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Jack Tarlin
03-26-2009, 13:55
It's a miserable cold kind of God-forsaken day here in North Georgia.

But we just got a day brightener I want to share.

So an hour and a half ago, this hiker walks into Mountain Crossings, tired and sopping wet.

He realizes with horror that he's left a small stuff bag back at the shelter he stayed at, and of course it's the one containing his wallet, credit cards, and around three hundred bucks.

He's pretty sure he'll never see it again, and asks us to keep an eye out in case someone by some crazy chance should happen to find it and turn it in.

We tell him to hold off a bit on cancelling his credit cards, who knows what might happen.

And lo and behold, ten minutes ago, two kids walk into the store and before they can take their packs off, they turn the stuff sack into the store staff and ask if we've seen the hiker in question.

End result: A very happy hiker who's had his faith in humanity restored.

Now where else would this happen other than the A.T.?

Lone Wolf
03-26-2009, 13:59
Now where else would this happen other than the A.T.?

it happens in all kinds of places other than the AT. hikers ain't cornered the market on niceness and doing the right thing

SGT Rock
03-26-2009, 13:59
Outstanding. Hikers watching out for hikers.

sheepdog
03-26-2009, 14:01
it happens in all kinds of places other than the AT. hikers ain't cornered the market on niceness and doing the right thing
true, but still a great story

Bulldawg
03-26-2009, 14:02
Yeah, good story. Probably Georgia boys that brought it in!!

DAJA
03-26-2009, 14:03
Phish concert, Common Ground Fair, and Canada.... But yes, indeed a very nice story!!

RITBlake
03-26-2009, 14:05
I dropped my wallet in Times Square and it arrived in the mail exactly 48 hours later. True story.

Freeleo
03-26-2009, 14:06
Phish concert, Common Ground Fair, and Canada.... But yes, indeed a very nice story!!

heading south for any shows?

DAJA
03-26-2009, 14:10
heading south for any shows?

Jones Beach (both nights), Camden, Pittsburgh... And with any luck Saratoga..

Newb
03-26-2009, 14:14
I had a box of photos stolen off my porch that had just been mailed by my mother. Someone found the box opened on the metro and took the time to mail it back to me.

jersey joe
03-26-2009, 14:35
Great story, just another example of people looking out for each other on the trail!

Blissful
03-26-2009, 14:57
On our '07 hike Paul Bunyan lost his Frogg Togg jacket and zip offs from his convertibles on the trail up at Big Bald in the wind.

The next day we went back to hike a small section with my hubby. At No Business shelter, a hiker walked in for lunch. Attached to the outside of his pack was PB's rain jacket.

We then hiked on to the road crossing at Erwin. A hiker left a note there for PB laying on the ground - his leggings were at Uncle Johnnys.

The trail is full of miracles by way of good-hearted hikers and people. The best part about the trail, IMO.

Maddog
03-26-2009, 15:10
Awesome!! :)~

mudcap
03-26-2009, 15:27
Now that is cool !

Just Jack
03-26-2009, 15:37
Hey Jack
Did you get those kids name at MC. You should get their names so they can
get a pat on the back. Unless-of course, they don't want any recognition. Just sayin'.

Cookerhiker
03-26-2009, 16:02
I dropped my wallet in Times Square and it arrived in the mail exactly 48 hours later. True story.

Now that is unbelievable!

Mongoose2
03-26-2009, 16:05
Great story Jack! Thanks for sharing!

superman
03-26-2009, 16:11
I love happy endings. :)

Mother's Finest
03-26-2009, 16:29
It would not happen in Philadelphia.

hopefully I will see some of you other Phans this summer at Jones Beach and Camden....

nice story Jack.

peace
mf

maxpatch67
03-26-2009, 16:49
Man, I'm glad to here that. Thanks for some good news.

d'shadow
03-26-2009, 17:05
No surprises here, the hiking community overall is made up of good people.
Say, Jack, did you get one of the cookies I dropped off Tuesday? Ramble~On took a box of homemade cookies down to the bunk house.

Kanati
03-26-2009, 17:14
it happens in all kinds of places other than the AT. hikers ain't cornered the market on niceness and doing the right thing

Grumpy old men!

Jim Adams
03-26-2009, 17:29
Jones Beach (both nights), Camden, Pittsburgh... And with any luck Saratoga..

DAJA,
Let me know when you're coming to Pittsburgh...great hiking in the area.

geek

Doc
03-26-2009, 17:49
My story is I left a small bag with plan tickets and much cash in a New York cab as I got out at the airport. Two hours later I found the cabbie looking for me with my bag. He had gone back into the city, found my bag and returned to the gate where he dropped me off. I gave him a very generous tip and almost kissed him.

Mango
03-26-2009, 17:49
It happened to my wife at Dollar Tree. And it happened to me at Gooch Mt Shelter; I started forgetting stuff early, to avoid the rush.

SGT Rock
03-26-2009, 17:55
A coupe of months ago I was buying ammo at Wal-Mart. I talked to the clerk at the gun section and had a good conversation with him about guns, ammo prices, shooting, etc. I had $60 in my pocket, but paid with my card. I got to the range. Did some shooting, and visited with friends at the range. When I went to pay, I didn't have any cash at all. I checked through ever pocket I had, checked my car, and checked my gun cases. No cash. I thought through where I had been, and the last place I remembered my cash was at Wal-Mart.

I went back to Wal-Mart. The guy that sold me the ammo was still there. I started off "Look, I know the chances are slim, but when I was here I think I lost some money. It was about..." and he pulls out the $60. Tells me he thought it might be me that lost it. I thanked the guy a great deal. Then I went and found the manager and told him the whole story.

Good people are still out there.

superman
03-26-2009, 18:04
My story is I left a small bag with plan tickets and much cash in a New York cab as I got out at the airport. Two hours later I found the cabbie looking for me with my bag. He had gone back into the city, found my bag and returned to the gate where he dropped me off. I gave him a very generous tip and almost kissed him.

Damn, how'd he feel about being kissed by a guy? :)

Peaks
03-26-2009, 18:13
I've often felt that anyone who loses their faith in humanity should hike the AT, and it will be restored.

Toolshed
03-26-2009, 18:42
Happened to me last summer.
Was getting gas and put my wallet on the tonneau cover of my pickup after I swiped and completely forgot about it.
I went to Wally world to get fertilizer and was at the register with a big cart and realized what I had done. I raced back to the gas station and it was like a bad dream - I turned up the wrong street and tried to go cross country through side streets and got lost. Finally got to the station - and nothing. I drove my route 3 times looking slowly to see if it fell by the side of the road. Took almost 2 hours. As I got back to the gas station, I saw a man outside the house next to it (on the corner) - I said "I lost my..." He stopped me there - "Rick?" I said yes do I know you - He said I know you from your license - I have your wallet here - I found it on the street 2 hours ago and left you several messages" (on my home answering machine").
He wouldn't take any money as a reward either.
got back to Wally World and my cart of fertilizer was still right where I left it too!!!

Lone Wolf
03-26-2009, 19:04
Grumpy old men!

the movie?

Trail Trooper
03-26-2009, 19:50
If We Do Not Look Out For Each Other Who Will

Hoop
03-26-2009, 20:30
Summer '07 pit stop on I-95 rest area in Virginia, dropped my wallet in the parking lot. Realized it 5 minutes later, turn around & drive back, bad dream sequence, no wallet anywhere. Three days later it was in my mailbox (no cash, though). Maintenance guy found it. I wrote his company president a letter of thanks.

Erin
03-26-2009, 20:47
Great story. I dropped a billfold iin Washington DC getting out of a cab-returned intact. It had my passport in it too.
They did one of those hidden-camera- dropped-purse or billfolds here in our mall a few years ago. Seven out of ten do the right thing. One person took the whole wallet and walked off and kept it and the two took the money and returned the ID's and credit cards. The other seven turned the whole shebang into mall security immediately.
We hear about the bad stuff. Last week, some one came into our office and stole our staffer's billlfold out of her purse. Hit walmart twice before she knew it was stolen and within an hour. Stealer on camera in our building and Walmart clerk can ID but police don't have the budget to work the case. That is what we hear about and deal with, so it is great to hear a good story.

2XL
03-26-2009, 21:02
Have you ever been on the other side? Have you ever found something of value?
Last year I found a wallet with $700 in cash and 2 blank checks in the middle of the road. The Checks had a name and address from NYC. I did a little online search and found they also had a local address. I returned the wallet and the woman that lost it insisted on giving me several bottles of french wine. Too bad I don't drink wine.

FatMan
03-26-2009, 21:23
Nice story. However I would have been much more surprised if the stuff sack had not been turned in. I find that hikers and the folks in this area will most always do the right thing when presented with an ethical situation.

sheepdog
03-26-2009, 21:36
If We Do Not Look Out For Each Other Who Will
good motto for hikers and life

sticks&stones
03-26-2009, 21:40
unicorns and rainbows, how lovely.

Tinker
03-26-2009, 21:43
I've often felt that anyone who loses their faith in humanity should hike the AT, and it will be restored.

Maybe, hopefully. It's not the place that makes the people special, it's the other way around. Categorizing hikers as good people isn't necessarily true. Nature tends to make most people thankful, and thankful people are more often nice than unthankful ones.

Tinker
03-26-2009, 21:45
If We Do Not Look Out For Each Other Who Will
I think you forgot something.
?
There, all better.:)

TJ aka Teej
03-27-2009, 08:39
Thanks for sharing the positive ATer news, Jack!

ASUGrad
03-27-2009, 10:45
If anyone finds a pair of glasses at Watipi or Docs Knob, they are mine.

Lyle
03-27-2009, 11:30
While I agree that "doing the right thing" is in no way confined to the AT or to hikers, I think that maybe a higher percentage of folks on the trail realize how easy it is to leave a small item behind, and understand how very important such items are to the person who lost it. They also understand the consequences of that person not getting the item(s) back. It's easier for them to put themselves into the shoes of the person who may have lost something.

Anyway, it's always great to hear of this type of story. Thanks for sharing it BJ.

SteveJ
03-27-2009, 11:57
If anyone found those 8 titanium stakes I left laying on a rock at Shining Rock Gap in January, 2004, they're mine! :(

Lone Wolf
03-27-2009, 12:02
i talked to a hostel owner yesterday and he informed me that half the hikers that stayed at his place did not put money in the donation box so far this year. seems not all hikers do the right thing

Kanati
03-27-2009, 13:08
the movie?

Yep. Most of them have a hard crust but deep inside they have a creamy center. The latest movie with C. Eastwood "Grand Torino" dipicts this. Once inside their perimeter, they'll give you the shirt off their back.

Happy hiking. :sun

D'Artagnan
03-27-2009, 13:55
i talked to a hostel owner yesterday and he informed me that half the hikers that stayed at his place did not put money in the donation box so far this year. seems not all hikers do the right thing


As the saying goes, "Goes to character". Sad really.

Wise Old Owl
03-27-2009, 14:00
It would not happen in Philadelphia.

hopefully I will see some of you other Phans this summer at Jones Beach and Camden....

nice story Jack.

peace
mf

2nd the motion and add New York

Tin Man
03-27-2009, 14:13
2nd the motion and add New York

are you saying kindness and good deeds don't happen in ny (or any major city)?? I call BS to that.

Wise Old Owl
03-27-2009, 16:46
No Tin Man, I section hike PA, NJ, NY and have done VA.

I have had gear stolen in PA & NY

Are there acts of kindness yup you bet, just not enough sometimes.

Sly
03-27-2009, 16:46
are you saying kindness and good deeds don't happen in ny (or any major city)?? I call BS to that.

Yeah especially since two people have already told stories in this thread about getting their valuables back in NYC.

Tin Man
03-27-2009, 16:51
Yeah especially since two people have already told stories in this thread about getting their valuables back in NYC.

I have as well. People are people, good and bad, wherever they may be.

Cedar Tree
03-27-2009, 17:22
My story involves a very nice Filson hat I found very early on my thruhike on the top of Ramrock Mt . It was very sentimental as well as perfect for hiking. Years later my wife and I were doing a section in GA. We took a break and I left my hat on the log where I rested. Hiked off a couple hours before I realized it was gone. I didn't realize it until we met a southbound young man and we asked him to take a picture of us. We spoke for a while, and during the conversation I told him about my hat, and where I worked. A couple months later, my principal calls down to my room and says I have a package. I have no idea what it could possibly be. I go to the office and there is my hat in a paper sack. He didn't even hang around for me to thank him.
Cedar Tree

max patch
03-27-2009, 17:42
No Tin Man, I section hike PA, NJ, NY and have done VA.

I have had gear stolen in PA & NY

Are there acts of kindness yup you bet, just not enough sometimes.

My tent was stolen at "The friendliest town on the trail." What a load.

No Belay
03-27-2009, 21:29
Happened to me in early Feb just before I hit Springer. I was in Abington, Va. and was getting my trail money from an ATM. When the ATM dispensed the money, several of the $20 bills rolled up and got caught in the loot shoot. I got frustrated and moved my truck forward to better access the machine. I finally retrieved my money and then just walked away leaving my card in the ATM machine with it still activated. My ATM at home gives your card back first and then does the transaction so in my frustrated mind set I forgot the card wasn't in my wallet. Anywho, I'm 2 miles down the road when I pucker cause I just figured out my cards still in the ATM. After some creative driving I returned back to the ATM and re-puckered after discovering the card was gone. Just then an angel, driving a GMC chariot, pulls up and says "I was hoping you'd come back." She had found my card still active in the machine, pulled it out and had waited the 10 minutes it took me to return. She could have emptied my account, bought 2 cases of Moon Pies, and left me penniless. She saved my hike and reminded me that we're all brothers and sisters.

Savor Happy! TaTonka

Bulldawg
03-27-2009, 22:04
Happened to me in early Feb just before I hit Springer. I was in Abington, Va. and was getting my trail money from an ATM. When the ATM dispensed the money, several of the $20 bills rolled up and got caught in the loot shoot. I got frustrated and moved my truck forward to better access the machine. I finally retrieved my money and then just walked away leaving my card in the ATM machine with it still activated. My ATM at home gives your card back first and then does the transaction so in my frustrated mind set I forgot the card wasn't in my wallet. Anywho, I'm 2 miles down the road when I pucker cause I just figured out my cards still in the ATM. After some creative driving I returned back to the ATM and re-puckered after discovering the card was gone. Just then an angel, driving a GMC chariot, pulls up and says "I was hoping you'd come back." She had found my card still active in the machine, pulled it out and had waited the 10 minutes it took me to return. She could have emptied my account, bought 2 cases of Moon Pies, and left me penniless. She saved my hike and reminded me that we're all brothers and sisters.

Savor Happy! TaTonka


How are things going for your family TaTonka?

Erin
03-27-2009, 22:12
I found a card in the ATM machine a month ago. I am sure it was the person in front of me. Chased the car down the street. On foot. Waving the card. I looked like a maniac in a suit. "Waaaait...cooome baaack'. They did not stop. I turned it into the bank so I hope he/she got it back I have lost an ATM card before, it is a hassle.

camojack
03-28-2009, 00:21
It would not happen in Philadelphia.
hopefully I will see some of you other Phans this summer at Jones Beach and Camden....
nice story Jack.
peace
mf
I lost my wallet while fishing along the Wissahickon, in Philadelphia once...and I got a call telling me where I could go to get it back.

Unlikely perhaps, but true nevertheless... :p

ed bell
03-28-2009, 00:29
My tent was stolen at "The friendliest town on the trail." What a load.I doubt the friendly folks did it.