[sarbar]

From the Wenatchee NF website: " TRAILHEAD VANDALISM & THEFTS: Acts of malicious mischief have recently been occurring at the North Fork Entiat Trailhead on the Entiat Ranger District. There have also been instances of thefts at campgrounds in the Lake Wenatchee area and at trailheads up the Icicle drainage outside of Leavenworth. No trailhead, roadside parking area, or campground is safe against vehicle prowlers and thieves. Nothing of value should be left in a vehicle parked in the woods. Trail users are asked to check their vehicles over thoroughly before leaving the trailhead parking area for home. Look for nails under the tires, check trailer hitch pins to make sure they are secure, and inspect vehicles and trailers for anything unusual. Please report any suspicious persons or activities seen to 911, to Chelan County Sheriff’s office at 509-667-6400, or to Forest Service law enforcement at 509-664-9236. " Nails under the tires? Hitch pins undone? http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/recreation/report/

[mtnrider]

We recently spent four days up the North Fork Entiat. Our rig, with horse trailer, was at the trailhead. No problem. Our friend, Bruce Wick, leaves his rigs there all the time. No problem. There were a few hikers cars there. No problem. This is a trailhead we have never had a problem at and we've been going there for over thirty years. Mary S.

[grannyhiker]

And here we thought our only problem on the Wenatchee was Barry and his tape measure....

[sarbar]

[Conrad]

What's conventional wisdom on locking your car at trailheads? Lock it, or just leave it open?

[grannyhiker]

If you have a newer model car and have theft insurance, you about have to lock your car--if the insurance folks find out you didn't, they may not pay. I make sure there's nothing in the car and that this condition is obvious--glove box open, center console open. Since I have a late model Toyota (more popular for car thieves) I also set the alarm and put a "Club" on the steering wheel. Neither will deter a determined thief, but at least the combination of factors means it will take longer for the thief to get inside, thus hopefully making it less attractive. I have no idea whatsoever if all this really works, or if I've just been lucky so far! The ideal hiking car is a beat-up ancient (but not antique) model, full of dents, scratches, ripped upholstery, peeling paint, etc., left unlocked (since the only insurance is for liability) and with nothing inside but maybe an old pair of smelly sneakers and maybe some old candy wrappers. One problem with this scenario is that you have to be able to fix the old beater if it breaks down going to or from the trailhead, something which I have not the skills to do. The latest thing in the Portland area is stealing catalytic converters from parked cars for the metals they contain. High-clearance cars are more prone to this type of theft. This practice would, of course, be stopped in its tracks if all junk and scrap metal dealers would require identification and documentation.

[Quark]

A quick glance inside my truck and bed reveals the contents are probably enough to deter anyone wanting to investigate further. In the bed might be a rotted yam or squash that fell out of a grocery bag and left there a pair or two of slimey, putrid socks with a hazy fuzz of white mold sprouting from them, a purple t-shirt that's been laying in a pool of water so long that it's sprouting hemlocks - inside the cab is melted chocolate on the seats, a half-eaten peanut butter & jelly sandwich on the dash, tampons and toothpaste in the door compartments, cherry pits and pennies stuck together by honey and god knows what else laying in the gear shift housing and you're pretty much turned off of investigating further.

[DRSpalding]

That is over the top! If we ever partner up to hike in the Suiattle to Miners Ridge and Image Lake, Quark, I will let you drive but I'll wear my rain suit inside your truck.

[sarbar]

Lol...I was thinking - the old dirty diaper trick might go back into my truck. Get a nasty candy bar and a diaper. Unwrap bar, place in diaper, melt in microwave. Mmmmmm! Leave on back seat partially unrolling. 2 or 3.

[treeswarper]

Or wrap up garbage to look like a gift.

[Movenhike]

My "BEATER" and proud of it! Got it for $500.00.

LHOCHSA 026

Wanna break in? take a look see, steal a handsaw, or a couple quarts of motor oil? But really, feel free to leave a couple PBR's in the back.

LHOCHSA 027

[Quark]

[Hulksmash]

The more i hear about break ins, and now nail under tires and other malicious activities, the more i think a bait car is appropiate! It's only a mater of time before cars get stolen from trail head. It's only a mater of time before a hiker returns to the trail head to find some thieve rummaging through there car. A confrontation is inevetiable the consequence's of such a confrontation concern me. I can think of more the a few gravel forest service roads in the twenty mile range, that i've gone on a day hike, to return to the trail head with a solo car mine. Should a day hiker, only prepared for a day hike, in say late fall and it begins to snow, and decides to return to his\ her car, to find it stolen! This is a life threatening situation. It's only a mater of time before it happens. There needs to be a bait car!