explorer777
Paddler
Dan_Millsip said:jk said:There definitely is some entitlement to those who arrive first. Sorry John, but second comers fit in, they don't take over.
I am new to this great forum and I don't want to ruffle any feathers here because I value being a part of the paddling community but I disagree with your idea of having some sense of entitlement because you arrived at a campsite first. I agree with some of your points but your statement above bothered me. Arriving first at a campsite does not give you any entitlement. Parks belongs to all of us and arriving first at a site does not change that. I agree that everyone occupying a site needs to do their part in preserving the enjoyment of others but the first people to arrive do not get to decide who fits in.
I am sympathetic to your situation because the same thing has happened to me many many times backpacking, and it is a drag when you have a site to your self and then a big group shows up, but it is not your site nor do you have any entitlement to it because you arrived first. That is not how our parks work. I agree that they should have communicated better with you and if they were noisy then that is rude and inconsistent with no trace ethics but I am bothered by your idea of entitlement.
Again, I am sympathetic to what happened to you, and it sounds like the big group did not have the greatest of manners and they were not very considerate in being noisy, but I had to call you on your idea of having some sense of entitlement because you arrived first...that bothered me because that is not how our parks work.