last night I turn off my light and crawled into my sleeping bag about 8 p.m. about 3 hours later these people arrive and start talking really loud about all the various sites that are open and saying oh my gosh I can't believe it that beautiful site right there hasn't been taken! They proceed to walk all around the campground talking and finally settling into the 1 right next to me where they make noise talking and laughing until 2am. These were not young people as far as I could tell from the voice is it was an older American man and his asian wife. Would you have yelled shut up?

Yes... "shut up" with one or more colorful metaphors attached...

I have been in a similar situations and have handled it multiple ways depending on what kind of vibes I was getting from the people. If they look like they would be reasonable, I walked over and politely said that maybe that they are not aware that their voices are carrying and that they are keeping me awake. If they are older, there is a possibility that their hearing is not good and even if their hearing is good, they might not realize that they are talking so loud. Several times people did not realize how loud they were talking and apologized and were quiet after than. One time a couple was talking about personal stuff and I went over and said that I could hear every word and that I was sure that they probably did not want the whole campground to hear about their sex life and they were quiet after that. I have also run into people that don't give a darn and are very vocal telling me so. In those cases, I remind them of the quiet rule and then walk away. I have been lucky that the times when people have been really obnoxious about it there were other full campsites around us and those people also told them to be quiet. Otherwise, there have been times where we have been too tired to get out and stand in the cold so we just yelled shut up.

I'd just start crying.

This is exactly why we don't car camp anymore. Even in the backcountry we tend to go where we know
no one else is going to go. And if we don't some clueless soul may still drop down really close to
you or literally walk through your "space". Some people just don't get it.
My general rule of thumb... if I can see people... they're too close.

Have fun and post some pictures...
But thx for the video... double rainbow guy is probably going nutsoid about now

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I came back to camp for lunch and the ranger was making rounds. Apparently they didn't self pay last night. He told them they need to pay... NOW. When he came by my site I told him how late they were making noise and after he finished his round he told them about the noise curfew. Then he told the lady not to feed the ravens which she was trying to do right in front of him. They also had all their food on the table and were not staying with it, he admonished them for that too.

First timers most definitely...

Wasn't me. I was in Upper Pines and we were passed out before midnight. If it was me i'd have started throwing snowballs at them.

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JamesMac

Wasn't me. I was in Upper Pines and we were passed out before midnight. If it was me i'd have started throwing snowballs at them.

Except that you would have had a lot less snow to make snowballs at Camp 4 versus Upper Pines.

I hear you. I try to avoid campgrounds at all costs and really prefer staying in the backcountry anyways. First, for the reasons you mentioned (not having neighbors) but on the occasion where I might be the one pulling in late or wanting to stay up late laughing with friends over a few beers, I know I won't be bothering anyone else.

It is a difficult and frustrating situation to be in. I always keep ear plugs with me anytime I go somewhere, I can't sleep if there's noise.

As a light sleeper, I usually do not like public campgrounds for that very reason. And in particular have been annoyed at Camp 4 by campfire drinking types that quietly yak and giggle for hours. Also I usually get up at dawn/sunrise and am ready to sleep by 10pm. Even in noisy environments, the inside of my vehicles have tended block sounds much better than just using ear plugs. So not a few times I've left my tent and gone back into my car. Have a complete nice flat cushioned set up to sleep in my Forester. Am pretty much an expert at knowing good places to disperse camp legally all over our state though for Yosemite Valley, choices in this era are poor. Legally one is pretty much stuck at parking outside the Big Oak Flat entrance or driving way down river and crossing the Briceberg Bridge which is a lot of time, mileage and gas $.

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http://www.davidsenesac.com

We were spending a night in the backpackers campground in the Valley in July. It was probably 75% or more occupied. Everyone in all the campsites got settled down and went to sleep at about the same time. About an hour later some folks came in to an existing camp and started talking really loud. One pulled out a guitar and started singing. At this point, it would have been impossible for any of the other campers to still be asleep. I think we were all lying there wondering when this torture would end, and instead of ending it seemed to be gathering speed. Then a most remarkable thing happened. Someone actually yelled at them to shut up, and then INSTANTLY there was a chorus in unison from all over the backpackers camp yelling the same thing. It was super cool. The person shut up, and everyone went back to sleep.

I once had the campsite that was also a "shortcut" to the bathroom (if one could bee that lazy) After about the 10th person tramped through my site, I yelled "You people are here to HIKE, yet you are too damned lazy to walk the path to the bathroom!!!"

No one came through for the rest of the night......!

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The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.

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Bee
I once had the campsite that was also a "shortcut" to the bathroom (if one could bee that lazy) After about the 10th person tramped through my site, I yelled "You people are here to HIKE, yet you are too damned lazy to walk the path to the bathroom!!!"

No one came through for the rest of the night......!

I ran into a situation like that once. The guy, an executive type, put his families campsite right ON the only trail to the restrooms. He was like a ogre, yelling at anyone going by. That is until I came along. I chewed him out, while his family laughed behind his back, for putting his camp where it should not be. He started to yell back, I just told him to shut up and that I was not interested in hearing him whine about it.

They moved camp an hour later.

I've been through some situations where people kept on yapping. I certainly didn't like it, but I didn't make a stink about it. In the morning one member of the group actually came up to me and said "sorry about the noise". This wasn't in Yosemite, but it was a federally owned campground.

That being said, I was also at that site drinking beer after midnight, but I was quiet doing it.

The strangest thing was being awoken in the morning in the backcountry. There was a Boy Scout group 25 feet away, and some kid was talking to his mom on his cell phone. This was at the junction of Clouds Rest/John Muir Trails, and I was surprised he could even get a signal. Later on the scout leader came up to me and said sorry about the noise. My site was also about 35 feet away from the trail (less than the published 100 ft) but technically a well established one where there were no other options with nearly all the impacted spots taken. However, I don't think the assistant scout leader was setting a good example with his personal tent actually dipping into a stream. I thought that was a no-no. There was actually space elsewhere in their very large site.

Then there's the other kind of noise, those folks who snore so loudly they could strip wallpaper! I once hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail in Maine with a co-worker who snored up a storm. On the first night we camped under the stars not far from one another and it was a rough night for me. On the second night he chose to use the lean-to shelter common along the AT. It was full of other people and by 11:30 most of them were bailing out to relocate under the stars while I was 100' away chuckling in my sleeping bag.

In Lower Pines years ago we had a couple of guys next to us who were loud and profane in the middle of the night. I talked to the ranger at the Kiosk in the morning and he determined they weren't even registered for that campsite. About 10 minutes later two ranger cars show up and to make a long story short they took them away in handcuffs and impounded their car! Turns out they not only were camping without paying but they had drugs and fireworks in their car. (Oh, I had mentioned to the ranger that I thought I smelled dope coming from their tent). Really enjoyed watching the whole arrest and car impounding.

Which brings up the best way to handle these problems. Get the number of dispatch from the campground kiosk when you check in. Call when someone is being rude. They'll usually come.

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Dave
Which brings up the best way to handle these problems. Get the number of dispatch from the campground kiosk when you check in. Call when someone is being rude. They'll usually come.

I now have that number in my cell phone and it works quite well as far as having a Ranger respond right away (in the Valley). The above incident I had was before cell phone availability in the Valley.

That number is a good one to have, can you share it?

Yosemite Dispatch 209-379-1992

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parklover
Yosemite Dispatch 209-379-1992

I can confirm, this is the correct number for yosemite dispatch

Please keep in mind that the LE rangers sometimes have calls that are far more important than a simple noise complaint.

The one time I called dispatch for a overly aggressive climber trying to crash in our Camp 4 campsite the officer got called away.
An employee elsewhere in the valley was 'brandishing a firearm'.

The valley is like a small city, with all the problems that a city has.

If you call dispatch, make damn sure it's important. They are busy.

If you don't have a cell phone, or can't get a signal, look around for the bear patrol. They have a radio and can call for you. Also, you can contact the camp host the next morning or stop by the campground office or kiosk. They take these reports seriously and will call dispatch to have an LE sent to that site sometime during the day.

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Dave
If you call dispatch, make damn sure it's important. They are busy.

If you don't have a cell phone, or can't get a signal, look around for the bear patrol. They have a radio and can call for you. Also, you can contact the camp host the next morning or stop by the campground office or kiosk. They take these reports seriously and will call dispatch to have an LE sent to that site sometime during the day.

I seem to remember discussing the use of that phone number in a previous post. Note the last few posts on that thread:

http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,53699,55006#msg-55006