struck a nerve.

[mweinstone]

on a closed thread it was said law enforcment dosnt allways inform hikers of troublemakers on the trail. i dont know of any example of any law enforcement official on trail ever withholding information as such. to the contrary, i find in my 36 years of 49, spent on the AT, to a one, the officers and agents around us while were hikeing give us the respect of champion athletes comming thru a race cource they have secured for us. the do nothing but help and defend and protect us. and yes , an officer can be snappy. but they deal with riff raff{not the hiking group} all day and night 24/7/365 and in their dreams. so please exscuse them if they are short or curt with you while laying down their childrens fathers and mothers lives for our hiking safty. so...tell me of your good times with law enforcment on trail. dont want storys of resque. they are heros humble. tell my cop friends of times they made you laugh or fed or drove you. the times they were nice and didnt have to be. me and bag o tricks could tell you storieys on both sides of the coin. but this is a thread of appreciation and recognition of our protectors. thank you all for your comments.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

My most super awesome experience with law enforcement on the trail is that I've never seen or had an experience with law enforcement on the trail.

[Blue Jay]

I've met several officers over the years. Every single one of them was great company, clearly enjoying the trail as much as I do. My favorite is a section hiker I'm sure is still out there named Long Arm. He had hysterical stories about a kids offering him a hits not knowing the phrase "Long Arm".

[Blue Jay]

My most super awesome experience with law enforcement on the trail is that I've never seen or had an experience with law enforcement on the trail.

There is a very good chance that you have.

[mweinstone]

i got one like that. cant tell it here. but mountain dew and jack were in it . and the cop who never meets a hiker is also thankful. lots of times we are awful to the ones who serve, so not haveing a cop exsperience is great for them and for you. personaly i think we all know the cool feeling of haveing cop friends. it means your not too bad if your their friend. criminals dont hike with cops. we get to. and it is cool. i allways wanna see a take down. kidding.lol.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

There is a very good chance that you have.
If I didn't know that's the beauty.

[Mongoose2]

I had a good laugh watching a guy at Trail Days (around the camp fire) pass a joint to the uniformed cop standing next to him. Fortunately for him the cop was good natured and gave him a lecture versus a night in jail. He was very alert of his surroundings the rest of the evening!

[yari]

I like the police. Yeah there are some that are real jerks but, that is true for every profession or group. And considering that even the jerks have saved my behind on more than one occasion, I am willing to give them a pass/benefit of the doubt for being jerks on that particular day. I have never met one hiking (that I know of) but, in my personal and professional life I have had lots of interactions and I can count the negative ones on one hand. They have one of the most dangerous and thankless jobs in the world. I admire that the vast majority do it with intelligence, compassion and infinite patience.

[Serial 07]

matty, what about that time everyone got tickets at bag o tricks hiker feed? from what i heard, they were $275 apiece...

[Jonnycat]

My most super awesome experience with law enforcement on the trail is that I've never seen or had an experience with law enforcement on the trail.

I haven't seen a LEO in a long time on any trail. The last time, it was in a Wilderness Area back in the mid nineties, and she was a ranger. She asked me if I had a Wilderness Permit, to which I replied in the affirmative.

When I asked her if she wanted to see it, she said, "No, that's okay, I just wanted to make sure you had one."

It was a very enjoyable encounter, and afterwards we talked a little about the trail, and the conditions of the various places I had been on my trip.

I have heard more recent reports, from other areas, stating that the rangers will always have you pull your permit to check. Such is the way things go, I guess.

[Alligator]

They let me stay at the jailhouse in Palmerton for free. I was in solitary there too, no one else.

[JAK]

Haven't hiked the AT, but I've nothing but respect for all the police officers I have encountered in Maine. Very friendly, professional, and down to earth. I was hauling some small boats on a trailer, a fairly rickety old trailer and they were stacked pretty high but they were light boats and I had done it plenty before. Anyhow, this tractor trailer goes by us and its swerving all over the road. 10 minutes later we get hauled over and asked pretty sternly about our driving and our trailer and so forth. We did manage to convince them that it was not us that they were after but that tractor trailer that passes us and after I gave the trailer a good shake I had them convinced. Anyone could have been mistaken, and I could easily have been a victim of curcumstances. They could easily have found stuff wrong with the trailer, but that wasn't their game. We need more people like that in this world. Common sense.

[Hoop Time]

I remind myself of the Kevin Kline character in the Big Chill. Didn't think much of cops when I was younger. Now I am older and perhaps wiser. Since I moved to the cops beat at the paper, I have really gotten to know a number of them. They are like any group of people, there are a-holes in every bunch, but by and large they are very good guys.

The story about the guy at trail days passing it to a uni reminds me of a recent conversation I had with an older, experienced cop about the behavior of some young bucks in a neighboring department. He said it was basically a case of them not having enough experience yet to realize some stuff just isn't worth the hassle of doing the paperwork.

[mweinstone]

okay. serial. that evening before i lay down to sleep i picked up beer cans and moved the bag of cans from veiw and asked if our guests wanted to please use the bag of cans and showed them where it was pointing out at the same time the multipul signs posted within drinkshot stateing quite planely that if you drink you will be fined.then i slept. woke up. some of my friends had tickets. some diddnt. others ran from cops witch isnt cool in my book. stand up like a man or woman and take your pillticket and swallow it. but to jump in the woods and hide is against your own soul and an insult to officers.im sorry. i was raised right as much as i hate to give my hippy parents credit. they were honest at least.and i hold no regrets for that night. i aint no saint. i dont drink beer but ive drank booze in churches as a stupid kid on trail and i understand the heat of the moment combining with mans sinfilled nature resulting in sex and and or tickets for drinking on those prohibited lands. i also continue to break many trail rules and i belive a frank discussion of this can only lead to good.

[mweinstone]

law is formed,kept and improved due in part to reflect humanitys yern to be free of towsteppingon.but in practice falters due to in part to reflect humanity.matthewski

[Mountain Wildman]

My only negative experiences were when I was young and most likely doing something illegal or soon to be doing so, Since I grew up, I have spoken to many officers, being that I work in the construction industry and officers are frequently posted for traffiic control etc... and they were just like me, there to do a job, they were very friendly, respectful and conversational, I spent many hours talking to various law enforcement personnel including federal representatives and enjoyed every minute of it, As stated in Mweinstone's post, They put their life on the line every second of the day and there are those that would cause them harm just because of the job they do and the uniform they wear, If you are not breaking the law then you have nothing to fear from Law Enforcement Officers. They would risk their lives to help us and if a situation presented itself for me to help them, I would with no hesitation. To any Law enforcement personnel who read this, Thank You!!!
You are appreciated!!

[IronGutsTommy]

talked with a cop while hiking the tamiami trail in florida. good guy. told me of a time he answered a call from an old lady. went to her house, she complained she could see her neighbors having sex through her kitchen window, wanted to file a complaint. he goes in her kitchen, looks thru the window and says he cant see anyone having sex. she says...wait for it...."you have to stand on the table" lmao talk about your nosy old ladies

[Gray Blazer]

A Sherriff picked me up when I was hitch hiking on the Interstate (which was illegal). He's driving me down the road in his huge ford and I happen to mention that his car must be pretty fast. He hits the pedal and in a second we're going 150! Made it to the next exit a minute later where he drops me off and warns me that it is illegal to hitch on the Interstate. Pretty cool.

[Adayak]

I had a pretty good encounter with a police officer near the Florida Trail. He had a brand new under cover Chevy Tahoe painted all black, black as night tint and black wheels. It showed me his vehicle inside and out - it had the super strong LED lights that were at eye level so they blind you if you're in front or behind the truck. He had a complete command center in the trunk that looked like he could launch the space shuttle from there. It was really cool. I've never had a bad expierence with police, especially not on the trail.

[Luddite]

A Sherriff picked me up when I was hitch hiking on the Interstate (which was illegal). He's driving me down the road in his huge ford and I happen to mention that his car must be pretty fast. He hits the pedal and in a second we're going 150! Made it to the next exit a minute later where he drops me off and warns me that it is illegal to hitch on the Interstate. Pretty cool.

I've never hitchhiked on an Interstate but I have been offered rides from cops who have seen me hitching on the on-ramps. Of course I declined. I'm scared of cops.

[Cosmo]

I've met and worked with both the ATPO Rangers (and Bob Gray, the original AT Lone Ranger). They are completely at ease with hikers and volunteers and a pleasure to be in the field with. They get it. You would be amazed at some of the crap they have to put up with from trail neighbors and abusers of the Trail. Especially between Northern VA and VT, there are a lot of issues resulting from a narrow corridor and a dense population. They are really good at bridging the gap between law enforcement and "those flaky trail people". They generate a measure of respect for the AT that could not possibly happen otherwise.

Cosmo

[mweinstone]

dats what im sayz do sizedin.

[mweinstone]

scared of the law? ludite?but these storys help right? well, if your scared, let matthewski tell you a comfort. thats story, in matthewski.
one day in the shennies i was doin my usual thing. tryin to walk from dark to dark on the road cause i look at the sun ries and set and beg food from rv's. sorry. "yogie".along with my other activitys like sitting behind the stone wall and takeing rides from rangers.at dusk they come out and see if folks are gonna let them get home for dinner or break down on the road as the park closes. in the case of a matthewski walking at dusk more than 3 miles from the trail/road intersect that leads to a shelter even more miles away, in the rain....they stop....."hey hiker the parks closin."......"you wanna jump in ?"from this point im in charge. first thing i say is,...."can you unlock the window officer?" and they turn off the heat. then you say.."is the next trailcrossing the one thats .1 to the shelter?" then they take you wherever you want figuring your an idiot lost and about to die cause the shelter thats .1 from that crossing was yesterday. i love the folks who work on the blue ridge parkway and the skyline drive. my favorite part of the trail as far as i know it. (never been past moosilacki)

[squirrel bait]

Hitchiking years ago to a trailhead my buddy and I got a ride from a car that already had four people in it. My buddy and I put our packs and other gear in the trunk, and on we went. Ten, maybe 15 miles down the road the car was pulled over by the police. The officers asked me and my buddy to exit the car, had the driver open the trunk, us remove our gear, of course by now me and my buddy are freaking out that police singled us out, and wait for it.....told the both of us, "put on your gear and hitchike out of here." Now it was illegal to hitchike where we were but we took that as blanket permission. Never heard/found out why they wanted the others. I guess what I'm saying is what alot of people on this site say, Pay attention to your surroundings and you can tell whats going on.

[mweinstone]

if any hiker hasent benn picked up hitchiking by a bad person,...........then i need a new compass. thing is,......bad people hitchiker pickerupers freak out and play bagpipes and fire rounds into the ground and cry alot but seldom kill / hurt us. only deliver us via drunk driveing to the wrong mountain. at these swervy near deer miss moments,...we pray for the men and women and maby even oneday,.. robocops..dressed in blue to save us.we the sheeple of these united fates,in order to swarm a more perfect saloon,...

[mweinstone]

"sheeple" plagerized with permission from lwolf. lwolf is a production of the childrens television network . lwolf was brought to you today by the letters "heart health" and by the number "times up on the fryed foods love".jim henson was a puppet i loved.goodnight all.

[Wise Old Owl]

They let me stay at the jailhouse in Palmerton for free. I was in solitary there too, no one else.


Given the oportunity to sleep outside in the woods vs Solitary - you must have left out a factor that changed your mind to stay there.... :)

[Luddite]

This one time I was at NOC and it was a cold day but I went rafting anyways and fell in the river. I was so cold I couldn't catch my breath and later that night I came down with a really bad headache and a fever so I got a ride to that hospital in Bryson City I think. I didn't get out of the hospital till around 1am and there was nobody on the highway to hitch a ride with. So I asked the cop if he could give me a ride to NOC and he nodded his head. He was driving almost a 120mph the whole times and he never looked at me once or said anything. When we got to NOC I thanked him and he still didn't look at me or say anything. It was really weird.