# Haphazard encounter with a group of trainhoppers



## aganthesk (Jan 12, 2010)

One day last summer, I was returning to Baltimore on my bicycle from a day excursion to DC. It was in the early evening right before sunset, and as I was passing through Elkridge, I encountered a group of 4 crusty-looking trainhoppers asking for directions on a busy intersection. They got my attention and asked me if I knew where a place called Patapsco Valley state park was. They said they were dropped off there by a taxi and weren't having any luck getting directions from the local people. 

The serendipity of the encounter was quite interesting to me and I happened to know where they needed to go - since we were already right by the park, I decided to just walk and lead them to where they needed to go. I didn't say much about myself or did much of any talking, as I tend to be very shy in person, though I had been tempted to say things along the lines of my interest in their mode of living.

For some reason that I had forgotten about, I ended up splitting away from them midway through the the park. Later on, as I was biking home, a very powerful thunderstorm swept through, and was soaked cold and wet even before I finally got home. I thought about those hoppers, and I wound up feeling pretty lousy for not sticking around with them in the midst of the colossal thunderstorm. Adding to my underlying guilt, I wondered if they made it to the hop-out location safely - when they described it to me, I wasn't able to recall good directions on where exactly it was, though I ended up remembering the exact location (being pretty familiar with the park) after I got home, in hindsight.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting experience, given the sheer probability of something like that happening.


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## mksnowboarder (Jan 13, 2010)

Lucky. I'd kill to meet some hoppers. The one time I hopped, I got terribly lost, and could really use some help navigating the rails.

mike


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## dirty_rotten_squatter (Jan 13, 2010)

LOOK GUYS WE'RE FAMOUS!! Ha ha, I would think it would be lucky to have met Jim Morrison or something. Keep riding the rails man, you'll run into some eventually. As for this post, are you looking to do this yourself?


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## mksnowboarder (Jan 13, 2010)

dirty_rotten_squatter said:


> As for this post, are you looking to do this yourself?



I honestly can't tell if the question was directed towards me, or what it meant, so I'll answer blindly with a "Yes".

mike


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## wildboy860 (Jan 13, 2010)

mksnowboarder said:


> I honestly can't tell if the question was directed towards me, or what it meant, so I'll answer blindly with a "Yes".
> 
> mike


 I'm pretty sure it was meant for the originator of the post.


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