Unruly hikers - What to do?

[HopAlong]

Took my first hike up Angels Rest over the weekend. Great little hike w/ views.

As I approached the summit, I noticed a small group of college students(?) hovering over the north side (the exposed side closest to the Columbia). It turned out the males were picking up basketball-sized rocks (shale?) and throwing them over the cliff and laughing! Not knowing if there were trails below that area and unsuspecting hikers, I was about to ask them to stop when I noticed one of the males carried a good sized gun in a holster on his hip. Not wanting to get shot, I watched helplessly as they picked up another rock - about the size of an SUV tire - and tossed it over the east side.

Was there anything I could have done differently? Anyone experienced this before? Recommendations?

[Jane]

Yikes! The gun and the type of behavior by it's carrier would have made me nervous too, otherwise some tactful voiced concerns might have helped. I emailed your inquiry to a forest employee, and here's a link that you may want to check, too: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mthood/leo/index.shtml

[scrambler2]

You wait for them to head down the trail and then you throw rocks! I did that when I encountered a group of about 6-8 teenagers tossing rocks of Table Rock up the Molalla. Once thier party was off the top and started heading back through through that talus slope, I pitched one off well ahead of them and scared the p*ss out of them. I think they got the message since they started telling me not to throw rocks or they would come back up and kick my butt! I told them to come on back up and that they had been doing the same thing! I was illegally overnighting on the summit and was well prepared for any confrontation! I also parked at a different trailhead.
A few years ago, my parents encountered two guys walking up the trail with a .22 one evening in the Gorge. They made some rude comments to the effect that my parents must be unemployed since they were out there mid-week. My parents ignored them.

Hard to say what I would have done in your situation.

[Stevefromdodge]

Thankfully, these situations are pretty rare.

There's an odd mix of things here, none of which would bother me individually, but put together, seem troubling.

I would normally approach someone dumb enough to throw rocks, but a group of people, all of them brainless, seems more intimidating.

Handguns are normally safe enough in the hands of a typical, responsible gun owner. Here though, there's little evidence of responsibility.

I think I probably would have done the same thing you did. At the most, I might have mentioned that there could be hikers below.

[chameleon]

I had a recent encounter that scared me as well in the Gorge. A couple weeks back I made a trip up Tanner creek road, descending the stream down to the Wahclella trail. Well, as I made my way up the road, I began to hear gunshots - a lot of gun shots. I moved quickly and soon saw the shooters through the trees on my left - two of them, just shooting randomly through the trees.
I sped up, hoping to get out of range of any fire that might accidentally come my way. About 1/3 mile later I thought I was in the clear, but as I neared the Tanner Butte trailhead, right in front of me - bang, bang, bang, bang. Nervously I continuted, and was surprised by what came into view.
Directly in the middle of the Tanner Creek Road was a green tarp suspended by a rope across the road. There were three men underneath it around a large fire ring, with firewood stacked up all around (right in view of the sign stating no campfires). As I approached, I greeted "how's it going?"
"It's going..." responded a man well over three hundred pounds with a shaved head, and a tattoo running from the top of his head, down his back, and as I got closer, two heavily muscled pitbulls jumped up barking.
One of the men called the dogs off, and I nervously approached and ducked under the rope spanning the road, almost getting my pack caught in it. One of the pits continued to sniff me as I passed while I said "good dog...good dog..."
As I finally began to pass up the road, one of the men asked "Is there anyone else after you?" I thought for a moment, but decided to answer truthfully. "Nope, not as far as I know," and began to hike very quickly up the road to the sound of ripping gunfire, and perhaps fire-works as well behind me. The entire time, I had my small pepper-spray and knife at the ready in my pocket. It was kind of a creepy encounter. Turned out alright, but just shows that you don't know what to expect sometimes when hiking.

[kelkev]

I'm always a bit aprehensive about confronting anyone on the trails, just because you don't know what you might be getting yourself into. 95% of my experiences have been great, but once I met a disturbed looking dude on the Marion Lake trail, carrying a Dirty Harry sized handgun. Needless to say, I offered a simple "hi" and kept on walking as fast as I could the other way..... And once met some rough looking customers peering into car windows at Ramona Falls as I returned from my hike.

[HopAlong]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I've bookmarked the forest service link in case it's needed in the future. As stevefromdodge accurately pointed out, it was the combination of all those things that made the situation intimidating. Most of the folks I've encountered on hikes were just enjoying the outdoors. I sincerely hope that no one was hurt in the process.

[trailupdater]

Your decision to not confront was wise. The best thing to do is get as much description as possible and report to FS law enforcement as soon as possible. License numbers are the best (obviously not in this case). But also number of people, genders, approx ages, clothing, etc. Maybe it is important enough to wait at the trailhead (inconspicuously) and see what vehicle they get in to and get the plates and vehicle description at that time.

Incidentally, you might look into purchasing a book called "Trail Safe: Averting Threatening Human Behavior in the Outdoors" by Micheal Bane, ISBN 0-89997-264-0

[C.C. Hon]

Don't be foolish enough to engage with low-life, especially in this context, unless you are an LEO with backup. Just keep moving and forget about it.

[MCSAR]

These incidents need to be reported to police. If no one ever tells them, then they don't know these things are going on. While part of the area in the Gorge is USFS, a very big portion is also owned by Oregon State Parks (even if it's not an actual "park") and firearms/shooting are not allowed.

Recently, there were dirt bikes reported going up Angel's Rest trail. Most likely these were area residents, but with descriptions of the mc's it may have been possible to locate and identify them. By the way, State Parks does not allow off road vehicles and if these scofflaws had been caught, their motorcycles could have been seized.

If the ne'er do wells on Tanner Butte Road had been, say, felons, then law enforcement might have been able to make some felon in possession of a firearm arrests. Maybe these people had warrants. You never know.

Non-emergency for Multnomah County 503.823.3333
Emergency is 911 (although, be aware that in the Gorge, you're most likely going to hit the sole cell site which is on the Washington side so you may end up with Clark or Skamania County...just make sure you tell the call-taker where you are and they will connect you with the proper 911 center).

Even if you don't call when problems are going on, at least report the incident later on so law enforcement at least know what's going on.