I don't really know what to say about how disappointed I am with the Clackamas County Parks & Recreation Department, as well as the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office. Finding the words to describe the disappointing interaction between us, pales in comparison to the lingering aftertaste I will always experience when I think of Clackamas County. Such needless negativity on a beautiful day like today. I hope you gain some insight from this incident, so that you may avoid staining someone else's summer vacation.
I woke up around 5am, tuned up my bike, packed my trailer and rode my bike down to the Moda Center, where I caught the Blue line over to Gresham. From there I caught several winding trails, some with bike lanes, some without I managed to get there in 1 push, although it exerted me quite a bit. There was an abundance of rocks in the bike lane, which made the experience feel rather unsafe.
2 hours later, I make it to Barton park, trailer in tow. I pull up to the front with all my camping gear. This being my first time there, I was unsure of the procedure. I had a delightful conversation with the young lady at the Kiosk about my ride out here and the beautiful scenery along the way. I promptly attempt to pay whatever she needs from me to make this official. Instead, she tells me that I don't have to pay because I'm not in a motorized vehicle. That was a total score considering I had just biked all the way there and I was unaware of such an awesome opportunity. "Keep Portland Green!" I always say, and I dismissed this as another awesome, newly discovered perk of living in Oregon. There always doing something like that. Like that time they raised the bottle deposit to 10 cents back in April, they're worth good money now! I chucked it off as good ol fashion earth stuff and continued about my way. I've lived here for about 4 years now and I'm always discovering new things I've never heard of, Barton Park being one of them. I continued along the path, and I noticed the first campground said "RV' ONLY", so I continued along to the second campground where I noticed a bunch of tents and RV's spread throughout. I also noticed that there was electric and water outlets, also something I never experienced before. I brought everything I needed. I was completely self-sufficient, and decided that it was something I'd rather not mess with. I chose a spot away from all outlets and water faucets. it was by 3 trees and nothing else. An open field with the occasional tent.
I popped the tent, ate a sandwich I brought from home, and headed to the river with all my water gear. The entire floating experience was great. Everybody I came across loved the fact that I was riding an air mattress instead of a tube. It's way better and your butt doesn't get hit by all the rocks. I also had a paddle, so I was sailing at some epic knots with unbelievable precision. This one dude had a paddle and what looked to be a $100 raft. He was rowing so hard like he had somewhere to be, and I just glided past him in my $7 air bed.
I caught a ride back to Barton Park from a swell dude, also named David. Super nice guy, him and his whole family. He was also the first person I asked, which shows us how common place it is for someone in Oregon to look out for bike riders. He gave me a lift back to the campsite and dropped me off out front. As I walked towards my tent, this lady walks up to me with her radio, and says "You need to leave" "pack your stuff and go". I'm very confused at this point, and also quite fatigued from the bike ride and the floating. I try to explain that I had gotten permission to camp here. She blatantly denies that I am telling the truth. Seeing as there is no point in aiming to reason with her, I ask to speak to her supervisor. She scurries off, clutching her radio, ready to report in. A few minutes later two men show up and begin the recorded conversation.
Following that conversation, I felt very unwelcome, as the campsite wasn't very multicultural. Being Puerto Rican with Curly hair and a beard, I often get mistook as Middle Eastern. Something that makes older, Caucasian crowds uncomfortable, the Snow Birds in particular. I can see this lady hiding behind a tree, and I can only assume her name is Debra. Hiding behind a tree like it was window blinds seems like a Debra thing to do. I start to pack my stuff as the two men left, knowing I'm being stared at by everyone around me like a criminal. After another 10 minutes the Sheriff shows up and continues the conversation in recording 2
Such terrible customer service. I had to bike back to Portland that night due to their incompetence. You can listen in to the conversation here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1RdFlLikJh-MjFCRUIwTmw0Nlk?usp=sharing read more