Decided last-minute to catch the 4th of July up in the mountains (were planning to head to Yosemite on the 5th) and read about the fireworks show at Bass Lake. It was too late for reservations online, so we called and were told that everything was booked up (unsurprising) but that we could try our luck by just driving there the day of to see if anyone cancelled or didn't reserve. We arrived at about 6:30 pm, having left the Bay Area at around 3 pm and getting stuck in some traffic. We checked out a couple of the different campgrounds (Forks is just one of three camping areas) but couldn't find any staff to ask about the situation. We later learned that the spots are managed by a ranger at the main station, but that was pretty unclear at the individual campgrounds. Anyway, finally we found a spot that was empty and didn't have a reservation slip on the post, so I left my guy at the spot to sort of reserve it and drove back to the Forks campground entrance. As I got out of the car, an unfriendly guy informed me that I couldn't park there, and I told him I was just trying to figure out whether there was space available. He grumpily mumbled something and went into his trailer that was parked there. Then a lady came out, who was marginally friendly. I explained the situation. She asked which spot I was talking about and then used her walkie-talkie to see whether the spot was booked for the night (no cell service there...big surprise). It sounded like we were in luck, so I paid the $26 and we went for a nice swim in the lake (really close by) and had some dinner. Then the fun started!!!
At about 10 pm a truck pulled up and about 6 noisy guys got out and one of them came over with his reservation in hand. Guess what??? Same spot we had just paid for. Hmm...what to do? We had noticed that there was another spot close by that wasn't taken, and although it had a reservation, we figured maybe it was theirs (no names on the reservations, at least that we could see) so they started to set up there. We went back to relaxing around the campfire. At about 11 pm, another truck and BOAT TRAILER pulled up. Guess who that was? Yes, you've got it, the people who had ACTUALLY reserved the other campsite. Awesome. Somehow at this point there was a fourth car there (it was very crowded and our poor neighbors were already trying to sleep) and luckily it was the ranger on duty. It was a guy who, although super nice, really had no clue what he was talking about. After conferring with all parties, he offered a truce to us-we could stay two nights (which we wanted anyway) at the host site of the group campground, which was currently unoccupied. He tried to describe how to get there, but was getting confused (and so were we) so we just asked him to guide us there. We loaded everything up (he was nice enough to put our freshly inflated air mattress on the back of his truck) and headed to the other site. Thank goodness we asked him if we could follow him...it would have been impossible alone. The sites are hardly labeled, and it was pitch dark midnight.
So, as we got out of the car, we heard pretty loud music playing up the hill. He sort of chuckled and apologized for that, so we thought he might go up there and ask them to respect the "quiet hours". No such luck...he just took off. Right after he left, it got louder and LOUDER and I kid you not, it was like a club. I have never heard anything like it. No idea where they got the juice for that, since there was
1) no electricity
2) no running water
3) no bathrooms (which we didn't find out until we asked right before he left and he pointed out the outhouse down the road...)
Anyway, luckily we were prepared with earplugs, since after the music until 2 am, the boats started up at 7 am on the lake. I guess everyone and their mom who had a jet ski or motor boat had to get an early start. Awesome.
I do realize it was a holiday, but that doesn't excuse bad organization and the fact that $26 is too much for conditions like that. We won't be back. read more