‘Garbage everywhere’: Woman calls out partying campers at Alouette Lake – BC

A B.C. woman is speaking out about etiquette and enforcement, after recording a video of shocking backcountry behaviour.

Kristena Owen and a group of friends captured the scene over the weekend, after paddleboarding to one of the East Beach camping sites on Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

Owen said the group had no illusions they would be alone in unspoiled nature, but said what they encountered went far beyond simply sharing a campground with strangers.

The 18-site backcountry camp spot, she said, was instead overrun by a group of 60 to 80 partiers.

“They had music blasting like really, really loud. There was garbage everywhere,” she said.

“Their music was going all day long, and just like all day long from the boat launch, they were bringing groups of people to their kind of gathering.”

Owen said the rowdy crowd ignored designated campsites and had tents all over the beach and blocking the trails to the outhouses and the bearproof food caches.

They also weren’t using those food caches, she said, leaving coolers, trash, dirty dishes and Timbits out overnight.

At one point, she said a group of girls from the crowd came to tell her a bear had been through their campsite — something she said was no surprise.

“Unless you are actively cooking and eating, your camp is supposed to be clean. Your garbage is supposed to be put away. You can’t leave things out,” she said.

“They probably had, that you could count in the videos, I want to say 12 coolers, and I’m sure there were more that we didn’t see. They had bags of garbage. What you can actually see in the video is an improvement from what it was there before.”

According to Owen, things got worse overnight when the revellers set off a bear banger in contravention of the fire ban, and cranked up a karaoke machine to full volume at 12:30 a.m.

She said when she went to ask them to turn the music down, the group was less than friendly.

“I begged. I was like, ‘Please you guys like you’re not the only people here, there are 18 sites, there are children trying to sleep, like this is incredibly unfair, unkind,’ and they laughed at me and they mocked me and they said, ‘Oh you know maybe next time you go camp on the other side of the lake,’” she said.

Owen said her group was determined not to let the partying ruin their trip.

But when they returned to an area with phone service, they reported the group to the RCMP and conservation officers.

BC Parks said it deployed rangers to the beach on Monday to patrol and conduct a cleanup, and that it will continue to monitor the site and increase its presence.

“We remind all backcountry users of their obligation to recreate responsibly,” it said, referring would-be campers to BC Parks’ responsible recreation guidelines.

“In shared spaces, we ask all visitors to act with courtesy and consideration towards others enjoying the park.”

While the site has since been cleaned up, frustration remains.

Owen said she hopes going public about the incident will lead to both better enforcement and etiquette from other campers in the backcountry.

“I wouldn’t say it ruined our trip, but it made us really mad, and … we were incensed at the disrespect for nature and the land, but also, you’re not the only people here,” she said.

“And so to hear that the officers are going to be or the rangers are going be regularly monitoring, watching the area now, I thought that’s a win.”

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