Nerve-Wracking Encounter While Bikepacking the Palouse to Cascades
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Hi, I'm Jill, but you can call me Tarot. I've been bikepacking across Washington State on the Palouse to Cascades Rail Trail. Join me as we pedal from Linden to Ralston and then on to the Ritzville area. This video captures stunning landscapes, challenging terrain, and a nerve-wracking encounter that took me completely by surprise. Sit back and take in the remote rolling desert, majestic grain silos, and the unexpected twists of this journey as I lose way too many items, endure the night life, and navigate potential danger on an unforgettable bikepacking adventure filled with both beauty and adrenaline!
Stay tuned to the end as I share my experiences along the historic Palouse to Cascades rail trail. #bikecamping #bikepacking #railtrail
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Oh My Goddess! So glad you trusted your gut! 😮
@AngelLadyCrystals I am, too. I just couldn't ignore the asking of questions while holding onto my sunglasses, slowly turning them in his hand and not returning them to me, fully knowing they were mine, until it seemed I answered enough questions. I was on public property, they knew of the trail. I wasn't the first cyclist they had seen using the trail. It was just so weird. With my background, dealing with thousands of people; all my spidey senses were setting off alarm bells. Now, seriously, they certainly could have just been concerned for my safety, and perhaps he could have just been used to being in a role of authority? If that is true, then I'm sure he/they would want me to follow my gut to ensure my safety as well. Thank you so much for watching!
@tarotonthetrail You know they were asking such leading questions. I'm glad that you had the wherewithal. The mind awareness to change your pickup location and to change your route a little bit and just keep going as quickly as you could.
You'll never know for sure. You had a weird feeling about it, you trusted your gut and then took what seems like reasonable action. If you had just shrugged, given them the benefit of the doubt, or breezily made assumptions that all folks are good, well, things might have turned out very differently! Or not. Glad all turned out well and you can tell the tale!
@@kateripley5430Right? Absolutely agree. Thanks so much for watching!
I live on the trail in North Bend and have done serious road biking for over 50 years. You asked the question, so I would say to do it with a friend and have protection. Kudos on your ride, young lady.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I wish I could always find friends to ride with me but unfortunately that just isn't always an option, I really enjoy it when I do have others with me to experience the trail with too, but protection certainly is a solid recommendation and that I can always do. Take care and thanks for watching!
Always go with your gut feeling....Safe Travels...
Will do and thank you for watching!
Thank you for the well wishes, much appreciated. :)
You are right to trust your instincts!
I wish we lived in a world where travel like this was risk free. I have made that trip several times and got the “creepy feeling” myself. I have been reminded by friends (females) that travel alone as a guy is different than traveling alone as a woman. That trail is one of my favorite things in this world. The country is beautiful to behold and watching the changes in terrain and climates is amazing even through pedaling through the day. Everyone wanting this adventure should be able to experience it without fear from other people. Maybe one day. Thanks for sharing your adventures and experiences!
@diaztools I think your right, we all experience trails differently based on our experiences, I also am a big fan of this trail, and I consider the challenges I face a part of the adventure. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for watching!
I would guess that they were just concerned for your safety, and maybe had a hard time understanding why you would be out there alone because it's not the kind of thing they would do. But you had no way to know what their intentions were and I certainly understand getting worried and taking precautions.
They were most likely harmless, but caution on your side was a good choice. I’ve ridden the length of the PtoC, and everyone we encountered was great.
Just friendly courteous people. Completely normal.
Maybe. Thanks for commenting 🙂
May absolutely have been innocent or concerned, hard to say. Evil people can be pretty charming, and decent people can be abrasive. I wouldn't display my mace, though, when asked about protection. A 'yes' and changing the topic would be safer. Mace isn't really much protection against a better armed adversary. Let someone think you have a firearm.
Evelyn, absolutely correct. I had to edit out a bit of conversation for this video to keep it the same length as my photos/videos, but I actually did allude to additional protection in real life by saying you mean my concealed carry? and nodding my head towards my bike on trail- I agree however, that "Yes." would have been a better and sufficient answer for sure, just didn't think of it in the heat of the moment. Should I ever have a situation crop up like this again, I'm totally using that! Thanks so much for your suggestion and for watching!
@tarotonthetrail Stay safe! You are so much braver than I am. I need a few doggers and CC. Mace is excellent as a first step but it has limitations (wind, masks/goggles, or individual tolerance due to psychological issues or drugs on board). Beautiful country you were riding in.
@evelynwaugh4053 Thank you, Washington state is very diverse and beautiful.
You always have to be careful but it sounds like these people were just trying to be helpful.
They very well might have been, I just had an off weird feeling. Someone suggested they just might not have understood what I was up to and worried about my safety, but another viewer offered up some great advice about how to stay safer next time. It's hard to tell. Thanks much for your comment and for watching!
Always trust your gut!
I trust my gut! It's been correct in the past. Good to hear you do the same.
Thanks so much for commenting and watching, I appreciate it. :)
I'm really glad you followed your intuition, that was scary. Sure hope you took down the license plate so the PD can do a deeper look. If you haven't contacted them though, consider reporting your experience and descriptions to them. Small town, it may be that they're known around there. Stay safe. Oh, and next time something like that happens, tell them you're packing as well as trained. Check your body posture, keep your chin up and hold eye contact, these are things a perpetrator looks at when sizing up a would-be-victim.
Notwithstanding her need to take precautions in the situation as well as your good advice unless the police have a probable cause to investigate there is nothing they can do with the information as it's presented. A person's discomfort with a conversation is not suspicion of a crime. To be clear everything you said about how she should behave and every instinct and action on her part are spot on. One is too vulnerable far from civilization to not act with full regard for the worst case scenario.
Do people in other parts of the world worry about such encounters? Should they? Is America particularly violent? Are Americans more afraid than folks from other countries? I follow a bunch of UA-camrs who cycle solo, many of them are women, at least in with a post online, you don't hear much about the the kinds of experience you had. Is it because they don't occur or is it because when traveling abroad, people don't really worry as much as they do here?
@usablellc6735 I really can not answer for other people. I mean there have been plenty of terrible road rage to bikers and even string over trails before, and a pretty vicious attack of a biker on a trail I love down by a nice river. Most of these have been against male bikers in my city area. For longer trails I really don't know but I'll tell you what, at least with the environment or animals I never have to worry about an assault or my bike being stolen. 😕 Sorry I don't have a better answer but thank you for watching and taking the time to ask.
You don't mention if they introduced themselves by name, nor their ages. Based on that ...
Go with your gut and your brain. Nothing wrong with choosing safety.
Concern about a stranger doesn't qualify invasive questions, even if they were well-intentioned - which they may have been: folks in these regions look out for each other and have both a natural curiosity and desire to know who is passing through their neighborhood. They're vulnerable too, being remote, and have to look out for themselves and each other (imagine living in such a place when suddenly you're in a destination location for thousands of strangers to visit). There are several innocent reasons for asking about your campsite, but it nonetheless crossed a line for you.
While I'm pretty sure these were folks making pleasant conversation, you made the correct choice. You could always return (with partners) and perhaps encounter them again and establish a greater connection! Imagine this working out where everybody ends with a laugh about the creepy truck people with their killer poster and the forgetful city biker who kept leaving bread crumbs on the trail. Then should something like this ever happen again, you can casually mention your good friends in the area. This is a decent method for filtering out folks who you might not want to deal with.
@MorfWondrous thanks for watching. Nice but they never gave me their names, the woman looked a little younger than the male, I'm going to guess she was around late 40's to early 50's and he was late 50's to early 60's. If it was me living in a more remote area I would be curious too, I have lived in more remote areas and I'd definitely have struck up a conversation to find out who this rando was. Thanks for brining up this perspective as well. I hope when I do come back thru to ride on the completed trestle someday, I will be able to laugh about it. My hope would be that's the case anyway! Thanks again for your comments and for watching 😊
Hmm...maybe they were just genuinely concerned for your safety.
@RoyFauntleroy they certainly may have been. If that's the case, I'm sure they would understand my being cautious. Like I said, it was really nice that they returned my items to me. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective and for watching! I appreciate it!
That's the crux for women, because of the astronomical statistics of violence targeting women, we are forced to assess every day run ins and make decisions considering the worst case scenario. We no longer have the luxury of assuming good intent.
Ehh...people are curious...as a man I have had very similar and far worse experiences. I think they were just confused...I would get people asking me what the hell I was doing? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Like how do you sleep? Where? Do you have food? They are clueless...
Some people in rural areas literally have never even heard of bike touring...they never have contemplated that a person could bicycle that far to have come from somewhere else...so they can also be suspicious because what you are doing makes no sense to them.
@mikegrindstaff For sure, I've had many conversations with residents/locals who are curious. And they could have just been that. Thanks for commenting and watching, I appreciate it.
I've spent a lot of time in Eastern Washington. Make no mistake, there are some freaky people wandering around out there.
I mean most people I have met on trail have been fabulous, I have had some great conversations, made some great friends but you just never know. Like you say, there out there! Thanks much for watching.
1:08 They smelled fresh meat. : )