Uneasy in ShadowMtn NFS cg in the Tetons ?

[Braces]

Reading the post and replies starting 7-7-19 made me interested in trying to stay there instead of in Gros Ventre but my wife is very uneasy about not being in a more controlled campground, not from a wildlife standpoint but from a "bad"people standpoint. Have you had any problems boondocking in this area and do you go off and leave your rig there unattended all day? Cell phone coverage there? I know it is sketchy in GTNP and YNP.

[profdant139]

Braces, we boondocked not far from Shadow Mtn and had no trouble at all. We've been boondocking all over the West for the last 14 years, at about 30 to 50 nights a year. No problems, ever.

We have had a few problems in public campgrounds with big noisy families, especially in Calif. No crime -- just rudeness.

My wife had the same concerns about security, at first. But then I reminded her that criminals are not crazy. They look for easy pickings in densely packed campgrounds, rather than prowling around the thinner pickings in the boonies.

Having said all of that, I would be hesitant to boondock in a Walmart parking lot near a big city. Some folks do just that, with no problem. But I do not trust cities, since I live in one.

[Ramblin__Ralph]

Thanks for the RSS tip. I've thought about that before. I'll look into it.
Ralph

[agesilaus]

Ralph you need to syndicate your blog using RSS so people can follow it. It looks interesting: How to syndicate your blog

[Ramblin__Ralph]

I stayed at the Shadow Mtn boondocking area earlier this month. I was at the far end where site #15 is. No "iffy" types around that I saw. There is a manager, but he was off duty when I was there. Only a few porta-potties and those weren't near the area I was in. Don't remember about cell svc.

Personally, I'd skip Shadow Mtn and go a bit further N on US89 to the Toppings Lake or Spread Creek USFS boondocking areas. See my blog (in signature) for the dates Aug 6 and Aug 7. I liked Spread Creek the best.

Edit: I was at the base of the mountain, not up it.

Have fun!

[agesilaus]

I'm probably the one who started the original thread. WE had no issues at all with the neighbors, well we did have some problems with the fellow to one side with his stinky horse trailer but that was one night. All the others there were fine, one young guy from California was camping by himself and was very quiet. And the second day a couple from Utah came in and asked if we minded them setting up their tent on what was technically our site. They were also quiet and good campers. The people on the other side of the cg we never interacted with but they also were good campers.

I suppose you'll see more folks with older or DIY campers in these sort of cg but we never had an issue with any of them. Of course being a supporter of the Second Amendment alleviates many of these issues.

The one and only time we were uneasy was years ago down in the Ocala (FL) National Forest when we ran into a clutch of Rainbow Tribe people. I would not camp withing a mile of that sort of people. In main stream cg we have very occasionally had issues with boisterous and generally inebriated campers being very noisy late into the night. Most of the time just asking them to hold it down works.

Cell phones, I don't recall since my wife is the addict and 90% when I use mine it's with a call from her...heh. But I doubt they worked, no cell phone towers for miles after all.