Trailhead vandalism

[NorthCountryWoods]

Not sure on the details, but I've seen broken safety glass at the trail heads on Codding Hollow road, VT Routes 118, 242 and 105 in the past few weeks. The one on Codding Hollow I heard was a non-hiker that just left a car there overnight and the vandals broke the window, but didn't take anything. Haven't heard anything about the rest on the news, but something is going on.

Be careful....especially with out of state plates.

[Cookerhiker]

That's pretty sobering. We left a car at many of those exact crossings on my '07 LT thruhike. Are law enforcement authorities involved now?

[NorthCountryWoods]

No idea, but I doubt they are doing much about it. Those aren't the most highly traveled roads and I'm sure the state police are prioritized elsewhere. There are no local police in those towns that I know of, just county sheriffs and border patrol. Haven't heard anything other than local chatter about it.

[neighbor dave]

it's been happening off and on for years, it's hit and miss if it happens to you. i've parked up there and never had it happen to me, but it makes you think when you close the door and start hiking. same goes for some nh trailheads.

[Niloc]

It sure is on and off. For example last summer I had my car parked up near the LT crossing in Eden. I was parked there for 3-4 days. When I got back, I found my car and about 3-4 other cars untouched, however the one car with Canadian plates had one of their windows broken, and nothing stolen. I talked with them briefly and felt really bad as it was a Canadian family who had come down on a holiday to enjoy the trail and it appears that they were singled out that weekend for not being Vermonters?

[NorthCountryWoods]

.....it appears that they were singled out that weekend for not being Vermonters?

Quite possible. With all rural areas, there is a certain degree of xenophobia and the mountains of VT are no exception. Bumper stickers and out of state plates can sometimes exacerbate the resentment to the point of vandalism. However in defense of Vermonters, of those vandals that have been caught most are not local or have recently moved here.

Spoke with a state trooper the other day and he stated one of the remnants of broken glass at the VT 118 trailhead was old and the other looked more recent, but there was nothing reported. He said there had been a decline in reports of vandalism in the past year, so maybe this was something else or just not reported. He also stated hikers are notorious for locking their keys in their cars and in areas without cell phone service (pretty much all the trailheads north of VT Route 15) they take it on themselves to smash their own window for access.

I apologize for jumping to conclusions, but figured better warn fellow hikers than not warn.

[Manwich]

Empty your car and leave the doors unlocked. The most valuable thing they can take from your car is the in-tact glass.

[Landshark]

Definitely more risky with out of state plates, even in the daytime at some places such as rt 103 (near swinging bridge/clarendon gorge). Not sure of any particular problems this year.

[pedxing]

At the Rt. 9 trailhead, saw one smashed window, saw evidence of other broken glass and heard reports of a rash of earlier smash and grabs.