View Full Version : Ever lose anything?
On the trail? I'm asking because I put my glasses down at one point on the trail today while day-hiking and forgot to pick them back up. Came back 5 hours later and they were gone :mad: . Anybody else ever lose anything while hiking?
On the trail? I'm asking because I put my glasses down at one point on the trail today while day-hiking and forgot to pick them back up. Came back 5 hours later and they were gone :mad: . Anybody else ever lose anything while hiking?
I lost a pair of wicking wedgie-free briefs at the second shelter south of the James River. I left them hanging on a line drying. If anyone has them, I'd be grateful for their return.
Serves me right for wearing underwear on the trail!
Not yet but it's inevitable. I've almost lost (left behind) a bunch of things hiking solo as there is no one else to warn me. I try to do a "twice around" every time I take off again now-a-days. One can hang/place things in the greatest places one evening but those places sure don't seem in plain sight the next morning do they........
Skidsteer
03-11-2006, 20:40
My favorite pair of cheap sunglasses. I hung them on a handy sapling at Tray Mtn. while I was setting up my tent and promptly forgot all about them. I dayhiked back up the following week, but alas they are gone forever.
about a fifth of crown royal - pack zipper slipped up and the crown royal slipped out at some point during the day....talk about a disappointing evening!
Old Spice
03-11-2006, 20:47
about a fifth of crown royal - pack zipper slipped up and the crown royal slipped out at some point during the day....talk about a disappointing evening!
It was you that lost it? Well the night sure wasn't dissapointing for me! One man's loss is another man's trail magic. Salut.
Skidsteer
03-11-2006, 20:51
about a fifth of crown royal - pack zipper slipped up and the crown royal slipped out at some point during the day....talk about a disappointing evening!
:eek: :eek: Catastrophe!
Alligator
03-11-2006, 20:58
Mahoosuc Notch ate my thermarest. I left a cheapie dollar store clothesline once by accident. And a bowl.
Put your name (and trailname) on everything that you can. It may not help the section hiker, but it'll help the thru-hiker for sure. Unless it's a fifth of Crown Royal.
Anybody else ever lose anything while hiking?
Hells yeah I have... dropped a camera on the trail, but luckily another thru-hiker picked it up and returned it to me. Forgot my gaiters after a rest stop and that was the end of that. Got my MP3 player stolen on the PCT at a resort area... sucky.
Oh and I forgot about a year ago I lost my Seiko watch while day-hiking. If you're not familiar with the name, that's like a $450 watch. Serves me right for wearing a designer watch on the trail, I guess.
Cedar Tree
03-11-2006, 22:16
I ain't lost much, but I sure did find a bunch of good stuff on my hike.
CT
Have "lost" the same shirt twice. Well, left it behind, first time at Brown fork gap shelter, second time at Cosby knob shelter (next trip, left my hat there) each time I made the trip back to retrieve the lost item. And, each time it has been something without a spare, so, I had to go back.
Havn't lost anything forever, yet.
Doctari.
Lost Soul
03-12-2006, 00:40
I've had the occasion to lose things on the trail as well. The two most memorable are the hiking stick I carried from finding it at the foot of the access trail at Amicola and a spoon. The hiking stick was taken at a campground in New Jersey. (I think) I had stuck it under the fly to my tent and someone grabed it up, I can only guess it ended up in someones campfire. I had wanted to get it to the top of Katahdin but... Now the spoon is another story, I had forgotten my spoon at a shelter and didn't realize until around 2-3pm and there was no way I was going back for a spoon. I stopped at a shelter to sign the register and low and behold, on the picnic table was a another lexan spoon. I never did find out who left it behind but I guess the trail provides what we need in some wierd way...
Hikes in Rain
03-12-2006, 09:11
Sole of my right boot, shortly after leaving Low Gap shelter. Used all my adhesive tape sticking it back on enough to reach Unicoi Gap. Since everything was wet, didn't stick so well. (Mental note to bring duct tape next trip!) Carefully, especially the rock hopping south of Blue Mountain shelter.
Lone Wolf
03-12-2006, 09:59
I lost my virginity a while back. I love that raccoon that found it.
Whistler
03-12-2006, 10:11
I lost a windshirt when I was doing some late night hiking, somewhere between Springer and Amicalola. Must have gotten snagged and fallen out the pack straps.
-Mark
Lumberjack
03-12-2006, 11:28
Of all the things I have lost I miss my mind the most.
fivefour
03-12-2006, 19:46
i lost my pack cover once. i reached into the top of my pack, over my head ,while walking .... i guess i drug it out with what i was digging for. that's the only explaination i can come up with any how.
trail name is S.W.I.F.T. It stands for... S**t What'd I Forget Today? That kind of says it all.
Crocs knock offs at Seth Warner Shelter on July 2, 2005. I got about 5 miles to the flooded bog bridges next to a beaver dam before I looked in my pack and realized I did not have them. I bought a pair of the "real things" in Manchester. Whoever was first into Seth Warner that day got a pair of free camp shoes.
Doppleganger
03-13-2006, 01:08
I once lost apair of rain pants that I left in a leanto and was to dern lazy to go back for um. But I found a pair of binoch's so I figure I'm even
Rain Man
03-13-2006, 01:24
... Anybody else ever lose anything while hiking?
Left my food bag once on a table at Deep Gap Shelter in Georgia. Stopped there for a snack and two rather oblivious, self-centered hikers with huge packs came along, spread a massive amount of stuff out on MY stuff, and proceeded to make themselves lunch.
I packed up and left them. Apparently they had covered my food bag with their stuff on the table and I didn't see it. I didn't realize it until that evening at Plumorchard Gap Shelter. Fortunately I had caught a ride into Hiawasee and had a big lunch at the Hardees there and already was planning on hiking out the next evening at Deep Gap, NC. Also, a hiking partner I met at Dicks Creek Gap was already planning on cooking dinner that night for both of us at Plumorchard Gap Shelter. So, mostly I just had to do without breakfast or lunch or dinner the next day. I had one candy bar in my pack, which sufficed, along with bumming finger food off my hiking partner.
Lilredmg had hiked the first day of this section hike with me. She came along behind me, found my food bag, RECOGNIZED my food bag, then carried it for several days, and brought it back to Nashville for me!
Last Thanksgiving (during hunting season), my wife lost a blaze orange hunting vest off her pack, we think at Deep Gap, NC, opposite side from Groundhog Creek Shelter. We had gone west into the woods instead of east, looking for the shelter and assume it's there somewhere. It was only later at Groundhog Creek Shelter, the next morning, that we realized it was missing. We told some SOBO thru-hikers we met that they could have it if they found it.
On my very first day of hiking on the AT, I found a titanium MSR spoon at Hawk Mtn Shelter, in the dirt under the table.
Rain:sunMan
.
I've had to buy 4 headlamps. I just can't seem to keep track of them. It's odd, because that's the only thing I've ever lost while hiking.
lilmountaingirl
03-13-2006, 11:33
Last year on MLK weekend, I hiked from Duncannon to Swatara Gap with a couple of people. We passed one hiker all weekend and exchanged pleasantries. At the end of the trip, I realized I had lost my fleece neck gaiter.
Fast forward one month...President's Day Weekend I head out to Allegheny National Forest to do the Hickory Creek Loop and no_granola is there (who after reading my trip report from MLK weekend, identified himself as the lone hiker we passed). Anyhoo...as we stood at the trailhead, he says "Did anyone happen to lose a neck gaiter back in January?" Turns out he found it on the trail, and was wearing it. :cool: So, I lost it but I got it back.:D
On a side note: every single person that hiked with him for about 5 trips in a row "lost" something that eventually turned up in his possession. He returns the items...but I still call him "klepto". :D
alanthealan
03-13-2006, 12:01
I left my glasses at Mcaffe's Knob.
I thought I had lost my pocket knife and Aqua Mira and replaced them on a resuply only to find them three weeks later at the bottom of my pack.
James Fetter
03-13-2006, 12:59
We were getting ready for a water break at a pre-designated spot and we heard a rackette in the woods just off the trail. I said to my daughter "that ain't no deer, lets move on down a little before the break." About a quarter mile down the train it was very narrow but we decided to stop and hydrate and have some nuts and raisins. I was sitting facing north from where we had been and my daughter was facing south on the narrow trail. After a few minutes I looked over her shoulder and there was a black bear ambling down the trail directly towards us. I said to my daughter "there's a bear coming down the trail." She gave me that sure dad, I'm not falling for that one" look. As she observed my rapid movement to gather up my equipment, she looked over her shoulder and quickly concurred it was time to leave. The bear was probably 75 yards away from us. Time and distance seem to get shorter as this story gets older in family discussions, but you are getting the real facts here. As we made our egress to safety about another half mile down the trail, I reached for my eye glasses that I keep tethered to my neck. There were no glasses. In our haste to avoid the bear, the glasses were pulled loose and dropped to the trail. My gracious daughter voluteered to go back for them saving this old man any additional wear and tear on this body. As I was sitting there waiting for her I had a vision of a bear coming down the trail wearing a pair of glasses with an freshly chewed arm hanging from his mouth. The glasses were exactly where we were sitting and my daughter returned safely to continuously remind me how she made that return trip for me.
JoeHiker
03-13-2006, 13:36
Chavens, were you in Virginia at the time. Someone might have found your glasses:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=13619
Dances with Mice
03-13-2006, 13:45
Couple years ago I was determined to take a set of outstanding notes on a trail that had no accurate, complete trail guide. I had 3 different maps all marked with mileages, I had a handful of the best descriptions of the trail available printed out for on-site comparison, I had all that and my notebook, pen, and compass in a ziplock bag in a mesh pocket outside my bag for easy access.
So I set out on this weeklong hike and the first day I get about 5 miles out and stop at the first gap and....
I really don't need to finish this story, do I?
I lost my virginity a while back. I love that raccoon that found it.
So the story IS true.....she was wearing a mask!!!!!!!!!:-?
.....................blah,blah,blah,.............. .................................................. ...... Anybody else ever lose anything while hiking?
In 2004 @ FONTANA DAM showers...i lost a pair of pants, a camera, a nice pocketknife, a watch, & a sweatshirt....i wuz VERY glad i still had some mesh-lined shorts left after my HOT shower! hehehehehehehe:D
gravityman
03-13-2006, 15:46
Trip lost his shoes about 20 miles in to the 100 mile wilderness this past fall. Can you believe that? 2000 miles, and you lose your shoes! Luckily he had crocks and a map to figure out how to get out.
Gravity
RockyTrail
03-13-2006, 16:21
I found a sleeping bag in its stuff sack on the BMT Section 2.
I picked it up, not that I wanted it or anything, just thought it would be litter if it was left there. A few minutes later I caught up with its owner who was still unaware it had fallen from his pack...you shoulda seen the look on his face!:)
Trip lost his shoes about 20 miles in to the 100 mile wilderness this past fall. Can you believe that? 2000 miles, and you lose your shoes! Luckily he had crocks and a map to figure out how to get out.
Gravity
Did you find them??? I caught up to him the morning after they disappeared, he swears that an animal dragged them off. He laid them out to dry when he went to bed and the next morning they were gone. I lost my cigars in Maine and a picture of them ended up on Whitblaze, HA!
And then I get this guestbook entry on trailjournals from Spicy...wise guy.
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Name: </TD><TD>Matt McKinney Email Recorded</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>From: </TD><TD>State College, PA</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Message: </TD><TD>Hi SWIFT, Wanted you to know that you "forgot something on the trail." Imagine that! I found a circular plastic container with your initials on it...and to my surprise it was the best find on the trail yet. You left your Swisher Sweets Wood Tipped Cigars right off the trail in Central Maine. I must apoligize, they all went up in a series of small arson flames, but rest assured that they were much enjoyed. I hope you finished well and thanks for the "best trail magic" ever, even if it was by accident! I am now in Millinocket awaiting my parents to arrive, so I can finish the last 5 miles of the trail with them! Take Care & we'll have to meet up for a hike someday! Your friend, Matt "Spicy" Mckinney </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Website: </TD><TD>www.trailjournals.com/spicy (http://www.trailjournals.com/www.trailjournals.com/spicy) </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Got Here: </TD><TD>A Friend </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Date: </TD><TD>Sep 25 2005 10:13AM </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
SGTdirtman
03-13-2006, 16:48
I lost my lensatic tritium compass last year somewhere around millbrook road... That really bummed me out the rest of my trip since they are fairly expensive. stupid alice clip popped open and it fell off my pack. I backtracked about 3 miles untill I gave up looking, Kinda hard to spot OD green stuff in the middle of the woods.
One thing however I have tried to lose for the past 3 years is this stupid walking stick I carved from a branch I found and made a handle out of some paracord. For the past 3 years I left it along the trail figuring someone would find it and take it. but every year I go back and find it in the same spot I left it, carry it untill I'm done and drop it again. I left it near the ranger station at rt 23 in NJ last year around june, I'm going back there soon and the dumb thing will probably still be there.
bigmac_in
03-13-2006, 17:06
I lost .................... my train of thought... :-)
No Belay
03-13-2006, 21:02
:o Don't tell anybody else but once I lost my whole rig for almost 6 hours. I was winter hiking the Rhododendron Gap area near Mt. Rogers the first week in Dec.. Set up late evening in a pine clump near the ponies with my white Granite Gear tarp. Got up early, before sunrise, to get some horse photos. Wandered about a mile from camp when I was almost instantly overtaken by a socked in white out with a good snow storm on it's back. I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me and what I could see was quickly turning white with snow. Hadn't taken a compass shot when I left camp. Can we say Puckered? All I could do was contour at the elevation I knew my camp was at and hope God really did take care of fools and idiots. At 2 pm that afternoon, wet, frozen, and POed I found my camp. Worst part was I had walked 20 foot away from it 3 hours earlier and never saw it because of the snow on the white tarp. Lessons learned; use orange tarp in winter, the extra weight of a GPS is worth it's weight in beer, and never bushwhack without keeping a compass bearing.
yeah,i lost 19 lbs in 12 days on my last hike last october:cool: neo
digger51
03-14-2006, 12:51
In 2001 a guy in front of me lost his heavy poncho three times in one day. I returned it twice and found a dumpster for it the third time. I tried to lose my virginity but couldnt meet any of them conjugals.
hikerjohnd
03-14-2006, 13:02
A tent - a whole tent, fly, groundsheet, separate vestibule, poles, and everything that goes with it. Now it may seem difficult to do - but we had it when we left the island but it was nowhere to be found when we got home.
gravityman
03-14-2006, 15:59
Did you find them??? I caught up to him the morning after they disappeared, he swears that an animal dragged them off. He laid them out to dry when he went to bed and the next morning they were gone. I lost my cigars in Maine and a picture of them ended up on Whitblaze, HA!
No, we didn't find them. I can only guess that he did in fact lose them to a critter.... Can't imagine where else they would have gone to...
Funny about the cigars!
Gravity
jaywalke
03-14-2006, 21:35
I try to do a "twice around" every time I take off again now-a-days.
I do this, too. I refer to it as "the idiot check".