Dead beat hiker

[birchy]

what kind of vet picks a trail name like "papa smurf"? You would think he would pick a more military sounding name.

Panzer

PANZER, I was wondering that my self.. I thought since his name was CLAY, and he was in NAM.... a good trail name would be CLAYMORE. If we were in the JUNGLE I would set a few and save us all a lot of trouble....LOL...hahaha

[Lone Wolf]

what kind of vet picks a trail name like "papa smurf"? You would think he would pick a more military sounding name.

Panzer

there are plenty of vets that never saw combat. the action they saw was in bars and whore houses. maybe he was a REMF

[sasquatch2014]

Should be kinds fun if this guy shows up next weekend in Duncannon.......especially if Birchy is there, too. Nothing like some good drama and our entertainment budget is limited this year.

If it happens during dinner time it will be like one of those medieval dinner theaters, but you don't have to pay to watch, which goes back to Panzers comment on being cheap.

[Ron Haven]

Birchy,

Dealing with the public as I do. I encounter human trash on a daily bases. With hikers there is some out there but the percentage is very small. I am going to guess less than 3%. The great people who are hikers out weigh the few hair brain kids that were not raised right, the street trash looking for an adventure or running from the cops. Then occasionally a few professional bums and panhandlers you find on the street corners in front of wine joints. I see more in one week being a motel owner stopping in wanting to free load than I see hikers in a whole year. When you see negitive post about hostel and hotel owners posted you can usually bet it was posted by this human garbage who didn't get by with their thieving or wrongful activities. Thanks for posting this. It keeps good hikers from getting a bad name..

[Jack Tarlin]

Actually, Panzer, the Duncannon event is open to everyone but this certainly doesn't mean everyone is welcome. Certain folks aren't, and certain behavior will get a person asked to leave. We enjoy great relations with the town, Police Department, etc., and we intend to keep it that way. Duncannon this weekend will be a great place for hikers and their friends, but it'll be the wrong place to be an idiot. We throw this event to have fun with each year's hikers, and not to be babysitters or cops, and anyone planning to attend would be well advised to keep this in mind. Several folks last year discovered this a bit too late.

[Prov]

I hiked into the Partnership Shelter approx May 30/31. A hiker that was there from the night before told me about a vet named Papa Smurf who came into the shelter very late the previous night. He was extremely drunk and had alcohol with him. He woke everyone in the shelter up, told them they were laying down in the wrong direction, and demanded that everyone get up and rearrange themselves. An argument ensued and Papa Smurf began threatening some of the hikers. The police were called. He was then schlepped off to the pokie. I heard he was back on the trail the next day.

[Driver8]

The person who the work for you got hacked. It's happened to friends of mine. We got their plea for help from London while they were sitting in the same room with us. Standard scam, I'm afraid.

If you ever get an email where the language seems odd or unnatural, Google a quote from the email. You'll usually find it's spam.

[Papa D]

Partnership Shelter is cool in that you can order pizza but it's totally un-cool in that people party there and come and go all night. It would be much rarer to find a raging drunk dude at a shelter further off the road

[birchy]

PAPA SMURF, left me 3 very drunken, nasty voice mails on my cell phone over the last few days. So not only has he stiffed us on his hostel stay but now he making harassing phone calls.

[dillard]

As extensively as this guy has been talked about how have we not managed to get him off the trail yet? Especially seeing that he now has outstanding charges.

[greenmtnboy]

PAPA SMURF, left me 3 very drunken, nasty voice mails on my cell phone over the last few days. So not only has he stiffed us on his hostel stay but now he making harassing phone calls.

It's time for law enforcement to do its job. This sick puppy needs to get back to his hometown if he has one--his village called, their idiot's missing.

[Wuff]

PANZER, I was wondering that my self.. I thought since his name was CLAY, and he was in NAM.... a good trail name would be CLAYMORE. If we were in the JUNGLE I would set a few and save us all a lot of trouble....LOL...hahaha

He explained to me in the Smokies that his original trail name was "Tear Drop" from a previous thru-hike, but that "The Circus" adopted him and renamed him. The Circus would be a group of kids I met in the Smokies (I believe from New Orleans).

[birchy]

As extensively as this guy has been talked about how have we not managed to get him off the trail yet? Especially seeing that he now has outstanding charges.

DILLARD, I think with this guy the only time he really spends on the actual A.T. is when he needs money or some other help, or may be when he is lonely. He told me that he walked from Calidonia to Shippensburg, PA via Rt 997 and White Church Rd which in my book is avoiding the more direct route provided by the A.T. This guy will do what he needs to avoid people, usually stealt camping a nd skipping sections of the trail. Even backtracking.

[JokerJersey]

I hiked into the Partnership Shelter approx May 30/31. A hiker that was there from the night before told me about a vet named Papa Smurf who came into the shelter very late the previous night. He was extremely drunk and had alcohol with him. He woke everyone in the shelter up, told them they were laying down in the wrong direction, and demanded that everyone get up and rearrange themselves. An argument ensued and Papa Smurf began threatening some of the hikers. The police were called. He was then schlepped off to the pokie. I heard he was back on the trail the next day.

Heya Prov, that would have been our group that caught the drunken wrath of Papa Smurf that night. Actually, I was camped with you at the next shelter on with Radio, Noodles, and Chef (remember the music?) and didn't find out about it until the next day when the Tribe caught up with me. This is NOT the first instance of this happening, the cops HAVE been involved in more than one case/state, and it's NOT an isolated incident. The guy IS a Nam Vet, not that it matters in this case. The Circus that was mentioned before broke up quite awhile ago, before Trail Days in fact, and everyone else that was a part of it is off-Trail.

I've had run-ins with Papa Smurf a couple of times now and have had mixed reactions depending on the incident. When we were in Pearisburg, he bought everyone beer. Before that, he was mooching off people in Hot Springs. Some people were calling him Papa Smurf, others were calling him Teardrop (due to the tat near his eye). He's not entirely stable and I personally wouldn't put myself in a situation where I was the only person staying with him. It's almost like dealing with someone who is bipolar. Some days he's really outgoing and super nice, other days it's the exact opposite.

This is NOT second-hand information, hear-say, rumors, or anything else. I've met, hung out with, hiked with, and been around this guy before from about the time of Standing Bear Farm to Pearisburg. He skips around on the Trail, catching rides and whatnot (not that I care, because I did that as well), but he does have a tendency to pop up when you least expect it. Just watch yourself around him. Some people got along with him really well and jumped all over me when I talked this way about him, but for the most part, 95% of the hikers I met didn't want to be around him after a very short time. Take what you want from this. Sorry to the OP that you got ripped off, but I can't say I'm surprised, just disappointed that he hasn't changed his ways. Be safe out there!

[RGB]

Do they make kayaks large enough for trolls nowadays?

[Gaiter]

sounds like your warnings have been effective,
next time he calls, put him on speaker and let everyone around you laugh at him... he'll stop calling

[Rocket Jones]

Do they make kayaks large enough for trolls nowadays?

What does that mean?

[Jack Tarlin]

Hey Birchy, do me a favor......if he calls again, tell him he'd do well to skip the upcoming Duncannon party. We're on really good terms with the Duncannon Police Department and I kinda feel that the weekend might not turn out to be his kinda fun.

[dillard]

What does that mean?

Sounds like he's looking for a boat

[Jim Adams]

Tear drop tat!!!! That IS the guy we were talking about at Hawk Mt. Shelter back in March. He is a total ass.

geek