sociopaths

[Socalhiker87]

Those people sound more like dooms-day preppers getting ready for the zombie apocalypse. A sociopath is a completely different animal (and I say animal, purposely). I know what you mean, but from someone who has first hand experience with a clinical sociopath...I'd rather hang out with the preppers but that's just my zero-tolerance policy for lying

The dog thing really gets to me. Dog's should be able to obey the "down" "sit" "hush" "no" and "go away" commands without hesitation or fail. The people who have out of control pets either do not put in the time (responsibility) necessary with their animals, or are abusing their purpose (i.e. those dogs don't belong in social settings).

As for guns, I've carried before on backcountry trips. I did 10 days in Glacier National Park and both my partner and I carried (bear spray and sidearms). We had some liberal hippies start in on gun violence and how it should be illegal (blah blah), and about 4 hours down the trail the group walked around a corner about 15yds from a grizzly. We didn't hear a peep about guns the rest of the day, and they were attached to our hip wherever we went (hmmm?). I can see where it would be annoying hearing all the bragging going on who's packing what, but I think of it like a dry-fly or compass...it's just a tool that I might have to use, but hopefully I don't

Happy Trails,

Clay

When I go hiking in Bear country I carry and get some nasty looks. I'm sure if a bear came around I won't be getting those nasty looks anymore. Great story Clay!

[Bobby]

I've enjoyed a number of trail journals.
Listening to the beauty of sitting on a rock watching the sun set, sitting on the same rock watching the sun rise.
Coming across a doe, seeing how it guards it's fawn. Giving it the respect it's asking for.
A field of wild flowers every conceivable color.
the bone deep tired/sore from hiking in the rain for the last 3 days, only expecting 3 more.
Digging deep into your soul.
I expect most hikers are like this.

But what do you do about the sociopaths ?

The guy with a machette on 1 hip and a pistol on the other, telling you the shelter is full !!
with his 2 buddies, and a dog lunging on it's leash ready to tear your face off.
no body else around

the person bragging about the gun he has in his pack

the person with the dog that jumps on and tears your tent.

The person with the dog barking all night long, saying gosh he doesn't do that at home.
!!! But we're not at your house are we !!!

The weekenders that leave 3 cases of beer cans and 6 empty whiskey bottles behind the shelter.

the person who demands a place in the shelter because it's raining hard and he decided to not bring a tent.

Same person who wants to use your water filter, or your stove, he didn't bring one.

I am the center of my universe
You are the center of yours
Parallel universes

I am your friend not your adversary
Respect each other

these are all issues that one will encounter at shelters or communal camping areas. Easiest way to deal with them is to avoid them. Sleep in a tent in the middle of the woods by yourself or with people that you choose to be with while camping. Situations like this are kind of rare on the PCT where there are no shelters. Maybe only near road crossings or very common camping areas - don't like what you see or get a bad vibe - move along and use your tent.

[kayak karl]

you just didn't hike far enough into the woods.

[vamelungeon]

these are all issues that one will encounter at shelters or communal camping areas. Easiest way to deal with them is to avoid them. Sleep in a tent in the middle of the woods by yourself or with people that you choose to be with while camping. Situations like this are kind of rare on the PCT where there are no shelters. Maybe only near road crossings or very common camping areas - don't like what you see or get a bad vibe - move along and use your tent.

That's it. Why on earth you would go into the woods to sleep in a nasty wooden box full of people is beyond me.

[bangorme]

I'm always amused when people assert that those hiking the AT are anything other than a subset of the American population. Included among them are some nice people, some jerks, and some dangerous people. Keep in mind that many sections of the AT are used for recreational purposes completely divorced from thru-hiking. A couple years ago I happened onto a shelter in NH that was completely full of teens smoking pot and drinking. They were there for one night just for that purpose. They didn't bother me and I slept in my tent as I always do.

People get robbed, raped, assaulted, murdered, and "disappear" on the AT... just like they do everywhere. The only way to increase your safety is to hike with someone you KNOW and avoid people when possible. But, that's up to you.

[Pedaling Fool]

Communal living never works. That is why the original intent of the AT is far from reality. That is also why hippies can not live together in nature http://sectionhiker.com/benton-macka...n-trail-essay/


Excerpt:

3. Community Groups

These would grow naturally out of the shelter camps and inns. Each would consist of a little community on or near the trail (perhaps on a neighboring lake) where people could live in private domiciles. Such a community might occupy a substantial area — perhaps a hundred acres or more. This should be bought and owned as a part of the project. No separate lots should be sold therefrom. Each camp should be a self-owning community and not a real-estate venture. The use of the separate domiciles, like all other features of the project, should be available without profit.

These community camps should be carefully planned in advance. They should not be allowed to become too populous and thereby defat the very purpose for which they are created. Greater numbers should be accommodated by more communities, not larger ones. There is room, without crowding, in the Appalachian region for a very large camping population. The location of these community camps would form a main part of the regional planning and architecture.

These communities would be used for various kinds of non- industrial activity. They might eventually be organized for special purposes — for recreation, for recuperation and for study. Summer schools or seasonal field courses could be established and scientific travel courses organized and accommodated in the different communities along the trail. The community camp should become something more thana mere “playground”: it should stimulate every line of outdoor non-industrial endeavor.

4. Food and Farm Camps

These might not be organized at first. They would come as a later development. The farm camp is the natural supplement of the community camp.

Here is the same spirit of cooperation and well ordered action the food and crops consumed in the outdoor living would as far as practically be sown and harvested.

Food and farm camps could be established as special communities in adjoining valleys. Or they might be combined with the community camps with the inclusion of surrounding farm lands. Their development could provide tangible opportunity for working out by actual experiment a fundamental matter in the problem of living. It would provide one definite avenue of experiment in getting “back to the land.” It would provide an opportunity for those anxious to settle down in the country: it would open up a possible source for new, and needed, employment. Communities of this type ar illustrated by the Hudson Guild Farm in New Jersey.

Fuelwood, logs, and lumber are other basic needs of the camps and communities along the trail. These also might be grown and forested as part of the camp activity, rather than bought in the lumber market. The nucleus of such an enterprise has already been started at Camp Tamiment, Pennsylvania, on a lake not far from the route of the proposed Appalachian trail. The camp has been established by a labor group in New York City.

They have erected a sawmill on their tract of 2000 acres and have built the bungalows of their community from their own timber.

Farm camps might ultimately be supplemented by permanent forest camps through the acquisition (or lease) of wood and timber tracts. These of course should be handled under a system of forestry so as to have a continuously growing crop of material. The object sought might be accomplished through long term timber sale contracts with the Federal Government on some of the Appalachian National Forests. Here would be another opportunity for permanent, steady, healthy employment in the open.

[shelterbuilder]

...People get robbed, raped, assaulted, murdered, and "disappear" on the AT... just like they do everywhere....

Actually the percentage of these crimes ON THE A.T. is substantially lower than "everywhere" else, and for that very reason, when it happens, it always makes national headlines. I've been hiking the A.T. for over 40 years, and I've only run into 3 people who "gave me the willies"...and I moved on.

[bangorme]

Actually the percentage of these crimes ON THE A.T. is substantially lower than "everywhere" else, and for that very reason, when it happens, it always makes national headlines. I've been hiking the A.T. for over 40 years, and I've only run into 3 people who "gave me the willies"...and I moved on.

What do you mean by "percentage of these crimes?" The population density on the AT is much less than that of Phair, Maine, and I can't remember the last murder in Phair. But, the point isn't to make a comparison between the AT and Chicago, but to say that one should not expect that everyone they meet on the AT is going to be a good person. Everyone isn't. And btw, to get back to the OP, when I said going with someone you know, I meant you know BEFORE you leave. Having met several sociopaths professionally, most were quite engaging (think Ted Bundy). So expecting to pick someone up on the way isn't what I was talking about.

But I never hike with other people and just avoid them to the degree I can.

[greenmtnboy]

I never encountered threatening behavior hiking the A/T, and I am a pretty tolerant person, have had my share of greedy opportunists trying to prey on my good intentions over the years but never while hiking.

Sociopaths? Paranoia! Why get worked up about traumatic experiences as the OP apparently has had? There are tons of remedies for hikers experiencing grievances and frankly I am more concerned about the white-washed neat freaks who want to bring their utopian ivory tower ideals into every facet of life including the highly refined corridors of well-established and protected hiking trails. Plus the term "sociopath" has fallen out of favor among the psychology establishment, just as narcissism has been dropped by the latest DSM.

So please try to use better terms when starting threads than pop psychology buzz words.

[Lemni Skate]

I agree, a well behaved dog is a lot of fun to encounter on the trail. A dog jumping at my dinner bowl, or trying to bite my son, is another thing.

[WILLIAM HAYES]

I usually just give them a snickers bar then show them my bazooka

[Sarcasm the elf]

I usually just give them a snickers bar then show them my bazooka

Bazooka? The are lots of more lightweight options for rocket launchers.

[shakey_snake]

I usually just give them a snickers bar then show them my bazooka

That's only appropriate on June 21st.

[WILLIAM HAYES]

not into UL weapons I like the heavy backbreaking stuff

[johnnybgood]

That's only appropriate on June 21st.

Haha , I saw what you did there.

[Sarcasm the elf]

That's only appropriate on June 21st.

I think that a weedwacker would be more effective that day.

[Hill Ape]

problem with most of the shoulder fired missiles, they are one shot, fire and forget. the tube is simply dropped and crushed.

not very LNT friendly, but a javelin would be impressive on the trail though

[NY HIKER 50]

First of all, if you're carrying a gun, why are you telling everyone about it? That sounds like a bully pulpit or very adolescent. Also, anyone with a dog should be able to control it or leave the trail. I avoid the shelters altogether and just pick up water and keep going until it's too dark. As for people like that, I try to avoid them and stay away. Remember, there's more out than in and the homeless shelters and insane asylums usually give a map to the AT upon discharge.

[Mags]

I've enjoyed a number of trail journals.
Listening to the beauty of sitting on a rock watching the sun set, sitting on the same rock watching the sun rise.
Coming across a doe, seeing how it guards it's fawn. Giving it the respect it's asking for.
A field of wild flowers every conceivable color.
the bone deep tired/sore from hiking in the rain for the last 3 days, only expecting 3 more.
Digging deep into your soul.
I expect most hikers are like this.

But what do you do about the sociopaths ?

The guy with a machette on 1 hip and a pistol on the other, telling you the shelter is full !!
with his 2 buddies, and a dog lunging on it's leash ready to tear your face off.
no body else around

the person bragging about the gun he has in his pack

the person with the dog that jumps on and tears your tent.

The person with the dog barking all night long, saying gosh he doesn't do that at home.
!!! But we're not at your house are we !!!

The weekenders that leave 3 cases of beer cans and 6 empty whiskey bottles behind the shelter.

the person who demands a place in the shelter because it's raining hard and he decided to not bring a tent.

Same person who wants to use your water filter, or your stove, he didn't bring one.

I am the center of my universe
You are the center of yours
Parallel universes

I am your friend not your adversary
Respect each other

Damn..that is one busy weekend.

[SunnyWalker]

A true sociopath? Leave them, be polite and walk away and keep your life and possessions. Hey, I don't hijack threads! (Huh, huh)