First off, I will ask you, no, tell you this: QUIT SLANDERING THE NAMES OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED HIKERS. I know all of these people, and know for a fact that, #1, they didn’t take anything from him, and #2 they are NOT to blame for any of this.
Mountain Man left some of these hikers with his “gear” in a sketchy area, while he went to “drop off” something in Harpers Ferry, WV, at 2:00 in the afternoon. Not only did he not return that night, he left these guys in an area where camping was not allowed, and where a ton of sketchy people were hanging out. He also never showed up that morning, so they left at 2 in the afternoon to try to get back to the trail. It was extremely irresponsible for him to just leave these 2 guys stranded like this; one that a mature adult should know better than to do. Supposedly, Mt. Man came back at 4 o’clock the next afternoon, and some of his gear was missing. You are right, this should not have happened. Not in the least. If I were waiting around for a ride to be back within 3 hours of their departure, and they didn’t even show up again in 24 hours, you bet your ass I would leave.
Now, as far as the gear is concerned, the list of gear “stolen” that has been posted everywhere doesn’t even match the gear that he brought along on the trip. I find that to be rather strange. I’m just saying.
So, whatever story you believe, you end up with 2 hikers being threatened for something that cannot even be proven, and a lot of other stupid people that have NOTHING TO DO with the situation at all (this person that started the thread is one of them) and just know second-hand GOSSIP about the incident continue to spread false rumors along the trail, and even on the internet. Outfitters and hostels along the trail have been falsely notified of these people, and other hikers are threatening to step in and “take care of it.” Why? Because of gossip and misinformation. This is horrible. Not only is this horrible, but it is the second time this year, that I know of, a hiker or group of hikers have been accused of theft by people who SHOULD KNOW BETTER than to just automatically jump to the conclusion that we’re all thieves out here. The fact is, all involved were questions, and no charges have been brought up. Why? Well, why do you think?
These people mentioned are not “hikers;” they are hikers. They’ve covered practically every inch of the trail from Springer, and each have a complete set of gear that cannot be matched by the list of gear supposedly stolen from Mountain Man. We’re hikers. What the hell are we going to do with someone else’s gear when we’re constantly trying to lighten up our own?
Think about what you post in the future about incidents that you know little or nothing of, because if the tables were turned, you probably wouldn’t want a bunch of other hikers relying on gossip and rumors concerning you.
dirty rumors
