Wenatchee Hay canyon
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Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13243
Printed Date: 11 May 2025 at 4:17am
Topic: Wenatchee Hay canyon
Posted By: rutrow
Subject: Wenatchee Hay canyon
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 9:21am
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Watch out for you camping gear on if your camped on Hay canyon. Left my gear out friday morning. By Friday afternoon the forest service came by and threw away all my gear I left there. Someone witnessed my gear being hauled down the road in a forest service trash truck Brand new chair, camp table, 80 feet of brand new climping rope, beach towel, floor mat, 2 water jugs, Gama bucket, fire log and even my dogs dishes.
called the forest service said they would call me back, no surpise they didn;t call back. figured i lost about $200 in equipment
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Replies:
Posted By: Jetters
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 7:39am
| we have been camping @ hay canyon for over 10 years with no problems. That was until two years ago when the local raft guides( 2 local companies but i wont name names) decided this is a great spot to party and leave trash behind. The sheriff stopped by one morning and told us he had no problems with us staying there but the homeowners down the road are complaining about the garbage,cars speeding up the road, and all the noise on the weekend that carries down the valley. Unfortunately it only takes a few people making poor decisions to spoil it for the rest of us. I think the forest service is trying to deter people from camping there so they don't have to deal with as many complaints.I'm not saying tossing your stuff in the garbage is okay but we all get lumped together as the "problem". I've watched multiple spots get closed down due to these types of problems and I hope hay canyon doesn't become one of them. |
Posted By: rutrow
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 11:46am
So I did fax a list of items the forest sevice did throgh away. I immeditly got a call back from a Dan Ritter of fhe NFS. They were very sorry and are sending a check to cover a fair value for the equipment. I am pleased with settlement and more so with a very helpful attitude. They have a really tough problem with Hay Caynon but are commited to leave it open if possible. So lets help them do this. I know most in the boating community pick up there grabage so wont say much here. But some other things could really help (be a low impact or 0 impact camper) The neigboorhood is close by so Keep your speed down! Be quite in the early evening and do you really need music going, sound really carries in the caynon. Dont hold camping spots during the week when your not there, if your gone for 24 hours vacate the camp. Fires right now are not allowed. but when they are dont start another fire pit. In fact a fire pan is a good idea and low impact. Human waste is a disaster in the area stop burying it (there is just way to much in a small area)
lastly do something good for the camp area before you leave, pick you a few item of grabage that someone else has left
Mark
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Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 11:52am
That sucks-- too bad "Washington's largest raft company" can't or won't provide an alternative place for their "guides" to stay. That is only one reason why I think said company is lame 
But, its not Mr. Raft Company Tycoon's fault people are being sloppy w/ their garbage. Then again, I remember a time long, long ago (on a river far away) when the LEAVE NO TRACE ethos was firmly embedded in the code of the raft guide. Raft guide culture as a whole these days has been mostly reduced to a collection of wannabes, carbon copies of carbon copies of poorly copied copies. These guys are wannabes, but they don't know who they wannabe, or who they should be. No wonder the entire industry is failing. But then this circles back to the root cause of that: the owners of these companies. No offense, rutrow, but I'm not sure why you would leave anything behind unattended in the first place. Seems like an invitation "hey- come jack my stuff (or throw it away if you are forest service)" I see the convienience of staying at Hey (douchebag, can you pick up after yourself please?) Canyon, I just don't see the romance of it. I never liked staying there myself. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:08pm
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Wait--- so...
It sucks you got your stuff jacked by the FS, Mark, it really does. But... Let me get this straight: Taxpayers had to pay some poor forest service lackey to follow orders and confiscate/ throw away stuff YOU abandoned or left unattended. Now tax payers are paying to REFUND you money for what you no longer have? Sorry, not to put you on the defensive, really sorry I'm taking things in this dierction. Seriously. Not sure how long you were absent, ect. But if you can remove yourself from the situation enough to take a birds eye view at this, can you see how ridiculous this looks? Or am I the only one? Realize I am happy for you as an individual for being able to resolve this, as I have just recently had some (more) paddling gear stolen from me (HWY 2, Boulder Drop pullout). But simultaneously I am kinda perplexed by this. Seems it would be cheaper to send a FS representative around in the evening when people are present and partying and lay down the ground rules. (Probably already have numerous times though). Manage yourself before someone steps in and does it for you, people. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: James
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:37pm
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I am just gonna say +1 |
Posted By: rutrow
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:47pm
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way off the mark if the goverment damages or ruins your propery becouse of negligence your they are not lialble? I think they are if they towed my car away or damaged it they are responsible. I think it resonable if camped and only gone for under 5 hours your camping gear or car should not be taken from you when on national forest land.
The county cops do make a run through there ever eveing but I think its way better to police ourselves and set a example for others
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Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 2:20pm
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Well, I agree we should police ourselves. And again, yep I don't have the facts or details here. Just seems like a weird response from them. Once that jeanie is out of the bottle they do owe you, and thats why I think its F'd up. Because it is a waste of resources all around.
Still, I'da thought it more likely that some random asshole would have stolen your stuff before the forest service did. Seems like the act of a mindless robot or something incapable of reason (I guess like the government). ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: Mr.Grinch
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 5:50pm
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I think locals dump trash up there as well. A few weekends ago there was a huge box of records (music, not ledgers) sitting there with some other yard waste not far away. Not to mention the very responsible (sarcasm) gunners using the makeshift gun range a little farther up.
Do we kayakers take it a tad more serious because we need to/want to perform the next day so we aren't partying all night (some rafters were up nearly all night one night last month in Hay Cyn) because of the involvement/personal drive vs the easygoing nature of rafting the Wenatchee? Just a question. I like to party, as anyone witnessed last year at the PP Ball, but few witnessed how much of an inverse relationship that had with my ability on the river the following day. This year, I chose differently. Anyway, as for the gear issue that started this thread, I see jP's point, and i've always felt leaving camp setup at established pay camping was sketchy. At a free camping spot like Hay, it's out of the question. I didn't know the FS could clean house so quickly (even parking cops have to witness your car parked past the time allotment). ------------- nnln. |
Posted By: Jetters
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 7:51am
| Just wanted to add I'm not saying its all the raft guides fault, I realize locals dump trash as well. The sheriff did mention he received a lot more complaints during the time the guides were there. The bottom line is we cant change what the local rednecks do @ hay canyon but we can work to improve our image as kayakers with the residents @ the bottom of the road. |