This past July I was fortunate to take 2 trips to Lake Lila. I camped on Lila for a few nights the second week of July with my wife and son until the Horse Flies got the best of them. The last week of July, myself and a long time coworker camped on Lila for 3 nights. I first sank my toes into the sandy beach at the “put in” over 25 years ago.
While it’s one of my favorite places , it’s also becoming a favorite place of uninformed, ignorant and very selfish campers.
On my first trip this year, as we launched , my wife commented about the large amount of white smoke coming from Spruce Island. As we paddled closer, it was apparent that there was a forest fire on the west end of the island. A later conversation with a camper , who evacuated during the middle of the night confirmed this. Luckily he was awoken by a fellow camper across the way at a nearby site. Also spoke with an Assistant Ranger who said either fireworks or a rogue campfire started this. Is was put out with portable pumps and hoses..
On my second trip we took one of the open sandy beach sites. The fire pit was ripped apart and had been extended onto the “hollow ground”. There were fish carcasses, cigarette butts and a paper plate in the fire. The site was littered with live tree branches, many small trees and been slashed with an axe and several smaller live trees were cut down. I also picked up many butts out of the water. Last several trips before this year there were also met with nighttime fireworks and drunken yelling during the night.
My concern is that my son will not experience the same place with his son that I did 25 years ago. This year with COVID, Im sure more people have flocked to more remote places. I realize that Rangers can’t police every site in the Adirondacks but how do we stop this behavior?
While it’s one of my favorite places , it’s also becoming a favorite place of uninformed, ignorant and very selfish campers.
On my first trip this year, as we launched , my wife commented about the large amount of white smoke coming from Spruce Island. As we paddled closer, it was apparent that there was a forest fire on the west end of the island. A later conversation with a camper , who evacuated during the middle of the night confirmed this. Luckily he was awoken by a fellow camper across the way at a nearby site. Also spoke with an Assistant Ranger who said either fireworks or a rogue campfire started this. Is was put out with portable pumps and hoses..
On my second trip we took one of the open sandy beach sites. The fire pit was ripped apart and had been extended onto the “hollow ground”. There were fish carcasses, cigarette butts and a paper plate in the fire. The site was littered with live tree branches, many small trees and been slashed with an axe and several smaller live trees were cut down. I also picked up many butts out of the water. Last several trips before this year there were also met with nighttime fireworks and drunken yelling during the night.
My concern is that my son will not experience the same place with his son that I did 25 years ago. This year with COVID, Im sure more people have flocked to more remote places. I realize that Rangers can’t police every site in the Adirondacks but how do we stop this behavior?
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