Nitinaht 2014: Road/Camp updates

[mlaanela]

Thanks!

[nanmoo]

The Ditidaht have wanted to make imporvements to the camp site for years, but were not allowed to by parks and recreation. In fact the only way there is water is that it comes from the village, which is federally inspected. Parks and Rec wouldn't allow a new well.

Just to be clear; Recreation sites are part of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural resources. Actual Provincial Parks are part of the Ministry of Environment. I'm not sure who in their infinite wisdom decided it makes sense to separate those, but they are, and thus are managed with completely different mandates, rules, management, the whole gamut even though when you are visiting many you might not be able to tell the difference.

The most frustrating part of this weekend (and I'm sure others can relate) is the ambiguity of when you have to pay as part of a "site" or "party". It seemed that on the beach they wanted to charge per tent, yet if you packed 8 tents onto a site you only paid once. This of course despite the fact that the actual sites have tables, cleared areas, and parking. I explained this to the fee collector one night; that there was 4 of us in a party in two tents side by side on the beach and in no way did it make sense that we'd pay double, and they seemed satisfied enough to shrug, agree, and then move on after taking only $15.

[more force 4]

The place was more crowded than I've seen it in 30 years this weekend. Outhouses started off good, fully stocked paper and sanitizing lotion. That ran out Saturday with no restocking and what is worse no cleaning. I don't know how some people manage to smear feces over surfaces that you'd think should stay clean........

I was quite prepared to pay my $15 or $17 a night but never saw a fee collector. Actually, did see one the opposite end of the campground when I was in a wetsuit. They don't seem to come around when they would find people off the water. I Stopped by the camp host site a couple of times to pay but no one was there. With 300-400 vehicles there (?) they could have raised $10,000 over the long weekend but I expect it was a small fraction of this. They should just charge a flat rate per vehicle. $10 a day per vehicle would net a huge profit.

[SmallWaveSteve]

...They don't seem to come around when they would find people off the water. ...
They should just charge a flat rate per vehicle. $10 a day per vehicle would net a huge profit.

Leslie (the guy running the site this year) was making rounds at lunch time sunday, and yesterday when I left he was working the entrance as vehicles were leaving.
I agree the $10/vehicle would make the most sense, and be easier to enforce.

Considering the volume of people there I'd say he did a reasonable job of stocking the outhouses I used, 1/2 of the time there was tp and sanitizer!

I chatted with him briefly and it sounds like the plan is to put a gate at the entrance and you stop and pay as you come (or go, not sure which).

I'm curious to see what comes of it, as he does seen more keen than those I've seen working the site in the past (and has experience helping run the west coast trail)

[JL]

Mean while on the water: Dougwick: Since it was me who was nearly hit, I'm avoiding the hot dog zone in the future. But if I was a kiter trying to launch with people going for big air five feet from the beach , I'd be ticked. - Tuesday August 05, 9:45AM
Jl: Ouch !!! We all need to respect each others space. While I can understand the concern everyone should be able to enjoy the whole lake. - Tuesday August 05, 9:42AM
More Force 4: Yeah, I don't buy the 'windsurfers are a hazard to themselves' arguement. I can't see how the windsurfer is any different from another kite, a powerboat coming from straight downwind (or a foil for that matter)or a kayak, a couple of which were out when it wasn't quite so windy. The first time I sailed at the Hatchery I had to make an emergency downwind turn because a windsurfer had gone up 30 feet or so and was floating downwind to my track. His fault, though I avoided the collision. Oh, and the kiter would be landing on the mast tip with his/her legs apart - not sure if that might not hurt more..... ;-) - Tuesday August 05, 9:35AM
Nanmoo: That kiters should look downwind and ahead before they jump, just like windsurfers do. If your out of control in the air go somewhere else. Same goes for both sports. - Tuesday August 05, 9:23AM
Goldenrule: Amazing day at the lake...except for my concern for windsurfers safety. In my three years I have seen a strong line separating the kites and sails. Well this weekend the windsurfers came up wind. Which is fine as its nobody's lake. However with kites jumping huge and windsurfers going so fast it's lucky nobody got hurt. I saw one example where the kiter went huge. And a windsurfer watched and watched and watched and almost got landed on. Be safe guys. Although I think it would hurt to land on a windsurfer I think it would hurt more to have a kiter land on you. This example was repeated though out the day. Just don't want to deal with a major injury wayyyyy out the lake. What u thinking Windsurfers???? - Tuesday August 05, 9:20AM

[tbrown]

I asked Jessica a follow up question about how new sites are selected, and got a fairly simple 5 page word document back... as well as:

Also for your information, the fees at Nitinat have been finalized at:

Camping in a site $15
Camping in a premium site $17
Camping on the beach $10
Day-use $5

So it looks like they did listen :)

[GWIND]

Well, everything sounds normal at the lake. Glad there is wind.
Imagine being there for your first long weekend.

[themorb]

Well I've (only) been going to Nitinat for about 12 years, but I was reflecting out on the water how many changes have occurred but how in reality nothing has changed. Back when I started going it was Fred collecting fees, then others over the years... store has gone through multiple managements too. Every year some trees fall or some sites get made bigger or half a forest floats up on the beach in a winter storm or some posts get pounded to block beach access or some site numbers go up.... people getting worried that "The End Is Near". But then some posts get moved, some site numbers fall down, some picnic tables float away in a winter storm, and the driftwood gets burnt, and it's back to normal. Then you get people talking making promises about clean outhouses, running water, etc...... and everyones gettin worked up again...

But the reality is, they only collect fees about 10% of the time, the store is always poorly stocked or closed, gas is hit or miss, outhouses terrible. Life goes on. Good ole Nitinat.

[otisdadog]

I agree that every year its the same posts and nothing substantial changes. The one thing I would say is that in the 10 years I've been going to the lake the one thing I've really noticed is the steady build up of people showing up to the lake. When I first started coming to the lake I could show up on a Saturday morning and still find a campsite on the water side, its to the point now that unless you show up early Friday afternoon you'll be lucky to find a site and you'll most likely wake up the next morning with someone else setting up camp in your site.

Unfortunately with this increase in people using the site, the ability of it to stay off the radar of the provincial government is unlikely and they will get involved simply due to the number of people in the site and some of the risks involved with the activities that go on at the lake.

Nitnat has always been a great place and it was easy to regulate on a busy weekend that you saw 50 cars in the campground and it was all familiar faces, however when there are more and more new people showing up, I read over 300 cars this weekend, that ability to self regulate is not possible and someone does need to step in and make sure that the lake is still an enjoyableand safe place to camp and windsurf/kitesurf.

Thats my two cents.

[JL]

Road to/from Bamfield: https://www.facebook.com/Bamfield.Road.Info ... If you have any questions you can call Western Forest Products, PAFO (M-F) at 250-720-4200.

[Fearless]

Correction to JL's previous post... The Road Info Facebook link is incorrect. It was created by a community non-profit that may not be up to date with Western Forest Products operations on a daily/weekly basis. Our official Facebook link is https://facebook.com/WFPRoadInfo. For simplicity, we also have a website with the FB and Twitter social links on it: http://www.WFPRoadInfo.com It will soon include 6 more roads that WFP manages so watch for that too. Again, if you have any questions you can call Western Forest Products, PAFO (M-F) at 250-720-4200

[Nimpkish-Bill]

I drove the road last thursday, all of it is in near perfect condition and they were grading the section which traditionally never gets touched by a grader, the last mile into town. In addition there have been dangerous trees felled throughout the camp. I took and Parks dangerous tree assessment course last Oct. The instructor did a dangerous tree assessment of the camp and many of the spruce and hemlock trees near the beach need to be removed but have not. While a few have been felled over the winter many remain along the shore near where the beach campsite might be. In theory, if trees are known to be weak or damaged you shouldn't be tenting under them. These are the tree with broken tops and Conks. Just an FYI.

[JL]

30 years ago I first windsurfed Nitinat . The campsite was being considered to be closed (& logged) due to lack of use. The cement picnic tables were tossed about from winter storms/high water & we had to climb over logs to get to the beach. Plastic lines were pushing up through the dirt from a failed attempt to provide water. The nearest store was P.A. & the road into the camp was narrow with HUGE pot holes. Over the years people like Herman carved steps into stumps on the beach (the kids called it 'Natures playground') , a mountain bike trail was created & the sauna was built annually. The internet had not yet been created & we would wave weather radios around. Oh & it blew every Sunny day from Mar. to Oct. ...

[tbrown]

Can someone elaborate on the hints about wifi at the campsite?

http://www.bigwavedave.ca/messagearchiv ... &year=2015

specifically

Otlunch: .... wifi was nice at the lake. - Monday April 20, 1:18PM

and

Teabag: .... WindDoctor, your site was too far downwind from the Dish thing, they'll add more coverage in a few week they said. .... - Monday April 20, 2:45PM

There have been references to wifi at the store before, and I was going to ask about it, but wifi at the campsite would be even better for me. Being totally out of contact is a problem for me, especially if I was to stay for a couple of days (which I'd really like to do). -Tom

(EDIT: OK, so that was likely just another example of how much of BWD doesn't make a lot of sense if you're not part of the 3L33T "in crowd", and if you didn't join that 10-20 years ago -- too late! Anyone willing to post details of what may or may not be available from the band in the village? Anyone (Marty?) serious enough about their presence there to have a sat phone? It would just be really nice if my staff could get a "Tom, we need you" message to me... with that I could stay days.)

[nanmoo]

Sounds pretty basic to me: there's usually always wifi at the store and it sounds like they're trying to push it to the campground. Oh, and I've only been windsurfing and going to Nitinat for 6 years.