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My gf and I left Frisco at 4am to drive to the Yale TH (our first date, kinda!). As soon as I got on I70 West, a car sped past me going pretty fast (easily the speed limit), in the WRONG DIRECTION in my line on the divided I70. I saw him coming at me, so I pulled over to the side as quick as I could. I immediately called 911, never heard anything. Heard a rumor he crashed by the Eisenhower tunnel, but never saw a story about it anywhere.

One night, I was parked for the night off that road that leads to Mt.Belford. It was a beautifull day and I was pumped to be listening to the birds, relaxing, thinking about the next day's hike. A truck drove by, but slowed down, then turned around and came into my site. First thing I noticed was the gun rack behind the seat, one shotgun, one rifle. Two dudes got out, they were not hikers, they were locals and looked rough. They walked up into my site and started talking to me, they kept looking around the whole time and then asked me if I was alone. My sixth sense was firering off at a rapid pace. Then one of them asked if I had any money? I asked him what he meant? he said they needed money, I said no I do not. The other one said, I dont believe you, just give us a few bucks and we will leave. I said hang on a minute, I leaned back grabbed my pack and withdrew my Glock, I said " look guy's I do not want any trouble, but if you want my money your going to have to take it, I aint giving you s**t". They looked at each other and said see you later and left. 2 minutes later my camp was broken and I was out of there.

Winter8000m wrote:"Dude, I think I put Diesel in your car!"

I was so pissed.

Thankfully, I don't have any stories quite as crazy as you all's, but I have one similar to this. In February of one year I put in for a permit to float Rio Chama, along with my then gf and a bunch of her friend and co-workers. I drew the permit, and got a whole trip arranged with that group. Then, two weeks before the trip, the gf and I broke up. It was amicable, and we were all right, doing this, it just made things a little awkward around camp (and people were very confused about our status until we explained). Anyway, on the drive back from NM, we pull into a gas station, and she offers to fill up my car (it was her turn). So she proceeds to put E-85 in my subaru (definitely NOT designed for it). Didn't discover it until she was putting the nozzle back. Stopped at every little town along the way back to top off with 87 octane to dilute it, and haven't had any problems with it yet (thankfully).

Randy wrote:...withdrew my Glock...

I have a pistol, but haven't really ever felt comfortable carrying it normally. What's your experience with that been? I know it was obviously a plus in this situation.

Concealed carry permit. That way nobody knows you're armed until they've done something that makes it necessary to let them know. Open carry, while mostly legal, tends to freak some people out. Definitely not worth having an anti-gun person shrieking at you on the trail.
Pete

Barry Raven wrote:

JROSKA wrote:we kept driving.

So long sucker!

And your point is . . . ??? I made clear that we saw at least two other vehicles pull over to assist you. I'm glad you're OK though.

Definitely. Saw someone on a trail in the north part of RMNP openly carrying once, and didn't really feel like hanging around to talk with him for very long (he gave off a really weird vibe, though).

A few weeks ago I was driving south on 24 near Fremont Pass. I caught up to a small pickup and was waiting for a passing zone. After a few minutes the passenger stuck his arm out the window and made a pistol with his hand and a shooting motion, presumably at something off the road. I noticed but didn't think anything of it. Well, a few minutes later, the passenger poked his head out the window and looked back with sort of an amused expression, and then stuck his arm out again, this time wielding a bigass revolver. None of this was directed at me, but the guy was clearly missing teeth and I wasn't going to stick around for them to do something stupid. I passed and got out of there. I'm guessing they were shooting up signs or construction equipment. At any rate I can't imagine it's legal to sling a gun out the window on a public highway.

Different story: In November 2010 I was heading west on 285 just outside Denver to meet the 14ers.com group at Uncompahgre when my pickup hit a patch of ice, spun across the median, and slammed into the guardrail on the far side of oncoming traffic. The vehicle was completely wrecked; I was a bit shaken but ok as one can be after getting blasted in the face by an airbag. Luckily I'd passed through a break in eastbound traffic and my pickup was the only casualty.

Yet another story: My buddy whose username I won't mention, although it rhymes with "wire on the fountain", and I were trying to find a suitable trailhead for Finnback Knob. The road was muddy and slick and he had to get a run at one hill in particular. He came up wide on the corner at the top of the hill and the truck was headed straight for a healthy-sized aspen on the passenger side. I braced for impact. The truck hit the tree, which promptly fell over, leaving hardly a scratch on the bumper.

Amazingly enough, nothing of note in Colorado.

Back in 05, I was helping my boss at the time move some loads of stuff from his house in Baltimore City out of the city to Southern PA (he was moving due to too much crime in the city). We were stopped at a light about to get on the interstate, around 430pm during friday rush hour. I notice a Landcruier slam on its brakes right behind me and 2 guys jump out. I look to my left and a Baltimore city cop is running towards them across a median, firing his 9mm, something straight out of Die Hard. One guy ran down an alley and out of view, the other right in front of me and my boss's car. Bullets hit my car and the back window. The guy who ran in front of us got lit up. I saw no less than 20 bullets get him, and it took every single one to take him down. Watching a human being get shot in the head numerous times was intense to say the least. It was reassuring in the sense it was one less crook off the street, but unsettling nonetheless. I gained a lot of respect for East Coast city cops after that day.

I read in the papers the next morning the altercation was over the robbing of a Radio Shack, that was having a "going out of business sale". The Landcruiser was stolen as well.

lordhelmut wrote:Amazingly enough, nothing of note in Colorado.

Back in 05, I was helping my boss at the time move some loads of stuff from his house in Baltimore City out of the city to Southern PA (he was moving due to too much crime in the city). We were stopped at a light about to get on the interstate, around 430pm during friday rush hour. I notice a Landcruier slam on its brakes right behind me and 2 guys jump out. I look to my left and a Baltimore city cop is running towards them across a median, firing his 9mm, something straight out of Die Hard. One guy ran down an alley and out of view, the other right in front of me and my boss's car. Bullets hit my car and the back window. The guy who ran in front of us got lit up. I saw no less than 20 bullets get him, and it took every single one to take him down. Watching a human being get shot in the head numerous times was intense to say the least. It was reassuring in the sense it was one less crook off the street, but unsettling nonetheless. I gained a lot of respect for East Coast city cops after that day.

I read in the papers the next morning the altercation was over the robbing of a Radio Shack, that was having a "going out of business sale". The Landcruiser was stolen as well.

Wow, sounds intense....like a scene straight out of The Wire.

Driving down the Pikes Peak Hwy at 10:00pm in a blizzard after a SAR mission I was driving a strange vehical (Shuttling for another SAR member) and wearing plastic boots. On the second switchback from Devils Playground I took my foot off the gas and tried to apply the brake. No go. My boot got caught under the brake and I ended up goosing the throttle and sliding sideways with the rear of the truck going off the pavement. I got it straightened out and very slowly made it down. It was about 600-1000 feet to more level ground. It took the rest of the drive for my heart rate to go down. They say the most dangerous part of SAR is the travel to and from and they are not kidding.

One summer during college when I was living in Vermont, I was on my way back from a long backpacking trip with a friend in the White Mountains when my car blew a head gasket on some back road in New Hampshire. This was before the days of cellphones and GPS roadside assistance, etc. So we got out and began hitchhiking to the next town to get a tow. The second car that came along was an old VW bug with a big bearded hippie guy driving it. He picked us up and my friend crawled awkwardly behind the seat and let me sit up front. We had been driving along on this two lane highway for awhile when this big pickup truck pulled up behind us with two drunk rednecks in it and the driver started to honk and drive erratically, swerving all over the place and stuff. We all looked at each other wondering what we should do, but just kept driving. After a couple minutes he accelerated and pulled up next to us in the other lane and the passenger began motioning us to pull over. I asked the driver what he thought we should do. He looked at me and said "open the glove box." I said "okay?" and as I did a pistol fell out on the floor at my feet. Stunned, I reached down to pick it up. "Hand me the gun" he said. At this point I wasn't going to argue with him so I did. He rolled down the window and pointed the pistol right at the truck and said "bang!". Didn't shoot or anything, just said the word out loud. I've never seen a driver hit his breaks so fast as the guy in the truck did, and then we saw them quickly turn around and speed off the other way. My friend and I were both speechless and didn't say anything the entire rest of the drive to town. It was only later that we could laugh about it...