Trailhead Crime

Well, it finally happened to me. I went for a short trail run/hike with my camera gear this morning and when I arrived back at the trailhead my passenger side window was obliterated into thousands of pieces. I was lucky and the S.O.B. got away with little from my truck, but from three other cars parked next to mine the thief made away with two wallets and some expensive camera gear. I am very glad I didn't have anything in my vehicle (which I sometimes tend to do), and feel very bad for those that did. Needless to say I'm a little ticked off.

I know I'm not the first, and I know I won't be the last. This incident got me to wonder if I should from now on park, leave nothing inside, and leave my doors unlocked and even my windows down (with a 'club' in position). Of course, this goes a little against common sense...but it might save me the time and money from fixing a broken window - even at this trailhead I have seen one particular car parked just like that.
Stories? Thoughts? Rants?

Greg, I can only say it is a bad situation that we are all exposed to from time to time. As I shoot MF & LF I tend to carry both in the vehicle on most outings, unless it is only for a day shoot. Three weeks ago upon return to my pickup from shooting early one morning at the Santa Rosa Plateau, I saw on the drivers side ground area the tell tale signs of shattered tempered car glass. My heart sunk. But, upon closer review no damage to my vehicle so it was from an earlier event. I guess there is no answer to these events and cannot come up with an easy answer other then to say travel real light and only take what is needed for the immediate outing at hand.

This is unfortuanately very common in the areas I shoot in in Northern NH. Often times, the perps tend to be kids who are bored, but once in a while someone is going after real items of value.

There is little way to protect yourself, but I've seen a move towards doing what you suggest, leave it open and club it. Unfortunately it doesn't protect against kids up for vandalism.

My suggestion is just to hide things of value, or if really concerned, bolt in a lock box.

Ya know Greg, that's not an entirely illogical idea if you think about it. I used to feel a lot less like a target when I was driving an old clunker. I never worried much about leaving stuff in it because I figured potential thieves would see my rig figure there can't be anything valuable in it.

Now that I drive a nice new truck, I always wonder what it's going to look like when I return to it.

Yup, this kind of thing is more and more common. I always worry about leaving a rental at a trail head. Rentals stand out and it doesn't take much to see us packing up expensive photo gear for a hike. So far I have been lucky. However on any given day anything can happen.

I don't know if I am comfortable with the concept of leaving a rental open with only a "club".

This happened to me last year at the Glen Ellis Falls trailhead in NH. The falls is only a short hike from the trailhead, the lot was full and people coming and going so I thought I was safe. I had all of my camera gear with me but they took my daughters purse.

I called the forest service and they said this was a common problem but there was nothing they could do. When I returned home I called the NH Dept. of Tourism and they were very nice but said they did not have the resources to patrol all of the trailheads in the state.

When I go hiking and have to leave my car at a trailhead. I take everything out of the car, aside from the registration, beforehand. When I leave the car, I open the glove box and all the little doors where things could be hidden, showing that there is nothing in the car at all. So far, it's worked.

I used to leave everything unlocked when I had my Jeep Wrangler softtop. Anybody could easily break in by slicing the top or rear windows anyway. I built a platform top to cover the cargo area so I had a secure place to put valuables. That area was only accessible by prying the tailgate open or sawing through the platform. I now have a lockable metal drawer in the back of my vehicle that I have padded to fit my gear.

Ride a motorcycle. It doesn't give thieves a whole hell of a lot to steal when parked at a trailhead. It's worked for me for about a year now.

Barring that, the suggestions already made are good ones. Nothing you do will offer 100% protection from thieves. Don't leave notes on the dash detailing your itinerary, keep everything of value out of the vehicle and try to park in the most visible spot possible. One thing many people don't think about is how dangerous it is to leave your house keys in the car. A thief can get your address off of a registration or insurance card and then move on to your home with the keys you so kindly left behind.

Sorry to hear about the burglary. These kinds of crimes piss me off but unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot law enforcement can do to prevent or solve them.

Bret, good points. I also keep my car registration and insurance card in my wallet.

I don't have problems where I live, but when I'm traveling some place popular and rent a car, I leave nothing in the car and leave doors unlocked so windows don't get broken. I've not had any problems. I once decided to not take a couple of extra lenses on a hike, so what I did was walk back in the woods and hide them under a big rock. I went far enough back off a trail that no one would see me.


Kent in SD

Perhaps a car alarm would help deter the thieves. But I have heard enough false alarms from vehicles that it is doubtful anyone pays attention to all the wailing and tooting the car may do Still it could attract attention especially in locations like trailhead parking lots.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

A couple of trailheads in the Colorado Springs area that have had vandalism, theft issues now have video cams installed that cover the parking area. Just the sight of those cams I would think would cause some potential thieves to rethink their itinerary, however, a sign announcing the presence of the camera is also posted for those literate thieves as well. So there are things that can be done if the FS, BLM, cities, counties or other responsible agencies' budgets allow for it. A video cam these days is darn cheap compared to an onsite officer presence.

I've observed a lot of those tell tail piles of little glass cubes at trail heads the last few weeks. It's starting to make me a little nervous. I've seen a little of this around Oregon and Washington off and on over the years, but now I see a lot of it, very often. Nearly every trail head has at least 2 piles of glass, and often there are several.