The recent arrests, though, have sparked the ire of people who say their activities are harmless at best, insipid at worst. Lafe Case, a retired trucking supervisor, who's frequented this side of the lake for some 30 years, is upset that recent media reports have pigeonholed the area as nothing but a sordid pick-up spot for gays. He enjoys the area clothed, preferably with a book, and has helped many beach roamers pull their cars out of the mud with a tow attached to his truck. There are heterosexuals as well as homosexuals out here. But more than that, people just come out here to relax in the sun and solitude.
People fly kites, ride bikes and fly miniature planes out here.
Indeed, even on a Wednesday afternoon with overcast clouds, you can find a solitary walker, or one man reading in the passenger seat of his parked car, door open. Those who know each other call out with nicknames over this vast expanse of flat beach dotted with pools of salt water. It's very compatible. Yet it is a very clean beach for all those who use it. So does law enforcement, or they wouldn't have sent five unmarked cars out to the four-mile long beach.