Went to climb in Tuolumne and wanted to camp the night before. Drove through a bunch of campgrounds with no luck and then finally spotted an open site. No tent, nothing in the site or on the picnic table, no tag on the post. So we pull in and set up the tent. As we're leaving to go pay, some guy shows up and says that he just paid for the site. I told him that the usual protocol is to do something to indicate that the site has been occupied...set up the tent, leave a camp chair or some other item to indicate that you've claimed it, or leave a buddy while you go pay for the site. He says that he paid for it, so it's his site. I suggested that we just share it, but he wasn't interested in that.

What would you have done?

But seriously, I can see both sides. I think I'd be pretty pissed if I spotted an open campsite and went off to pay for it, to ensure it's mine, only to find someone else set up there when I returned.

If I spotted an empty campsite I would leave some clear evidence that I was going to occupy it before going off to pay for it. Assuming that nobody else is looking for a campsite in Yosemite National Park on a summer night is just not very bright.

Campgrounds suck. Rough it.

If this was at the campground inside the Park, sorry but I think it was just tough luck on your part. Maybe he just went to the Kiosk/Ranger and asked for an open spot, and didn't have the opportunity to stake a claim? I know I wouldn't drive through that entire campground to put a chair down if I knew I had already paid for it.

Sorry you got shut down. Where did you end up sleeping?

You should have just stayed at the upper parking lot at the mobile. Beware of drunken cougars in RV's though, and the sprinklers that come on in the morning by the flagpole.

^^^^^ I wish MP had a "like" button for this post. ^^^^^^

agree with lacey on a great spot to camp. but seriously, there is a cougar on the prowl up there. camp with mace in your sleeping bag, she may try to climb in

It was a national forest site, outside the park, on the way down towards Lee Vining.

Ugh

I've learned the best thing to do during the super crowded horse crap times in Yosemite/Tuolumne is stop at the pay station and grab a pay/claim envelope before making your rounds around and around for that empty little piece of land. Once found, tear off the claim stub and leave it on the post along with putting down a chair, ice chest, and just shy of empty cold beer on top of it. I would think any argument that arises would be in your favor and unless it's a couple ladies that would like to share the site as an alternative, I'd tell em to beat it.

Sucks for you, man. He paid for it, and has the ticket...so it's his. Bummer to be a day late and a dollar short though.

Similar thing happened to me. I had paid the ticket, punched my receipt and left it on the clip. It somehow "magically" blew away and when I returned 2 German girls were setting up camp in our campsite. We didn't leave any paraphernalia at the spot b/c I have had shit stolen before and thought the receipt would be enough. Long story short, we shared the spot and and when I woke up at 5 to go climb I made sure to make my point that receipts don't magically blow away.

Lots of camping outside the park and a lot of it is free if you can do without a picnic table or shitter.

Bitching about Yosemite camping is noobish. I stopped doing that about a year ago ;-)

No, not Tioga Lake CG (which is the first one outside the park). Also, when you leave the park, there are signs that say "Camping in Designated Areas Only." So I'm not sure exactly where it is "legal" to camp on the way down to Lee Vining aside from in the designated sites. We camped with some other people who were pulled off across from the Ellery Lake boat launch. I prefer to not pay for camping, and I don't need a shitter or a table. But I also prefer to not break the rules, since it helps ensure continued climbing access.

The point is that there was no tag, it didn't "blow away." The guy showed up with the tag after we spent 15 min setting up and were heading to the pay station. He probably spotted the site before us, but he left nothing to indicate this and then was a total jerk about it. I suggested that we share and he said that his privacy mattered more than helping someone out in an honest mix up.

Oh, and I'll never stop bitching about the camping in Yosemite, so I guess I'll be a noob forever.

The guy could have seen you setting up camp and figured that he could BS you into thinking that he got there first.

My own procedure is to park my car in the site and walk back to the pay station to pay before doing anything else. Cars don't "blow away" in the wind, and a locked car can't disappear from the site like coolers, etc. can (at least not as quickly).

Tom you said the guy was a total jerk about it...You should have stood your ground. It clearly states that for a site to be considered taken something of value must designate occupancy. I would have paid for the site also and then asked the ranger to sort it out. Most likely he would say he cant tell who paid first(if the other guy even paid BTW) but your possessions are there so it would be your choice whether you want to camp with the guy being the jerk. At that point I tell him I would gladly share. Hopefully have a few beers by the fire and teach him a lesson about camping (we have all been in the position on needing a spot where there are to few and it feels good to share/and have someone share with you when you need it).

but if he left something and it got stolen, and then he wept about it on MP you would be calling him a fool for leaving something unattended. just part of camping, sometimes it happens.

I had an experience at Tuolumne Meadows Campground where I showed up at the office, purchased a site then headed out to "Number 42" to find a tent already there and people setting up who were "going to go and get a ticket" - I told them to leave my site, and they did probably because there were more of us than them. The process is simple; show up go to the office and buy a spot, where upon you will be handed a piece of paper indicating where you have been allocated to spend your time, there are no exceptions to this rule at this campground.

On another occasion Tone Tenn and I shpwed up in late season (park CG was closed) at Tioga Lake CG which was all but empty, got a site from the camp host, posted our ticket then headed off to the store. When we got back there was a tent and vehicle on our site. I questioned the dude and he denied any knowledge of our ticket being posted in the stump. Tony found it screwed up in a ball in the fire pit. I asked the guy if he did that and he said no. I went to see the camp host and he said "could you do me a favor and find another spot as there are plenty of them" so I said yes. This paid off well for us as later that night we had a somewhat raucous party (met some French ladies camped next to us) and when someone complained the host said "give em a break they've had a tough day" !

What's the moral of these two tales? I suppose it's act with decency and be rewarded with all night partying with French ladies....

Is it this much of a hassle finding a campsite preferably outside Tuolumne on Sunday afternoons or Monday mornings? Hope not.