Ran into an apparent vagrant type at the Thistle Hill shelter just a few hours ago. Red flags were the most in the person's behavior. Vibes of him not being stable. Add to that he probably has a machete. There was a machete sheath by the shelter side trail sign. One thru hiker I have met today posted this info on Far Out. Point of posting here is that when the red flags are up, others should be given a heads up. I felt really uncomfortable around this guy. I am a male and was considering my options if this person has any belligerence tendencies. The small conversation I had with him led me to view him as anti-social. He is in his late 20's / early 30's and has a hunter orange hoodie and beaten camo hunting boots as footwear. He could very well be harmless but I direct other hikers to avoid Thistle Hill shelter and be on the outlook for this guy.

EDIT : The thru hiker who posted about this on Far Out also felt this guy was not all quite there. He encountered him at the shelter and despite doing a 22 mile day and tired AF, he noped out of there. If someone can reference this to FaceBook and get word out that would help. Like I said, this is a caution situation. Nothing physical or belligerent was initiated by this individual but most of us would probably note he was not like we expect most peer hikers to be.

EDIT#2: Called state police. Spoke to Sergeant Collins. He said there is no crime so they will not follow up with even a patrol. Let that settle in on fellow hikers when you encounter someone not all there when you are hiking.

EDIT#3 : No reports of the Thistle Hill shelter person being a problem otherwise have cropped up. I decided not to stay at the shelter, I contacted authorities and they schooled me in the law. The comments here have balanced and as expected as far as individual rights and responsibilities. I will tell you as sure as I am here miles away, I did not feel safe around this person at all. I would not say they were up to no good but I regretted leaving my pack at the shelter to fetching water. He had gotten out of his sleeping bag at that point and had a few sentences of conversation and that is where everything I needed to know about him made me decide to leave. Maybe I will read the room better in the future when dealing with these things. The matter of fact was that a female thru hiker was trailing behind us and part of me had deep concern as she was possibly planning to stay at Thistle Hill that night.

Thank you all for armchair decisions by the way. That is a fuck you to a few that think shit does not happen.