The Closing of a Popular Camping Spot

They fought the gate

and the gate won

     For as long as most of us can remember, the north side of Barney's Lake, west of Darkeytown Road -- the former Robinson trust property -- has been unregulated, so even though it was not public land, it was treated as such. Now it is in private control, and the owner can take steps to protect it from such things as incursions of off-road vehicles, which have chewed up some of the dunes, and to protect himself from liability.
     On Thursday evening, June 26th, we drove past and noticed that someone had tried to drive through the steel gate he had erected, either out of rage, or in a stupor, or simply by accident (turning onto this trail while talking to someone in the back seat.  The steel held, although it was noticeably crinkled. Two nights later, though, a rock barricade had been added to prevent any further battering-ram attacks directly on the steel gate.