To Pack or Not To Pack--that is the question

I grew up watching westerns where everybody carried a gun. Yet I can't remember my folks owning a gun. If they did, it wasn't discussed, or known by me.

I do remember that my Dad kept a wooden club behind his bedroom door, handy to bash the brains out of anyone who tried to break into our house. I pittied the fool who might try to go up against my Dad and his club!

Owning a gun is a big topic of discussion among some of my children these days. I have been advised by some of them to carry a pistol with me when I backpack, or when we travel in our little travel trailer.

I have resisted this idea.

We never had a gun in the house when our kids were growing up. I felt the risk of a kid finding it and then accidentally shooting themselves, or someone else, was too great.

I have heard people say, "If you think you need to pack a gun into the wildness, then you shouldn't be out in the wildness." In some ways I agree with this statement. If you are overly scared of what might be out in the woods that you can't enjoy yourself, don't go into the woods.

Yet....it isn't really what is out in the woods that is making me think about carrying a pistol. It is the humans on the trails that is making me revisit the idea of carrying a weapon.

I have never quit a hike because I felt 'uneasy'. Not until yesterday.

Ben and I were frustrated by our aborted Wahtum Lake to the gorge hike. Plus we both wanted to get away from the fourth of July fireworks war zone that our neighborhood turns into.

A nice stay in the woods sounded like a good idea, so we head off for an over-nighter out in Eagle creek. Not "THE Eagle creek" in the Columbia gorge, but the little known Eagle creek out in the Estacada area of Oregon.

The trailhead is down a bumping dirt road, and the trail is remote and not well used. We felt this was the perfect place to get away from all the fireworks, to spend a night in the forest. It was 2:30 in the afternoon when our boots stood at the beginning of the path. Ben's little truck was the only vehicle parked by the little sign that marked the start of the hike.

It was a wonderful old growth rain forest that crowed in on both sides of the trail while we walked steadily down hill toward the sound of the creek. We were walking along at a steady clip for an hour and a half, when Ben glanced back over his shoulder at me. He saw two people making their way down the trail behind us. "People" he said to me. I pulled up and we stood to the side of the trail to allow them to pass us. As they approached I looked at my watch. It was 4:00pm. I noted that they were both in there late 20's. A male and a female. They weren't carrying backpacks, which seemed a little odd since it was getting late in the day to start a day hike. I don't like to make snap judgments about people, but these two were dressed in black and didn't look like 'trail' people.

They walked on by us, and on down the trail. Ben and I stood for a moment before following behind them. We walked on for about 20 feet when we both held up again and stood in the middle of the trail. "Do you think they are OK?" Ben asked me. "I don't know" I replied.

Ben's wilderness senses were tingling, which made me pause and also think about our situation.

We were far off the beaten path. It was late in the day on a major holiday. Two out of place individuals had just gone ahead of us on a trail that we were not familiar with, and Ben's wilderness senses were picking up something that he wasn't comfortable with.

We turned around and hiked back to the truck. When your wildness senses tingle, you need to pay attention. Something was not right about the situation, but even more important then that.....when your senses are tingling, you better pay attention.

This whole situation has gotten me to thinking about the value of carrying a pistol with me.

Would it stop a bear? Probably not. Could I even hit a bear if I tried to shoot it? Probably not.

It isn't the four legged animals that really concern me or the reason I might put a pistol in my pack-- sometimes it's the two legged ones that make me go hmmmmmmmm...