Man, I hate paying to camp

Site 9 in Deer Mountain Campground

When I was in Pittsburgh, NH I stayed at Deer Mountain Campground. Deer Mountain is state run. It is primitive. The only amenities are a picnic table and fire ring. There is no running water and the bathroom is just an outhouse. I could care less about creature comforts. I got up at 5:40 in the morning and was getting back to my site at dark.  The first two nights I had my own "road". No one else camped on my branch of the campground, so it was quiet. My site was nice and flat and all in all very comfortable.

However I remember laying in my tent the first night thinking "I can't believe I just paid sixty nine dollars to sleep". I understand thousands of people sleep at campgrounds across America every weekend. Many people enjoy the campground experience. I do not, and I forgot how much up until this trip.

Normally when I go to New Hampshire I sleep on a road with dispersed camping. My closest neighbor is usually a quarter mile away. Sometimes I will sleep in the woods at tent sites or a lean to.

So lying there I couldn't believe I spent $70 to sleep. However it was my choice so I sucked it up. however the last night (Friday) reinforced my dislike of campgrounds. The first two nights everyone was quiet very early, even in other parts of the campground, I couldn't here anything from that direction. Then Friday about 10:30 a car pulls up two sites from me. I've arrived after dark before and setting up a tent in the dark sucks. I excepted that it was going to be noisy for a few minutes.

However these people showed no etiquette what so ever. The whole family talked very loudly. The father whistled to get his kids attention like you would a dog. The kids were swearing at each other. To top it off, they made a four foot fire within five minutes of pulling in.After they set up the tent they decided to cook supper (at 11:15 pm!) banging around pots and pans slamming there car doors over and over. I wish I could say I was exaggerating and just being a whiner, but trust me it was worse than I can type here. I actually packed up my tent (by light of their fire, I did not even turn on my headlamp). I drove down the logging roads and spent the rest of my night sleeping in the car.

It's funny how it only takes one rude camper to ruin the experience for every other person within listening distance. This was a not so friendly reminder of why I shy away from campgrounds