Bad Times Despite Great Dives at Crosby

[AandA]

A couple of friends and I went up to the pit lakes at Crosby to get in a couple of dives on Thursday and Friday this week.  We dove Huntington, Alstead, and Mangan.  The dives were very nice as always.  It was the time above the water that concerned me more….As many of you already know camping has been prohibited up there since spring and a few signs have been posted.  Of course some people are still camping, and I’m sure most of them are great folks and are very responsible campers.  One of my favorite night dive spots, the Portsmouth boat landing now has a gate on it that gets locked at 10:00 each night.  I was really hoping to take these other divers out for a night dive there to see some of the larger northern pike I’ve seen before.  But as the area is locked we opted for another site.  We went to Alstead South for our night dive instead arriving at our entry point at about 9:00 pm.  There were four vehicles there covered in mud that had clearly been out “off-roading.”  A tent was set up as well as a large tarp awning.  We chatted briefly with the people and they seemed nice enough and interested in what we were doing as non-scuba divers so often are.  We had a bit of a surface swim to get to where we wanted to make our descent.  During this time we heard some gunfire coming from the other side of the lake.  My buddy said to me half jokingly, I really hope they’re not shooting in our direction….We did the dive, not a great night dive, but OK.  When we got out of the water I was hearing a whole lot of loud talk and cussing coming from the campsite. I looked over to see one of their party get up out of his chair stumble a few feet with a bottle in his hand and then fall down.  As we were taking off our gear and putting it away, a fist fight broke out between 2 of the campers, which was broken up fairly quickly by one of the others…I guess ya could say that this detracted somewhat from the ambiance of the night dive experience. 
On another day we dove the far West side of Alstead.  We pulled up to the spot, which I had already talked up quite a bit to the other divers as being quite picturesque.  What we saw made my stomach turn and my blood boil.  I’ve encountered areas of trash up at the pits before.  I’ve encountered them so frequently I even make a habit of bringing a couple of extra trash bags with me.  This mess was just so wanton and deliberate that I guess it hit me a bit harder.  I don’t usually take photos of trash, but in this instance I did.  I know there has been a lot of discussion back and forth as to the pros and cons of limiting access to the area in an attempt to control and regulate those who use it.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any problem with people camping or for that matter people drinking.  I love to camp.  I’ve also certainly been known to enjoy a drink or two.  It’s those few people who just disregard the area and the rights of others that bother me.  I go camping I try VERY, VERY hard to make sure I leave the area in as good or hopefully better shape than when I arrived.  I don’t yell and scream and play my music so LOUD you want to get underwater to shut out the noise.  I’ve done a fair amount of camping over the years up at the pits, but as of this spring when I heard about the prohibition Alyson and I decided to abide by it.  We did this more out of repeated negative experiences than a law-abiding nature.  The trash, loud music, gunfire, and potential for violence is just not the type of experience we look for when we want to camp and dive…it’s not who we are!!  In my mind this is one of the reasons why I would support some type of regulation.  So many people can enjoy an area and treat it respectfully. It only takes one or two to ruin it for everyone else….I just love diving this area, and when IDIOTS are not around I also just enjoy being up there.  This area sees far too much abuse, and I shed a tear and get angry when I see it.