Grating outdoors: Mind your Ps and Qs

Campground cleanup
Some campgrounds have a “pack it in, pack it out” trash policy; others provide garbage cans, dumpsters and recycling bins. Either way, don't leave trash — especially food scraps — lying around. Trash can not only look bad, it can get really smelly and attract all sorts of unwanted critters.

My family was once literally chased from a picnic site in the middle of the day by a gang of aggressive raccoons clearly accustomed to having their way with open containers, unlocked coolers and loosely closed trash cans. Ranger Hawley isn’t surprised: “Raccoons and bears are notorious dumpster divers, but even squirrels will chew a hole in a screen window to get to a muffin or a piece of bread left inside a tent or trailer.”

As Smokey Bear will tell you, cleaning up after yourself is even more important when it comes to campfires.

Ranger Hawley has seen campers put supposedly cool charcoal briquettes or campfire embers in garbage pails, which discarded improperly, “can catch the whole forest on fire,” she warns. “I’ve even seen people put their supposedly cooled embers in portable grills in the back of their car and drive off with the back seat on fire!”

So what’s the right way to put out your campfire? Smokey Bear says: “Drown it! Stir it! Feel it.” (For more details and specific instructions, go here.)

The bottom line
When it comes to getting along in campgrounds, says Ranger Hawley, the well-mannered camper needs to remember that, “you’re bound to encounter other people who have a very different definition of vacation.” If someone’s behavior seems really out of line and is really bothering you, Hawley suggests you “seek out a ranger or campground host and ask them to intervene. You don’t need to suffer in silence.”

Or, she says, you might consider experiencing the outdoors in a somewhat different manner. “Many people compromise by experiencing public parks in the day, but at night they stay inside their campers [or] recreational vehicles. Or they rent cabins, yurts or, in some public parks, a room in a historic lighthouse or other structure.”

And of course, you can also choose to spend your day in a park and your night in a hotel or motel. The walls will be thicker, you’ll have a direct path to the bathroom, and the only Looney Tunes will be on the TV.

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