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Spokes
09-07-2011, 10:33
What's the worst thing you've seen someone pull out their pack?

- Boa Constrictor?

- Machete?

- An Original Pawleys Island Rope Hammock?

- Copy of "Walk in the Woods"?

- Small Squirrel Monkey?

There's gotta be a million more.............

Joey C
09-07-2011, 11:12
Spam.... don't know what I was thinking!

Jim Adams
09-07-2011, 11:20
a full gallon can of coleman fuel....to match the one hanging on the back of their pack...on the approach trail.

geek

strawbale
09-07-2011, 11:23
This wasn't me, but a friend of my brother's pulled out a 5 lb. rock at the end of the day after his "friends" snuck it in his pack earlier in the day.

Strawbale

Scratch
09-07-2011, 11:40
I've seen a girl pull out a ceramic mug with matching bowl.

Spokes
09-07-2011, 11:41
a full gallon can of coleman fuel....to match the one hanging on the back of their pack...on the approach trail.

geek


This wasn't me, but a friend of my brother's pulled out a 5 lb. rock at the end of the day after his "friends" snuck it in his pack earlier in the day.

Strawbale


Ouch!!!!!!

strawbale
09-07-2011, 11:51
I've seen a girl pull out a ceramic mug with matching bowl.

Reminds me... an electric toothbrush. Problem with them is you can't shorten the handle!

Strawbale

Skidsteer
09-07-2011, 11:53
A Duraflame log.

allen3150
09-07-2011, 11:58
13797T
Found in a pack the next morning.

Elder
09-07-2011, 12:15
Approach Trail. Boy Scouts, thankfully many years ago.
6 bricks
to hold his grill
and a small bag of charcoal.
The boy was 10. and suffering on the old Approach!
His Mama packed his pack.

Ladytrekker
09-07-2011, 12:19
I was backpacking with a lady who hiked for 8 miles carrying a log from the grocery store you know the ones that are wrapped in paper you get the fire started quickly they are huge and heavy because she thought we would not be able to fine fire wood in the woods. She really thought she was doing us all a favor and by the way there was a ton of firewood available. I still laugh at this.

moytoy
09-07-2011, 12:21
13797T
Found in a pack the next morning.

Are they like sardines? Eat them bone and all!

Spokes
09-07-2011, 12:48
Good golly!!!

Slo-go'en
09-07-2011, 12:51
A pot with a bandana inside it - along with 6 month old food scapes and nasty looking mold!

Reminder to self - check and clean pots before storing...

harbohiker
09-07-2011, 13:15
On my thru hike about 3 years ago there were two girls who i kept crossing paths with and they with them for several hundred miles alteast, multiple stuffed animals, and a large container of glitter. I remember reading a shelter journal they left one rainy day said something like "rainy nasty day today looks like were gonna need a lot of glitter!" Ill say this tho those two girls consistantly put in some long miles.

Destiny2012
09-07-2011, 13:36
When I did my first thru a woman at a shelter pulled out of her pack a Coach handbag and used it around the camp.

Insanity.

Spokes
09-07-2011, 13:50
When I did my first thru a woman at a shelter pulled out of her pack a Coach handbag and used it around the camp.

Insanity.

Sounds like an episode of "Grandma Gatewood meets Project Runway" on Bravo!

Nutbrown
09-07-2011, 15:07
One dude was on a 2 week hike, and pulled out a tub of butter and a bottle of garlic wine he made... those were just 2 of the plethora of food stuffs, but the most memorable.

STEVEM
09-07-2011, 15:26
When I was a scout, a thousand years ago, I remember the Assistant Scoutmasters son always had a giant perfectly rectangular pack that looked like an ad from "Boys Life" magazine. His dad had built a plywood box with a hinged lid that fit inside his pack. All of his stuff was then stored in little compartments within the box. I have no idea where Paul is now, but I do know he cried a lot back then.

CrumbSnatcher
09-07-2011, 15:46
a 2 pound potato with a note on it saying"please take me to katahdin" so i stuck it in someones else's pack :-)

bigcranky
09-07-2011, 21:05
At a shelter in Georgia:

A giant pair of full leather mountaineering boots. (Yes, they were in the pack.)
A full size leather bound family Bible. Must have weighed five pounds.
21 days (three weeks) of food.

All of these came from the same pack.

mirabela
09-07-2011, 21:30
I've seen one of those massive Korea-era Army trenching tools (you know, with the folding shovel) come out.

I didn't see it first hand, but another thru-hiker I knew said he met a guy starting out who carried a crossbow.

trailmix
09-07-2011, 21:45
A 10 inch cast-iron skillet !!

Just a Hiker
09-07-2011, 21:45
Unabridged Hardback Webster's Dictionary!

moytoy
09-08-2011, 04:13
wet sleeping bag....

psyculman
09-08-2011, 04:31
Reminds me... an electric toothbrush. Problem with them is you can't shorten the handle!

Strawbale

But, it's much lighter when you leave the batteries at home. IMO

lemon b
09-08-2011, 06:07
One of those big southern grown watermelons and a bottle of vodka.

Rusty Nail
09-08-2011, 06:31
Back in scouts when I went to Philmont the "guide" who stayed with us for the first 3-4 days pulled out a cast iron dutch oven on the last night and made peach cobbler for the crew of 12.

Spokes
09-08-2011, 07:51
One of those big southern grown watermelons and a bottle of vodka.

Did someone else carry the Vegas Showgirls?

Chaco Taco
09-08-2011, 07:54
My ziplock that had my trash from the 100 Mile Wilderness. Lets just say that we finished in September and pulled it out in November. Oh the smell!

That trash bag travelled from Maine to North Carolina with me when we moved after the trail.

CrumbSnatcher
09-08-2011, 08:13
at upper goose pond a hiker had a pack that was over 100 pounds, including a full size ax,a hatcher and enough food to hike the entire new england section. he didn't know he could resupply along the way i believe he ended up donating the ax to the upper goose pond shelter

-Animal
09-08-2011, 08:15
Drill bits, feathers and wedges, rifting hammer, sledge hammer, mash hammer, etc. etc. More then eighty pounds of trail tools total in one pack plus two sixteen pound rock bars and then personal gear.

nitewalker
09-08-2011, 08:24
last yr on the florida trail my buddy pulled these out of his ems 7000 backpack....

he ended up with blisters after the 2nd day. the trip was priceless...http://www.campmor.com/wcsstore/Campmor/static/images/sleeping/68457/68457_gre.jpg

nitewalker
09-08-2011, 08:24
forgot to mention by morning the mattress was flat...

BigRing
09-08-2011, 09:41
Although it does not compare to some of these, I introduced a friend to backpacking this past summer. When we pitched camp and began to make dinner on the first night, he asked me if I wanted something to snack on while dinner was cooking......he pulled out a five pound package of smoked vienna sausages.

texascampgal
09-08-2011, 10:05
a 12" skillet
a small ice chest (capable of holding a 6-pack)
a family-sized can of pork 'n beans
a Mr. Heater

The same person carried all this on an overnight trip.

Destiny2012
09-08-2011, 11:29
It was totally absurd. The Coach bag was probably several hundred dollars and it clearly took up half the pack she was hauling. What possible reason could a person have to take a coach bag deep into the backwoods?

Sometimes I fear for humanity.

Spokes
09-08-2011, 11:33
....... What possible reason could a person have to take a coach bag deep into the backwoods?

.......

Perhaps she was hiking with Tim Gunn?

Make it work......

Shiraz-mataz
09-08-2011, 12:10
This is something I pulled out of my own pack... about six months after a section hike... my long-lost bag of dirty laundry! I was wondering where those shorts had been! It was a varitable Pandora's laundry bag with absolutely no hope at the bottom. Makes me gag just to think back to the smell...

slingblade
09-08-2011, 12:20
Back in 2000 the General would pull out a Magic 8 ball every morning. Ask it things like "should I hike today" "should I hitch to beer" etc.

Buffalo Skipper
09-08-2011, 12:30
Back in 2000 the General would pull out a Magic 8 ball every morning. Ask it things like "should I hike today" "should I hitch to beer" etc.

He must have worked in IT. :eek:

Just about everyone on our floor here has one, even the independent-fundamental Baptists. ;)

malowitz
09-08-2011, 19:05
A saturated sleeping bag. The story of Soggy Jim.

2010 AT in GA. Woods Hole Shelter (the NOBO one before Blood Mtn and Neel Gap). Weather was pretty cold and in fact it snowed that night. As folks were arriving at the shelter, one of those who showed up was Jim. He had the trail name Sleepy because he apparently liked to go to bed early. As folks were getting set-up, he pulls out his sleeping bag and it is dripping water. He had a bladder that leaked. I don't remember his pack, but it was pretty much waterproof which meant it would keep the water in.

Well Jim was in a pickle. We offered that we could share some material with him, but of course no one had an extra bag to give him on this cold night. His best bet was to hump it to Mountain Crossings. He left his 15 degree Mountain Hardware bag and leaking bladder behind. Apparently he showed up after dark, shivering, but Miss Janet took care of him. He said he was done with anything involving overnight hiking and didn't care about his sleeping bag anymore. Buckaroo who had been sleeping cold had hiked the saturated bag out and got to keep it. So at least he won.

Spokes
09-08-2011, 21:20
Great story malowitz.

Bigbaby
09-08-2011, 22:35
a four D cell maglite... it was huge

Pony
09-10-2011, 00:21
Back in 2000 the General would pull out a Magic 8 ball every morning. Ask it things like "should I hike today" "should I hitch to beer" etc.

That is awesome. I've found that the novelty items are worth carrying if you get enjoyment from them.

Ran into this guy at Partnership shelter who had been there three days going into town to mail things home, he had his pack weight down to 87 lbs. After he showed me his 11 flashlights, he pulled a box out of his pack that was about 3"x8"x18", completely stuffed with AA batteries. Nobody could convince him to get rid of all that. Pretty sure he was running instead of walking, if you catch my drift.

Pony
09-10-2011, 00:25
Hitching to town just for beer, who really does that? Sheesh. :D

LisaJ5227
09-10-2011, 09:06
Could dub them Housewives of the AT.

LisaJ5227
09-10-2011, 09:08
The ladies with the coach bag is what I was commenting on sorry

malowitz
09-10-2011, 11:09
Ran into this guy at Partnership shelter who had been there three days going into town to mail things home, he had his pack weight down to 87 lbs. After he showed me his 11 flashlights, he pulled a box out of his pack that was about 3"x8"x18", completely stuffed with AA batteries. Nobody could convince him to get rid of all that. Pretty sure he was running instead of walking, if you catch my drift.

Pony - any chance it was this guy we named Everready? I think his real name was Dwayne. His box of batteries was a little big bigger though. He was afraid of the dark and would light up his tent area all night long. He was also trying to sell the flashlights for some more money. This was in 2010.



138231382413825

Frog
09-10-2011, 11:40
I saw a guy pull out a cast iron lid to a #12 dutch oven and a 3 lb pack of bacon. And of course he poured the grease on the ground at the shelter and then said glad i am not sleeping here to night.

strawbale
09-10-2011, 11:46
I saw a guy pull out a cast iron lid to a #12 dutch oven and a 3 lb pack of bacon. And of course he poured the grease on the ground at the shelter and then said glad i am not sleeping here to night.

With friends like these....

Strawbale

mountain squid
09-10-2011, 18:34
What's the worst thing you've seen someone pull out their pack?
- Copy of "Walk in the Woods"?I have seen that. Have also seen someone carrying the Lord of the Rings. All three books, not hard cover, but large paperbacks . . . DOH!

I'm not sure where the bird lady or the cat girl or the cello player fits, and, well, the guy with a hand cart is in a category all by himself, I reckon . . .

:D

See you on the trail,
mt squid

how to hike (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?73587-how-to-hike)

wornoutboots
09-11-2011, 09:22
I hiked with Legs last year for a while, he carried only can goods to eat & had 3 or 4 large hard bound books. The 1st night he took out a huge bag of empty food cans from his pack & place them on the shelter floor, you could hear the mice loving them all night long. Interesting as well, he carried a jetboil to heat up this food?? Good Guy

Sarcasm the elf
09-11-2011, 11:27
Bumped into a couple of college groups earlier this week while hiking in the torrential rain in Massachusetts. Each group used two heavy duty tarps to shelter about a dozen college kids, lots of sweatpants and blue jeans, dozens of nalgene bottles among them. Most of their packs looked to be 40-50 pounds and these were small college kids carrying them. One group filled an entire bear box with the food that the college had packed them but they didn't eat, they were on their second to last day.

Pony
09-11-2011, 16:55
Pony - any chance it was this guy we named Everready? I think his real name was Dwayne. His box of batteries was a little big bigger though. He was afraid of the dark and would light up his tent area all night long. He was also trying to sell the flashlights for some more money. This was in 2010.




138231382413825

Yep, that's the guy. Looks like he was afraid his stove canister would go empty too. When and where did you see him? Was he actually hiking, or just camping out at shelters?

Thatguy
09-11-2011, 17:04
I was once at a shelter and a young girl, about 18 I guess, calmly pulled out a Beretta and put it on the pinic bench at the shelter and kept rooting around in her pack. I asked if it was loaded and she said she didn't think so because her uncle had give it to her for "show." I asked to see it. The clip was empty but when I pulled back the hammer...sure enough...there was a round in the chamber. The girl didn't even know about the safety. I asked the girl if I could keep the bullet and she just shrugged her shoulders and said "Oh sure I'm probably not gonna use it, that's for sure." I kept it until I got home and gave it to a peson I know with the same make & model.

RITBlake
09-11-2011, 17:06
Fantastic thread, made for good reading waiting on line at JFK.

malowitz
09-11-2011, 23:39
Pony - I met Dwayne at the Trimpi Shelter, just a bit north of the Grayson Highlands. I actually got to the shelter early that day and he was among many people who were already there. He had a set-up with shower curtains as extra rain tarps over his tent. He said he was doing a section, but nope, I didn't see him actually move anywhere. Between the time I arrived and departed, nothing about his camp set-up changed.

Monadnock
09-14-2011, 13:12
I hiked a while with a young guy who must have thought the AT was some completely untamed wilderness. He pulled a 7" knife out of his pack! Let's just say he was quite upset when he found the next post office closed. ;)

Hoofit
09-14-2011, 20:31
Took a marine flare gun and some cartridges with me on the start of my AT thru-hike, in case of bears....
It didn't take long to realize that I would probably miss the bear,(if he ever attacked me ib the first place!!), and more likely would just set the woods on fire!!!
So I sent it home. Got a few larfs along the trail with it, for sure...

flemdawg1
09-14-2011, 21:12
I was once at a shelter and a young girl, about 18 I guess, calmly pulled out a Beretta and put it on the pinic bench at the shelter and kept rooting around in her pack. I asked if it was loaded and she said she didn't think so because her uncle had give it to her for "show." I asked to see it. The clip was empty but when I pulled back the hammer...sure enough...there was a round in the chamber. The girl didn't even know about the safety. I asked the girl if I could keep the bullet and she just shrugged her shoulders and said "Oh sure I'm probably not gonna use it, that's for sure." I kept it until I got home and gave it to a peson I know with the same make & model.

If it was this year it was probably a girl named Amber. She lost the same pistol on the Approach Trail, someone behind found and returned it to her.

Spokes
09-15-2011, 09:03
If it was this year it was probably a girl named Amber. She lost the same pistol on the Approach Trail, someone behind found and returned it to her.

Let me guess, she was carrying a SPOT device too?

Destiny2012
09-15-2011, 12:21
LOL that is classic.

Destiny2012
09-15-2011, 12:28
I did not see it personally, but on my last thru I was told by fellow hikers that they saw a guy wearing 2 canisters of (anti-bear spray), and had 4 (!) more in his pack. What they said is that he was trying to sell them to people along the trail, using fear tactics to try to pressure a sale. If that is not odd enough they said the canisters in his bag were unmarked and had no labeling so who knows what they were.

They privately gave him a trail name of "huckster"

Spokes
09-15-2011, 13:08
...If that is not odd enough they said the canisters in his bag were unmarked and had no labeling so who knows what they were. ...

Wow! I can see it now....... some little kid saying "Mommy, why is that man putting shaving cream on that bears face?"

EastCoastFeastCoast
09-15-2011, 13:51
When I was in boy scouts we were taking some younger kids on their first backpacking trip. So we told them to pack when they thought they needed, and we would go over it in the next meeting before the trip. This one kid pulls out a full grooming kit, like 5 wood handled brushes... still in the display box! Next he pulls out a fire log. After that he pulls out shampoo and conditioner... let's just say mom packed his pack for him.

jlo
09-15-2011, 17:42
One of those big southern grown watermelons and a bottle of vodka.

That sounds like a good summer evening!

coss
09-15-2011, 22:28
Back in college, a group of us were good friends with a very funny guy who was a tireless trail maintainer. He could also swear like a Marine drill sergeant, and he was in love with his chain saw.

As you can guess, we took the bar and chain off his saw and stashed it in the bottom his pack before a four day backpacking trip. He found it on the first night and was forced to carry it for three more days. Thinking about it makes me laugh, more than 30 years later.

Rocket Jones
09-17-2011, 18:09
Last Spring we went for a long weekend hike and one inexperienced friend brought over 4 pounds of trail mix! He kept offering it to us all weekend, trying to lighten his load.

lemon b
09-17-2011, 20:42
Stumpknocker & I watched a skunk waddle out of a duds pack. We just didn't even think much about it and drank coffee and broth.