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Thread: More trail fun

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
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    Wateree, South Carolina
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    48,810

    Default More trail fun

    MOUNTAIN REST, S.C. —
    A Greenville County couple, looking to "get off the grid" and back in touch with nature this Memorial Day weekend, became crime victims after they parked at a trailhead to a national hiking trail.

    Now, they are sending a warning to other unsuspecting nature-lovers.

    Katie Callhan, of Travelers Rest, said she and her husband left their Chevy Tahoe Friday at the trailhead to the Foothills Trail on Highway 107, in Oconee County off Highway 107, near the North Carolina state line.

    After hiking a spur trail and camping for two nights, the couple was shocked when they arrived back at the parking lot Sunday morning to find their SUV heavily vandalized.

    "We were coming in from the most pristine forest area that was just beautiful, so to walk out and have this happen was very disturbing," Callahan said.

    Someone had broken a side window, stolen things from inside the car, smashed out the back window and left the car a mess.

    She said the worst part of the crime was that the thief took a drill to the gas tank.

    "They stole some of the gas, but also let the rest of the full tank of gas leak out all over the parking lot which sits next to a pristine cold mountain stream," Callahan said.

    "I could have just cried," she said.

    Callahan said the damage went beyond that of a normal car break-in and showed the person really wanted to inflict harm.

    "They took out a window that they didn’t have to – if they were just going for the gas, they didn’t have to do the other harm to the vehicle, making it undrivable," she said.

    Callahan said without gas and no cell service, they were stranded.

    She said they sat along the highway and had to wave down someone driving by, asking them — as soon as they got to a spot with cell service — to call 911 and send a tow truck.

    The SUV was towed to a location in Walhalla and will have to be towed back to Greenville County for repairs.

    "We thought about trying to plug the hole in the gas tank, and filling it from a gas can, but we were worried about what other damage they had done to the underneath of the engine," Callahan said.

    Speaking with deputies from both Jackson County, North Carolina, and Oconee County, South Carolina, Callahan said they told her at least five vehicles along the trail suffered similar damage in recent days.

    WYFF News 4 tried to contact the Oconee County Sheriff's Office to confirm that information, but due to the holiday weekend, did not get a response.

    Callahan is now sharing her warning with other hikers who leave their cars, expecting to return to them safely.

    "I’m hoping that this news will also encourage more patrols, and that the perpetrator will be caught and charged," she said.

    The 77-mile trail is located in Upstate South Carolina and reaches into Western North Carolina, the website says.

    "Through-hikers should plan to spend approximately 5-10 days on the trail, while weekend backpackers and day-hikers can utilize numerous trailheads for shorter trips," according to the website.

    It also cautions about possible crime, saying: "Remember that primitive areas are not immune from criminal activity. Use caution, particularly near trailheads and parking areas."

    "This happened on the far end of Oconee County," Callahan said. "There are no security cameras, no lighting – so we're just relying on other hikers to watch out and report anything out-of-the-ordinary."

    "The environmental damage from repeat incidents (like this) should also concern our residents and those of us who love this special, world-class ecosystem we have here along the Chattooga and Jocassee Gorges," Callahan said.

    https://www.wyff4.com/article/thieve...ikers/40142205

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
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    In My Truck
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    3,653

    Default

    everybody ain’t welcome up that way.

    probably had the wrong stickers in the window.
    Windows Down!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Forest Acres
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    10,214

    Default

    Events similar to this are the reason I don't like public boat ramps. Years ago at Parr Reservoir a duck hunter could count on getting the vehicle vandalized. Story is they caught 3 brothers who lived just down the road as the responsible parties.

    Then people here have posted about break-ins at the pole landing. Georgetown County?

    Someone threw nails all over Sparkleberry landing. Rumor has it that was a new neighbor to the neighborhood who didn't want the public using the ramp all the time. I remember a few cases of vandalism down there in the 80s while duck hunting.

    People in the public landing at Pack's get hit.

    I've been told about events at the 601 Congaree landing and the 378 Wateree landing.

    These are not isolated areas like that in Oconee. Seems cameras may help some of these places that have continuous issues.
    It's not enough to simply tolerate the 2nd Amendment as an antiquated inconvenience. Caring for the 2nd Amendment means fighting to restore long lost rights.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
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    GVL
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    4,363

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    There's meth in them thar hills..
    At least I'm housebroken.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Spartanburg
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    49,652

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    That's why I drive a beater.

    It's like y'all never watch Roadhouse.

    WWDD?

    He'd drive a beater.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    1,553

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    I came back to my truck one morning at a landing on the little pee dee and had a similar experience. Just me and a buddy’s truck there since it was a weekday. They had put greasy handprints all over the windows patterned out side by side and had walked through the truck beds. Also drew some pentagrams and Lord knows what else all around the trucks in the dirt.

    Luckily didn’t damage anything.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Horry, SC
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cwaysvt View Post
    I came back to my truck one morning at a landing on the little pee dee and had a similar experience. Just me and a buddy’s truck there since it was a weekday. They had put greasy handprints all over the windows patterned out side by side and had walked through the truck beds. Also drew some pentagrams and Lord knows what else all around the trucks in the dirt.

    Luckily didn’t damage anything.
    I ran across a couple meth heads with machetes at one of those landings last November. That made for a very interesting situation.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    Good gracious. This was at Punch Bowl.

    I’ll stick with the children of the corn stuff.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Horry, SC
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    5,516

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cwaysvt View Post
    Good gracious. This was at Punch Bowl.

    I’ll stick with the children of the corn stuff.
    That was at the ferry on a Wednesday afternoon in broad daylight. I was walking down to the boat and two meth head looking guys walked out the woods and were dragging the tips of their machetes on the pavement. I turned around and looked at them and they started mumbling to each other and picked up the pace. They made it onto the dock as I was stepping into the boat. When I chambered a round into the 30-30 that was in the boat they quickly decided they had somewhere else they needed to be. It was all very strange.

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