Found this little fellow in Organ Pipe NP, reason the picture is so bad is because we were being observed from several hundred yards away and we could not improve photographic conditions. Whats really sad about this park now is that most if not all of the rangers are law enforcement types, they view ALL entrants to the park as possible "purps" and act accordingly. The lack of actual "ranger" knowledge is astounding, and the aggressive attitude they bring to an encounter is truly scary. Heres an example: My best friend took me down there for the weekend prior to my marriage (it was my bachelor party)this was late May. After checking in at the park headquarters and getting our backcountry permits we set out towards the Ajo Mts. After choosing our place and humping our gear about 300yards off the road we settled in for sunset and beers. About 930 pm we decided to quietly walk throught he canyon along the road and see what was moving, a Lyre snake, a longnose, etc...its quiet, theres no moon and we have this entire park to ourselves with cameras clutched at the ready we continue...UNTIL the ranger in the 4x4 comes screaming through the canyon raising hell, we stop and watch his progress (figuring we are about to see a bust or accident)as he comes closer we stay put figuring he sees us, WRONG, as he stomps the breaks and fishtails to a stop, we LITERALLY throw ourselves into the bushes on the side of the road. After pulling ourselves off the ground and dusting off $2000 worth of camera gear we find some overzealous little man (with a gun) FLIPPING out about how he can see our tent from the road and we are violating the park rules. This is at about 1030pm on a weeknight, we were the only two people in that 400sq mile section of the park (if you dont count illegals). Long and short of it, the guy was a jerk, he ruined the evening (just by showing up) and scared the [bleep] out of any wildlife that might have been moving in the canyon, not too mention the cost of taking my camera down to the shop for cleaning and a new lenscap (lost when I jumped off the road)We went into the office the next day and gave the superintendent the guys name and badge #, he went to find him but apparently he was "off" that day. We explained our position and described what happened, we were polite, respectful, but stuck to our guns when he suggested we might be overreacting. I told him that getting run down by his ranger in the middle of the night was a good reason for overreacting and we expected the ranger to apologize at the least, especially if it was his day off.
The super gave us a very flat apology and ushered us out of his office.
Its a shame when your tax dollars fund a system that produces this type of garbage, especially when the park is still as vulnerable and trashed as it was before.
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Heres a crappy suspectum picture....
Replies (3)
Your story sounds too farmilar. Another Spastic Barney Fife that has Wyatt Earp syndrome.
HorridumAngeli
HorridumAngeli's Beaded Lizard Web Site
Almost exactly what Ed Abbey predicted 40 years ago, that its come to pass makes me realize how much worse it has yet to become.
you should see #15 
Great MAN!!! I have read a few of his books!!! "Desert Solatire", "Monkey Wrench Gand", "Hayduke Lives".....Great stuff.....if only we could organize!!
#15??? What you mean?
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Chris
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