If Campers Are Bullies or Worse

Most campers are out in the wilderness for the joy of the fresh air and peacefulness of the great outdoors. The hiking of trails and discovery of interesting rock formations or sightings of wildlife, or beautiful views of forest and mountains, and rivers that take our breath away. Whether your out in the woods in summer, winter, or spring or fall the experience should be one that restores ones spirit and makes you feel rested and ready for that next adventure.

But what if your in a far off backwoods campsite minding your own business and a stranger comes into camp and demands your time or attention in a scary manner. This happened to a person who was with his family camping. Although he tried talking quietly with this person it became scary when the man started yelling that they had stolen his favorite camping spot and it became an very emotional experience for this person's young children. Not knowing what else to do he said he packed up his family and left the area. The event was reported but the man was not found at the site when the rangers arrived. This could have been a worse case event but as I was told this man was very lucky and made a good decision in just leaving the area, than arguing over the camp site. Have you ever had trouble with rude or otherwise campers who ruined a camping outing or family event??

If so please share your story here....!

 

I found some good advice from a backpacker concerning dealing with people you might meet in the woods on a solo hike, just to be on the safe side. Here goes:




And then this bully was of a different species, but it was a very frighting experience for two hikers.

 

This topic is not to create a stir about campers in general, however, it is an eye-opener about a subject rarely encountered and often ignored until there it is right in your face and you need to deal with it in the safest manner possible. Thus here is the tale of a man named Lincolin, links to watch at youtube.

Owner of video pulled the plug on sharing videos off, so go to youtube and look up Lincolin's Guns on the Applalachian Trail Part 1 & Part 2.








Any thoughts on this subject?

 

That is a very disheartening story and it is a shame that he had to change his plans because of an encounter with some aggressive (psychotic?) person. Although I probably would have handled it differently, I can understand that since he was with his family he probably just wanted to avoid confrontation, and deescalate the situation and get his family away safely. Hopefully you have not had any similarly annoying experiences @2sweed?

 

The most I ever had to contend with was a group of loud drunks who were shooting off guns. As the night grew longer they grew louder and much swearing was heard. I was with friends and so it was a bit less scary for me. However, many other campers were terrified and the forest rangers and state police moved them out early the next morning.

 

Sounds unpleasant, it sounds like it was at a campground? I don't see why anyone would think that bringing guns and shooting them off at a campground with so many people around would be a good idea, especially drunk and in the middle of the night. It seems like all the wrong things combined when it comes to firearm safety and common courtesy. Fortunately I have not had any unpleasant experiences with other people when I have been camping, everyone that I've met has been super friendly and laid back.