Homeless man living in shelters

[Skyline]

The woman who has been mentioned several times in this thread is (was?) named Peggy Childers. I haven't seen or heard about her in quite a few years, thus the "was?". She was delusional at times, and had a few impossible stories to tell, but AFAIK she was harmless. I saw her several times a year in the late '90s and early '00s.

Peggy alternated between Fulhardt Knob and Cornelius Creek shelters in Virginia. At Fulhardt, she once had a camp set up away from the shelter--very well organized with a triangular layout for sleeping, cooking, and bathroom breaks in three locations. Decent gear, too, donated by townsfolk and hikers. When she wasn't talking about her run-ins with Joe Kennedy, Larry Flynt, or the royals of England she made a lot of sense--and she was informative about survival in the woods and in a society that doesn't treat those out of the mainstream very nicely.

In 1998, the Associated Press did a story about her which made it into newspapers across the nation. She was once arrested by federal officers for something minor, and stayed away from the AT for awhile after that. But she did return, and I'd love to know what happened to her in the years since.

[shelb]

Yes, I think it would be fun to start a "friends of WB"- FB page so we can all be friends on there as well. Haha!! Is anyone IN?

Only if everyone "plays nice." lol...

[Rasty]

Well I'm not an a$$hole.......cause i'm a jerk!

I agree with Socks!!!

[rocketsocks]

I agree with Socks!!!

I disagree

[T.S.Kobzol]

What's with all the capitalizations and demands for apology? it makes you look deranged.

Grow up. Is this your first day on the internet ?

I DID NOTHING WRONG. If I have to carefully word my threads to meet YOUR standards and cause judgement NOT to fall then... I don't need this site. I was NOT warning people in a BAD way... I NEVER said watch out or this person could be dangerous OR ANYTHING like that. If you look at the thread you will even see that I stated my reason for the post... SO THAT NO ONE might be SURPRISED is the word I used.... It was pissing me off that everyone was crapping all over my thread and I honestly had NO CLUE as to WHY. If I can't feel comfortable here, I will leave AND it's been brought to my attention that I will NOT be the first or the LAST person to feel this same way... I've BEEN WARNED. SO... I think it's HIGH time that people on here take a LONG HARD LOOK at THEMSELVES and ask them if they like how their behavior is working for THEM.. Can you say BULLIES? Oh ... I think you can!! There are HOMELESS people and IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING... I met a homeless person at McAFEE KNOB and took him to eat and paid for his dinner at the HOMEPLACE. He was using the trail as his home and it was "verified" by Harper's Ferry...they already had him in their system. So I had already been a trail angel to a YES... sorry to upset you for using the word- HOMELESS PERSON. THis is UNBELIEVABLE!!!

[MuddyWaters]

Like an online version of tourettes

[Lugnut]

The woman who has been mentioned several times in this thread is (was?) named Peggy Childers. I haven't seen or heard about her in quite a few years, thus the "was?". She was delusional at times, and had a few impossible stories to tell, but AFAIK she was harmless. I saw her several times a year in the late '90s and early '00s.

Peggy alternated between Fulhardt Knob and Cornelius Creek shelters
in Virginia. At Fulhardt, she once had a camp set up away from the shelter--very well organized with a triangular layout for sleeping, cooking, and bathroom breaks in three locations. Decent gear, too, donated by townsfolk and hikers. When she wasn't talking about her run-ins with Joe Kennedy, Larry Flynt, or the royals of England she made a lot of sense--and she was informative about survival in the woods and in a society that doesn't treat those out of the mainstream very nicely.

In 1997, the Associated Press did a story about her which made it into newspapers across the nation. She was once arrested by federal officers for something minor, and stayed away from the AT for awhile after that. But she did return, and I'd love to know what happened to her in the years since.

I met her at Fulhardt. Thought she went by Queen Ann? Interesting conversation. She got me for $20 and I went on my way. Looking back it was worth it and I'm glad I met her.

[Wise Old Owl]

Maybe you are all right - so lets give this thread a rest - it really is a bad spiral as someone said in 2005 in a similar thread "the only difference between a hiker and a hobo is Gortex.

[Papa D]

I actually don't think that HikerMomKD (the OP) had any ill intentions in her original or subsequent posts and they didn't really offend me. I do think that possibly she didn't think through the tenor of her "warning" and (like many) she might be a little biased toward people (in this case a homeless person) that doesn't conform (more or less) to what her acceptable standards are and maybe was a little reactionary. She also needs a little backbone and her feelings shouldn't be so trashed when called out on WB - that's what this is - a discussion forum. If you aren't willing to see other opinions, then don't post.

Now, this said, we all are wired to be a little discriminatory at times. I don't mean to but if I see someone (maybe in military garb with a gun on the trail), I instinctively think "danger: crazy redneck with a screw loose" because I am from the south and am wired that way. Maybe I smell perfume and laundry soap on some day hikers and think, "what the hell are they doing on my trail." It takes a little effort and thought to step outside your comfort level and accept others and it is something we should all work on. But I am really glad that we (mostly) all agree that unless a person is doing some specific thing to offend others or cause harm, that just the state of being homeless on the trail isn't necessarily something that we should be concerned with.

[fiddlehead]

I'm not going to get involved in mud-slinging or soothing the OP's hurt feelings.
But this thread reminds me of a time I ran into a homeless guy on the PCT.
He had a camp set up and I stopped and had lunch with him.
After hearing his story of waiting for a check (and thinking he probably was never going to get it), I gave him a few candy bars I didn't need so much.
He wolfed those things down so fast, I told him to slow down, he was going to get sick.
Man was that guy hungry.

There's homeless people who tend to beg in cities and crowded places and can be a pain.
Then there's the one's who enjoy nature and know they have a problem, so, stay out of they way and in an environment they feel comfortable in.

I know I almost always give to the latter and almost never to the former (unless they have leprosy or no limbs like many I see here in Asia)

[adamkrz]

I'd like to have a heads up if a person is living in a shelter, A few years back my wife and I arrived at a shelter that we had planed to stay at after hiking all day - when we arrived we found this person smoking crack and acting very strange, it was enough to scare us to hike on into the night to another camp.

Anyway I did give this guy some food and water before we left and contacted a DEP officer who did remove the guy for his own safety the next day.


I met a homeless guy this year hiking south for a possible job, he was real nice to talk with,I hope he makes it.

[Wise Old Owl]

Papa D you may have missed this... she is taking about her fears and a wish to be notified. We don't have time for a couch, I don't find fault with that we all have fears. There is a very fine line here and its easy to make a mistake. but we as a group have seen pictures of important thru hikers and yea they look like hobos. I have seen both ends here... lets give this a rest.

I wont apologize for calling out your bias. Change the word "Homeless" with anything else and you would be a bigot. Just because you take it as an insult is not my problem. Would you start a thread with "Be aware that we have (Take your pick of ethnic group)"? I would guess you wouldn't, but the homeless person that has not done anything wrong is open game to point out. Sometimes only one party needs to apologize!

I am going to be blunt. The AT doesn't have a proper clothing required or a requiem for soap This is not Disney World and if everyone was white it would be very boring! Let set the record straight - lets move on.

[Toli]

Papa D you may have missed this... she is taking about her fears and a wish to be notified. We don't have time for a couch, I don't find fault with that we all have fears. There is a very fine line here and its easy to make a mistake. but we as a group have seen pictures of important thru hikers and yea they look like hobos. I have seen both ends here... lets give this a rest.




I am going to be blunt. The AT doesn't have a proper clothing required or a requiem for soap This is not Disney World and if everyone was white it would be very boring! Let set the record straight - lets move on.

WOO... What is going on here(WB) ??? People wonder(Just the ones that profit from donations ) why no one wants to donate/contribute anything meaningful anymore... This thread is a prime example... Seriously??? When you think Papa D misunderstood something, things ain't right... Next thing is that 10-K is a car camper... HikerMomKD PM me and I will pay for you to join BPL... Don't get discouraged because of a couple, and literally, a couple, of DB's here live in their moms basements and are "so much cooler online"... Why do people constantly ask about trail conditions??? Why would that not include if someone was seemingly out of place on the AT??? Bear activity in an area not known for that??? No water where theres always water???

[Bronk]

I live just a couple miles down the road from a national forest and this past spring I spent every weekend traveling the same 10 mile stretch and camped in the same two places every weekend for over two months. If I didn't have a day job I may have circulated this same area indefinitely until I got bored with it. I see no appreciable difference between what I've done and what a "homeless" person might be doing.

I think what it comes down to in these situations is whether anyone notices what you're doing and whether or not you wear out your welcome, whether anyone complains about it, and if they complain to someone in a position to do anything about it.

If you act in a reasonably polite manner and don't do anything to get noticed on somebody's radar screen then in most places I'd bet you will be left alone.

If you've been somewhere long enough for people to think you are 'living' there then I'd have to wonder how they would know this unless they were traveling the same stretch of trail just as often as you are. Someone who traveled the same area I did this past spring might have assumed I was living there simply because they saw me there several times over a period of weeks, when in fact they were merely weekend camping trips.

Having said that, I've seen people living in the national forest before...in one case they dug a hole and mounted a chair with a toilet seat over it some feet from their camp and had a tomato plant growing in a 5 gallon bucket next to their tent. These kinds of actions indicate that somebody is probably planning on staying awhile, and forest service rules limit the number of days you can stay in one place, and even set limits so that you can't continuously live in the forest simply by moving from one place to the other. The rules are probably different based on whether you are in a national forest, national park, state park, wilderness area, etc, etc. But the bottom line is that under the rules you aren't allowed to 'live' there indefintely. If you get noticed and somebody complains you're probably going to be asked to move along eventually, no matter how nice you are about it.

If you choose an out of the way place rather than a popular spot that anybody can drive right up to you'll probably get away with it for a much longer period of time.

[Rasty]

Papa D you may have missed this... she is taking about her fears and a wish to be notified. We don't have time for a couch, I don't find fault with that we all have fears. There is a very fine line here and its easy to make a mistake. but we as a group have seen pictures of important thru hikers and yea they look like hobos. I have seen both ends here... lets give this a rest.




I am going to be blunt. The AT doesn't have a proper clothing required or a requiem for soap This is not Disney World and if everyone was white it would be very boring! Let set the record straight - lets move on.

WOO... What is going on here(WB) ??? People wonder(Just the ones that profit from donations ) why no one wants to donate/contribute anything meaningful anymore... This thread is a prime example... Seriously??? When you think Papa D misunderstood something, things ain't right... Next thing is that 10-K is a car camper... HikerMomKD PM me and I will pay for you to join BPL... Don't get discouraged because of a couple, and literally, a couple, of DB's here live in their moms basements and are "so much cooler online"... Why do people constantly ask about trail conditions??? Why would that not include if someone was seemingly out of place on the AT??? Bear activity in an area not known for that??? No water where theres always water???

So people are DB because they sincerely don't believe that Whiteblaze is the proper place to track homeless people? That's really messed up logic. Who else should we track? Maybe women? Nope that's unacceptable. Maybe minorities? Nope also unacceptable. And no I don't live with my mom.

[Toli]

So people are DB because they sincerely don't believe that Whiteblaze is the proper place to track homeless people? That's really messed up logic. Who else should we track? Maybe women? Nope that's unacceptable. Maybe minorities? Nope also unacceptable. And no I don't live with my mom.

Because she kicked you out and now ur homeless... Was wondering where you were.. I'll tell her you said "Hi"...
sincerely don't believe that Whiteblaze is the proper place to track homeless people? ​Seriously??? thats what you got out of my post??? M****...

[Rasty]

So people are DB because they sincerely don't believe that Whiteblaze is the proper place to track homeless people? That's really messed up logic. Who else should we track? Maybe women? Nope that's unacceptable. Maybe minorities? Nope also unacceptable. And no I don't live with my mom.

Because she kicked you out and now ur homeless... Was wondering where you were.. I'll tell her you said "Hi"...
sincerely don't believe that Whiteblaze is the proper place to track homeless people? ​Seriously??? thats what you got out of my post??? M****...

It was her original point.

[Hairbear]

Very well put, Papa D.

i enjoy your open mind ++++++++1

[Papa D]

Woo - thanks for your post.
I just looked up another homeless thread and lo and behold, the OP was on that one too thanking everyone for the head's up on the homeless person.
I'm re-thinking my inclination to give her the benefit of the doubt.

It's interesting to think about how old-timers would view this: take someone like Gene Espy, the second person to thru-hike. He was (from what I can tell) a hitch-hiker and a hobo. The trail has been a corridor for many travelers over the years. Today, we think that if you don't look like you just stepped out of REI and your SUV, you don't belong. This is just absolutely a perverted way to think about a trail that was designed for travelers who choose their feet as a mode of transportation to go from place to place through the appalachian range - Hobos, weekenders, thru-hikers, section hikers, day travelers, and yes, even folks who want to live out there a long time (without breaking other established rules).

[Capt Nat]

I just want to thank the OP for all the entertainment. Hiking and gear stuff has been beat to death. WB is like watching NASCAR. If there are no wrecks, it's just left turns...