Illegals on the trail

imported
#1

Has anyone else seen illegals on or near the PCT in SoCal? I’ve seen them moving north, mostly at night but sometimes during the day. What has been your experience, and how did you respond?

Dust

#2 
This is a page from my PCT journal when I encountered an illegal alien.
While eating my lunch at the picnic table, I noticed an Hispanic male edging his way down the highway embankment.  He was carring an empty plast drink bottle in his hand, nothing else.  He had no hiking gear, only the clothes on his back. 
As soon as he entered the picnic grounds, he

headed straight for the bathroom in hopes of filling
up his water bottle, but the bathroom had no plumbing
system; just a fancy looking out-house with pit
toilets.
He came out of the bathroom and looked up toward
me. He held up the plastic coke bottle, walked up to
me and asked me if I had any water to spare.
The man didn’t know how lucky he was. Since I
had just gotten water at the water cache, and I knew
there was still some available, I could easily spare a
pint.
I gave him a pint of water and he drank it all
right away. I then asked him if he would like
something to eat. His eyes lit up as he said, "Yes."
Since all my food was spread out on the table, I
told him to pick out whatever he wanted. However,
there were slim pickings to choose from. By now, my
food supply had been reduced to mostly snack food;
hardly anything of good nutritional value.
I had several cans of tuna fish and sardines,
beanie-weenies, bean dip, several instant cup of soup,
lots of granola bars, packs of peanut-butter crackers,
several Snicker candy bars, a few Power bars, bags of
peanuts, cookies, and last but not least–a bag of
jelly beans.
This food supply was meant to get me to Warner
Springs, about two or three days away.
The man chose a can of sardines, a pack of
crackers and a granola bar. He was in “hog heaven” as
he gobbled up the food.
As he ate, I gave him a quick “once over” to size
him up. He appeared to be in his late 30’s or early
40’s. He had short, black hair, was short of stature,
had a stocky build, light brown skin, no mustache
(wich is rare for a mexican) and no tatoos visible.
Looked to be in good health, also.
He was wearing a pair of black, lightweight work
boots, black trousers, a blue and white striped, polo
shirt under a long-sleeved black shirt and had a
black, Levi jean-jacket tied around his waist.
His English was barely understandable, so I
suggested that he go ahead and speak Spanish–I would
probably understand him better.
I asked him all the usual “who, what, when,
where, why and how” questions. He answered sometimes
with quick and straightforward responses, but at other
times he was hesitant and evasive. I think he didn’t
want to reveal too much in case I might report him to
Border Patrol agents.
I finally got this information from him: His
name is Jorge. He left his home town of Hermosillo,
Mexico, crossed the border and was headed for Los
Angeles to look for work as an air-conditioner
repairman.
He had been walking from the border since
Thursday ( the same day that I started ) and had been
following the highway north. At nights, he slept a
little ways off the road with only the clothes that he
was wearing to keep him warm.
I don’t know how he survived those cold, frosty
nights over the past few days, unless he had been
breaking into campers, etc., for shelter. I figured
that he wasn’t telling me the whole story; and I
couldn’t blame him.
Time for me to get back on the trail! Jorge sat
at the table resting while I packed and prepared to
leave.
I suggested that he follow me to the water cache
and refill his bottle before he returned to the
highway. At the cache, he took a full gallon jug and
tossed his small bottle away.
I shook his hand, wished him luck, and left for
the trail.
When I reached the top of the hill, I looked back
and saw that Jorge was still standing at the water
cache and had not made a move for the highway.
The alarm bell went off in my head! “What was he
waiting for? Was he debating whether to take the
highway or take the PCT on his way north?” I needed
to see what he was going to do, so as soon as I
crested the hill and was out of sight, I sat down and
waited.
I let five minutes or so tick off, and then I
peeped over the hill to see if Jorge was still there.
Nope, he was gone!
Being satisfied that he wasn’t going to follow
me, I picked up my pack and hiked onward.

Boots

#3

Dust - Judging by your initial post on the PCT-L list & this one here, I’m figuring you to be a troll. Why don’t you start by describing your experiences and how you responded?

dustbuster

#4

Sorry dustbuster, you need to bust dust elsewhere cause I’m the real thing. I’ve seen quite a few illegals heading north between the border and Hauser Creek.

It was very late, probably after midnight, when I heard what sounded like horse hoofs stomping toward my tent. I stuck my head out and in the moonlight I saw group of 15 or so, they passed me and continued west and down toward the road that goes toward San Diego after crossing HC.

Dust

#5

As a follow up, I didn’t have to respond because they passed me by quickly and probably didn’t see my tent. However, if I had had a cellphone I would have called Border Patrol and alerted them. Illegals put a tremendous strain on our resources, and have little respect for our society.

With all these rallies about “immigrant rights,” you must understand first that they are not immigrants, they are illegal aliens. Second, as foreign nationals they have no rights except under the Geneva Convention, as they are not U.S. citizens but criminals who violate the law the moment they set foot on U.S. soil.

Third, let’s stop giving U.S. citizenship to Mexican women who cross over in the ninth month and drop a baby. They drop that so-called anchor baby, get on welfare, and qualify for U.S. citizenship just because they crossed the ditch and squeezed one out over here? There’s something terribly wrong with that.

Dust

#6

I can’t believe a troll is sucking me in but here goes… one time only…

Dust - You and I probably agree on many items, including many aspects of immigration & illegal aliens, but you’re posts have little-to-nothing to do with the PCT & hiking. Apparently the illegals didn’t rob you of your sleeping bag or threaten to take your tent stakes. The only purpose of your posts seems to be to stir up a debate on immigration policy which has virtually nothing to do with this forum.

And now that I’ve taken the bait, dustbuster shall forever retreat into the netherworld between Manning & the US, where the really scary people cross:tongue

dustbuster

#7

Illegal or not, the term immigrant is correct. And please, keep the political and social issues on a chat forum.

pditty

#8

Dustbuster, if you want to enter into a debate and be taken seriously, watch your grammar. You wrote: “Dust - You and I probably agree on many items, including many aspects of immigration & illegal aliens, but you’re posts have little-to-nothing to do with the PCT & hiking.”

“[Y]ou’re” posts?

“You’re” is a contraction for “you are.” I believe you meant to say “your posts,” indicating the posts belong to Dust, and not “you’re posts” which would indicate that Dust literally is his posts.

Grammar Coach

#9

While I can see this thread is a bit political, I’m curious about more experiences. I’m not looking for discussions about the right/wrong whatever.

I’m curious- How many PCT hikers have interaction with the mexicans? How often are the experiences good (like boots’)? Have people every had gear stolen? Has anyone been injured?

I’m going to be hiking solo, and later in the year then most next summer, and I didn’t know what I should expect. What can I do to minimize bad interactions?

Thanks for any help!

CollegeKid07