Answer to Question About Safety on the Appalachian Trail

An inquiring reader wants to know, "Did you feel 'safe' on the trail?"

Actually, we get this question a lot. There have been 7 or 8 recorded homicides on or near the trail since its completion in 1937. Given the number of hikers each year that makes such crimes pretty rare. We did not meet anyone who was threatening or caused alarm. So, the answer is yes, we felt safe. Well, pretty safe. Although we did feel a genuine sense of unease the day we wandered into Old Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec.

Brad and I had left Delaware Water Gap around 11:00 that morning, hiked up the northern side of the gap into New Jersey. We had intended to make it to a shelter about 25 miles away. However, with our late start and my newly purchased hiking boots that were falling apart as I walked, we began to doubt if we would make the shelter before dark. We had walked about 17 miles when we passed a group of hikers heading south. They told us of a nearby YMCA camp that allowed AT Thru hikers to stay for free. They hadn't stayed there but had just passed a sign for it. I found no reference to the camp in our Thru Hikers Trail Guide.

Sure enough, however, we soon came to a small sign that said "Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec" with an arrow pointing the way. I think Ken-Etiwa-Pec is Algonquin for 'where the blood flows as a river' , we later just dubbed it the Slasher Camp!

Around 5:00 we entered the camp, situated on Long Pine Pond. The pond was as still as...well...as still as a pond. No wind or sound greeted us as we followed the gravel road. A well kept cottage near the entrance was identified as the camp director's office and a notice requested hikers to register. We went up to the cottage and knocked on the door but no one answered. A registration log hung by the door and we signed in. A note provided directions to the AT Shelter.

Following the camp road, we began to pass buildings typical of Y camps, wood cottages painted a dark brown with green screened doors and trim, recreation and meeting halls, fire rings and an outdoor amphitheatre. The camp was absolutely silent. No squirrels, no chipmunks, no birds. Not a leaf stirred. Then we began to notice that the buildings were in very bad repair. Holes in the roofs of some allowed vegetation to poke through, walls slanted into parallelograms, broken windows. We walked through the camp looking for the AT shelter, past a soccer field where a lone soccer ball had been left by the goal. Finally, we came to two small cabins by the pond. Their state of disrepair made us pause; uncertain as to whether or not they were really intended for use as shelters. Blue tarps covered parts of the roofs. Moldy mattresses lay on floors strewn with rodent droppings, screen doors hung askew. By now it was early evening, still light, but dark clouds began rolling in, threatening rain and adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Hoping against hope that these were not the shelters, we dropped our packs and headed back to the director's cabin. After knocking several times, a bearded man came to the door and introduced himself as the Director. I think he said his name was Norman. He welcomed us and confirmed that the shelters we found were indeed those designated for AT hikers. He explained that the camp had recently been taken over by the Y and that after years of disuse, they planned to renovate it for use as a conference site. He said that the recreation hall was in good order and open for our use. He also invited us to use his shower to clean up and he offered to make us some sandwiches.

So, we got our gear and took turns showering. While waiting for Brad to finish his shower, with Hitchcock's The Birds playing on the DVD, Norman (I don't really remember his name) and I fell into the usual trail talk: where/when did you start, gear comparisons, trail conditions, miles a day walked, do you feel safe, does anyone know you're here, 'maybe you shouldn't sit on that couch until after you shower', etc. The room was conspicuously clean, spotless floor, dust free furniture, pencils lined up in a neat row. After a while, Norman asked me if I could do a favor for him. He said that a young woman, trail name "Nuts" aka Nancy, had left her wrist watch several days ago. He thought that since we were walking considerably faster than she, would we take her watch and give it to her when we catch up? I agreed and he handed me the watch, a Timex with a broken wrist band. I asked about the band and he said that was the way he found it in the shower after she left. I shrugged and put the watch in my pocket.

After cleaning up we headed for the cabins, ate dinner, watched darkness fall on the still, still pond and let our imaginations build on all those slasher movies we'd seen. We wondered aloud why there was no sign of others having stayed there; why it wasn't in the guide that had proven so comprehensive; why was it so quiet? Maybe some young YMCA camper, a loner, a 'picked on' nerdy kid had died in a prank gone badly. Maybe, his ghost stalked the camp, picking off unsuspecting campers, their bodies never to be found. Maybe the "Director" had been an abused camper, left summer after summer at the camp by neglectful parents, picked on by the other kids and, who, finally couldn't take it anymore and murdered everyone in their sleep. What really happened to "Nuts"? The broken watch band a product of heinous assault? We both began to feel a little creepy.

After eating, we decided to go up to the recreation hall. Unlike most of the other buildings, the rec hall was well made, clean and furnished. After creeping each other out; and, with the possibility that the leaky cabins would provide little protection from rain should it fall, we elected to sleep at the rec hall. At least we were someplace where we were not expected to be; just in case.

We passed the night quietly and left in the morning at first light. We didn't see Norman again. We never found "Nuts" or met anyone coming south who had come across her. When we gave up on finding her, I asked Pat to mail the watch back to Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec. When she did the watch came back stamped "UNDELIVERABLE"!