[napali2004]

I think it's a good idea and something I would want to be aware of. Since I will more than likely always have my kid with me, I would avoid areas with a lot of break ins. Last week a couple in Oregon was attacked by a guy breaking into cars at the trailhead. http://salem-news.com/articles/october062006/couple_hurt_10606.php

[Traildoggie]

I like this idea and think it's informative not negative. we were vandalized at the end of august this year at the Monogram Lake trailhead. gas line cut, took > 1 week and $800 to fix. there was a note on the trail register describing a similar incident previously but we chose (unwisely, as it turns out) to go anyway. We've witnessed vandalized cars on Mt Loop outside Granite so many times we won't overnight anywhere on that road. We were vandalized near the Marten Lake trailhead near south Baker about 4 years ago, and a long time ago at the white chuck trailhead. So, we've paid our dues. Nothing is 100% safe but if thieves are targeting certain areas I would go elsewhere. As it is now you could park somewhere that is being heavily hit by vandals and have absolutely no way of knowing unless it's so bad it actually makes the newspaper.

[Traildoggie]

S'cuse me...meant to say I would vote to put this as a sticky under Trail talk. Won't be useful if new threads keep getting started cause not everyone knows to look for it.

[Ulrich]

From all the anecdotal evidence it appears that most car break-ins and related vandalisms take place on weekends (?), on cars left unattended from Friday to Monday mornings. As stated before we've seen broken glass on numerous trailheads on Monday mornings. Being retired we have the luxury to hike during the week. Most of the time our car was the only one at very remote and also very popular trailheads. Luckily we never experienced any break-ins so far.

[Tim and Angel]

I feel very lucky this has not happened to me yet. There has got to be some way, some device that can frighten thieves or vandals away....I am talking about something other than sitting on a tail gate holding a shotgun loaded with rock salt anticipating unsavory types. A motion detection activated "punch to the face" air bag? A glass break detector that automatically sounds an alarm from another area (wireless) Like a remote loudspeaker siren portable hidden a few yards away. Tear gas or mace mist that is activated by opening a glove box. ...I guess the damage would have been done to the first vehicle, but the perpetrators may leave the rest of the lot alone. Anyway, I am all for this thread.

[Allison]

Hm, so it seems we're largely in agreement about this idea in theory. The devil, it appears, is in the details. Where to put it? Some say TRs, some say TT. Personally, it see it better fitting in TRs as it's essentially a subset of TRs, but would hate to see it not happen based on a small detail. I do not see the thread as either negative or positive, merely informational. Any of you who read my posts may know that I'm low drama on the crime related threads, on the rare occasion I post on them. Sticky or no sticky? Personally, I prefer the sticky so that there are not multiple threads. I'd love to see ONE thread strictly on TH incidents. Just the facts, and nothing about preventative or countermeasures, if you catch my drift. The advantage to sticky is that everyone knows about the thread, the disadvantage, for those of you who browse the subforums one at a time (I use the magnifying glass upper left corner to only see new posts) is visual clutter.

[Tim and Angel]

Yeah, I agree, ML. TR and sticky. Trail head, date, and maybe a brief description of the crime. (vandalized, gas line, busted window, theft) Just the facts. This would be great and I bet it would be viewed every time a new post surfaced.

[Dayhike Mike]

My vote is still for Trail Talk. And no sticky. It's actually counterproductive to have it as a sticky as people will simply get used to having it on top and ignore it. If you're concerned about additional threads, mods can merge errant posts in with the main thread if necessary. Hopefully, there will be relatively few break-ins and this won't be necessary too often. Even if it does require intervention now and again, people will eventually remember it's there, and get used to searching for it and posting in it.

[GeoHiker]

I think it's a great idea and should be stickied somewhere. I tend to agree with DHM that I ignore the stickied threads, but then if it's important I'll know right where to find it without hunting it down. This post was fresh on my mind Wed. morning when I took off early for the TOL campout and ended up camping at Walupt Lake. Creepy guy in a van was parked all alone right at the TH 200 ft. from where I was camping. Since I was the only one camping in that HUGE campground it was a bit disconcerting. It cut about 3 hrs out of my hiking day before I finally decided to chance it and hike. Needless to say I had to rush and wasn't in the best frame of mind the rest of the day thinking the guy would come back. I wish something could be done, but other than posting a lookout with a rifle the scums are going to keep doing this kind of theft. I've only had my rig broken into once. Last summer in Vancouver Canada and was lucky enough to only lose some clothes and sunglasses. My car was towed and it took 4 hrs to find it and pay the $85 towing fee. Add on the $150 for the window and I got off easy. I could have easily lost all my camping and hiking gear. I camp all the time in remote areas and tend to avoid the popular TH's if possible. I camped a lot in the Mtn Loop area last year and never had a problem, but know that area is hit hard. I guess it's not a matter of if , but a matter of when.

[1k]

[Nancy]

On Monday October 2 we returned to our car at 3:23 at the Mt. Dickerman trail head and found it vandalized. The Jeep next to us had its rear window bashed in and the SUV to the left was untouched. We figured that belonged to the hikers we met that got a late start. It looked like the vandals first tried to punch in the lock in the front passenger door and failed. So they just punched in the side of the car next to the lock, and ransacked the car. The only thing they got was an old pair of prescription sunglasses with a very heavy prescription. Our car is now in the shop and the damage is $1000 which we will pay as our deductible is $1000. We returned to this trail head exactly one week later on Columbus Day, hiked to the top, and returned to an unvandalized parking lot. Some said we were foolish to do this, but we felt that if you fall off a horse you just have to get back up there and ride on.

[Dayhike Mike]

Sorry to hear about it Nancy...

[Dayhike Mike]

[Traildoggie]

Sorry to hear about the Dickerman trail head. Maybe everyone knows this but I'll say it anyway. Vandalism is covered under the "comprehensive"portion of your insurance and is not treated like a car accident. the deductible is different and more likely $100. Depending on the damage you can decide if you want to claim anything or pay it yourself out of pocket. we recently hit a deer and that also was covered under comprehensive.

[GeoHiker]