Shutdown Has Little Effect on California in First Day : Closings: Budget deadlock leads mostly to confusion and petty annoyances in state. Rangers shutting Yosemite campsites today.

Thousands of campers in Yosemite National Park began getting the bad news Saturday morning. Because of the federal budget stalemate, all campsites in the park will be closed at 1 p.m. today, although the Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Lodge and other facilities operated by the Curry Co. will remain open, as will the visitor center with a reduced staff.

“We are technically closed right now but the gates are still open because it’s difficult to close Yosemite in a short period of time,” said Park Ranger Bob Clopine. “We’re confused but we’re making the best of a difficult situation.”

For most Californians, there were few such problems Saturday because the vast majority of federal agencies were closed for the weekend.

Some part-time workers for the U.S. Census Bureau even put in a day of overtime as they rushed to complete the field work for the 1990 census.

Rick Winston, a Census Bureau district manager in Panorama City, said he and 11 others were told Friday to report to work Saturday regardless of what problems Congress was having with the budget. “I don’t know if we’re going to get paid, but we have to assume they know what they’re doing.”

The visitor center at Angeles National Forest remained open thanks to a budget surplus that will allow it and those at other national forests in California to continue operations until Oct. 15. “After that, God only knows,” said Ranger Gerry Reponen from the Chilao Visitor Center.

The U.S. Border Patrol--which has more than 800 employees in the San Diego area, the nation’s largest such contingent--was conducting normal operations.

The budget deadlock, however, touched Southern Californians in small ways.

Alfred Golden, first vice president of Seniors for Action, a senior citizens political action group, said a toll-free number available to “tell Congress exactly how we feel” was not in service.

The visitor center was closed at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and scheduled nature hikes for hundreds of weekend visitors were canceled, although the area was open to those who wanted to hike on their own.

The Channel Islands National Park visitor center in Ventura also was closed. Private boat operators are still providing tours of the islands, but park rangers will not guide the tours.

In San Diego, the seaside Cabrillo National Monument was closed. “What is surprising is the number of visitors we turned away who had no idea this was going on,” said Ranger Mark Anderson.

The visitor center in Sequoia National Park was closed and all naturalists talks and hikes were canceled. The campgrounds remained open. Because of the reduction in services, however, no entrance fees were being collected.

At Yosemite, visited by 3.4 million people last year, park entrances were kept open and rangers continued to collect fees, although visitors were being warned that services were limited.

Guided walks and ranger programs have been halted, Yosemite’s Clopine said. And if Congress fails to find a budget solution by this afternoon, the campgrounds will be closed, he said.

“You mean I came all the way from Ohio and I can’t go backpacking?” Robbi Young, 32, of Cincinnati said after Ranger Bob Slimak explained the budget situation.

“Write your congressman when you get back to Ohio,” Slimak responded.

Young and her friend, George Carman, 33, of San Diego, had hoped to go on a backpacking trip to Little Yosemite Valley this morning.

The 550 employees of the park have been told to report to work Tuesday, following the Columbus Day holiday, when they will find out whether they will continue working or be put on furlough.

Times staff writers Mayerene Barker and Psyche Pascual contributed to this story.