Originally Posted by Another Kevin
kevin, you are hilarious!!! I tend to do the same thing, and was starting to wonder if I should be more circumspect. thanks for the post.
Lazarus
My new answer to any questions asked about my plans while hiking is this.
"Well I am not certain what I am gong to do, since I am retired, I may just turn around and go the other direction to see if I missed anything on the way here"
That usually leads to me being called a low life, then a few chuckles later I am on my way again.
If someone is really after you, nothing you say will change their mind anyway.
If you tell them you have a gun or knife they will just go get one of their own and come back.
If they want me they will have make a guess about what they may have to deal with.
I work in law enforcement (returned to it last year after taking a few years away) and get a decent look into the criminal mind, most are not masterminds but the ricky-redneck types so I will speak on dealing with that type.
My advice would be to give vague answers to destination and time on the trail. I wouldn't try and lie about having a "phantom partner" as that can be easily verified and make you seem scared. White Trash Criminals are like animals....they sense fear and retreat when confronted by someone strong. I would work in during a conversation that you are meeting someone tomorrow but not let that be the first thing out of your mouth.
As for the hiker guys who are just looking to score....mention how hard it is to hike with vaginal warts and that should take care of that....just kidding!!!!
IF your "number of posts" exceed your "days as a member" your knowledge is suspect.
Yerby Ray
Newton, NC
Gotta say I'm fascinated by your color palette...Red, White and Blue, was that by design?
The statistical risk is obviously greater for those who spend a great deal of time on the AT than those who might be out for just an occasional weekend.
Of your total, 5 were thru hikers (and another was a long distance section hiker) all of whom were many murdered many hundreds of miles into their journeys.
Some people have concluded that is about the number of thru hikers you would expect to be murdered given crime statistics at home and how many thru hikers there have e been, but I could not disagree more.
There have been enough good answers already although I still haven't heard my approach. This isn't so much for hiking but rather for in general. If someone asks me a question I'd rather not answer, I simply tell them, "I'd rather not answer." If they press the issue, I suggest they tell me their plans/life story/whatever instead. I try not to sound rude or sarcastic although people will hear what they want to hear. Sometimes I say something to te effect "I'm afraid I won't make very good company right now. Please excuse me." and then walk away. This doesn't mean I never answer a question, just that I don't feel an obligation to answer everything that is asked. Further, just because I answer one or two questions doesn't mean I need to answer any more. Again, I try to be polite but some will take offense no matter what.
Whateve you do, it has to be what's right for you. It need not be the same thing in every situation.
I agree with the previously stated sentiment that if someone wants to do harm, they probably will. No amount of story telling is likely to change that.
Agreed safer but I sure don't want to be the next victim and it will happen sooner than later. Being alone puts yourself in a some what vulnerable position. When I was younger I always hiked alone. Not a worry in the world. Now with a family I look at things very differently. Coming back to hiking after 14 years away I am considering carrying a 1/2oz pocket pepper spray.
Do whatever you want to make you feel comfortable but I'd be far more concerned with your drive to the trail being safe than anything pepper spray can save you from.
Just say "we" when asked. Don't explain a lot. Like you were the Queen. We'll be camping a few miles up the trail. etc.
Everything is in Walking Distance
Tipi-- you have put into words what I have been feeling for years. I love hiking alone and I could never adequately explain to others. Now I can.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Lead me to the long green tunnel.
There are concerns out there, especially this time of year when there are very few hikers out and about. Ran into a couple of hikers just this week along the GA/NC border. Seemed nice enough, but one had a Bowie Knife attached to his pack and the other was dressed in some sort or Chinese outfit ( he wasn't Asian), and had an arrow sticking out of his pack. Just wouldn't be comfortable sharing a camping area with them....just saying.
Rickb probably has the statistics, but I don't think being alone is any more likely to cause you to become a victim, than not being alone.
More or less averages out.
For what it matters.
The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
You never know which one is talking.
As usual, Just Bill, you give the best advice. thanks
God is good all the time; all the time God is good. - We Shall See 2015
I haven't done the AT yet, but I have to agree. People ask me if I'm not afraid of bears, snakes, and boogie men. I say I am much more afraid of falling and breaking my neck.
God is good all the time; all the time God is good. - We Shall See 2015
I will add that when I'm hiking solo, usually the best answer I can give for "where are you planning to camp?" is "wherever I can find a big enough flat spot." That's not trying to dodge the question, though, that's just not knowing in advance precisely how far I'm going to get or where I'm going to spot a usable campsite.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
My thoughts exactly!
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
I had never thought of it that way, but it has occurred to me that the "conventional wisdom" of "Say you are with a group. Give no information" could just be wrong.
Coincidentally, NPR TED Talk podcast this week was on "Why We Lie". http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radi...ate=2014-06-20
I know that I am not a good liar. So when I try and be evasive and hedge-y... I think that I just come off as a little "off". Might even come off as victim as in "She is alone and very nervous about it" rather than "She is alone and considers it normal and is confident". Although, realistically or statistically, very few people of ether gender are victims of crimes while hiking.
In the 10 years or so that I have been on this website, and 30+ years since I thru hiked, I can't remember a single decent discussion on what contributes to risks thru hikers face from other people on the Trail.
This is odd, given that 5 thru hikers have been murdered by complete strangers while many hundreds of miles into their hikes. That number eclipses the sum total of all thru hikers that have been killed by lightening, bees, bears, dogs, snakes, drowning, hypothermia, and falls.
Our culture and individual sense of well-being when out there seems to either deny this reality, or to minimize it. The ATC has this down to an art. Their response is already written for the next time there is a murder. It always begins with the observation that 5 Milliion people visit the trail each year. If the murder was not on the White Blazed trail itself (like the 5 thru hikers I reference) that is pointed out soon afterwards.
When a thru hiker is killled there is never any discussion of common circumstances. More likely, there is a concerted effort to of denial or the hiker death "to be put in perspective".
When long distance-section hiker Scott Lilly's half-burried body was found a couple years ago, the authorities would not even confirm there was a killing until the coroner's report was required to be released by state law-- exactly 6 months after he was found. Up to that point, all they we way was that the circumstances were "suspicious" (accidental shooting by a hunter, perhaps?), and that there was no reason for hikers in the area to be especially concerned.
I count myself among those who feel comfortable sleeping in the woods, and I think under all but the most exceptional circumstances others should as well. But why is any examination of what has happened to 5 of our fellow thru hikers including WM's question so taboo?
Those who minimize any risk can take comfort in the fact that no thru hiker -- either alone or not -- has ever been killed in the modern wave of northbounders. But that is not everyone who hikes the AT, is it?
I can't draw any conclusion as to the relative risk of hiking alone vs. in the company of another, but it turns out the majority of people killed on the AT or close to it have been with a hiking partner. Until relatively recently men hiking alone or with a male friend have been left alone, but the killing of Scott Lily and the (unsuccessful) attack on the two male fishermen by the Wapiti Shelter killer (who was later released after the double killing) even makes that observation out of date.
One obvious common thread is that most of the killings either took place at a shelter, or the victims had an interaction with the killer at a shelter-- and women are at a greater risk.
I sure as hell would not recommend on ask a stranger what shelter they are camping at, much less share that information with them-- especially if you are outside of the NOBO bubble. If you part of the hoard, it probably maters little,
DLP, I had a lot of fear about backpacking alone...mainly sleeping alone at night. I have mostly conquered it by getting out there and doing it. That has helped me develop the mental and physical tools that I need to feel confident and comfortable. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is a great start to figuring out what will work for you.
My first attempts at backpacking solo ended in failure...embarassingly so...but I kept trying. If I can do it, anyone can do it.
I think we're dealing with the fact that the anomalous event gets underlined in people's minds. I can surely remember, several times a season, hearing about someone getting off trail, still alive or not, because of some medical emergency to which they eventually succumbed. I've heard about motor vehicle accidents, drownings and falls. And yes, suicides as well.
In fact, thru hikers are a selected population of healthy, extremely fit adults. I'd expect the chief causes of death in that population to be accident, suicide and homicide. We can surely try to make the trail safer, but I suspect that it's already considerably safer than town.
There's also some judgment involved with how to rank non lethal risks. If search and rescue workers are interviewing hikers about my whereabouts, I'd hope that it's to rescue me and not to recover my remains! If they're successful, that won't count in your statistics at all. But it could easily spare me an agonizing few days.
Beware 'worst first' thinking.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
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