Padre Bay experience

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Tiff,

Thanks for the great pics. Glad your trip was all around great. I do find as I get older that the negative stuff bothers me more and more...
 
I hate to get down on the NPS however sometimes I do wonder. It seems they are very good at giving grief to legitimate folks and not looking for people like you encountered. As an aside, the navigational aids in the lake are completely jacked. My first trip I figured maybe they were going to fix them. By the second trip a month later I realized they just don’t care. I say this because twice I saw NPS patrol boats go by a bunch that were jacked on both trips. That is a very serious danger IMO. I tend to ignore what I can and move when I can’t, but I am just shore camping so it is not that big a deal to move. I am quite sure folks at the NPS read this forum, it would be nice if they decided one day to take some action and do the job they are supposed to be doing, keeping the lake safe in all aspects.

TR
 
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Affter two bad experiences like your's in the back of Davis Gulch we stopped camping at the back of canyons. I don't understand the charge people get out of making other campers lives miserable when they have an entire lake to play on, but too many do. We even had fireworks land on our bimini once in the back of Rock Creek when a boat over the ridge was setting them off one night, we did pay them a visit on our way out the next morning to inform them how dangerous they were.. Got the impression it went in one ear and out the other.
 
Last week we had a nice beach at the mouth of Padre Canyon. Things were relatively peaceful. Then one night a massive fireworks show started. Our neighbor who just happened to be a couple and their dog, started yelling at the teens and adults to stop the fireworks. They did not stop. Their dog then, scared out of its mind, ran off. I motored over and finally got the guys to cease fire with the fireworks. I explained the situation in my best drill sargent impersonation. I actually even guilted them into assisting in the search for the missing dog. After 4 hours of searching we found 3 coyotes and evidence of more coyote pups but no missing dog. In the wee hours of the morning we called off the search and vowed to resume in the light hours of the morning. The dog was recovered on the other side of Gun Sight Pass. The dog apparently scrambled up and over the pass in the night. The owner motored over to Gun Sight Canyon and found the dog. His wife was very distraught as this dog was big but only a pup at 8 months old.
Fortunately there was a happy ending and the ordinance masters came over to apologize.
 
I thought Fireworks were prohibited on the lake? Seems like the amount of fireworks would warrant arresting the Perp's. I have not been on Powell for a very long time and it is my understanding that the party boats from Havasu have moved to Powell because the consider Havasu Getto now.
 
I thought Fireworks were prohibited on the lake? Seems like the amount of fireworks would warrant arresting the Perp's. I have not been on Powell for a very long time and it is my understanding that the party boats from Havasu have moved to Powell because the consider Havasu Getto now.

Yeah, boggles my mind how many fireworks you hear (and see in many videos) about at Powell and nothing seems to be done about it.
 
I asked the ordinance masters if they knew fireworks were illegal. He said yes we know there are laws against them. Now having said that several years ago I was beach camping up Bullfrog way. The other family that was with us brought fireworks. I did not know they brought them. They lit them off. The next morning a Park Ranger stopped by to have a chat with us. She took down our hull numbers and said if she came back and the beach was not pristine that we would get cited. The other family had their boys clean it up and we were never cited. Now, having said that, how on earth could they cite me when my only participation level was watching them?
 
Is that a NPS cell phone?
Text reports of violations or concerns to 928-614-0820. (Do not call; text only. This is not an emergency number. In an emergency, call 911 or use Marine Band 16 to hail National Park Service.)
Text reports of violations or concerns to 928-614-0820. (Do not call; text only. This is not an emergency number. In an emergency, call 911 or use Marine Band 16 to hail National Park Service.)


Text reports of violations or concerns to 928-614-0820. (Do not call; text only. This is not an emergency number. In an emergency, call 911 or use Marine Band 16 to hail National Park Service.)
 
Trash is plentiful no matter the year. Yes, the fireworks are out of control. Every. Single. Night. I'd like to think that most people are aware enough to pack out what they pack in, but there's always those who just don't care about leaving trash on public land.

Doug, that is an NPS number to text for incidents. Sure wish I would have had that handy in my case a few weeks ago...

Tiff
 
A few examples...there are many more...
View attachment 3107
View attachment 3108

The green one threw us off so badly this spring. We saw it was missing from its usual spot, and one evening late heading back down lake it blinking 50 feet up the bank pretty far down lake threw us! We came off plane, turned around and finally figured out it was the marker. Nixon still talks about it being creepy every time were in the area now lol.
 
I think over the last few years trash left purposefully (with the exception of fireworks) has generally decreased. One of the most common trash heaps we find are fire rings with melted glass, aluminum, and plastic left in them. Yes, all three items distort in a fire, but that doesn't mean they are gone. To some folks, out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. Same with fireworks that litter the ground, which is by far the item we pick up the most. On my last trip in July, my team and I picked up hundreds (literally) of 1/4 to 1-inch pieces (as well as some of the large pieces) of fireworks strewn about a beach in Wilson Creek on the San Juan. To me, Lake Powell visitors who put on the firework displays for all to enjoy (or disrupt a beautiful and quiet starry night) are just as much litterbugs as someone who finishes a beer and throws the soda can over the side of the boat, or leaves a heap of melted trash in a fire ring as they drive away from a beach, or chucks cigarettes and trash out of their car window on the highway. Littering is littering, and if you are one of the people putting on displays, you are part of the problem. Hopefully some Trash Trackers will clean up your mess.
Eric
 
I think......................most people that do these firework shows don't even think about the trash. They think it is against the law for fire issues, not littering. They light them off at night and never see the trash, once in the morning they just ignore it. People need to be educated on it in terms of littering, not fire hazard.

I would also guess a large percentage of these fireworks are being provided by the Indians (i.e. the gas station outside of Vegas) and so forth.
 
Many years ago we were beached across from a houseboat, early one morning I saw a guy with a shovel burying a sack of trash in the sand, I went ballistic and yelled, he said he had been coming to the lake for many years and had always done it that way, I said So your the one I always have to clean up after!!!
 
So your the one I always have to clean up after!!!
With the number of dumpsters available at launch ramps, etc. this kind of behavior(burying/hiding trash) is UNACCEPTABLE!!! Is it a hassle to store your trash until you get back to the ramp, yes, but you brought it out in the first place. We generally separate the burnables(paper plates, napkins, etc.) from the rest of the trash and burn in the campfire which saves some space, but if it won't be completely consumed by the fire we pack it out.
 
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