Paradise lost

My wife and I thought we had found a bit of paradise a year and a half ago when we first camped at the Water Canyon Recreation Area by the Sonoma Mountains several miles south of Winnemucca, Nevada: free primitive campsites by a creek, beautiful scenery, great hiking, far enough from town for nature, close enough for nurture.

So last week, on our way south for the winter, we planned our route to take us back to Water Canyon for a few days. But as we entered the campground, our anticipation turned to dismay. A fire had devastated the area. In all directions, what had been lush groves of cottonwood trees and sagebrush was now a blackened, desolate wasteland. Even the mountainsides were starkly bare. We parked and stared in silence.

We assumed that a careless camper or smoker was responsible, but a local resident told us the culprit was a lightning strike two months earlier. Whipped by a gusty wind, the flames had swept through 6,000 acres of parched countryside before petering out. The fact that the fire was natural – an act of God – consoled us a bit. The scene reminded us, though, that not all great boondocking spots last forever. In our travels over the years we’ve had to cross other favorites off our list because of development or new restrictions.

All RVers can help preserve boondocking areas by carrying out garbage, observing regulations and otherwise behaving like responsible visitors. Acts of God are in someone else’s hands.