PDA

View Full Version : what gear have you ditched trailside



sloopjonboswell
02-20-2008, 23:31
on purpose,... ideally... something that somebody picked up and used.??

sloopjonboswell
02-20-2008, 23:41
i found a my first campstove at hawk mountain shelter back in 1997 and left a twelve dollar guitar somewhere around troutville at a trailhead. anybody?

rafe
02-20-2008, 23:42
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

Tin Man
02-20-2008, 23:44
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

Oh brave soul,
I am not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

:D

Foyt20
02-21-2008, 00:16
That is way against LNT i think. Someone read "A Walk in the Woods" lately?

Footslogger
02-21-2008, 00:17
You mean ...RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE TRAIL ??

'Slogger

Blissful
02-21-2008, 00:23
We didn't leave things on the trail naturally (yikes), but we left our digital camera that we had broke in the Whites in the hiker bunkhouse at Crawford Notch campground along with a note. I hoped someone could figure out how to fix it and use it. I just didn't have the heart to throw it in the garbage.

KG4FAM
02-21-2008, 00:36
I have never left anything, but I saw a Marlboro tent at hawk mountain that someone had left

Tin Man
02-21-2008, 00:41
I left a prize in a cathole once or twice or ... daily.

envirodiver
02-21-2008, 01:47
Bad LNT person...you didn't pack it out?

Bob S
02-21-2008, 01:56
I have never left anything at a site on purpose. I have lost things on the trail and camping.

A good set of Redfield binoculars comes to mind, they were nice. It took me a year to replace them with something as nice as they were.

warraghiyagey
02-21-2008, 02:05
I passed a guy who started SOBO the same time as me last June 1. He turned back before the first ford and skipped out of Baxter and down the trail a way. I passed him the next day and he only had one of his Leeki poles. When I asked where his other one was he said it broke so he threw it in the woods.
I was thoroughly crestfallen and it bothered me a bit the rest of the day and I still think about it as ponderous.

envirodiver
02-21-2008, 02:11
Many years ago on a trip, in Big South Fork, I washed out a tuna can and put it on a limb of a bush ( I don't know why). I forgot it the next morning. Days later for some reason I remembered that I left it and it really botherd me. years later I hiked the same trail, went to the same campsite and it was still there. I put it in my trash bag and felt so much better.

warraghiyagey
02-21-2008, 02:14
Many years ago on a trip, in Big South Fork, I washed out a tuna can and put it on a limb of a bush ( I don't know why). I forgot it the next morning. Days later for some reason I remembered that I left it and it really botherd me. years later I hiked the same trail, went to the same campsite and it was still there. I put it in my trash bag and felt so much better.
Good karma.:)

envirodiver
02-21-2008, 02:15
Yup, I think so too.

Heater
02-21-2008, 02:17
i found a my first campstove at hawk mountain shelter back in 1997 and left a twelve dollar guitar somewhere around troutville at a trailhead. anybody?

You are 26. Wher did you get a 12 dollar guitar!!

Kirby
02-21-2008, 08:17
I left the cord for my camera somewhere in the 100 mile wilderness this past summer.

Kirby

sheepdog
02-21-2008, 08:26
I left a trail partner (temporarily) who was saying, "I hate mountains!!! All they do is go up and down!!" He got over it in a little while and was quite pleasant after that.

Mrs Baggins
02-21-2008, 08:27
I had a OR rain sombrero hat when we started out at Springer. When we got to Hawk Mt shelter I had already decided it was too much trouble to carry so I left it in the shelter. The next day a young hiker passed us wearing it! We had met him the night before and he was a very sweet kid so I was thrilled to see him get it. He asked me if it was mine and if I meant to leave it and I told him I was very happy for him to have it.

Two Speed
02-21-2008, 08:48
Ditched a hiking partner once. Does that count?

Lyle
02-21-2008, 10:03
Never left anything on purpose. Did leave my sierra cup at Rock Spring Hut. Amazingly, had it returned to me by a couple of hiking physicians in Harpers Ferry. Just happened to mention that I had left it there, and they had found it! Not even sure how it had come up in conversation, but was sure it was mine. I would often use it inverted as a candle base. This left a distinctive discoloration on the bottom of the cup from the melted wax. Still have that cup with it's discoloration.

Lone Wolf
02-21-2008, 10:05
ditched leki poles, water filter, cell phone, gaiters bearbag rope and orange *hit shovel. all useless gear

Tinker
02-21-2008, 10:17
If you feel like throwing something out, before you do, ask someone else if they'll use it. Most hiker hostels have a communal "hiker box" that folks put stuff in if they don't want it. I put some Esbit tabs and a Nalgene Unbottle in a hiker box in Hiawassee. Hope they were of use to someone. Never dump stuff along the trail.

weary
02-21-2008, 11:17
One winter a small group of us bushwhacked into Mahoosuc Notch from Sunday River in Maine. Upon returning home, I discovered the cover of my pot was missing. The next summer I went back with my two sons, then ages 10 and 11. We wandered about until I was hopelessly lost and set up camp for the night. About midnight I smelled smoke. Our campfire had burned four feet through the spaghnum.
I spent the rest of the night dousing the fire and gave up the search. Well for that year.

Twelve months later I resumed . Once I found the right stream to follow, it was easy. There was the cover nestled in the middle of a swamp where we had camped atop three feet of snow. Unfortunately the Sigg Pot had developed a hole by then. Thirty years later, however, the cover continues to serve -- as a dish for feeding my cat.

Weary

rafe
02-21-2008, 12:02
Very little on purpose. A few items by accident. (A hiking pole, water filter, sunglasses...)

bigmac_in
02-21-2008, 12:11
I left an orange "life is good" cotton t-shirt at Gooch Gap. Left it hanging in a tree - by accident of course.

STEVEM
02-21-2008, 12:17
I dropped my water bottle near the summit of a mountain on a very icy day. I could hear it sliding and banging into trees for a minute or two. I guess its still there.

Tin Man
02-21-2008, 12:28
My pack cover blew clean off when hiking Moosilauke in a very windy and rainy day last May. My brother and I did not see it go, but it must have made like a kite.

Red Hat
02-21-2008, 12:33
Lost two Marmot jackets, but neither on purpose. First one was in 2003 at a shelter in VA. It was raining when I got there so I took off my jacket to let it dry. It had stopped by the time I finished lunch so I hiked off without it. Miles down the road, I realized duh!

One year later I took off my jacket for photos at a road crossing where I was getting a ride. When my ride came, I forgot that I had removed my jacket and rode off without it. Ron (Hiawassee Inn) loaned me his car to go back and get it, but when I got there it was gone.

I must have learned my lesson because I didn't lose anything in 2005 or anytime since. Oh wait, I did lose my cell phone in the Shenandoahs in 2005, but the rangers found it and mailed it home.

margo
02-21-2008, 12:50
Dang redhat, that's a lot! Do you "burn inscence" in your tent too? ;)

Terry7
02-21-2008, 13:05
I found a "Steri-Lite" pen by a shelter between Daleville and Pearisburg. If it is yours I will glady give it back. Tell me the color and make of the stuff sack and the model of the pen. I have never used it. I like my filter.

Red Hat
02-21-2008, 13:21
Dang redhat, that's a lot! Do you "burn inscence" in your tent too? ;)

Nope, and I haven't smoked anything in years! Just forgetful naturally, I guess. But Hopeful Hiker was the winner of the forgetful award for 2005. Almost everyday he lost something!

BR360
02-21-2008, 13:24
Last summer on the Black Mountain Crest Trail I left a titanium spoon hanging by a red shoelace in a tree overnight. Because the bugs were awful the next morning, I packed quickly and hit the trail without eating breakfast. Only when I stopped 2 hours later for morning coffee did I realize i had forgotten it.

Later that day I met a gut that planned to camp where I had been I gave him very explicit instructions where to find the spoon and that he could keep it if he found it. If he didn't get it, someone will.

saimyoji
02-21-2008, 14:05
Both my dignity and virtue. :cool:

sloopjonboswell
02-21-2008, 14:05
$12 guitar >in damascus last year, a little store right on the trail between sundog and cowboys. it was a real piece, but i got my moneys worth.

cowboy nichols
02-21-2008, 14:38
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...
:eek:That could be my problem:-?:-?

No Belay
02-21-2008, 14:41
Lost my virginity near Mt. Rogers in 1972. Never did get it back.

taildragger
02-21-2008, 15:38
Lost my virginity near Mt. Rogers in 1972. Never did get it back.

Well, if she gave it back to you that would just be awkward

Kerosene
02-21-2008, 16:01
I'd never simply leave something trail-side on purpose. This past hike I did inadvertantly leave my nice Integral Designs e-Vent gaitors in the sun next to Hurricane Shelter in southern Virginia. Someone got some nice gaitors for free.

DAKS
02-21-2008, 16:04
Well, if she gave it back to you that would just be awkward

that's funny right there! LMAO!

envirodiver
02-21-2008, 17:02
Lost my virginity near Mt. Rogers in 1972. Never did get it back.

Did you want it back?:rolleyes:

John Klein
02-21-2008, 18:37
I have never left anything, but I saw a Marlboro tent at hawk mountain that someone had left
Maybe it belonged to that guy in "2000 Miles to Maine" that got all his equipment from the Marlboro catalog.

Programbo
02-21-2008, 20:14
The last hiking trip I ever went on before I stopped the first time in 1978 (I went in the Army) I just left my 2-man mountain tent set up in the clearing next to Pine Knob Shelter in Maryland (Wasn`t a specific "tenting area" back then)..I`ve often wondered how long it stayed there

SunnyWalker
02-21-2008, 21:35
I hav e never left anything or lost anything. "Pack it in, pack it out" is a good motto. Many things I have thrown away or ditched once I got out to a garbage can or dumpster or to the Post office (to mail home). Never lost anything because when I was young I went on Outward Bound. They taught me that when I stood up to leave, to always take a couple of steps, stop and look behind me. Always. And I always do that whether on the trail or not. Works good. -SunnyWalker

Patrickjd9
02-21-2008, 21:40
Left a decent pair of jeans on top of a road crossing trash can at Fontana lake after I found the nylon zip off shorts I thought I had forgotten at the bottom of my pack.

hopefulhiker
02-21-2008, 21:51
I dropped a ground cloth in a hiker box. And I did give some gear away.. I had an extra mock photon light I gave to Crazy Horse.. because he broke his trying to set fire to something... I have given food away too, trying to lighten the load...

rafe
02-21-2008, 22:22
I've left lots of sh it in hiker boxes. Usually about half a mail-drop's worth. :rolleyes:

CrumbSnatcher
02-21-2008, 23:37
Ditched a hiking partner once. Does that count?
hell yah that counts, nothing feels better than the feel of unloading some worthless crap.

gungho
02-22-2008, 00:35
I have never ditched any gear before. There are times I have thought about it. But it seems like I always come across ditched gear in ever shelter I come across.

gungho
02-22-2008, 00:37
Ditched a hiking partner once. Does that count?
I think you meant to say You have been ditched before. Does that count?:D

Jim Adams
02-22-2008, 01:10
I've never lost anything on the trail but I did give away a hiking partner before she made me lose my mind!!!!

geek

warraghiyagey
02-22-2008, 01:11
I've left lots of sh it in hiker boxes. Usually about half a mail-drop's worth. :rolleyes:
Thank you.;)

sloopjonboswell
02-22-2008, 01:59
personally, ive ditched and been ditched

sloopjonboswell
02-22-2008, 01:59
never really considered myself gear though,hmm

Jim Adams
02-22-2008, 02:30
never really considered myself gear though,hmm


hmm---no one ever called you a tool?:banana

sorry dude, that was just so easy, I couldn't resist!LOL

geek

Two Speed
02-22-2008, 08:04
hell yah that counts, nothing feels better than the feel of unloading some worthless crap.Oh, yeah, it felt good. Lost about 180 lbs of useless garbage. To the poor soul who ran across that 180 lbs of useless garbage: I am truly sorry and promise to do my very best to never bring that sort of crap into the woods again.
I think you meant to say You have been ditched before. Does that count?:DSometimes you're pigeon, sometimes you're the statue. :cool:

Bearpaw
02-22-2008, 09:59
I left a prized bandanna that I had laid out to dry while having lunch at a shelter. :(

Beyond that, every thing I left was in a hiker box at a hostel.

Pennsylvania Rose
02-22-2008, 10:34
Lent a hiking stick my brother had carved for me to a friend for the day (he was having knee troubles). He accidentally left it on top of Standing Indian. I was ticked, but didn't go back for it.

Last summer we went fishing at a fairly popular spot about 90 minutes from home. Although we used my husband's car keys, he brought my keys along, too (who knows why...I didn't even know he had them). He hung my keys on a tree and forgot about them until we got home. It was too far to go back so I hoped that someone would drop them in the mail and the attached Kroger card would help them find their way home. Almost two months later we went back to the same spot. There were my keys hanging in the tree...and the car remote still worked!

RFD
02-22-2008, 10:49
Left my trusty walking stick in the back of a pickup truck when I hitched into Dartmouth after losing the trail on Holt's Ledge. That was a sad day:( This was back in '73, so I guess it's gone forever. :)

envirodiver
02-22-2008, 13:23
I've left lots of sh it in hiker boxes. Usually about half a mail-drop's worth. :rolleyes:

I think that was a different thread. Didn't we decide that you should use a cathole. or pack it out, or privey...Oh I don't know. But dude a hiker box seems like the very worst alternative. That's just gross.

weary
02-22-2008, 13:39
The last hiking trip I ever went on before I stopped the first time in 1978 (I went in the Army) I just left my 2-man mountain tent set up in the clearing next to Pine Knob Shelter in Maryland (Wasn`t a specific "tenting area" back then)..I`ve often wondered how long it stayed there
There's a good chance that it just gradually rotted away -- or perhaps sparked a search for whoever left it. It's not a good thing to do, especially if you don't leave a note explaining your vandalism.

Weary

taildragger
02-22-2008, 13:41
I think that was a different thread. Didn't we decide that you should use a cathole. or pack it out, or privey...Oh I don't know. But dude a hiker box seems like the very worst alternative. That's just gross.

Hiker box....privy....whats the difference?

DesertMTB
02-22-2008, 13:47
There's a good chance that it just gradually rotted away -- or perhaps sparked a search for whoever left it. It's not a good thing to do, especially if you don't leave a note explaining your vandalism.

Weary


pfft. Leaving a tent in the woods is NOT vandalism.

DawnTreader
02-22-2008, 13:57
I left a nice, one of a kind Log cabin outfitter fleece pullover hanging on the side of Piazza Rock Lean-to back in 03'.. Then hiked out without it :( It was Gray.. Anybody find it???
I also lost half a trekking pole in a river in the 100 mile willderness in 06'...

RITBlake
02-22-2008, 17:01
We were staying at the 501 shelter after a humid/wet day. The next day I put my wet hiking t-shirt and shorts out in the sun to dry a bit, while my partner and I hitched in to town to grab a few store items. The clothes were in public view but I never thought anybody would take them.

Sure enough we came back and they were gone. I was puzzled, and so I walked over to the caretakers house. Much to my surprise and relief, he had taken them, and washed them thinking they were abandoned.

I always wondered what he was going to do w/ my scrubby hiking clothes. Anyway, I was happy to get a bit of free laundry and thanked him for looking after my stuff.

Jack Tarlin
02-22-2008, 17:07
Funny thread.

As far as ditching unwanted things Trailside, well I tried to ditch Mountain Dew and Bfitz a bunch of times, but unfortunately, being younger and fitter, they always managed to catch up.

Trying to get rid of those guys was like flicking snot off a fingernail, you haveta work at it.

hobojoe
02-22-2008, 17:18
I ditched my reservations at springer mt. shelter.

weary
02-22-2008, 18:25
pfft. Leaving a tent in the woods is NOT vandalism.
Yes it is. It defiles a trail and forces someone to pack it out.

Lone Wolf
02-22-2008, 18:30
Yes it is. It defiles a trail and forces someone to pack it out.

BS. if anything it's littering

Mountain Man
02-22-2008, 18:53
I don't reckon I've left nothing on the trail, but I did gain a lot of stuff. I left Amicalola with 28 lbs and when I got to Damascus I had 40 lbs. :eek: I bought a few books that I hardly ever read and Ikept buying more and more food.:D Heck, I'd probably do the same thing again next time. The extra food was good and I know I'd enjoyed reading the books If I wasn't so tired every night from toteing all that s**t.:D

tazie
02-22-2008, 20:40
I pick up hiking sticks on dayhikes and then ditch them, or pass them on to other hikers when I'm finishing up...a lot of people are so grateful when I give them a simple walking stick and tell them it really does help up the hills. Mostly I've left a lot of negative emotions, bad memories or sadness behind...no matter how bad the day is a good hike always makes me feel a little better.

weary
02-22-2008, 21:12
BS. if anything it's littering

define the difference between vandalism and leaving six pounds that someone has to carry out on his back.

weary
02-22-2008, 21:16
BS. if anything it's littering

define the difference between vandalism and leaving six pounds of rotting crap that someone has to carry out on his back.

vandalism is the defacement of public property. What greater defacement than a 5 by 7 by 4 foot structure in the view of a trail.

taildragger
02-23-2008, 16:02
define the difference between vandalism and leaving six pounds of rotting crap that someone has to carry out on his back.

vandalism is the defacement of public property. What greater defacement than a 5 by 7 by 4 foot structure in the view of a trail.

Well obviously leaving a 3-6 courics (linky: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=couric) in the middle of the trail with a nice paper puff ball on top. At least the tent could be used by someone else.

Feral Bill
02-23-2008, 16:55
I left a pair of brand new Smartwool socks drying at a campsite on the Wonderland Trail. I hope someone got some use out of them.

I have collected plenty of tent pegs here and there.

weary
02-23-2008, 23:17
....At least the tent could be used by someone else.
That's the myth that I find so irritating. 90 percent of the stuff that people leave "for someone else to use." Just sits around until it is worthless and some maintainer has to carry it out. Litter breeds litter. As worthless junk is left in shelters, more and more hikers conclude, "a little bit more from me won't make any difference" and they leave stuff also, and the next guy, and the guy after that.

If you carried it in, carry it out. And because we have increasingly become a nation of slobs, carry out some of the junk someone else left. Someone has to. Why not you?

If you have stuff you don't want, don't leave it on the trail. Take it to the hiker box in the closest hostel, where a trash collector -- or at least a motor vehicle is nearby for transportation.

Weary

taildragger
02-24-2008, 00:07
That's the myth that I find so irritating. 90 percent of the stuff that people leave "for someone else to use." Just sits around until it is worthless and some maintainer has to carry it out.

I still hold to my point that at least someone could use it.

I don't leave crap in the woods, but if I were to find a tent in half decent shape, I'd jump all over, I know that I could find a good home for it. Maybe thats just me, I was raised with the mentality of "never pass something up thats worth something". Consequently I'm a pack rat and will pawn anything that I can find that the shop will take. I also used to pick up roadkill with my dad to skin and make fly lures out of (you know you come from a weird family when you dad, who is educated, is willing to fight rednecks over a dead squirrel in the middle of a road).

The Solemates
02-24-2008, 16:56
In all my hiking, Ive never left anything on the trail.

Ive picked up plenty that others have left though. That includes everything from spending a weekend picking up trash to snagging really nice gear in GA in late March/early April.

weary
02-24-2008, 17:18
I still hold to my point that at least someone could use it.

I don't leave crap in the woods, but if I were to find a tent in half decent shape, I'd jump all over, I know that I could find a good home for it. Maybe thats just me, I was raised with the mentality of "never pass something up thats worth something". Consequently I'm a pack rat and will pawn anything that I can find that the shop will take. I also used to pick up roadkill with my dad to skin and make fly lures out of (you know you come from a weird family when you dad, who is educated, is willing to fight rednecks over a dead squirrel in the middle of a road).
I once on a popular trail ran across a tent with sleeping bag and other stuff inside and the door unzipped. three months later it was still there, though the sleeping bag had been mined by animals for nesting materials and the food had decayed to a stinking mess.

A maintainer eventually carried the mess to the dump.

In the Smokies on my walk home 15 years ago, I ran across a sleeping bag on a side trail leading to the AT. A mile further on was a pack bag, minus the frame. And a half mile further the frame. Someone obviously was giving up backpacking.

Some maintainer, I'm sure, eventually carted the stuff out. By late September virtually every shelter as you approach Katahdin in the 100-mile wilderness has at least 20 pounds of junk that people have left "for someone to use."

If you carry it in, carry it out. The chances that someone will want your cast offs are virtually zero.

Weary

Jack Tarlin
02-24-2008, 17:25
Query:

I frequently hike out of town with a newspaper or magazine. Sometimes it's a sh***y little local rag; sometimes it's the Sunday Washington Post.

If I were to leave sections of the paper behind in a shelter, would this be considered inconsiderate littering, or would it be something perhaps appreciated by other hikers who might want to read the book review, or Arts section, or whatever.

And in that the newspaper would either be carried out of there by someone who wanted to read it later , or would be used to start a campfire before too long, i.e., it wouldn't ever have to be carried out be a caretaker or ridgerunner, does this make it OK to leave it in a shelter?

Would be curious to see other opinions on this.

warraghiyagey
02-24-2008, 17:35
No doubt some folks are gonna freak at the concept and declare you the most evil of villians for desecrating the land and the trail.
If I came along said newspaper in the shelter, I'd be happy to read it, maybe use it to start the fire. And the overwhelming majority of hikers I've met would likely do the same without even thinking to be offended.
Could you leave the section with the Sudoku in it??
:p

vonfrick
02-24-2008, 17:38
i'll take the crossword please. thanks.

mudhead
02-24-2008, 20:11
You aren't gonna hook up with the Gideons, are you?

dessertrat
02-24-2008, 20:49
define the difference between vandalism and leaving six pounds that someone has to carry out on his back.

Vandalism means destroying something. Littering means leaving something in an inappropriate place.

I could successfully defend a client against a vandalism charge if he left his tent in the woods (in fact, such a charge would never be brought, or would be dismissed as a matter of law if brought). Littering would stick.

dessertrat
02-24-2008, 20:56
You don't see much paper trash left in the woods, compared to other trash, probably just because it can be burned. I wouldn't mind if someone left a newspaper at a shelter. I would be happy to read it and then burn it.

sloopjonboswell
02-24-2008, 23:37
we burned the second half of into the woods somewhere after carter gap. i remember a rainy day in new hampshire? reading the kurt vonnegut book somebody left. thanks whoever left that one. there was a shelter in vermont trashed with reading material but i thought it was great, even though it was sort of an eyesore. its a courtesy to find good papers, whichever of the three reasons you might use them for

Carp
02-25-2008, 15:17
I'd not mind finding a nice bit of paper to read at a shelter either.