Can't I Just Hike In Peace?

I am an avid hiker, and when I can't make the hour plus long drives up to the mountains, I enjoy the nice hikes near my home. This one particular hike near my home is 5 miles in many different directions, like a Goosebumps book of sorts for hiking. You can only see the trees and the greenery on one hike, or a massive waterfall on another, follow the river on another, see the abandoned and dilapidated mills from decades ago, etc.

I went to the waterfall this time. It was about two and a half miles in, and I sat and did some work, enjoying the serenity. When I was ready to leave, I looked around and saw a family (father, mother, three kids) near me. I packed my things back in my day pack as they left.

I am a major people hater. I prefer to hike in areas where there are no people for miles. I chose to go a different way back to the trailhead than the way I came because I didn't want to run into this family for the next 2 and a half miles. I checked my map on my cell phone, and I found a route that I could take back that seemed remote enough.

I immediately noticed that this trail was not man made, but just what was left after some flooding. It was going downriver and I was so close to the river, all I had to do was walk out onto a bent tree and I could touch the water. It was a very thin trail, not being enough for people to walk side by side, and was covered in thick roots.

I enjoyed this. It was peaceful. I passed some girls who had hooked up hammocks to read in about twenty feet to my right after hiking this path for a while, and I had nothing but the sound of the slow-flowing river to my left.. until I heard lots of footsteps coming from behind me.

I didn't want to deal with people behind me, so I stepped out onto a tree that hung over the river and waited for them to pass. It was that damn family. I waited a minute or two before I started walking again - I didn't want to run into them.

Pretty soon, their voices disappeared in the distance, and I was able to go back to enjoying the peace and beauty around me. I hiked for another five or so minutes when I had to turn a sharp corner around a boulder. This man - the father - was standing there on the other side, crouched down, like he wanted to scare me. I screamed and he laughed. I got really angry and I noticed that his family was no where near.

I yelled, "What the FUCK is wrong with you?!" at him. He wouldn't stop laughing. I realized I was dealing with an idiot or a psychopath, so I turned around and booked it. I could hear him behind me, following. He wasn't a very big man, he stood about 5'6 and was around 180-200lbs, but he was keeping pace about 20 feet behind me.

Let me tell you that this path is not for running. I very nearly went sideways into the river a few times. But this gave me a few ideas, too. I was running back towards the waterfall, where surely there would be people around. It was a straight shot. But I remembered the hammock girls, and I remembered that they were slightly hidden and if I picked up the speed, dude behind me would miss me turning.

I sprinted on the trail and burst into the hammock girls' area. I sputtered out a quick and quiet explanation ("MAN FOLLOWING ME") and they hid me behind the lowest hammock - took us 5-10 seconds max to get set up, and we saw this guy run past not too long after I was safely hidden.

I stayed with the girls for another few minutes, just to be safe, and went back the way I came from. I didnt want to run into this dude again!

Lol

Oh you think this is over?

No.

As I hiked back downstream on the trail, the way I was going before to get back to the trailhead, I tried to calm myself down. I couldn't get my mind to stop thinking I was being followed. I just tried to hurry and get out of there as fast as i could. I turned a sharp right at the boulder that the man was hiding behind before, and kept pushing through the rough trail. I tried to focus on the sound of the river that was still to my left but I couldn't get the sound of my heart out of my ears.

The sound of my heart morphed into the sound of footsteps in an instant. I realized I was being followed again. I looked back and guess who?! This damn father again! I got mad as hell. I screamed at him. I yelled profanities at him. I threw a damn pinecone at him. He smiled a toothy grin and kept walking slowly towards me as it bounced off of his shoulder.

I am an army combat veteran and a domestic violence survivor. I have PTSD from both and I have skills that many don't have. Dude chose the wrong bitch to fuck with that day. I charged him.

He finally wiped that stupid look off of his face. I was seeing red at this point because I will not be made to feel unsafe in the only place I've felt safe since I got divorced and/or went to war. Fuck that dude.

I ran directly at him and knocked him down. I screamed at him as I hit him. I grabbed his hair and the waistband of the back of his pants and started dragging him to the edge of the trail. He was the one yelling at me this time. Every time he fought back, I gave him a swift kick. I gave him several explanations for why his behavior was so stupid, and then I unceremoniously kick-pushed him into the river. I told him to cool off in the water and not to come out until I was long gone.

I turned back in the direction I had been walking before and decided that I needed to take another detour, just to be safe. I knew there was a trail parallelish to the one that I was on to my right, I looked around for a clear place to climb up the steep hill, which was mostly granite and moss and ivy. I found a spot and started climbing until I got scared out of my wits (again) by three guys just sitting in the middle of this hill smoking weed. They were completely hidden. I asked if they heard me screaming and they said they did, but that they thought I had it covered. I rolled my eyes and told them to kick anyone down the hill that tried to follow me, and continued on.

Took me a while to get back to the trailhead that day, but when I did, I called the cops and alerted the park ranger about the guy. I don't know any other details on that. The cop laughed and said, "good for you" when I told him what I did.

Haven't been back to that place since, sadly.

Just want to state before I post that I don't agree with any violence, but I wasn't getting out of there without it. Also, thank cheezits for those hammock girls. Also, if that man was you, fuck off ya creep.