Alert! Skyliner parked on Ramon had Car Robbed!

[cynthia23]

Something very unfortunate happened today, which is that Kellie's car was broken into while she and her friends were climbing Skyline. I happened to be returning from a halfway on Skyline at the same time she and her friends returned to her broken-into car, so I introduced myself. I asked her if it is okay if I post about this and she urged me to.

So: she parked on Ramon (on the dirt shoulder) and left up the trail about 3.30 this morning. Somebody smashed the window, probably in the early morning hours, and pretty much cleaned out the car. Unfortunately the thief got a lot of stuff from the four people who were hiking: cell phones, purses, wallets with credit cards and drivers license, clothes, and car keys to other cars. Of course replacing all this will be a (expensive) nightmare. And the car window itself must be repaired. I am so sorry this happened. On behalf of the local community I apologize to Kellie and her friends. What a shame.

This really highlights something I have posted about at other times, which is that is important to keep an awareness that Skyline is a trail which begins in an urban, downtown area which is somewhat rundown. This makes it very different from most trails, which generally begin in state parks, etc. Palm Springs used to be a quiet small town, but it has grown greatly in the past ten years, and sadly we are experiencing many of the common problems of urban areas: crimes, drugs, and homelessness. I noticed what appears to be a homeless person's camp or stash in the culvert which is just underneath the Ramon trailhead. I am not saying homeless people broke into Kellie's car (who knows who did, obviously), but clearly a car parked in a deserted area near a homeless encampment might provide a serious temptation, if they can see valuables inside. The lesson here? No matter how much they weigh you down while hiking, it's just not safe anymore to leave things like wallets, purses, etc in your car, especially with a predawn start. There have also been car break-ins at the Desert Museum trailhead, so parking there is not much safer. Bottom line: Don't leave anything important in your car.

Also, more seriously: be cautious in the dark/early morning hours on the lower parts of the trail. Don't travel these areas alone, especially if you are female. Be aware that you may run into people who are homeless or high. (I have.) The recent finding of the body of a young man not far from the picnic tables is disquieting. No one that I am aware of has ever been mugged or raped while hiking Skyline, but depressingly, it is a common occurence in Los Angeles and San Francisco urban-interface trails (my original home area) Sorry to be my usual gloom and doomer, but on the other hand, I'd feel worse if I never said anything, and something really bad happened. Better safe than sorry.

Again, I'm so sorry this happened to Kellie and her friends. They seemed like such delightful people. What a shame they had to deal with this upon their return from their long day on Skyline. The only silver lining is that hopefully this will make us all more aware of some of these non-wilderness hazards, while hiking this otherwise great trail.

[KathyW]

Thanks for the info Cynthia - It's a real shame those women had to come back from their hike to find that.

[hvydrt]

I had the window of my truck smashed last September in front of the museum. Luckily there was nothing to steal, but I had to drive home (2hrs) with no window, after I had just hiked for 13 hours. There were 2 other cars that also had windows broken that day. All three vehicle had no alarms. Based on talking to others that hiked that same day, I estimated the break ins occurred around 3:30 also. Its probably the same people.

I think we need to do a stake out

[AlanK]

For what it's worth, I posted here report of a break-in on May 19 of last year.

One unfortunate incident: There was an SUV parked in front of us on Ramon Drive. It was there when we returned. Sometime in between, it's driver side window was smashed. Our car was untouched (perhaps because there was nothing visible inside), as was a car parked behind us. It's owner arrived at about the same time as we did -- he had hiked to the tram. But he departed before we noticed the glass.

Which is worse -- getting towed at the Museum or vandalized on Ramon Dr.?

[FIGHT ON]

Wow. Had no idea that this was an ongoing problem. Even the towing at the Museum! I thought it was ok to park in their lot. I even called and talked to the people inside the Museum and asked permission before I went on my first hike. But this vandalism really bothers me. Never thought I would hear about this stuff happening. Sounds like who ever is doing it is aware of how many hours the driver is gone and has his routine down pretty good. I have not parked at the Ramon Dr. Trail area so I can't compare it with the Museum. Do you think both trail heads pose the same risk as far as being broken into? And as far as being towed I notice some chose to park outside the Museum lot on the street. Do they get towed there or from being in the lot? Do cars get towed on Ramon Rd. too?

[Cy Kaicener]

I was very sorry to hear that. Last year this happened to our cars parked on the road in front of the museum at midnight.
Never leave anything visible in the car.
Here is a link to the Palm Springs police. Let them know.
http://www.pspd.com/contactus.html

[Cy Kaicener]

I was very sorry to hear that. Last year this happened to our cars parked on the road in front of the museum at midnight.
Never leave anything visible in the car.
Here is a link to the Palm Springs police. Let them know.
http://www.pspd.com/contactus.html

[FIGHT ON]

Cy. Are there "no parking" signs on the street adjacent to the Museum? I mean something like "Parking only between 10am-10pm? And on Ramona Rd? I remember a sign for the parking lot but can't remember what it said. Are there restrictions for parking in the Museum parking lot written on a sign? I am thinking that even though its against the law to break into a car, if the cars that are being broken into are illegally parked, the police may get pissed and add these things to the list of reasons to shut down the trail.

[Marknhj]

Kellie - I'm very sorry to hear about this; it was me getting into the car next to you when you returned. It didn't occur to me that it could be someone from here, otherwise I'd have introduced myself. I arrived at 7am and didn't notice anything (but I was getting my boots on etc so that doesn't mean the window wasn't already broken).

Apart from the incidents described above, this is the third car break-in I've heard of recently. Incredibly, to me at least, neither of the other two occured at night. A friend of a friend had their car window smashed at the bump & grind recently, at 8-10am on a Sunday morning. More astoundingly, several months ago I was parked on the same road that bends around from the Museum parking lot. It was one block from Palm Canyon (the main drag through PS), opposite a Church and there were a lot of people around. Just like yesterday, when I returned the car parked behind had it's window broken and the ladies purse had been stolen. This was at 6pm on a Saturday.

Each car I know of has been an SUV, possibly selected because they had no trunk to secure valuables in. If your car is targeted for break-in there is nothing you can do about it; just don't leave anything of value in it to be stolen.

[Cy Kaicener]

Wow. Had no idea that this was an ongoing problem. Even the towing at the Museum! I thought it was ok to park in their lot. I even called and talked to the people inside the Museum and asked permission before I went on my first hike. But this vandalism really bothers me. Never thought I would hear about this stuff happening. Sounds like who ever is doing it is aware of how many hours the driver is gone and has his routine down pretty good. I have not parked at the Ramon Dr. Trail area so I can't compare it with the Museum. Do you think both trail heads pose the same risk as far as being broken into? And as far as being towed I notice some chose to park outside the Museum lot on the street. Do they get towed there or from being in the lot? Do cars get towed on Ramon Rd. too?

There are no No Parking signs on Museum Road unless there is an event in that area or street maintenance. A lot of hikers park in the museum lot even though it is restricted to museum visitors. Its safer to park on Tahquitz above Starbucks where there are more people. There is also an underground parking lot opposite the museum which charges ten dollars.