kevbone Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I am taking my 5 year old to Smith this weekend. He has never been. I am going with my two climbing partners and their two children each. Should be a super fun time. Looks like the weather will be on our side.....anyone else going this weekend? I think we are planning on camping at Skull Hollow. If you seen a party of 8 (three adults and five children), that is us....come on over and say hi! Quote
ZimZam Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I am taking my 5 year old to Smith this weekend. He has never been. Right on Kevin. Quote
kevbone Posted October 18, 2011 Author Posted October 18, 2011 Off....isnt this at the park itself? Quote
ivan Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Off....isnt this at the park itself? in the bivi site - a great drunken challenge at night in flip-flops, beer in hand Quote
kevbone Posted October 18, 2011 Author Posted October 18, 2011 We will be staying in Skull Hollow. Quote
KirkW Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 We will be staying in Skull Hollow. Â Sorry to say this Kev but for all the shit you post on this site talking about how screwed up things are right now, I find it amazing that you are staying at Skull Hollow and choosing to pay money to a PRIVATE company to use PUBLIC land. Your choice I guess and I'm sure it'll be easier with the kiddo's now that they've made it all safe and sanitary over there amongst the dirt and the sage brush. Got rid of those "druggy climbers" and I hear they're cracking down on the drum circles too. Â Thanks for encouraging the state to privatize our public lands. Â Â Quote
kevbone Posted October 18, 2011 Author Posted October 18, 2011 What can i say.....I am lazy and like to car camp. I have not been there since 2007 so I know nothing of your "druggy climbers" comment. Do you have another option? I am not staying at the climbers bivouac at Smith. Quote
KirkW Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) A quick google search turned up some interesting results... Here's one  Last time I was there we camped off the side of the road 1/2 mile up from Skull Hollow. As we were getting ready to leave fairly late the next morning a very polite woman, driving a FS truck, timidly informed us that where we had slept the night before was not a camp site and we couldn't stay there anymore. She was happy to give us her name as well as that of her supervisor. She encouraged us to contact her supervisor directly and let her know how we felt about the closures.  She never directly voiced an opinion however she made it quite clear that she thought the management of the public lands by private companies was bullshit. I got the impression that the owners of Skull Hollow complained about the camping up the road from them as it was stealing revenue and thus yet another ban on tossing your tent down in the dirt on your public land to satisfy the profit column for the owners of Audd and Di.  She also informed us that all camp sites were closed, up that road, until you crossed the "watering trough". The next night we just went further up that road and found ourselves another little spot. I'm sure they will soon close that area too but as of two weeks ago there were people in just about every available turn off and flat spot with a fire ring up that road. Business at Skull Hollow seemed to be booming for Aud and Di as well!  in case you missed it the last time I posted it... here it is again Edited October 18, 2011 by KirkW Quote
Off_White Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Conversely, last time there, we decided to give our money to Oregon State Parks, who've done a pretty good job with Smith Rock. Sure, between the three of us we paid $15 a night, instead of driving a fair ways further and paying $5 per day to park, but we were tenting and didn't mind having the bathrooms nearby. Seeing as how I work for a living, it was a pretty trivial amount of money. Â No criticism of FS land free campers implied, though you damn poachers using up the hot water in the showers without paying better change your ways, and you know who you are... Â Between the tweety morning birds, the lowing cows, and the geese overhead it was pretty damned noisy, but the other campers on a very very busy weekend were quiet and low key. Quote
Lodestone Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 .....anyone else going this weekend? Â Â Yes, I'll say hello if I see you out there. Â Â Chad Quote
JoeR Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 Why is it that every time I read a thread about Smith people are STILL camping at Skull Hollow? Everything that is wrong with privatizing public land is happening at Skull Hollow.  Fee $$ going out of state-Check  Rules having questionable legality invented-Check  Forest Service $$ paying for enforcement-Check  Closures based on profitability-Check  etc etc etc  There is another option that doesn't send money to Utah.  1.Instead of turning into Skull Hollow campground, keep driving up the road. 2.You have to go a little over .75 miles up the road, past the cattle watering trough. 3.Pull into one of the many free and easily accessible sites. 4. Don't forget to wave at the FS employee that your money pays to patrol the road in the morning.  The above will also work during the winter/early spring months that they shut down Skull Hollow as it is not profitable. Quote
ivan Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 anyone from eugene would be remiss to mention the ease of the winter-closure option of destroying the gate anarchist-fashion and living like a king for a night.... Quote
chris54 Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 This thread started out all warm and cozy then slid down in to some pissing match. Thank you You can only have so much of that cozy shit. Quote
KirkW Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 This thread started out all warm and cozy then slid down in to some pissing match. Thank you You can only have so much of that cozy shit. Â Didn't think I was starting a pissing match. Kevbone doesn't mind voicing his opinion and I'm not calling him out as one of satan's minions or anything but I thought he'd be interested in knowing that he could actually speak with his choices rather than just post videos about gov't lies and random conspiracy theories in spray. Â Everyone is talking the talk these days but few people are actually living up to their own rhetoric. Myself included. Quote
kevbone Posted October 21, 2011 Author Posted October 21, 2011 I am super stoked to be heading out to Smith this evening with my 5 year old. We have 4 dads going and 6 children. The weather is supposed to be great. I still have to buy a couple of cigars...... Quote
kevbone Posted October 24, 2011 Author Posted October 24, 2011 Just got back from Smith. What a crazy trip. We had a party of 10. 4 adults and 6 children ranging from 4-8 years old. They all hiked in and all hiked out. The grasslands (minus all the drama) is a very kid friendly place. I got to see a bunch a people I have not seen in years. Smith Rock rocks. The trip did prove one thing for me....I am out of shape. Quote
genepires Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 did the kids climb anything? Seems with so many kids, peer pressure would force them all to climb. Quote
kevbone Posted October 24, 2011 Author Posted October 24, 2011 Yes, the kids climbed. For some of them it was their first time in that environment so there was no dads pushing them. They climbed what they wanted to. Â If you go across the bridge and take a right. About 200 feet down is Practice Boulder. It has anchors on top. We set up two top ropes one on each side using only one rope. The kids climbed several times each and the dads got to boulder. Amazing weather. Quote
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