Several years ago I read a newspaper story about thieves making a haul from two vehicles at a trailhead. The loot included credit cards, not one but two cassette players, keys, a small color television set, and – if you think the TV was amazing, here’s the best part – almost $2,000.
Some folks don’t need to be part of the gene pool.
Trailheads in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest have been a popular target for smash-and-grab thieves this month, particularly in the Verlot area of the Darrington Ranger District.
Wallets, radios, CDs, checkbook, all gone.
Don’t blame the thefts on opportunistic teens with too much time on their hands. Some of these thieves are pros who can make a circuit of popular trailheads and go home with a smile after expending far less energy than you’re spending pounding a trail.
They can smash a window or pop open a car door or trunk before you’ve worked up a good sweat.
Last year there were at least 30 break-ins at the Snow Lake trailhead to the lower Enchantment Lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. A lot of electronics were left, leading police to suspect that thieves were specifically looking for information that could lead to identity theft.
Help protect yourself:
* Drive the least-respectable vehicle that you own, and the dustier the better.
* If you don’t have an alarm system, buy a sticker that says you have one. If the thieves have lots of choices, they might skip your vehicle.
* Leave everything of value that you don’t absolutely need at home.
If you need some motivation, how’s this: Two men were arrested a few years ago in Idaho. They were part of a credit-card theft ring. Reports indicated that they may have been using a high-tech portable scanner to steal numbers from credit cards in vehicles parked at trailheads. The scanner could be plugged into a computer and new credit cards made.
With that in mind, I take the registration and insurance information out of the glove box and take it with me.
* Whatever you leave, don’t leave it in plain sight. Even covering it with a jacket is preferable to no cover at all. Maybe a thief is too much in a hurry to gamble on breaking in for nothing but your favorite box of golden oldies. But it’s best to put valuables in the trunk and cross your fingers.
* Put what you are going to leave in the trunk in there before you reach the lot. Thieves have been known to scout the parking lot, watching people put wallets, purses and cameras in the trunk, then break in after they’ve walked away.
Out in the wilds
If you were in the Goat Rocks Wilderness in mid-July and saw humans climbing in mountain-goat terrain, they might have been Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists.
The department is working on a better count of mountain goats by combining aerial surveys with ground surveys taken by biologists.
The good news is that the survey has found 36 kids per 100 goats in the wilderness.
“We even identified twins, which is pretty rare in an advanced population,” research scientist Cliff Rice said.
Goat populations have declined in recent years because of the continual loss of alpine meadows, the agency said.
But the 327 mountain goats in the Goat Rocks Wilderness indicate that the goats are on the rebound, Rice said.
Other places to see mountain goats include the Goat Lake area, Tieton Peak, Gilbert Peak and Cispus Pass.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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