Police on trail

imported
#1

Besides the fontana hilton does anyone know of any time the police have harrased hikers in the past searching for drugs or for any reason?

Jesse

#2

You will find that park police will most likely visit you in
the national parks along the trail so have your backcountry
permit. Most state parks have a ranger type just to make
sure you pay your fees and camp in the proper spot. Many times these folks are fairly helpful and have given me rides ,use of phones, etc. … its all in your attitude.
Swamp Dawg

Swamp Dawg

#3

I would have said last year that you should not expect to much interaction, but 9/11 might make a difference. That will yet to be seen by this years class.

In the past, there are many tales of escaped prisioners on the trail and manhunts that have happened over the years. It is not likely to affect you.

For example, many don’t know that not very far from much of the trail before the swinging bridge near Trent’s Grocery store in VA, is a prison. In fact it is only a half mile away from a shelter on the trail.

For myself, I was awakened in PA by a State Trooper who wanted to make sure I was thru-hiker and not a teenage drunk who liked to party.

So, it can happen. Most of the cops are thru-hiker savvy and won’t harrass you. But they will check on you if they feel the need. But be sure to have some government identification on you at all times just in case. That will make their interogation of you much easier and quicker.

Mr. Boo

#4

… and remember that you do still have rights even though you live out of a backpack. Don’t leave your stuff unattended, and if the cops ask to look through your pack, you can and should (very politely) refuse to consent to the search - once.

Answer their questions, show them ID and backcountry permit (keep these easily accessible), and be as friendly and helpful as possible - in other words, don’t be a jerk and give them a reason to hassle you. They will still search your pack if they really want/have to, and if they insist, you should say “well, I don’t consent to the search but I won’t stand in the way of you doing your job, officer”, but there is no reason to agree to an otherwise random search and forgo your constitutional rights just because you may be unemployed and smelling funky and the cop says that he is “looking for a filthy bearded white guy somewhere in this part of the woods”. Simply being a thru hiker will not give the cops a “reasonable suspiscion” that you are responsible for criminal activity, just as being black/hispanic/whatever on a city street is never probable cause in itself.

If the fuzz really wants to bust you, they will, but leave your lawyer something to fight with. It could be the difference between a drag evening unhappily locked in small, dingy place (not unlike shelters in the Smokies, except the privy is likley cleaner) and much bigger problems.

Papillon

#5

I know a '98 thru-hiker who was in the Fontana Hilton when a team of the FBI or somebody swooped in at about 2 in the morning. They were looking for Eric Rudolph, the abortion clinic bomber. Never found him.

I also heard rumors before I started out last year that there would be police on the Trail looking for drugs, but I never saw any.

That said, it drives me crazy when people smoke pot in the shelters. There are lots of other places where you can smoke pot, but the shelters are public places for the broader community, and there are lots of people that your pot smoking (or any kind of smoking) in the shelters will bother. The hiking community is really diverse with respect to attitudes toward drugs, and people are mostly really tolerant unless drugs invade public space. Also, a lot of hostel owners forbid drug use of various kinds, including alcohol.

hypatia

#6

Amen to that. Now where’s my inhaler?

B+B '01

#7

I’m not “all about” smoking marijuana, but have found it can help with moral, during tough times. Do people get their weed taken on the trail, should I make a hidden compartment in my pac?

johnny utah

#8

I don’t know any stories of people’s packs being searched… my main interaction with park rangers comes from hitching rides from them. And police, I rarely saw. Most people were very friendly to us thru-hikers.

I think if you’re discrete with pot, you’ll be fine. I don’t see why you would need a hidden compartment in a pack.

hypatia

#9

On a section hike in 1993 (Damascus to Springer) I came off the trail in Fontana Dam and ran into a Ranger (or he might have been a cop, I can’t remember) right after I passed the dam. He asked to search my pack (which I allowed, as I had nothing to hide). I was a bit surprised, but he was otherwise quite friendly, even coming down to the shelter later on and hanging out. He seemed apologetic about the whole searching thing, as if he had been given orders to check peoples packs by someone higher up.

That said, I have hiked the AT for many years without problems, and every ranger I have met has been pretty cool.

Sasquatch

#10

There will be no problems with crossing the dam now. I was there on 3/15 and we were starting our hike into the Smokies at 10:30 friday night crossing the dam in the dark. I know that was shady, a cop pulled up to see what we were doing, when I told him we were night-hiking, he hung out till we were on our way, but gave us no problems.

Sweeper

#11

I dont think they would take everything out of your pack a park ranger in gsmnp main concern in searching a pack i would hope to be looking for a gun not pot hid your pot where you couldnt hide a gun

Jesse

#12

I dont think they would take everything out of your pack a park ranger in gsmnp main concern in searching a pack i would hope to be looking for a gun not pot hide your pot where you couldnt hide a gun

Jesse

#13

I was accosted by police in Bryson City, NC on my hike in 2000. They thought I was a 16 year old runaway. All I wanted was a ride back to the NOC. They asked me for my ID. They made me get in the cruiser and wait for another squad car to show up with the flyer of the runaway. I looked nothing like her. Not only was I 10 years older, but I was also about 30 pounds heavier. PUUULLEEEZEE!!

To top it off, the police man didn’t even drive me all the way back to the NOC. He dropped me off about a mile away. The nerve.

That was actually a fun adventure. I had another run-in with a park ranger in the Shenandoahs who asked me to shake out the shirt I was wearing because women sometimes carry cocaine in their bras. I thought that was funny. I didn’t realize there was a cocaine problem in the AT thru-hiker community. Of course, it didn’t help that I was camped illegally, either…

But really, as long as you’re not doing anything that looks suspicious, and are obeying the posted rules, they won’t bother you.

Belcher