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Hi this is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village, and I am here to talk to you about
safety in regards to other people when you are in the Appalachian Mountains. Unfortunately,
the most dangerous animals you are going to encounter in the Appalachian Mountains are
human beings, and the reason is that once you are up there in the mountains, you are
actually very vulnerable because you are exposed, someone will know that you are there and there
is not much you can do to defend yourself. You also run the risk of encountering complete
strangers and there are no police in sight. Now this should not deter you from going up
into the mountains, it just means that you should use street smarts when you are out
there in the wilderness. Remember that the Appalachian Trail is very heavily hiked, so
there are lots of people going up and down the trail at all times, which means you may
encounter thieves, so you should keep items that are very precious back at home with you,
or if there is something valuable that you need to have with you on the trail, do the
same thing that you would do with animals and do not tempt fate. Keep the stuff hidden
away so that no one is going to find it. For so many reasons, it is best to hike in a group,
because with more people there is more safety. But if you are not traveling in a group, if
you encounter other people along the trail, you might want to consider acting like you
are going to meet a group, because you never really know who you are meeting up with on
the trail, and you do not want someone to think, oh, there goes somebody all by themselves,
they are vulnerable. Women in particular should be careful with this. You should still be
friendly when you are up in the mountains, you just need to be on your guard, because
again you do not have someone watching your back when you are out there, and you do not
know who you are going to run into. Most people are perfectly safe, but all you need is one
person who is dangerous to cause trouble.