Friendly Cops along the AT

imported
#1

I thought it might be helpful for hikers to know about others’ experiences/runs ins with the law along the AT (or any trail for that matter). I have a couple to talk about. I am a middle aged white male.

Yesterday I had to get off the trail after spending the night at Bobblets Gap Shelter. I made my way down the mountain to state hwy 11 and was hitching back to Troutville VA using my “Hiker To Town” kercheif. A very nice VA State Trooper picked me up and gave me a ride to my destination. Didn’t ask for ID and really treated me with respect. We had a nice chat too.

On the contrary, when I was in New York State, a young hiker couple told me how they were hassled by SP there and were threatened with a ticket if caught hitching again.

Also, in New York, a town cop hassled me for hitching along a state route threatening to write me up if he caught me doing it again.

The Florida Trail often follows state routes. There a State Trooper pulled over and checked my ID. He didn’t know that the road was the FT.

Excitable Hiker!

#2

Excitable Hiker…I live 5 miles from the trail in Daleville, VA…good to hear that our cops are nice around here.
Just a warning though about accepting a ride. Daleville was also the place where a female hiker coming off the trail, alone, was offered a ride to the Post Office.(It was a SUNDAY, she didn’t know what day it was) She ended up being taken somewhere else and was sexually attacked. The person was caught later on and luckily the hiker was released right away without further harm. This happened in ‘08’. The police had to go find her on the trail to get her “story” and help identify the guy. Be careful out there!!

Karen

#3

On my 2000 AT hike and in all of the many trips I have taken I cannot recall one interaction I had with the police. I met ricky ranger several times who have usually been pretty cool but a couple had bad attitudes.

Big B

#4

On the LT '07 in Richmond VT, as I was road walking to town at a construction zone the Chief told me to just reach into the front seat of his cruiser and help my self to a cold coke. He was awesome! Peace.

crazy ivan

#5

I was hitching out of Vernon,N>J. in 08 with a card board sign saying hiker to trail. A cop pulled up and kept staring at me so I went up to his window and asked him if there was a prob. He said a citizen had called and reported a suspicious and potentially dagerous person was trying to pass himself as a hiker.THe cop then laughed and said you look and smell like a hiker to me and then gave me a ride to the trail.

floater

#6

Hey, Floater, I remember that day. I met you at that TH in NJ right after that.

I must fly below cops’ radar, so to speak, because like Big B I can’t recall any interaction I’ve ever had with highway patrol, sheriff, or town police. Maybe that’s because I only hitched three times on my AT thru and I stayed away from as many towns as I could.

Garlic

#7

Ha Ha!! That’s a really funny story floater!!

Karen

#8

on my 2005 hike I had a very negative run in with the Erwin Police. I was harassed and treated as a criminal. It was very similar to the town scene from the movie “Rambo”. Im actually going down this Spring to meet with the DA and file a complaint.

KTR

#9

I had a ride from trail days to Daleville/Troutville area in '06. After our driver accidentally made an illegal U-turn, we were pulled over by police. Everyone in the car was clearly sober, but they decided to have the k-9 unit come out to sniff the car. We were cooperative with all of the police officers actions. It was pretty frightening, despite the fact that no-one in the car was carrying drugs. After finding nothing, they gave the driver a ticket and sent us off with out any sort of explanation or apology about the dogs.

slick

#10

I was hiking a branch trail of the Finger Lakes Trail this past February. We were fine the first day, but we had to bail out on our second. The snow was way too deep for me and the dogs to plow through and the snow was falling harder and harder as the day went on. We hiked about a mile into a town called West Valley to call and get a ride home. A sheriff drove by us outside the post office not longer after I got into town. I found out my ride couldn’t pick us up because a bunch of the roads were closed and I was about an hour from home. Luckily, the post office in this little town has a 24 hour lobby and the sheriff told me we could stay inside the lobby. He drove by again a few hours later to check up on us and told me his Sgt would do the same later in the night… The Sgt ended up driving us home around 3am because he said the weather was suppose to stay crappy and he’d rather not have anyone drive down to pick us up… First time I ever got to ride in a cop car (SUV). Except the dogs sat in the back… It’s funny because neither sheriff had any idea the trail even existed…

FLT

#11

Ive had both, had Cops bring me water on the ADT, had them run me off from camping, had them ID me and give me grief for road walking, had them let me sleep in their yards and feed me in the morning, had them send me care packages and others give me more crap.

It varies, as with all people, there are good and bad, annoying and helpful.

The bored unhappy cops are the ones that can get on you for no reason. The Majority of the onesd Iv e dealt with while hiking (Especially across America) were cool…cept for Kansas…jesus, they stopped me like every hour.:boy

Lion KIng

#12

“Also, in New York, a town cop hassled me for hitching along a state route threatening to write me up if he caught me doing it again.”

There is a law in NY against hitch hiking. Hiker Beware.

Bilko

#13

cops are people , too…as paw-ee would say : “they have mommas and daddys…etc etc”…if i was a cop, i’d like to think i’d be helpful all the time…but…if you caught me on a bad hair day…welllllllll…

here’s to humanity!

maw-ee