You Ain't Right Club

[travelaround]

...where you said all the murders were...
...drug industry over there...
...Wildfire Centrale...

Happy Camp was at one time called Murderer's Bar... but that was only at the beginning - it has been Happy Camp for over 150 years now. There are occasional murders even now, but there are murders almost everywhere. I don't think Happy Camp has an exceptional amount of them. I could count all the murders that took place in Happy Camp while I was there on the fingers of one hand. Oh, there were only three that I can recall, in 13 years.

Drugs? Well, there's a lot of medical marijuana being grown there. I saw plenty of that while I was there. I hear there are meth addicts etc. but I never hung out with that crowd. There are also a lot of good hard working people who keep the town running. My best friends were in the writing club and in the Chamber of Commerce (of which I was a member and even board member while there).

Wildfires! YES... Happy Camp has them. Not too close to town, thankfully. When they burn in the hills, the Forest Service "manages" them (aka. lets them burn while hundreds of people make money) and really, an occasional fire is good for the forest, burning undergrowth, etc. . . . but if a fire gets too close to Happy Camp or Seiad Valley, or one of the other little towns, they jump on it and try to save the town.

Once when I got home from a trip to Eureka during fire season, as I came back into town I saw there was a fire burning on the top of the hill next to the one I lived on! But, we didn't have to evacuate.

There were fires there every summer, from lightning strikes. There was also the occasional human-caused fire. Once I was coming back from Cave Junction with groceries and saw a 4' flame at the side of the road because apparently the car ahead of mine tossed out a cigarette (or could have set the fire intentionally) anyhow . . . I jumped out of my car and grabbed the bottled Arrowhead Springs springwater I'd bought, and put out the fire. I think it took two gallons. Well worth the effort - that fire was right next to one of my favorite campgrounds.

Anyhow, you get used to it. The smoke. The helicopter noise. Here's a photo of the place where I lived, on a smoky day.

   

Given the recent out-of-control fires in Northern California, I plan to revisit the Klamath River Valley only once a year, at the end of spring or beginning of summer, before fires become a problem.

Now, should we talk about floods?