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1azarus
04-30-2012, 10:10
I section hike often, and buy gear even more often. Gear here, gear there, gear everywhere! The last couple of times i've gone to pack for a trip i haven't been able to find my favorite shirt and my favorite hat. Anybody remember the Arlo Guthrie song "I Love my Jeans"? Well, I just found the stuff for my latest section hike, and was wondering about the tears shed by others who have lost there favorite gear, at home or on the trail...

Tom Murphy
04-30-2012, 10:17
Many years ago my wife's aggressive spring cleaning caused me to lose my original SVEA 123.

Immediately bought got SVEA 123R but I still get meloncholy thinking about it.

That stove was the one piece of gear I could have had, and used, for my entire hiking life.

JaxHiker
04-30-2012, 10:26
I lost a brand new GorillaPod I'd bought for my last hike. I actually heard it fall from the pack but it didn't register what had happened. I wasn't far from the shelter either but I struck out when I backtracked. :(

leaftye
04-30-2012, 10:48
I temporarily lose things at home all the time. Somehow I'm always losing the snow cups for my trekking poles, and I have several sets of them because of this problem, but they always turn up...and then promptly get misplaced again.

I haven't lost much on the trail. I lost the slip case for my gps a couple years ago, and I've lost disposable bottles here and there. One time I lost my eyeglasses, but it turns out I left it at a trail angel friends house, and I got those back several months later.

flemdawg1
04-30-2012, 11:14
peice of house wrap groundcloth on trail ~ Poplar stamp Gap, GA
spork, home (unfort, didn't notice until on trail solo and had to stir noodles with a stick, in a related note you can use a granola bar to eat oatmeal fairly effectively)
tent stakes, home (sharpened sticks work)
trekking poles, home (luckily they were $13 Walmart poles, easy to replace)
cell phone, fell out of pocket in hitch's SUV from Woody Gap (returned to Neels Gap by very nice folks who gave me the ride)
myself, around Rocky Run Shelter, had to road walk about 2 miles uphill to Reno Monument Rd crossing in MD

flemdawg1
04-30-2012, 11:16
Nalgene bottle, unmarked trail I wandered onto in MD (fell out of pack while negotiating blowdowns)

WingedMonkey
04-30-2012, 11:46
Anybody remember the Arlo Guthrie song "I Love my Jeans"?

He still hasn't found those jeans.

15827

atmilkman
04-30-2012, 11:52
I've lost a lot of things, and of all the things I've lost, my mind I miss the most.

sly dog
04-30-2012, 11:57
Lost my leki's on stampede trail in AK, used only a couple times. I just hope they found a good home

1azarus
04-30-2012, 12:09
He still hasn't found those jeans.

15827
now, that's funny. i just saw Donovan on TV... he makes Arlo look good even without his jeans.

Blissful
04-30-2012, 12:50
I've lost two hats and my CT map.

hikerboy57
04-30-2012, 14:18
still havent found my virginity(i always think about that madonna song-" like a virgin for the twentyfirst time.."

sterling98
04-30-2012, 14:28
I lost my maps, journal, tarp stakes, tarp ridge line and figure nines, and pocket knife... All in one three day section hike!!

rocketsocks
04-30-2012, 14:45
now, that's funny. i just saw Donovan on TV... he makes Arlo look good even without his jeans.Hey Lazarus,I too caught that story/show,he was pretty good.I've been singin "mellow yellow" all morning ,can't shake it. LOL.....I left my favorite hiking stick in the woods one day......really bummed me out,it was a gift from my mother and I had quite a few miles on it........not an uncommon story I'm sure.

Jim Adams
04-30-2012, 22:38
In 28,000 miles of canoeing and 7,000 miles of backpacking I have only lost 1 item....a sock, in the Hundred Mile Wilderness....I couldn't catch the little bastard red squirrel as he ran away with it! LOL

geek

fredmugs
04-30-2012, 23:22
I lost my water filter in NJ. Must have popped out of my side compartment when I was squeezing under a blow down. I ended up buying way too much water to compensate and had a 42 lb pack when I hit the secret shelter. That was a big lesson learned.

Firefighter503
05-01-2012, 04:10
Haven't lost anything except weight out on the trail thus far.

bfayer
05-01-2012, 05:42
I lost my Marmot rain Jacket on Isle Royale this last year. I laid it out on a rock to dry in the sun and it walked away. Could have been a 2 leg critter or a 4 leg critter. I like to think it was a 4 leg critter, if it was a 2 leg critter, I hope they needed it more than I did.

Cookerhiker
05-01-2012, 08:20
Water bottles, rain hat, bandana, headlamp, cover case for my steripen. A rain pack cover blew off my pack atop Big Firescald Knob in North Carolina from a heavy wind gust. During a tough bushwack on my 4 day Ozark Highlands Trail hike this past March, I lost my thermarest which I had owned for 20 years.

And then there's things I thought I lost but didn't - bought a new winter hat at Mt. Rogers outfitters and subsequently found mine stuffed in my pack's side pocket.

Capt Nat
05-01-2012, 08:35
I lost my camo boonie hat in Ocala National Forest. I know it sounds like no big deal but I had worn that hat for many years on many adventures and as my "Lucky Hat", I was very attached to it. That was 30 years ago. I still miss that hat...

1azarus
05-01-2012, 08:47
I lost my camo boonie hat in Ocala National Forest. I know it sounds like no big deal but I had worn that hat for many years on many adventures and as my "Lucky Hat", I was very attached to it. That was 30 years ago. I still miss that hat...

have you noticed that if you slur your trail name together it is "captain hat?" on some subliminal level, you are still mourning the loss... by the way, i found my shirt and hat, so i can't join the support group.

lemon b
05-01-2012, 12:59
My reading glasses. Now I only carry the cheap Walmart type.

Monkeywrench
05-01-2012, 13:32
I lost two bandannas during my thru-hike. One I lost along the trail somewhere between Damascus and the first shelter heading north. The second I left sitting on the table next to the computer in the hostel in Vernon, NJ when I left there on the 5th of July, 2009.

Other than that, I can't remember ever losing anything on the trail.

Most of what was once a rather large collection of gear accumulated over decades of backpacking -- including my much-beloved Svea 123 -- was disposed of when I downsized and moved from a house with a basement and a garage and a storage shed to a condo with almost no storage.

Grampie
05-01-2012, 13:56
During my 2001 thru I lost my Swiss Army knife at Rusty's. I posted in a couple of shelter registers that I had lost it. About a week later a hiker approached me and handed it back to me. I never thought that i would see it again.

Cookerhiker
05-01-2012, 14:18
That reminds me - back in 1980, I realized I had left my camera at a shelter in Vermont. Don't remember the exact circumstances but I left a note somewhere and a month later, received the camera in the mail. The benefactor's name was Arnold. Sent him a small reward.

kolokolo
05-01-2012, 20:01
I lost my pack cover in some darned pseudo-rock maze south of Boiling Springs. Dang.

ocourse
05-01-2012, 20:23
Never, ever lost anything. Nor will I. OCD max. I comb the fringe on my scatter rugs.

DaveSail
05-01-2012, 20:25
I left a FINE Germam , [ Either Zeis or Leica ] 35 mm camera in the bathroom on the top of Mt. Washington .
Had dashed half - way down to Lake Of The Clouds , and went to take a picture ! RAN back up the Mt.,
but it was gone !! Bummer

Nothing to do with the trail , but I " lost " the replacement camera for IT ! Had flown up to Orange Sport
Parachute Center , in Mass . Air Force , Beechcraft T - 34 . Parked way out along - side an un - used
runway . Camera was in the bagage - compartment . No lock ; just a " twist " " L " shaped rod - handle .
Someone walked all the way out there , opened the baggage compartment , and stole my " new " FINE
German replacement !! Bummer # 2 .

Again , not on the trail . At the Annapolis MD , " In The Water " Sailboat Show . Had to remove boat -
shoes to enter a REAL FANCY Sailboat . One slipped , and as I reached for it , further and further ,
I fell in the Bay ! Mom's camera in my pocket . Dried it out , but it never worked again ! Bummer # 3 .

moytoy
05-01-2012, 20:36
lost my way! sorry i can't help it! :)

rocketsocks
05-01-2012, 20:40
lost my way! sorry i can't help it! :)Hey,I found my....me either:)

Not Sunshine
05-01-2012, 20:49
I found a nice brimmed OR hat in the smokies with that mesh material and a neck lanyard....I gave it to another hiker who was super excited about it. at the next shelter, I found another hat - I call it my "manly black trucker hat" - I packed it to carry it out [as I felt it was trash] and not 2 miles down the trail - it started raining. Turns out although I hate wearing hats in the warm sun, in the driving rain they make my eyes very happy as I don't squint so much. I still have that hat. I think the powers that be were trying to prepare me for that driving rain...and when I gave away the first hat - they gave me a 2nd! Kind of like that story the kid in the movie Pursuit of Happiness:

a man was out in a boat and capsized. while out there, another boat came by and asked if he needed help and the drowning man said "no thank you, God will save me". later another boat came by and offered to help, and again he said "no thank you, God will save me". and a 3rd man and boat did the same. when he got to heaven, the drowned man said "God why didn't you help me?" and God said "I sent you 3 boats, you dummy".

God left me 2 hats.

coach lou
05-02-2012, 16:07
After half way up the Long Trail, I would keep my guide book, w/notes, dates, peoples names,recipes, all sorts of data, wedged between my Sleeping Bag and pack frame. We cut the trip to Pico peak short, came down the main road, and ditched our packs. It had been pouring rain for 2 days! We jogged to Rt. 4 got our car, drove back to get the packs and cruised down I-91 back to Connecticut. At home putting away all my gear I was frantic that my VT LT guide book and about 5-6 years of walks was now part of the litter on Killington Road.
Now I make copies of the map, stick it in my pocket and keep the book in my pack....if I haven't already memorized every word in it about the walk.

coach lou
05-02-2012, 16:13
My reading glasses. Now I only carry the cheap Walmart type.

I carry 2 pair, 2x for cooking and 3x for reading the map.

WalksInDark
05-06-2012, 20:22
I had a particularly bad day on the trail. My hiking partner "No Showed" late in the day...leaving me hiking up a stiff incline during a particularly hot and humid afternoon. :mad: Pollen count must have been up too. Trying to still make it to the shelter...I went way too fast...too far....and did not drink enough water.

Suddenly I felt light headed...started having some difficulty catching my breath (I have asthma...but it is usually well controlled) and decided I needed to stop and setup camp. Problem was, I was on a fairly narrow section of trail and the only way to go was down the side of the mountain. My big brain (which, sometime later I figured was malfunctioning something awful) interpreted a drainage area running off the side of the mountain...as an "easy to traverse" game trail. By the time I came to grips with the fact that I was: suffering from heat stroke, dehydration, and a very slowly evolving asthma attack, I was 400' down the side of the mountain...without enough energy or strength to go back up.:confused:

Reaching a small canyon big enough to setup my hammock, I setup camp and immediately went to bed and slept. In my sleep I dreamed that I was getting ready to go swimming (I was sweating like a hog and a summer thunderstorm was sweeping rain sideways into my hammock), so I did what I always do...I took my hearing aid out of my ear and put it down next to me.

Hours later, I woke up...exited out of the bottom exit of my hammock....and promptly lost the +$3,000 hearing aid that had been rolling around the bottom of the hammock into about two feet of fallen/decomposing leaves.

I learned lots of lessons from that little misadventure...but the one I implemented first was sewing the bottom Velcro exit of my hammock shut.

I went back 3-4 times and searched the dead leaves by hand and with a couple of different rakes...but it was not to be found!

Rusty Nail
05-06-2012, 22:13
I left a shelter at 5 am to catch the sunrise on Clingmans Dome and did my dummy check by headlamp trying not to disturb the other hikers in the shelter. Many miles later when I arrived at camp I removed my boots and reached for my crocks... someone got a gift of a new, as in only a few days old, pair of crocks that day. I guess the gear of the other hikers strewn around the shelter hid my crocks. At camp I asked everyone if they had found them we walked much further than most that day.

Fast forward to Hot Springs, a friend who shared a hotel room with us packed up and left before sunrise and forgot his phone charger. I carried it for 6 days and handed it off to another hiker who might catch him. It was returned to the rightful owner in Damascus.

While walking into Erwin I found a nice mtn hardware beanie and picked it up. A few hrs later I passed 2 hikers looking thru their packs. I asked if they were missing a hat. One of them called it out by color and brand.

JJJ
05-06-2012, 23:23
Lost a webbing strap for my hammock somewhere. Last February, went back to hang on a pair of trees I'd hung on 2 years earlier and found it at the base of one of the trees. Condition:unharmed.

Recently, I lost a pair of cheesy red sunglasses in the vicinity of Hogback Shelter that I'd found on Max Patch about a week earlier. Condition: Marginal.
No reward offered per se, but if you left them at MRO for me I'd appreciate it.

turtle fast
05-07-2012, 12:13
Was getting a blackberry shake at Elkwallow Wayside in the Shenandoahs and somehow lost my headband/sweatband that I had been using for weeks and weeks. I looked everywhere and could not find the thing, with it being hot, and me sweaty and realizing the sweat would roll into my eyes....it pissed me off...its funny how a small normally inconsequential $1.50 item got me riled. I then remembered something, got my trusty bandana and used it, but it was not my headband and I "lost" my towel!

Another Kevin
05-07-2012, 21:02
My catalogue of things lost on trails over the years? My innocence - don't ask. (My virginity, I lost elsewhere. A good thing, losing that on the trail would be pretty brutal.) A piece of my right ACL (on Smarts Mtn in NH). A Rolleiflex camera. (I have a very good idea whom I lost that to, but can't prove it.) Four left gloves and one right. My balance. A map of the northeastern Catskills. My field notes -- AUGH! I had to redo two days of data collection. I think I lost my marbles along with that one. I lost my way innumerable times, and my perspective more than a few. Lost my lunch a time or two. Lost my temper (I apologise to my companions for that), a couple of tent stakes, several games of hearts, many preconceived notions, and one hat.

I've tried never to lose my sense of humour, which is what got me through losing so much of the rest.

Pony
05-07-2012, 21:24
Here's how I avoid losing things on the trail. I have a place for every item in my pack, and always put them back in the same place. When breaking camp, I always search the campsite for items that I may have left. I then put my pack on and do another look around. Finally I walk about twenty yards up the trail, turn around, walk back and look around the campsite one more time. Only thing I've ever lost while hiking was a spork and it was on its last leg anyway. At home is a different story, I'm always misplacing things. They're probably hidden somewhere with half of my socks.

I have left items while taking a break and had to turn back and get them. This usually happens about 15-20 miles into the day, and I'll realize I left them a couple miles down the trail adding 3-4 miles onto an already long day.

ScottP
05-07-2012, 22:48
I lost a really nice montbell windbreaker, headlamp, and my aqua mira at the same time on my PCT thru.

At the time I wasn't really hard up for cash and there was a really cool hiker that gave up a lot to be able to afford his thru-hike. He was admiring the montbell the day before--I kind of hope he found and kept the stuff.

I also lost a really unique knife on the trail somewhere on the southern half of the AT in my 07 Springer to Wayensboro, VA section. I think someone on whiteblaze said they found that same knife. Again, I like to think it found a good home.

Nutbrown
05-08-2012, 08:02
So far the only thing I have lost was a 10 ft length of amsteel that I had fashioed into a braclet. It was buckled onto the back of my pack, then it wasn't.

Another hike, I came upon a SOG knife in the dirt and passed it along to a hiker that had lost his knife a while back. So ScottP, if it was a SOG, it did find a good home.