Rick at Hike Half Dome mentions getting a sticker on his window from the Fremont cops in the Mission Peak parking lot reminding him not to leave his windows open. He’d left a one-inch gap to let the heat escape. That’s all a crook needs, the cops told him.
Which brings to mind my encounter at Los Tranco Open Space Preserve awhile back, when a ranger from the open space authority was patrolling the parking lots, telling hikers not to leave any valuables in their cars because there had already been a couple break-ins that morning (I got there at 9 a.m.) and there had been a bunch more the day before. Who knew burglars had such an up-with-the-birds work ethic?
Los Trancos has a little knoll (grassy, no less) looking out over the parking lot — walking on it gave me fantasies of sitting up there with a rifle and scope and just picking off these twits. (Don’t worry, Criminal Window Smashing Scum of the Earth — I couldn’t hit a bus if I was sitting in the back seat — as I said, it was just a fantasy).
On another hike at Mission Peak, a volunteer patroller told me of almost comically negligent behavior among hikers that practically beg crooks to steal their stuff — leaving laptops on front seats, tossing wallets in the glove compartment, etc. BMW drivers seem to be the worst, I was told.
Car burglary is a small-potatoes crime — I’d hate to be in San Quentin on such a trivial rap; imagine one’s shame when surrounded by respectable murderers, rapists and heroin traffickers. Frankly, folks who do this for a living aren’t worth the expense of ammo required to shoot them.
Nevertheless, getting your windows broken and having to replace radios, laptops, PDAs, cellphones, wallets, credit cards, etc…, is a major hassle. Bottom line: leave your valuables at home, take your wallet with you, don’t assume things locked in your trunk are safe.
And keep your Charles Bronson fantasies to yourself. There’s no death penalty for car burglary, though I admit it seems there ought to be an ass-whooping one.
Any thoughts about a tactic I was reading in a Hawaii hiking book the other day .. suggests leaving the car unlocked to avoid any damage to vehicles. I can see some logic to it, but wonder if the insurance would pay up if it got stolen because I left it unlocked.
My uncle who used to own a classy 1956 Ford Sunliner convertible said he never locked his doors, figuring that way nobody would cut his roof to get inside.
I don’t know about the door-unlocked thing in regards to insurance, but if there was nothing in your car to steal there’d be no claim, right? Well, they can steal the car, but a door lock would never stop them anyway.
Good question, though. Any insurance experts in the house?
We hiked Stanford ave to Sunol last Saturday in preparation to Ohlone Wilderness trail, I was told by the ranger at Sunol that we shouldn’t leave our cars at Mission Peak area parking Lot. There have been many break ins. Your Blog is very timely. May be we hiking types think alike. Other day I was looking for the information on Rattlers and it magically appeared on your blog.
Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
Combining rattlers and vigilantes:
My cousin carried a loose live rattlesnake in his car for awhile when he was in high school.
It used to lie in the sun on his front seat.
It would make a heck of an anti theft deterrent.
– He didn’t think it was a rattler – no rattles – it became a hat band after being identified.
Tom,
As you know I am ALWAYS harping on not leaving anything behind. And yet…..every year so many cars get broken into here in Wa state. The I-90 corridor is horrible for it. The thieves have been identified as crooks with Russian or similar accents when heard talking. All they want is wallets and cell phones. A car full of gear gets ignored, but your drivers license is gold to them. Basically they are running an ID ring.
I don’t even leave my insurance card or car registration in my vehicle on dayhikes now. I want it so if someone breaks in they get NOTHING.
Please, please try to get your friends & hiking partners to change if you can 🙁 If we didn’t feed the thieves they would go away!
I want to hike Mission Peak- But now I am afraid of parking at Stanford Ave.!!! Is the Ohlone College parking any safer? Is it watched over by campus security?
Don: I’ve never had a break-in at Stanford Avenue, but you may be right about Ohlone’s lot being at least somewhat watched. And there are people around, even on weekends.
A lot of it depends on timing — on weekdays the crooks might target the Stanford Avenue lot because there’s nobody around, but on weekends I’m told they tend to target the cars on the streets in the neighborhood.
Of course you could always be true hard-core hiker and do the 12-mile out-and-back from Sunol Wilderness. It’s by far the prettiest route.
Thanks for the info Tom. I will probably try Mission Peak from Ohlone College on a Sunday morning. It’s about a 120 miles from where I live in the SJ Valley. Last week I drove up 99 to 120 to 580 to hike at Mt. Diablo on a Wednesday- I left early & got caught in stop & go traffic! Not much fun! But Mt. Diablo was nice. Don’t think I want to try that drive again on a weekday!