by staff
On November 24, Nathan (Nate) Byelick and his wife, Margaret (Maggie), were parked in the State Game Lands (SGL) 106 parking area near Eckville, Berks County. Maggie completed an Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hike last year, and Nate is section-hiking. They reside in central North Carolina and had planned a section hike on the AT from Eckville to the Delaware Water Gap. The couple used 2 cars and parked 1 car at the end destination; then they stopped for something to eat and looked for a safe place to sleep in their car (van), hoping to get an early start on the trail in the morning. They chose the SGL 106 parking lot.
Nate claims that they were parked for 10 to 15 minutes with the engine still running when someone in a beat-up car arrived and approached them. Nate claims that the individual was not in uniform and did not look official, but flashed a badge. The “officer” informed the couple that they could not “camp” there. When Nate asked if the area was signed, the officer pointed to a rather unreadable sign. The officer did not have a flashlight and could not actually read the sign at the time. The officer then asked for the couple’s ID and Social Security numbers and threatened to issue them a citation, but did not do so at that time. He also asked them whether they possessed any blaze orange and the couple acknowledged that they did not. He continued to question the couple about their intended plans and told them that “game wardens” would be out looking for them tomorrow and would cite them if they weren’t displaying blaze orange.
Nate and his wife left immediately and went to the Walmart in Hamburg to purchase some blaze orange. They slept at the pavilion in Port Clinton, where AT hikers are welcome. A citation charging the couple for “unlawfully camping more than 200 feet from the designated trail” was mailed to them, with a fine of $192 for each of them.
The following is an e-mail message from Nate:
Just wanted to inform you that Maggie and I need to travel to Berks County PA to go before a judge on January 14 for camping more than 200 ft from the Appalachian Trail.
We pleaded not guilty and need to go up and fight it. They have $400 of our money right now.
We could have pleaded guilty and paid the fine and it was over, but it is the principle of it.
We pulled into a [State Game Lands] parking lot not far from the AT Crossing near Eckville Rd. Which was shown on our AT map, with the intent of sleeping there. It was mid November.
We were there about 15 minutes with the car still running, when a game warden came in and asked us what we were doing.
I said, “Starting to watch a movie on our computer and planning to sleep in our car and continue on the trail in the morning.”
He told us we could not and he was issuing a citation. He also told us that he was going to send out agents the next day on the trail to look for us and if we did not have the proper amount of orange on, we would be given another citation.
He left without giving us one, but almost a month later we received it in the mail. We left that parking lot right away and went down to Walmart to get orange hats and slept in Port Clinton.
If we were there more than 50 minutes, including our time with the game warden, I would be surprised.
I think we have a good chance of clearing our name and not having a criminal record.
The deputy game warden told me he has been doing his job for 30 years. So, I told him he should be able to discern between a couple looking for a safe place to sleep near the AT and criminals.
He told me that his boss knew where he was and therefore had to give us a citation.
He said that before we hike the AT in Pennsylvania, that it is our responsibility to look up the state laws for hiking on the right of way (AT) through the game lands and to clearly understand them.
I do respect law enforcement but this gentleman lacked any common sense.
We hiked for several more days to the Delaware Water Gap and saw many hikers. Not one of them had orange on nor did we ever see the agents or game wardens he was going to send out to check on us.
We also were woken up by park rangers in the Delaware Water Gap parking lot. They just checked our ID’s and questioned us and then wished us a good hike and let us go back to sleep.
Update: On January 14, Nate was found guilty and Maggie was found not guilty by the magisterial district judge. Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) and KTA staff attended the hearing. As of today, the couple have not made a decision regarding an appeal to the Berks County Court of Common Pleas.
ATC and KTA staff have been exploring legal and political remedies on behalf of the Byelicks and all of Pennsylvania’s hikers.