in plain view, and then go off for the day, especially in a campground where there are only 0 or 1 other camper, and no resident host. I hope they didn't get your
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-HT81204-18-Bolt-Cutter/471512940

When I was boondocking up in OR for 10-days in June, all I left in the campsite during the day was a $3 table I had bought at Goodwill in Redmond, plus a clothesline with a towel on it. Just enough to indicate someone was camping there. For reference, the local idiot pinhead fools came everyday to nearby campsites and shot up glass bottles with their semiautomatic weapons.

I've learned another advantage of dwelling in a van, RV, any kind of vehicle large enough to hold half your gear so you don't have to drag it all out to access your day to day equipment.

 

[AreWeLostYet]

I don't know that there is a place safe from tweekers and other thieves. I have a van and a trailer. I would only take the trailer if traveling with a group. I am always afraid it will either be ransacked or gone when I got back from town. If I get another trailer it will be a small cargo type that I would never unhook from the van.

The north end of Central valley here in CA is the magnet to the world for millennial homeless. Some are tweekers I'm sure, but many are just jobless, throw-aways, run-aways, seeking 'freedom', whatever. They have colonized along the Sacramento River and gather in groups of up to a couple dozen around the city where there's a shaded grassy. But I don't think they characterize who hit me. It was some low files with a car. Homeless don't have a car and most beg before they'll steal - ("flying a sigh" or "spangling").

But if that camping ground were patrolled by the Forest Service I might still have my stuff. But it's managed by Shasta Recreation Corp. They have the franchise to all campgrounds on Bathtub Shasta and the closest ting they have to patrolling is sending a guy to empty trash containers and sign the bathroom service record. Usually once a day. It's bound to be the trend for the future and will eventually affect boondockers I guarantee you.

 

[BigT]

Then I returned to California. 

Yup.  I recently got home from a road trip through the PNW, and one of the first things I noticed as I crossed the Oregon border into NorCal, was the higher number to tweakers and scumbags.  

It's not too surprising that the buttheads and crooks are bolder in places where they can be pretty sure their victims aren't in a position to protect themselves.

 

[LivGolden]

Yup.  I recently got home from a road trip through the PNW, and one of the first things I noticed as I crossed the Oregon border into NorCal, was the higher number to tweakers and scumbags.  

It's not too surprising that the buttheads and crooks are bolder in places where they can be pretty sure their victims aren't in a position to protect themselves.

What is a tweaker?

 

[QinReno]

But it's managed by Shasta Recreation Corp. 

Common theme. Up in Oregon, Hoodoo Recreation administers many of the campgrounds around Bend. One guy will be the onsite host at one CG and also go round to 3 other nearby CGs to collect money and take care of general cleaning. But he'll only be there for a few minutes a day if it's not the one where he lives. That's how they make a profit.

 

[highdesertranger]

tweaker = meth addict. highdesertranger

 

[AreWeLostYet]

Common theme. Up in Oregon, Hoodoo Recreation administers many of the campgrounds around Bend. One guy will be the onsite host at one CG and also go round to 3 other nearby CGs to collect money and take care of general cleaning. But he'll only be there for a few minutes a day if it's not the one where he lives. That's how they make a profit.

Privatization. Hire someone, anyone willing to work for minimum wage to drive through about once a day to see if someone left soiled toilet paper strewn about. When we used to have trained and (more or less) dedicated professional rangers patrolling every day (or more) looking to see that rules were obeyed and reporting possible trouble to their law enforcement personnel. And the criminal element know their opportunities are increased with the obviously poof oversight. Also - no campground host on site. Probably couldn't fine anyone who'd want the job there.