I’ve seen a lot of things in my life and I’ve seen even more on the New American retirement plan of them taking everything you’ve worked for your whole life and leaving you for dead on the side of the road. I’m on the front line of the disintegration of American society and have a front row seat to what may be the end of the American way of life as we know it today. Nearly every day I see something to confirm that as the American way of life unravels from all directions. Ignoring “danger imminent” signs is for fools, but that’s exactly what’s happening.
Anyway, I’m camping in the Cascade Mountains, which I do much of the summer. The weather has been warm and sunny, so I found a camping spot that was in the shade. I was looking forward to a few days of bike riding and camping.
The first morning I was there, I had just come back from a morning bike ride when a truck with a fifth wheel trailer pulled up. A guy came up to my truck and told me that this “was his campsite”, he was “moving in” and that I was parked in a spot that “friends of his” would be wanting tomorrow. Basically telling me to leave. He told me that he was a hunter and asked me if I was. He dropped his cigarette butt and squashed it out five feet from me. I told him I wasn’t a hunter, but if somebody came up and fucked with me I’d be happy to shoot them.
His tone changed when he realized that he had seen me riding my bike around. I told him I lived nearby, I knew who he was and he was doing. I previously camped down the road from this spot, but haven’t since because of the gunfire that comes from this campsite when this guy is here. He started giving me the “hey bro” routine and I played along. He told me he was buying property nearby, four acres for $250K on S****** Road. I told him I lived on S****** Road, where is your property at? Even though he was spending a quarter million dollars, he could not tell me where the property was. I asked him about some common S****** Road landmarks that everyone knew, he couldn’t recall any.
There would be nothing I could say or do to dissuade him from parking his fifth wheel trailer twenty feet from my truck. He told me he would be moving in with all his gear the next day and would remain in the spot until it started snowing, probably about November. His friends were bringing an RV that would be parked were I was, I needed to move.
After a couple drinks, Mr. Hunter loosened up and started the “mountain bro” routine to a guy he just ran off his campsite. He told me he was from Vancouver, WA. Across the river from Portland, OR. Known locally as “Vantucky”, this guy was the poster boy for the redneck trailer park mentality stereotype associated with this lovely city. During the COVID pandemic, people from the Portland/Vancouver metro area brought trailers to the National Forest and left them there all summer long, coming here a few days a month. Just like all the other recreational areas within range of Portland/Vancouver, the National Forest became a crime zone. Criminals came with the Metro campers, breaking into empty trailers and buglarizing campsites. Thieves tried to steal my bicycle on two seperate occasions. It was during the pandemic I first saw Mr. Hunter’s trailer here.
He told me that he made all the structures at this campsite. He said he and his friends brought a tractor here and cleared away the vegetation to fit more RVs.
In addition to clearing the forest, he told me they took several pickup truck loads of crushed gravel from a work site in the National Forest and spread it around.
Like nearly all of the private hunting campsites in the National Forest, there is a porta potty with the bottom cut out over a hole full of shit that only gets filled over when it’s full. When the campers move on to another campsite, the fiberglass toilet is left to rot in the sun. You may say that a toilet out in the middle of nowhere could be a good thing. This toilet is padlocked, private property on public land.
The following morning, I had a look around. I had ridden my bike through here a couple days earlier to check if anyone was camped here, I wanted to take a few photos in light of what had happened the previous day.
Mr. Hunter’s trailer had expired tags. Why not? It only goes from Vancouver to the National Park and back once a year. On the back of the trailer is a “Quad”, an off road vehicle equipped with rifle holders. Vehicles that are not street legal are not allowed in the National Forest. Why would he bring it along when it’s illegal to use? He cleared the area, spread stolen gravel around and built permanent structures. There is a porta potty in the trees. What happened to “Leave No Trace”, “Pack It Out”? About thirty yards away is another man made clearing where a salt lick is placed to attract deer. In a nearby tree is a deer stand. From the salt lick to the deer stand, about ten yards. Not much of a challenge with the high powered rifles these guys use.
So, this “hunter” brings a mobile home and truckloads of gear to the remote Cascade Mountains two months before hunting season starts and he claims he will be here for at least four months. It’s a seventy five mile trip to the nearest grocery store. He has no problems with threatening me to make me leave “his” campsite. In our conversation, he told me obvious lies and he knew it when I questioned him about his property, which is most likely another lie. His trailer shouldn’t be on the road and he’s got a vehicle that’s illegal to use here. All of this for a single deer. That’s an awful big effort for one deer.
He told me about how he had shot and wounded a black bear. While tracking the wounded bear, he shot another bear and killed it. He said he watched the wounded bear limp away. I told him that if I had done that, I would have been humiliated to claim to be a hunter, wound an animal due to your lack of skill, and let it die a slow, painful death. I knew he was no ordinary hunter. He told me several stories that were obvious bullshit about how he turned poachers over to the game warden. He was trying as hard as he could to convince me he was not a poacher. This area has a history of large scale poaching due to the large area and limited enforcement. To run across a wildlife poaching operation would be a surprise to no one. I’ve run into poachers several times, they are dangerous people.
I’ve got nothing against hunting, I hunted when I was younger. After a stint in the Marines, I lost interest. I am a gun owner and have a pretty good idea what hunting is all about. This guy is not here for a weekend of hunting with family and friends. I would describe it as a slaughterhouse. Sit up in the tree stand shooting deer as they come to the salt lick. Use the Quad to quickly haul the carcass out to the camp, gut it, throw it in the truck and it’s on it’s way to the Vancouver sausage shop. Nobody camps out in the mountains four months for one deer. Nobody.
You may be wondering where this is all going and where is the “End of America” part? Well, it’s right here. As I look around, I have two choices. Stand up for my right to camp here on public land against two or more armed men who have already done a bunch of illegal stuff and have no problem threatening someone they never met? Or pack up and leave? There’s no police or park rangers here. If this guy turns out to be a poacher, he’d probably have no problem shooting me and burying me in the woods with the deer carcasses.
Calling the police, park rangers, whatever, is out of the question. Mr. Hunter claimed he “knew people”, that’s how he gets away with all these supposedly illegal activities. Maybe they’re not illegal, maybe they are illegal for some people, but not for others, who knows anymore? I’ve met a few of the people who work here, it’s hard to believe they would be involved in criminal activities, then again, it would be impossible for them not to know what is going on here. In this part of the country, that wants to secede from the United States, there are plenty of people who work for the government, happy to have a generous paycheck, but have no intention of doing their job serving the public. Any law enforcement person I called would be just as likely to be one of this guy’s “friends”, a member of an anti government organization, or the heroic officer sacrificing himself for the good of humanity as seen on Fox News. I’ve had enough experience with law enforcement to not take that chance.
Being a reasonable person, I packed up and left. Bad guys win again.
There is no law here, no order. Every man for himself. Without personal responsibility and some kind of order that everyone agrees to adhere to, there is no civilization. It’s only a matter of time before people realize that America is over and start shooting. There’s plenty of people around here are ready to start shooting today. What the police call a rise in violent crime, is actually American society falling apart and chaos setting in. This area could go down in history as the exact location that the United States of America failed. A proper account of the events seems justified.