Chris Hess, his wife Angela, their teenage daughter and her boyfriend were on a mountain biking excursion near Brightwood when they crossed paths with David and Pamela Gathwright.

The Mother's Day 2013 confrontation began with two meandering dogs and culminated with David Gathwright pointing a handgun at Chris Hess' head.

The clash led to criminal charges against the Gathwrights. Their trial started Tuesday before Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Susie Norby.

On Wednesday, Norby found David Gathwright, 60, guilty of unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and pointing a firearm at another person. She found Pamela Gathwright, 58, guilty of attempted second-degree animal abuse. They will be sentenced April 7.

It wasn't the first time the Gathwrights confronted people using the Sandy Ridge mountain biking trail system about 11 miles east of Sandy, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

"Over the past several years, the Gathwright's have been, allegedly, confronting and harassing bikers and hikers along the trail brandishing pepper spray, Tasers, and at least one instance of pointing a hand gun," the Forest Service said in a news release after the Gathwrights' arrest July 1, 2014.

Mountain bikers informally reported encounters with a couple believed to be the Gathwrights.

Pamela Gathwrigh told a U.S. Forest Service ranger that people who use the trails are "thugs" and off-leash dogs on the trails are dangerous, according to trial testimony.

The Gathwrights had not been cited before the incident with the Hesses.

The Gathwrights and the Hesses gave conflicting accounts of what happened that day.

The Hesses had their two miniature Australian shepherds with them. They came to a stop where the trail crossed a Forest Service road. That's where they encountered the Gathwrights.

As the Gathwrights approached, they yelled for the Hesses to get control of the dogs, who were off leash. On that, both sides agree.

The Hesses said their dogs -- no more than 40 feet away from them -- were friendly, showed no aggression and posed no threat. Dogs are not required to be leashed.

They said Pamela Gathwright pulled out an electric stun gun, leaned forward and clicked it at one of the dogs. The device made a visible arc.

Words were exchanged. The Gathwrights claim Angela Hess said, "I'm going to kick your ass" and her teen-age daughter used profanities.

From there, things moved quickly. Chris Hess lifted his bike in the air in a protective gesture. He recalled reading that is was a good tactic if confronted by a bear.

"That wasn't helpful, and I lowered it," he said,

Chris Hess said David Gathwright pulled out a gun -- later identified as a Glock semi-automatic pistol.

"He was aiming straight at my face," Chris Hess testified. "I thought I was going to die.

The Gathwrights offered a different scenario.

Pamela Gathwright had been bitten by a dog and was wary of the animals.

The Gathwrights said it was the Hesses that escalated the situation through their hostile and threatening behavior.

David Gathwright said he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the ground in self-defense.

The Gathwrights "provoked this particular argument" and have no right to claim self-defense, said prosecutor Bill Golden.

Norby didn't find the Gathwrights version believable.

David Gathwright's testimony in particular, seemed "self-serving," she said.

Gathwright testified that he and his wife "always chose the least dangerous thing" when they feel the need to protect themselves, Norby said.

"The least dangerous when presented with a perceived risk is to change the course of their path of travel. But they did not do that," Norby said.

Pamela Gathwright's use of a stun gun "was not an act of self-defense but one of purposeful aggression," Norby said.

Norby said that, based on the evidence, she believed that Gathwright aimed the gun directly at Hess.

Norby noted that David Gathwright testified that in the 25 years the couple have been hiking and biking they have never been attacked by a dog or other animal.

"The hikers and bikers who testified in this trial were the Hess family, who had bicycles and small dogs on the trail on Mother's Day, and the Gathwrights, who carry OC spray, stun guns, tasers and a loaded handgun when they traverse a trail," Norby said.

"As the evidence shows, the Gathwrights themselves seem to be the most fearsome hikers on the trail," Norby said.

-- Steve Mayes

smayes@oregonian.com

503-294-5916; @ocmayes