Creeps at the trailhead

“So this past weekend, I went car camping in the Sierra Buttes, a really nice little collection of peaks in the northern Sierra. So for the opener day hike, we went to a trailhead that supposedly had a nice wildflower display, just a little 4 miler to get warmed up for a weekend of hiking.

Anyway, it was a pretty gnarly five mile road (used to be part of the Emigrant Trail 175 years ago) to the trailhead, just waaaaay in the middle of nowheres. We get to the trailhead and I noticed a cheap tent set up at the intersection of a couple of dirt roads (shared ATV area). There's a dirty blanket strewn in front, I can see at LEAST three gallon jugs of unopened Gallo sitting in the doorway of the tent. No other gear. There's a flat black painted Civic and then two jacked up trucks, one with a trailer, two guys standing and an older looking guy, crew cut, beefy, in flannel, sitting in folding chair and chugging a bottle Old Crow or some other cheap rotgut. I go over and talk with the two younger guys who are ATVers and shoot the shlt about the area. They inform me they were just coming back to load up on supplies and then were headed back down to their camp, about 10 miles away. So they load up and drive off while we're gearing up, and I realize, the one guy is still sitting in his chair, sorta mumbling to himself with some pringles and other junk food sorta scattered around him.

We head over to the trail, not the one the HOVers took, and where this guy has percehed his chair. I finally see this guy up close. He's pretty built, grey crew cut, thick flannel woodsman shirt, dirty jeans, workboots, and a face only his mama could love, missing an eye and a scar running down the right side of his face. He sorta leers at us as we walk by and says, "Where you goin'?" I tell him for a walk and we split, but jeeze, the dude looked like serious trouble and NO ONE, I mean no one, was around for miles and miles.

We went on our hike and the whole time, I was just thinking about that dude and what he may be up to. Would our tires be slashed? Did he steal that car and flat black it? Was there a body in the back? I mean, I'm not a paranoid person usually, but this dude had me all freaked out. All I had on me was a 4-inch flip blade, and I was all ready to carve him a new one if I had to. I mean, he seemed pretty buzzed, so we had that on him. Plus I assumed his depth perception was screwed because of his one eye, but still. He looked like he'd been in it before and looked pretty desperate to be drinking out on some mountaintop by himself, in the middle nowhere.

So, as we're approaching the car coming back from the hike, the wife and I work out the deets. If he approaches, I tell her, you get in the car with the babe, plop her in the passenger seat and rip outta there while I deal with this character. We get back to the car and he's not in his chair, so I start scanning and can see his back to us, leaning into the tent to get something and we hightail it to the car to get everything loaded up while I keep an eye on this cat. He turned around, and I was ready for trouble. Instead, he just headed back to his chair with one of those jugs of wine and proceeded to continue getting housed.

I've run into some Billy Bobs at the trail before, but this dude was freaky. Made me start thinking about carrying a gun.”

“It was Jesus.”

“Right, I mean, I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt. He was definintely down on his luck and had a rough time, it seemed.

But dang, he was a seriously creepy dude.”

“roseymonster carries weapons?

hmmm ....”

“I always carry a knife in the backcountry. There also was a razor sharp Gerber hatchet and a head thumper in my car.”

“Stereotype much, rosey?”

“Of course the peanut gallery wants to try and get into it. I'm just telling it like it is.”

“Had you just said he was like Stovie, you could've saved lots of words in the stereotype.”

“Well, we know anyone with 'cheap' gear has got to be one of those people. /sarc”

“It wasn't the cheap gear. It's that he looked like your dad.”

“If that scenario had happened to me, the very last place I would post it would be right here. Oh well, I've done worse:)”

“I bet rosey crosses the street when he spots a black guy walking his way.”

“Rosey, this is a sign of your success on this message board - Stovie and Sarge are so angry at you that they follow you to non-fuego posts in order to try and piss you off. You should take it as a compliment.”

“I know Nimble, but sometimes I'm just a glutton for punishment. I was just curious what folks would say.

I knew all the total badasses like Sarge and Stove would display their understanding sides.”

“Peps agrees with you rosey. "Poor' people are scary.”

“On second thought, thanks for pointing out a clear moral of my story, Stove: cheap gear IS scary!”

“why don't you go find us a comic so you can tell us your real opinion?”

“poor people throwing back whiskey and gallo in the middle of nowhere mumbling to himself.”

““On second thought, thanks for pointing out a clear moral of my story, Stove: cheap gear IS scary!”
roseymonster
3:33:30 PM
8/10/09

Spoken like a true elite.
last edited: 8/10/09 3:28:28 PM”

“I freely admit it. I like high-quality gear and dislike creeps at the trailhead with cheap gear. However, let it be known that I also dislike creeps at the trailhead with quality gear.”

“Spoken like a true elete.
last edited: 8/10/09 3:26:52 PM”
Stovie
3:35:38 PM
8/10/09

nice spelling there, Stovie. I love that you went back and edited the post, but left the error. Better stick to using someone else's words.”

“We have learned one thing from this thread.
Don't go camping with rosey or peps with cheap wine or gear.”

“you have to get away from your online comic books for awhile in order to go camping, Stovie... so I'm not too concerned”

“Unless you want to share. And this guy didn't offer.

But yeah, I'm not much of a Gallo guy. There are a lot of better $3 bottles that won't leave you with such a sour stomach and headache.”

“You sound bitter, peps. Are you still pissed from that last PWNING?”

“That guy in the chair was worried the alcohol wouldn't be strong enough the kill the AIDS virus if you took a drink.”

“I couldn't care less. If you ever had anything to say in your own words, other than "silly ____" or "stupid _____" then it'd be possible for you to say something that might piss me off. It's just amusing how pathetic you appear on here, especially now that HPD, or Sarge, or whoever is here and can actually verbalize a similar point of view to yours, while actually using his own words. You just pop from thread to thread, looking for a conversation where you can insert a comic, picture, or insulting comment toward MarkO, Tilt, Rosey or Violin. You're completely irrelevant, and now that HPD is here - essentially invisible. You're usually not even worth a response at all. I feel dirty having already wasted this much time on you in this thread, but it's a slow day at work and what the hell else am I gonna do?”

“Yep, peps is still bitter.”

“Sorry, I must have hit a personal nerve with you and the physical description above. Or wait, it was you???

Did the thread title insult you? I'm sorry.
last edited: 8/10/09 3:40:38 PM”

“*snicker*

I like how you decided to remove the "or your Dad" from the above post.
last edited: 8/10/09 3:47:17 PM”

“you didn't say hello? kinda rude, dontcha think?”

“Hey rosey, you should report him to Obamy. The One will keep those 'poor' people out of your woods.

”

“Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did say Hello passing on the way to the trail.”

“I went to Havasupai a couple years back. At the trailhead, there were about 5 or 6 Supai, sitting in the shade, absolutely blasted (at 8:30 am) and leering at my wife. I felt a more than a little worried to leave my car there, particularly since there were a couple completely gutted cars parked in the same lot. Nothing happened to the car (which was in little better shape than the gutted cars anyways, so it's not like someone could look at it and assume there are valuables inside), but the same guys were sitting there when we got out, drinking again.”

“Hey man, it could have been worse...the guy could have...done something wrong.

Sounds to me like the key ingredients that got your panties all in a bunch were the wife and baby. I'm the same way – when I’m out on a hike with the wife the same thoughts run through my head in those situations and before I know it I’m contemplating how effective my leatherman is going to be as a stabbing devise.

If it were just you, or you and a couple buddies instead of the wife and kid, this thread would most likely be geared towards trying to determine where this "creep" managed to find a good thick flannel shirt these days.”

“I think you are spot on Meathead. I came away wondering why the guy really freaked me out since I wouldn't have given the guy a second thought really if I had been out with my buddies on a hike, or if there had been more of us going on a hike.

Guess I'd better get used to dealing with that sorta caution and not letting it kill the good hike vibes.

Thanks for the understanding.”

“I'd still worry a little about the car, but you're spot on meathead - I think the presence of a wife and/or kids is enough to make most people a little overprotective”

“Backpeddling time for rosey.”

“Yup, Meathead got it. Archie would be proud:)”

“Now had the guy been wearing Patagonia and Royal Robbins...”

“this is funny, a f*cking pervert like kevin on a thread about creeps....ironic”

“GOD DAMN IT KEVIN, WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO F UP EVERY THREAD...F'ING STOP IT! We don't want to hear politics or feugo every time you feel like butting in. Give us a gear report, a new bit of instructions on can stoves, or a new lightweight pillow or sleeping quilt. You have not aged into a wise kind fellow that goes out of his way to help his fellow hiker, but have gone to the far opposite side!!!



Rosey, we have an old railway converted to a bike/walking trail here in GA. It starts in Atlanta, and goes into E. Alabama, real nice landscaping and facilities the whole length. You can get some remote areas between lil towns though. There have been 1-2 killings on it, so you have to be weary of "out of sort" things.
I was on my bike, and had just dropped Sipsey off to Michelle after 8 miles of hard riding. I turned to return 8 miles back to my truck (pup was too tired to run back). I'm 5 miles out of town, not a road, or house around, when the two guys related to the banjo picker in deliverance step out of the woods in what appears to be blood stained overalls. They spread out along the paved trail, and I'm tuckered out...i was about to start walking my bike to rest a bit. HELL NAH. I dropped it in 3-8 gear and HAULED ass until I could hear my heart in my temples. That scared the crap out of me. I really don't see how to carry a 9mm or 45 comfortably on a 16 mile bike trip. But boy I sure wanted one.”

“OPIE shares his GREY POUPON with rosey.”

“, when the two guys related to the banjo picker in deliverance step out of the woods in what appears to be blood stained overalls.

I think that there would be enough.

I think a couple of TT trips I've been on started like Rosey's initial post ;o)

I've never really found it too good when people are just hanging around in place like that.”

“GOD DAMN IT KEVIN, WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO F UP EVERY THREAD...F'ING STOP IT! We don't want to hear politics or feugo every time you feel like butting in b!tch
OPIE
5:22:03 PM
8/10/09
last edited: 8/10/09 5:21:51 PM”

“I can never remember when it's okay to judge people based on their looks. Will one of the experts please post the manual? Thanks.”

“Looks is one thing, but smell is entirely different.

That would be cause for alarm when your wife and baby are with ya, Rosey.”

“I wonder if it ever occured to rosey to just turn the car around and go to some other trailhead if he was that concerned?”

“If I'd have had my wife and child with me, that would have freaked me out. Sometimes you just get a bad vibe and need to be vary of it.

There's a story in one of Doug Peacock's books about him being in BFE and camping with wife and family. He actually has to lock his wife in their truck because these three bubbas are trying to get her. He actually planned out how he was going to try and kill the three of them to get out of the situation. It's been a few years since I read the book so I don't recall the particulars. I don't think anyone died, but I think a few heads were busted. Bad things happen and you damn well better be ready when they do.”

“How do you people know what the guy was drinking? Haven't you ever heard of hiding the good stuff in a different bottle?”