Be careful when you off trail...
 

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/se...-after-friday/

Would be interesting to know what exactly happened here...

very fishy..."off tail hiking" during murrel season i would believe it, right now not so much...well i suppose could be a ginsing issue..or perhaps some other leafed plant that people grow in the woods illegaly..

Weird for sure. But then again it is Cocke Co. 1st reports on the news said it was on Gatlinburg trail, now they say off-trail in Cosby? I have a feeling we're not getting the full story. The park service release this morning was just as vague as the channel 10 story.

Maybe someone wanted to have Indian Camp all to themselves:eek:

while it's the heart of Ginseng season, if it were a grow op, it would have been a much bigger story.

I hike off-trail all the time, as do many, MANY others. The only thing fishy about that is when I'm actually fishing:smile:, and one would be silly to infer that one would only be off-trail only for questionable activities.

Hiking(tons of manways), Peak Bagging, Historical finds, and many of the Smokies best features are all off-trail:biggrin:

Looks like you should have to suffer through a few Mike Maples videos for redemption:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxoZZ...ature=youtu.be

LOL I watched (as much as I could handle) this video yesterday and by the looks of it, we had the same opinion.

I was just being sarcastic:p. I wasn't trying to give Mike a hard time as he is a great stewart of the park, and while I do enjoy his vast knowledge of many areas, it can sometimes seem like a sermon that has gone on a little too long.:rolleyes:

Ooh and he needs to say 3 Hail Trouts and light a candle also:biggrin:

It is getting close to ginseng season isn't it?

I justr cant see shots fired over ginseng (and yep, it's ginseng time in LEGAL areas), but a pot patch...yes.
There's more to this story than is being told...gotta be.

Here's the latest
 

Wasn't even in the Park.

Great Smoky Mountains News Release


Release Date: September 10, 2012


Contact: Molly Schroer, 865-436-1203, Molly_Schroer@nps.gov




Reported Shooting Took Place Outside of Park


Great Smoky Mountains National officials announced that Sanford Lethco, 29,
of Sevier County, confessed to Park investigators that the gunshot wounds
he received to his leg on Friday, September 7, were sustained in an
incident occurring outside of the Park boundaries, in Sevier County.


�Park investigators have been working with the Sevier County Sheriff's
Office who has now taken the lead on the shooting case,� Chief Ranger Clay
Jordan reported.


Lethco sustained and was treated for two gunshot wounds to the lower leg
which he originally claimed to have received while hiking in the park, off
trail, in the Cosby area. He was flown to the University of Tennessee
Medical Center where he was treated, and later released, for his injuries.




-NPS-


(See attached file: Reported Park Shooting--Not Inside Park.docx)


Molly Schroer
Public Affairs Office
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
(865) 436-1203
(865) 436-1204 (fax)

I knew we weren't getting the full story."I was hiking" most likely sounded better to the rescue folks than on private property to steal, poach, etc.