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Date:   Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:46:12 -0700
Reply-To:   Donna Skarloken <dskarloken@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:   Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:   Donna Skarloken <dskarloken@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:   Re: Women and camping
Comments:   To: Maggie Dew <wildebus@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:   <4387de760909261827i3da600bbp96ca063a109ff630@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type:   text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I guess since I used to be a single female who traveled alone in my 87 Wolfsburg I should weigh in. I am a little late to this thread, since I rode the motorcycle this weekend and did not check the computer. If anyone on this list was in a Westfalia eastbound on Hwy 88 on Sunday and saw someone on a Harley give you a peace sign, that was me.

#1 is just use common sense. I try to be aware of my surroundings. I have never felt unsafe in national forest campgrounds in the Eastern Sierra, where I used to camp frequently. Yosemite, as someone mentioned, is just too crowded. I live in California, was born here, and don't expect to move anywhere else except possibly Nevada, but as someone also pointed out, it is an extremely crowded state, depending on where you go, and I think there tend to be more weirdos here just because there are more people. Also, there are more rural areas for them to hide in. As much as I hate to admit it, being what I consider a hard core country girl and cowgirl in training, I do have to agree with whoever made the comment that in some respects you are less safe in a rural area (maybe I think that just because I spend most of my time in California). It has been my experience, especially in the foothills of California, and of all places, Lee Vining, California, that some apparently undesirable types tend to live/hang around.

Several years ago some of you may remember the mom and girls that were kidnapped and killed at a motel in or near Yosemite by a kook that worked there. That gave me chills because for a while they couldn't find the killer, yet found one of the ladies' wallets in nearby Modesto, California. I tend to have to get gas late at night, so I was even more alert for a while. The point is, however, this person was able to live and not really be noticed in what many people consider a completely safe "tourist" and "rural" environment, and I think many city/urban people let their guard down, thinking that the "country" is safe.

I will not camp, and most of the time will not stop to use the bathroom at night in the rest stops on I-5 or US 99 in California. Been harassed several times. I've wrote on the list before that my husband, a truck driver, has been approached by "lot lizards" at night and one scam is to get you involved with a lot lizard, and then her partner robs you. My husband was harrassed a couple of years ago at the rest stop in Turlock, and just quit stopping there (that is only the most recent example). Better to go to a truck stop if possible.

By the way, IIRC Kristen's killer also killed a woman in Merced, California. Yet another community on US 99 where you need to exercise caution. Most of it is just a bad neighborhood, at least the area close to the highway.

Having said all that, I have no problem going on the road by myself, and never did when I was single. I may or may not carry some form of protection, and have no problem doing so. As Maggie pointed out, life's too short to stay at home or be scared all the time.

Buckarette (BenT named me that!)

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 6:27 PM, Maggie Dew <wildebus@gmail.com> wrote:

> I spent several years camping and hiking alone in remote spots in the > Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. I was > cautious and usually had some form of protection. I love camping and > wasn't about to stay home because there was no one to camp with. I > never had any trouble with the four-leggeds (a couple of benign bear > experiences during all that time) and only had one scare from > two-leggeds in a remote dead-end spot along the San Juan River that > eventually turned out OK. Life is too short to stay at home! > > Maggie >

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