You are right. At one point I was up in arms about this. I had time to think about it and alot of it does not make sense to me. Thanks for the clarification.Originally Posted by Karrmer
One thing I do know from personal experience is that if he is causing problems with other hikers and is a "threat", park rangers or forest officials can remove him from the trail if a report is filed. We had an issue with someone last year making threats to people and having mental instability. The rangers in the Shenandoahs removed him and took him to question him. He was released within a day but that got him away from us and made ALOT of hikers feel alot more safe.
Well, it might still be a case of felony battery. If the Mad Kiwi turned away to avoid a hit to the face.
Like I said, depends on what the witnesses say happened.
By the way, glad you're on the form.
Go hike yourselfGo Spike
yo i heard gatorgump put his butt on the springer plaque.
i have my pitch fork sharpened like a new pair of mountaineering crampons!
actually when we finally caught up to gatorgump in virginia i asked if i could shake his hand cause of the entertainment he provided me on whiteblaze watching so many people's panties in a bunch for days on end. plus his journal was hilarious :P
in a lot of ways.. this thread is so very similar!
I met Gatorgump here in Damascus, he certainly was a cool chap in my opinion. I asked him straight up about the plaque thing, he just grinned real big and we both had a good laugh.......
Some guy pushed some guy and a shoulder got hurt and had to be transported back to New Zealand. Now the shoulder pusher stalks the trail.
I just wanted to get back on topic.
If you don't have something nice to say,
Be witty in your cruelty.
It appears that the entry on TJ regarding Spike by Wendy has been removed. Any ideas why?
Dyslexics Untie!
Here's a relatively interesting article on law enforcement on the AT in one of last year's AT Journeys (hope the crazy link works) -
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/...0MayJune08.pdf
A note for future reference (hope you never really need it, though) - the article states that emergencies and incidents should be reported to local authorities via 911 AND a follow-up report to the ATC. Some posts on here argued that the ATC should not be notified, but apparently the ATC wants to be notified.
I was curious, since the AT is part of the National Scenic Trails system, whether the NPS has LE jurisdiction over the entire trail. This article doesn't really answer the question, but implies that they do not. The article says that the NPS Rangers have LE authority over NPS lands, but doesn't say that the whole AT are considered NPS lands. It does say that the AT passes through many jurisdictions and lands managed by local, state, and feds. That seems to imply that the NPS does not have jurisdiction over the whole. Anyone know?
Stay safe, folks.
MM.
aka Endorphin, AT GA->ME '04
All I got to say is wow...and people complain about ridge runners, just wait till they put police/ranger stations on the AT. I guess this is what we get with a widely used trail system. Part of this can be blamed on "Trail Magic" which creates a party-like atmosphere.
Freedom is dangerous, I guess many don't want to accept the risks involved. You want safety on the trail, be careful of what you wish for.
Only 500 miles from my area.....I hope that either he takes some chill pills or leaves the trail. I don't want to have a run in with anyone that acts like an ass.
Enough of the baiting folks.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
How about a law that makes it a crime to insult someone on the internet?
http://futurestorm.blogspot.com/2009...ine-go-to.html
How about two years in jail if you upset my delicate sensibilities?
Such a law would certainly put a crimp on most people on this site's style.
There are bigger fish to whine about than park rangers and police removing a bully from the Appalachian Trail, with which I have zero problem. The clowns in congress pull this kind of nonsense and you're whining about keeping people safe from a bully?
Priorities, dude, priorities.
Trail magic causes bullying? Get a grip...
hahahahahahaha
"The reality is that if we do not stand up to this, the United States of America will quickly become overrun with politically-correct "commissars" who are eager to throw anyone who disagrees with them in jail for "hate crimes" and "thought crimes"."
Big Brother is watching.
/tinfoilhat
If there is ever any resolution to this assault, will someone just start a new thread, please.
Big Brother is watching people like Spike.
Since I hike alone, I appreciate the heads up; speculation or not.
I truly believe that the "drifter" that I encounterd in the 90s was that crazy va guy, Hilton. It was the right time frame, and the same location. I had to book it to get away from him, and the next morning another hiker stopped and escorted us to the road because of him. He had spent the night with him in the shelter, and he said that we were the only thing the man talked about. I had my young son with me.
I didn't say, "causes". But you have to wonder how many people are attracted to the AT because of the social aspect. This also applies to shelters. Don't want to get into a rant about shelters/trail magic, but a simple fact of life is, the more people you get in a given area the more ******** you will have and them more problems that are created....Trail magic causes bullying? Get a grip...
Now what do we do? I guess the first step was employing ridge runners, but that seems not the remedy, so what's the next step (read the above article). Now it is possible that this is the end-of-the-line in the attempt to make the trail safer, I don't know, but things like this usually evolve.
I've seen many here bitch about ridge runners, rangers and cops. Yet we seem to want a bully removed from the trail the moment he creates a problem. Do they know what system would have to be created to get someone off the trail, right now!
So the question is, do you want a trail in which you are safe from ******** or a trail to get away from the pressures of society?
In other words, why do you hike?
yep, i like the trail magic, but i potentially got in trouble because of it. I don't usually linger at the roads, but I did this day because it was my first experience with trail magic. While I'm sitting there, some local redneck hunters come by because this is their highlight of the day. They were showing another guy the trail magic. The conversation caught me off guard, and the hunter actually told me that I was doing a very unsafe thing by hiking alone and he even referred to himself as a redneck. After the conversation, I realized that they knew I was alone, which direction I was headed, where my car was parked and since they were hunters; they new the area extremely well. I definately felt stupid and approached my last two miles for the trip with caution. Thankfully, I did not encounter the hunters again; but because I was so cautious and quiet; I did encounter my first granddaddy bear! I was no longer worried about the hunters.
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