We went to the location, which was across the road from a park ranger station, walked about 500 feet into the nearby woods, and on the way out met the neighbors in their pickup truck (An about 70 year old retired fire chief and his wife). We explained the innocent reason for our presence, apologized profusely for the confusion, and asked if there was anyway that we could contact the owners and ask for their forgiveness. Any attempt we made at reconciliation was only rejected with anger.
We later talked with the park ranger about the situation who explained that this couple is very protective about the nearby properties, and frequently gets angry about little things like this. The park ranger directed us to the park entrance that was just up the road, and we went on our way.
One of the hashers later posted on the wiki about the situation in order to warn later hashers to stay away from now confirmed private property. Maybe posting about the gun was unnecessary, but then again maybe it was useful knowledge for later hashers to know about the potential dangers. Either way the gun was a minor feature of the event and certainly does not merit such a hyperbolic discussion about culture clashes.
We were not trying to harm anything or anyone. We did not intend to trespass on private property. We were not afraid of the guns, nor the people, nor the culture. We left simply because we realized that the neighbors didn't want us there, and we had made a mistake.
Slashdot Mirror
This whole thing was way overblown.
We went to the location, which was across the road from a park ranger station, walked about 500 feet into the nearby woods, and on the way out met the neighbors in their pickup truck (An about 70 year old retired fire chief and his wife). We explained the innocent reason for our presence, apologized profusely for the confusion, and asked if there was anyway that we could contact the owners and ask for their forgiveness. Any attempt we made at reconciliation was only rejected with anger.
We later talked with the park ranger about the situation who explained that this couple is very protective about the nearby properties, and frequently gets angry about little things like this. The park ranger directed us to the park entrance that was just up the road, and we went on our way.
One of the hashers later posted on the wiki about the situation in order to warn later hashers to stay away from now confirmed private property. Maybe posting about the gun was unnecessary, but then again maybe it was useful knowledge for later hashers to know about the potential dangers. Either way the gun was a minor feature of the event and certainly does not merit such a hyperbolic discussion about culture clashes.
We were not trying to harm anything or anyone. We did not intend to trespass on private property. We were not afraid of the guns, nor the people, nor the culture. We left simply because we realized that the neighbors didn't want us there, and we had made a mistake.