Hikers shot and robbed in California

Very sad and troubling indeed. Hopefully they catch that sorry sack of $#!+.

The world's gone crazy. Heard on the news this morning that an 81 year old guy picked up a 23 year old hitchhiker here in Alaska. Gave him a job. Gave him a place to stay. The 23 year old, in return, killed the old guy with a machete. He can't remember why he did it.

So sad. So scary. Thankfully still a rarity.

Note that they were about 100 yards from the trailhead – so the perp was probably not a hiker, but rather someone who drove out to the trailhead for the purpose of robbing/violence.

umm – yup. WOW. Welcome to the great outdoors, eh folks?
This is a very real concern. I'm in the metro-DC area; there are many peaceful spots but there is a LOT going on"in the ditches". When I was recently packrafting around the Potomac River I stumbled across a rather sprawling homeless encampment. Unexpected but rather developed – yet nowhere on a map, nowhere in a blog/guidebook. (And please, please – I am only bringing this up in context of citing an example of "peering beneath the canopy"; I am *not* suggesting all homeless people are criminals etc etc!)
Many women have been recently raped and attacked on nearby trails. I was also just in the woods where some punk teenagers practically ran an elderly couple+dog over w/ATVs (of course, completely unauthorized). They were getting in their faces – me, about 5 other people stopped, approached, and stared down the wanna-be thugs. I am SO GRATEFUL my community backed up instantly and basically REFUSED to be pushed around by little boys with loud bikes (honestly they weren't that "little" at all – I'm just being derogatory!)
My heart goes out to these CA hikers and their loved ones. One day you go out eager for adventure and then….???? There is so much that could be said about self-defense, *responsible* and appropriate firearm use(sorry, not trying to "go there" but this is pretty f-ing relavant when it comes to life&death) and being extremely aware of your environment. But then again, aren't we all here cuz we like to play outside?
Everybody – PLEASE be safe and aware; be grateful if you frequent areas where this only sounds like a hyped-up media horror story. I honestly wish I could feel more care-free frolicking around outside; but reality knocks really loud and very frequently in an urban area like DC. The fact that sometimes I soberly and reasonably consider bringing a handgun for self-defense in the woods (YES, where it is legal..!) kind of breaks my heart. But then again I'm not going to stop living and I'm not going to roll over. It's been one of the most sobering realizations I've had being outdoors over the past few years.
ADDENDUM: I apologize if I rambled/opened "the gun topic" etc – please do not mistake the intention. This really is important though and hearing these kinds of things seems to beg the question "What will you do?" Stay safe!!!!

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Loud & clear, Rodger. And (in the spirit of being polite and gently tip-toeing around hot-button issues) I don't want to suggest "get a gun and you're golden".
I'll never forget the story my college karate instructor told us.
"There was one time a bunch of guys approached me" – Instructor
"What did you do? Did you fight them? Karate-chop 'em?" – class
"NO! I ran like HELL!" – Instructor
True wisdom indeed…

Ooh, ooh, I LOVE word games! Can I try?

Okay, the first one.

An educated society is a polite society! Hmmmm, makes sense to me but I think I used too many letters. Drats.

Okay, let's move on to the second one.

An ounce of prevention is worth a bunch of cure! I got the letter count right this time! Woohoo!

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I've lived and hiked in the DC area for 7 years. Have never once felt the need to carry a gun. I'm sorry to hear anyone say they do.

A MEDICATED society is a polite society!

What did I win?

Edit to add: As luck would have it, I think our local school district is running this campaign right now.

That's odd. I lived in Japan and people were exceptionally polite and very unarmed.

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people. But monkeys do too…if they've got a gun."
-Eddie Izzard

Oh for the love of whatever you want to love…can we NOT go through this one again right now????

Sorry folks ! I was trying to make a point about self defense responsibility and sober self-awareness. I apologize for sharing experiences that may be unfamiliar to you. I hope you don't think I'm making this stuff up; it's too bad adults can't mention possibilities for avoiding this exact tragedy from happening again. Good grief…

What can I say. I've been here my entire life 30+ years
I wish I could say I was exaggerating. No not all the time every second but let's face it this is a really busy area and a lot happens

My comment was more of a "I hope the usuals will not jump on this opportunity to push their views "……because it just happened a few days ago, has happened for years and only causes grief and discontent on every side.

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He was actually supposed to do the swordfight, but he had the flu or something that dy.

Very sad to hear about the hikers shot. But contrary to some of the scaremongering above, there has almost never been a safer time in the US than right now. Murder rates and rates of violent crime are near their all-time lows. You would not know any of these facts from watching the media or if you get in your information on the internet, as both obsessively focuses on crime, especially mass killings. But the rates are down–there's no arguing with the numbers.

Contrary to what RogerDodger suggested, there is a third alternative to fight or flight: relax because the odds of being safe on your hike are very good.

Here's just one story of many making my point:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/mass-killings-up-homicide-rate-down/2012/12/19/3a87b058-4a11-11e2-820e-17eefac2f939_story.html

I didn't see anyone walking around with samurai swords when I was in Japan, nor was anyone shamed to death and forced to commit harakiri during my stay. I would have remembered it.

I do remember the most amazing noodles and fish though.

That's odd for a remote trailhead, and have never had an issue. One of these urban wilderness areas I caught 2 looking to break in when I returned (lucky it was next to a well traveled highway). Maybe let the police determine if this was random or not before jumping to conclusions. Some other possible motives is that they were traveling with cash and flashed it to an accomplice in town. Just not making sense as a random hiker returns with trash, smelly gear … and maybe a gun (or several guns if an armed party) … usually not worth the price of gas to the boonies (just got back to Albuquerque from the fairly near Pecos and that was $30, about what I have in my wallet – not sure what profit motive there is if gas eats up the loot.

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Roger Dodger,

When I visit California I ALWAYS carry a 9 mm, CA laws be damned.

"When seconds count the police are only minutes away."

and…

"I'd rather be tried by 9 than carried by 6."

But, yeah, when backpacking I never carry. Can't cover all the bases all the time.