12/10/2011 - Pie Run to Catoctin Mountain Orchard

[Bob]

While I didn't mean it to be a challenge you can definitely take it that way if you so choose

On the other hand - you should definitely get some pie!

As an addendum to my previous post - the first group of cars was separated from the second group of cars because the first group wanted to go faster than the rest of us. However it is probable that every one of us were driving too fast - just some faster than others is all.

Oh - and regardless I would highly suggest you stay away from that neighborhood. Next time they might bring out their shotguns. Yes they were that miffed.

Shotguns! OMG, you guys were in moonshiner's woods,they prolly thought you were gummint revenuers.

[EvLwMn]

Yep - we were in them thar woods all right. That's why a few of us were referring to the whole thing as Occupy BFE - because we WERE in BFE!!

[tmcneish]

I'm really curious what the deputies had to say about the whole incident???

[Bob]

I think one of the locals was yelling " Citizen's arrest, Citizen's arrest", don't know what Deputy Barney did.( Andy Griffith Show for you youngsters)

[EvLwMn]

I honestly don't remember them having much to say at all. They arrived and one of them talked to the locals and one of them talked to our group - I guess just getting both sides of the story. I know that once they asked us if we wanted to press charges (because we were unlawfully detained and because one of the local men pushed one of our members - aka assault) - the local who was making the most of the ruckus shut up right NOW once he heard he might get hauled to jail. I wasn't close enough to hear what was happening so one of the other members will have to speak to exact conversation but I do know that the deputies came up with the deal that the locals let us go on our way and we won't press charges.

Since no one had been physically injured I think we figured we just wanted to "get the flock out" as it were.

[e31]

I honestly don't remember them having much to say at all. They arrived and one of them talked to the locals and one of them talked to our group - I guess just getting both sides of the story. I know that once they asked us if we wanted to press charges (because we were unlawfully detained and because one of the local men pushed one of our members - aka assault) - the local who was making the most of the ruckus shut up right NOW once he heard he might get hauled to jail. I wasn't close enough to hear what was happening so one of the other members will have to speak to exact conversation but I do know that the deputies came up with the deal that the locals let us go on our way and we won't press charges.

Since no one had been physically injured I think we figured we just wanted to "get the flock out" as it were.

I wish I could been there...

[andrewgoldin]

Hello all,

I was there -- in last vehicle of the second group which was "detained" by the locals. Yes, EvLwMn has got the story right. The locals (one guy in particular) was pissed that the first group of cars blew through there "at 100 mph" -- or that was the accusation. Acting out of fear for the safety of his kids -- or so he claimed -- he moved his pickup truck to block the roadway, so we couldn't get out of the driveway into which we followed the lead vehicle of the second group. He also claimed that this was the "second year in a row" that we had done that and was quite pissed off. I learned his motivations only by asking him to move his car. He refused, so I walked up the line of our cars and informed each driver as to the cause of the delay.

At that point I called Algie to let him know we were being "detained" -- credit to him and his lady for being quick to call the police. While waiting for the police to arrive, one of our members got out to talk with the guy, who at some point pushed one of our drivers. Wishing to avoid further confrontation, most of us went back to our cars and waited for the police to arrive.

The police were genuinely befuddled as to why things were close to getting out of hand. At one point, a policeman asked me and another driver what we wanted, to which we replied, "We want to leave". Policeman asked, "is that all"? To which we replied "Yes!". The locals wanted to press charges for trespassing. The police responded that since we were being held against our will, that we weren't trespassing, and that he (the local who started the incident) could also be arrested for unlawful detention. That threat from the police, plus the potential charge of assault (as mentioned above) persuaded the guy to back off and move his truck. We quickly backed down the hill and got out of there.

Let's not take that route next time

[andrewgoldin]

I've finally downloaded a few pictures from my camera of the trip.

The first pic shows us lined up to drive out.
The second pic (taken first, actually) clearly shows the pickup truck blocking our egress. The individual talking with the police is the guy who blocked our way. On the right side of the picture you can see some of the people (kids in this case) who came out to watch the spectacle. Clearly this was the most exciting event to happen on the mountain that day!

[SpongeBob]

It still amazes me that that no one from "the first group" has entered this discussion to defend their driving, or explain their actions going through this community. There seems to be nothing wrong with Algie's route and his planning of any of our tours. The fault apparently lies somewhere else.

[EvLwMn]

It's hard to say what set the local man off that day. I'm not sure any one of us could possibly speak accurately to what the real problem was that got under his skin. Maybe the locals were bored? I mean - not much to do up there on the mountain so maybe he just wanted some excitement. Or maybe he was drinking? Really hard to tell for sure.

All speculation on my part of course.

[bimmernupe]

I was in was in the first group of about 5-7 cars. If we were doing any excessive speeding where this took place then I need to quit my job and contact Ferrari Spa for a job on the F1 team. This road was uphill, very twisty, bumpy and barely big enough for two cars to pass. From the story I heard he was irritated that this happened last year and a few other clubs have come through that area in the past. This is not a residential areas that we think of when we think residential. Nearly all the homes sit back of the road quite a ways. When myself and the rest of the first of the group heard what happened, we pulled over, called the police and started talking about going back. A few of us started heading back. Along the way we met up with the group. We pulled over to see if everyone was ok.
We all know on every tour there is "spirited" driving no matter who is in charge of the tour. No one was doing anything out of the norm. Unless this guy had a radar gun, then he has no way of knowing how fast we were going. For all we know he heard a bunch of cars coming through and was irritated by the amount of traffic or the sound of growling exhaust (which can make a car sound like it is going faster than it actually is). From the pics it does not look as if he could see the road from his door. Again as someone else has said driving excessively fast in that area is impossible. If we were, then the second part of this story would be, "Several BMW drivers become tree ornaments".