My Experience at Mink Hollow

[WanderingFox]

I guess someone already posted about this, but I wanted to give everyone a head’s up about something that happened to me in the Catskills. I was backpacking with a buddy of mine a couple of weekends ago and we decided to camp at the Mink Hollow leanto between Sugarloaf and Plateau mountain. Well we arrived-okay, crawled--there late Friday evening after a long day of hiking and saw there was already someone in the leanto so we looked for another site. We saw there were signs for designated sites, but we decided to camp on a spot closer to the trail and the lean-to, since we were exhausted and figured we were leaving early the next morning and it wouldn’t matter. BIG mistake! So this is all completely our fault (okay, MINE, since I was the more experienced backpacker of the two of us) because there was a No Camping sign on the tree right over the tents, but looking through this website, I saw that a couple of other people did the same thing, so I didn’t feel as bad. So anyhow, we spend an uncomfortable night on the hard ground and got woken up to someone telling us that she’s a forest ranger and for us to come outside.
She told us that we were camping WAY too close to the trail, that you have to be 150 feet away from any road, trail, or water source and that the leanto and the other desingated spots were the only places where that rule didn’t apply. Then she asked me if we had seen the designated spots, and I shamefacedly admitted that we did, but we decided not to use them. I felt even dumber when she handed me my ticket, which could end up being up to $250!! So I just wanted to post this so that other people don’t make the same mistake that I did. Plan ahead, use the marked sites or walk more than 150 ft away from roads, trails or water just to be safe! After this happened, I measured it out at home, and 150 ft for me was about 65 normal strides. I’m about 5’ 10’’, so I guess you could adjust it based on whether you’re taller or shorter…but either way, you’ll want to take a few extra, just to be safe! Also, for those who didn’t know the rules, here’s a link to them, which I really should have looked at before I left the house and might have saved me some big bucks: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7872.html. DON’T REPEAT MY MISTAKE!!!

[DSettahr]

One thing that I've noticed in the White Mountains that I thought was a good idea- at some of the trailheads they have a sign that says "start counting your footsteps here" and then 200 feet (the minimum distance in the WMNF) later there is another sign saying that's how far you need to camp off the trail and away from water. Whether it's 150 or 200 feet, it's always a lot further than most people think.

What many people also don't realize about the NYS Land Use Regs is that the way the regulations are written, every member of a group can be ticketed individualy for the same offense. Also some of the offenses aren't just violations- they are misdemeanors... which means that the fines can be much, much higher, and jail time may be a possible punishment!

Thanks for sharing your tale of misfortune... hopefully it will help other people to realize that the state is serious about enforcing these regulations that are necessary to protect what we value about our backcountry areas...

[Deb]

You're a stand-up person, Wandering Fox.
Not one word directed against the forest ranger!

[hilltackler]

Some people in our group ran into the same ranger, bright and early, on a saturday morning and wrote 5 tickets to people camped too close to the trail and right underneath no camping signs. While I did make mention to them about the increased ranger presence, they chose to camp there and they all got slapped with a ticket!

Thankfully, myself and a few others camped legally, as I have noticed more rangers enforcing the "150 foot" rule.

And as the ranger explained - the fine can be from 0$ to $250. However the judge usually fines alot less. In most cases, less than 100 bucks - still kinda steep, if you ask me. But it is what it is...follow the rule or be willing to suck it up and pay a ticket - kinda like speeding, we all do it at some time and sometimes we get caught...and it always sucks but just think how many times you didn't get busted!

I like what Desettahr said too, in the whites they have signs that say count your paces between to signs which helps people know how many paces are 150 ft - as for me, I have short getaway sticks so its like 90 paces - but I think I'll just carry a piece of string (ultra-light, of course) that is measured to 150ft - at the end of a long day of hiking through the woods, counting to 90 may not be possible - I usually lose my count after 50! LOL! I never said I was bright! LOL!!
Hike on!

[Kyler]

Originally Posted by WanderingFox

...but looking through this website, I saw that a couple of other people did the same thing, so I didn’t feel as bad.

This isn't directed at you specifically, but moreso directed at everyone. If someone makes a post here that says they did something that violates the law, no one else should assume that it is OK to repeat that act. We have a wide audience here and we don't want anyone to get the idea that it's OK to bend any of the rules.

[WanderingFox]

Well, how can I blame the ranger for first of all doing her job and second of all ticketing me for something that was 100% my fault? I actually give the forest rangers a LOT of credit for the work they do...even if that work results in me having to admit that I did something wrong (and pay for it)!

[mkG]

Just did my first stint in the catskills over labor day weekend. Did devils path from overlook to Diamond notch in 2 days, stopping of course in Mink hollow to sleep. I did some research on this site before going but I wish I had seen this thread. My group originally wanted to camp at the notch between Sugarloaf and Twin, we rolled in there around 5 oclock and realized there wasn't really a camping spot there as we had heard, or at least none that we could find. So we pushed on over sugarloaf, to mink hollow taking about two hours, being dead tired.

Long story short, arrived there around 7 and it was PACKED with people, maybe 10-15 other groups. Needless to say there was much illegal camping going on, which doesn't make what we did right, but we camped in a very nice looking camping spot right next to the trail and got 1 ticket each for it.

The ironic part is, if we had stayed in the illegal spot in the notch we would have gotten away Scot free, because the ranger obviously only targeted that one spot. O well, my experience as a whole was still awesome.

I guess I just want to add my warning that holiday weekends in the cats are apparently crowded so be wary and make sure you don't end up at a shelter that's over crowded and to late to go somewhere else.

[hilltackler]

This whole thing with finding a flat,level and LEGAL camping spot has inspired me to get a hammock. THis way I don't have to fight the stingy nettle getting to my legally pitched tent! While I still have to go 150 ft, it's sooooo much easier to find a two trees that are 5-6 feet apart than it is to find flat hospitable ground in the Cats.

[Azimuth]

Thats great! Glad to see the rangers in the Catskills are out there in the backcountry enforcing the regulations.