Nitinaht 2019 Campsite Development

[winddude]

seemed like most of the picnic table where pretty rotted this year, and tops or benches falling in. I would have expected those would be usable with the increased fee, but I guess buying quads was more important.

[rvanderbyl]

Good point winddude! Not to mention all the winter blowdown left everywhere. For 20 a night we should be expecting at least a general clean up (raking of branches and other debris) of the campground every spring before the May long weekend preferably. Not to mention painted outhouses for easier summer cleaning. The raw cedar looks great in an outhouse or two but will be difficult to clean urine and faces off the wood work when some drunk has problems with the seating.

[nanmoo]

but will be difficult to clean urine and faces off the wood work when some drunk has problems with the seating.

Whoops, sorry about that!

[OtLunch]

I could be wrong but I am fairly certain that the quads are a personal expense by Pat and Kim, they're not a capital expenditure from the campground operations budget.


Has anyone sent a note to https://nitinahtcampground.com/contact/ ?

[nitinaht girl]

Winddude nice jumping to conclusions. Those quads are our personal property. Has nothing to do with the campsite.

[BigA]

Kim what would be the proper avenues for us to voice concerns/report maintenance in the camp ground (ie. broken picnic tables that could be dangerous for kids etc. or the road needed to be graded)? Is what was suggested above with the contact page recommended?

I would think that if there is work being done on the new road it might be feasible to at least work on the really big holes that are located near the split in the camp ground road before Golden Rules old camp site (where it looks like the new road will punch through to)?

[nitinaht girl]

Yes the above address is a good contact to use. All of these issues have been previously mentioned and are being worked on. But please feel free to put in your input.

[Can't jibe]

Sad to see the forest trail between the campground and the Caycuse river gone. Many large trees were logged for construction of the campsite expansion road. The walk through the (mostly) old growth forest was beautiful, one of the many attractions near the campsite. The trails were maintained for years by campsite users and enjoyed by many. Now the trails are gone. Too bad the owners did not take this into consideration.

[themorb]

Half the keyboard warriors are complaining about the price, the other half are complaining about the quality. Sounds like a good economic equilibrium has been reached.

Each person has to make the best decision for themselves. If overnight fees are too high, there are plenty of free places to camp within a 15 minute drive. If the outhouses suck, you can bring your own porta-potti. Tables unreliable? Buy a folding table. If there is no flat spot to put a tent, you can hike up or down the beach, or bring a vehicle you can sleep in. Road too bumpy? Upgrade your vehicle. Heck, even if they try to charge a day use fee that is too high for you, there are other ways to access the lake. (Yes, some may require a chainsaw or a boat. Use your imagination.) There are also other wind locations altogether. Or, maybe for you, the nightly fee and services provided are worth the price, compared to the alternatives.

When I first came to Nitinat as a student it cost me about $30 for gas in my Honda Civic and I would try to hide when Fred came by to collect the $10 fee. Now, I bring a small van with beds and a potty for my kids, and honestly I would rather pay the fee than try to hide from the collectors. Time and effort vs. money. If I am lucky enough to get 5 nights at the lake in a summer, that is still only $100 (more like $50 with spotty collection practices) which is peanuts compared to all the other costs I spend on gear, gas, etc.

Also, seems like half the people are complaining the campground is too crowded and the other half are complaining about trees being cut down. Again, sounds like a good equilibrium has been reached. Plenty of other trees and places to forge new trails.

The only minor worry I have is if I ever arrive and find a gate across. But I have a feeling that if there is a line up of people waving money around, the gate will open fairly fast.

EDIT: When I was last up in March, there were a pile of new picnic tables being built in the maintenance yard in the village. So anybody complaining about a lack of quality tables can rest easy

[OtLunch]

Good post Morb

[winddude]

Yea, looks like they had lots of dimensional lumber cut in the yard. Hopefully the tables get fixed up, and the sites cleaned up a bit before it gets busy.

Is there supposed to be credit cards accepted? I thought I saw a post from maybe "nitnatpat" about accepting credit cards this year? I asked the guy collecting money, he seemed to not know, and said cash only. He also mentioned something about being out by noon? I'll assume that was a joke.

And by keyboard warriors, you mean people who've been windsurfing or kiting for a long time and go to nitnat and other spots with regularity? Or moving rounds out of the way to get into sites, dragging piles of 10' branches from sites, or people like namoo who brought chainsaws and cut paths through windfall fall to walk from the site to the beach?

[abetanzo]

can we place tin buckets around campsites / beach areas to collect cig butts???

the beach is getting littered with them and most smokers just don't give a shit!!!you know who you are!!!

[tweezer]

Took a look from the air yesterday...

[CTK]

wow.. that road is intense. Sad to see that beautiful old growth walk gone. That was the one selling point for non-kiters and one of the highlights of the spot for anyone that hasn't experienced the lake before.

[SaltSpringKiterPeaceGuy]

This morning the logging company showed up (to take down hazardous trees and punch in the last of the road to the river) and began informing anyone awake at 645am that they had 15 minutes to vacate the site or they would be 'trapped' for the day. I was luckily on my way and made it out in time. I did communicate to the foreman that the lack of notice was not cool.

Could there not be some more notice given about the work being done and the impact on campers enjoying the site? A simple signage about the road being closed would be simple and easy for someone to do on a friday afternoon to let everyone know.