North Vancouver RCMP are now patrolling Mt. Fromme on foot and mountain bikes after the war in the woods turned nasty with a dust-up between a biker and a hiker twice last week.

Both the mountain biker and the hiker have been interviewed by the RCMP after two incidents, and the Mounties are now on patrol in the popular Fromme trail network.

The first incident took place last Tuesday on the Expresso trail, when a female mountain biker, who doesn’t want her name used, and Valerie Ramsey, 69, got into a heated exchange over trail use.

Ramsey, in her first interview since the brouhaha, admits to poking the mountain biker in the butt with the walking pole she uses when she hikes with her dogs.

“I guess I lost it,” Ramsey said in an interview while on vacation in Hawaii about her first encounter with the cyclist.

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The second incident happened Friday at the bottom of the Pennzoil trail. In that altercation, Ramsey said she suffered a bite to her hand. She spoke with the RCMP and gave them a statement about the second encounter.

Ramsey, who suffers from arthritis, said she has been hiking the Fromme trails for more than 15 years and feels the tension is at a boiling point, with the routes being heavily used by both bikers and hikers.

She doesn’t want to see the two incidents go to court; rather than criminal charges, she thinks the restorative-justice process is better suited to end the dispute.

Despite the problems last week, Ramsey admitted she rarely has issues with mountain bikers on her daily hikes, and insisted she would never deliberately sabotage a trail to hurt bikers.

“There’s only a small percentage,” she said of the problem bikers. “Ninety-eight per cent of them slow down and talk to me and my dogs.”

The problem on Fromme is being monitored closely by the RCMP, said the detachment’s Cpl. Richard De Jong.

“There is definitely some tension in the woods up there,” said De Jong on Tuesday. “Our guys will be out there making random patrols on bikes and on foot.”

North Van’s RCMP has a full bike squad, and De Jong said they’ll patrol as much as they can, but admitted it’s a large trail network to cover.

He confirmed both parties in the two incidents have been co-operative and given lengthy statements. But he too thinks the restorative-justice process is the way to go.

Last week’s two incidents came at the same time that North Van homeowner Tineke “Tina” Kraal, 64, was charged with setting or placing a trap with intent to injure, mischief by obstructing use of property and mischief in endangering life. She was arrested Jan. 4 at 5 a.m. at the Quarry Court trailhead.

RCMP said they had been probing allegations of trail-tampering and setting booby traps last year. Logs and rocks had been placed in strategic locations, and De Jong said it was fortunate no one was seriously hurt or killed.

Despite Ramsey going public with her version of the altercations last week, the mountain biker Tuesday said she has yet to decide on what should happen legally.

“The bottom line is she assaulted me,” she said.

She too would like to see a better trail system, where bikers and hikers are on separate routes.

“This happened because there is so much misconception on the trails,” she said. “These types of conflicts are happening because it is not clear up there. We need to stop this drama and focus on that issue.”

Mark Wood of the North Shore Mountain Bike Association said they have a code of conduct for riders. They will be meeting with District of North Vancouver officials to begin looking at a strategy to allow bikers and hikers to coexist on the Fromme trail system.

“The district needs to address these issues because of the continuing increase in trail use,” he said.

District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton said there is a condition report on the Fromme trails coming later this month, and it will help the district plan ahead.

“We likely will rethink the universal-trail approach,” he said. “Trying to manage Fromme is a real challenge.”

jcolebourn@theprovince.com