What's the weirdest thing that you......

[avalonmorn]

Currently reading "Trail ways, Path wise" by John Illig. He started Springer with a chess set, a book on learning German, an ABs machine, and snowshoes strapped to his backpack. What's the weirdest thing you have seen on someone else's pack?

[brian039]

An iguana.

[coolness]

I heard about a lady that carried a cat on a thru-hike.......

[Papa D]

I saw an electric hair dryer and a set of curlers in a hiker box this summer in Glencliff, NH - - Fat Chap (the manager) told me that a Southbounder left it there which means that (presumably) she carried it almost 400 miles - - somehow, it's so incredibly stubborn and pig headed to carry it that far my guess is that she made it.

[Maddoxsjohnston]

a plastic gallon jug full to the rim with brown liquor

[atmilkman]

a plastic gallon jug full to the rim with brown liquor

Must have been a ULer to put it in plastic.

[MuddyWaters]

Winton Porters book has a few good ones they have seen at Mountain Crossings, thats a far as a lot made it:

People rolling luggage instead of backpacks
A guy that carried /rolled a large wooden cross, you can guess his trail name
Golites founder attempted to hike it with a several month food supply , close to 150 lbs
Laptop computers left on the trail

Strangest thing I seen was a guy that kept all his food in tupperware containers.
Watched him make a seasoned hamburger, fry it up in a skillet, slice onion and tomato, add a leaf of lettuce, and put it on perfect bread . The loaf of bread was in a long rectangular container to keep it from being crushed.

And he had a guitar in a case.

[Kingbee]

I also saw a cat riding on top of a pack. Another cool thing was a Connect 4 game carried by a girl who, obviously had the trail name Connect 4, became shortened to C-4.

[Tipi Walter]

** Humped in a full watermelon on top of an external frame pack.
** Humped in a canvas cover to a 16 foot tipi---twice.
** Humped in 3 backpacks lashed together---one on my back and two others on top---for friends going into a Rainbow gathering.
** Humped in a 120 lb iron woodstove up a thousand feet on a one mile trail.
** Backpacking buddy carried in a iron dutch oven on top of his pack. Tripped and the pot swung over his pack and hit him in the face.
** Carried a B-flat clarinet the whole way thru the Shenandoahs.
** Carried a half gallon of ice cream into Lost Valley and it all melted and had to be drunk in one sitting.

[Old Hiker]

Never saw it 2012, but someone was carrying a Chuckie doll head sticking out of his pack. Claimed it was "the observer".

[Sarcasm the elf]

This guy wasn't on the A.T. but the one that sticks in my mind was the guy I saw on a local trail in a state park.
I was early February on a snow covered trail a couple years ago. I hadn't seen anyone else in at least an hour, when suddenly a guy comes hauling up the trail in the opposite direction wearing a P-coat, clean white khakis, gelled hair and best of all a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks. To this day I have no idea how he got that far up the trail with clean cloths and hot coffee!

[twilight]

How 'bout a full size cabin. Think of the ones you find at Walmart.


Twilight

[avalonmorn]

** Humped in a full watermelon on top of an external frame pack.
** Humped in a canvas cover to a 16 foot tipi---twice.
** Humped in 3 backpacks lashed together---one on my back and two others on top---for friends going into a Rainbow gathering.
** Humped in a 120 lb iron woodstove up a thousand feet on a one mile trail.
** Backpacking buddy carried in a iron dutch oven on top of his pack. Tripped and the pot swung over his pack and hit him in the face.
** Carried a B-flat clarinet the whole way thru the Shenandoahs.
** Carried a half gallon of ice cream into Lost Valley and it all melted and had to be drunk in one sitting.

I am actually sitting here with tears running down my face!

[l84toff]

This guy wasn't on the A.T. but the one that sticks in my mind was the guy I saw on a local trail in a state park.
I was early February on a snow covered trail a couple years ago. I hadn't seen anyone else in at least an hour, when suddenly a guy comes hauling up the trail in the opposite direction wearing a P-coat, clean white khakis, gelled hair and best of all a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks. To this day I have no idea how he got that far up the trail with clean cloths and hot coffee!

Cemetery near by?

[slow mind]

Not on the AT but on Isle Royale: Two guys carrying a 60 qt. cooler lashed to two logs, stretcher style) over 10 miles from the nearest ferry point.

[Acacia]

** Humped in a 120 lb iron woodstove up a thousand feet on a one mile trail.
** Backpacking buddy carried in a iron dutch oven on top of his pack. Tripped and the pot swung over his pack and hit him in the face.

And all this time I thought the dutch oven was hyperbole :-)

[SCRUB HIKER]

A NOBO hiking with an electric cello and an amp in 2011. You can't properly say they were on his pack, as he was carrying one in each hand. I would still include it in any base weight calculations, however. Not sure how far he made it, but I heard he gave a performance at Mountain Crossings with Balloonatic, a thru-hiker who was a former balloon-art world champion. I missed this performance by one night--one of my biggest regrets of the trail.

Also one of the Hut kids packboarded a 150lb keg down from the Washington summit to Lake of the Clouds Hut in 2010. I've heard about that one a few different times. Hut Croos get very proud about that sort of thing.

[Dogwood]

What's the weirdest thing you have seen on someone else's pack?

Fake bloody arms and legs sticking out of a backpack. Cats(actually some cats can be kinda cool), little snippy yappy dogs(UGH, usually the owners are hoity toity snippy yappy dogs too), birds(parrot, Macaw(those big white ones with a yellow feather crest on top of their head like Baretta had, cool looking bird but later found out it could snip your finger off like a twig)), watermelon by a Darmouth Hiking Club member(later at a NH AT Fire Lookout Tower I came across the club, they hauled that watermelon some 20+ miles and weren't going to eat it all, they offered it to me, I gladly took it, climbed up to the top of the tower with it and proceeded to spit the seeds into cups they placed on the ground, we all had a ball, ate the whole watermelon), Betty Crocker Easy Bake Oven(?, didn't stop to ask why, strapped on back of pack which made him, and it was a him, seem wider than taller, what the ?), hatchet and long handled axe by the same person(Paul bunyan, ?), two folding camp chairs(I asked why, I assumed he was hauling one up the mouintain for a buddy, one to sit on and one to rest his feet on was the reply, ?), two sleeping bags during summer(?, guess he was a NOLS member wanting to be prepared for ALL ocassions), two prs of shoes plus the ones he was wearing(?, maybe he got a good deal on three prs at a garage sale ?), case of beer(several times), beer ball(how many gallons is that?), two liter, maybe 1.5 L each, bottles(glass) of JD(at least had good taste), carton of smokes, large pizza still in the box(saw him at a shelter later, you know I yogied a slice), bag of oranges, bag of avocados, bag of potatoes(no shart, he was trail named Tater, you might have heard of him, dangled from the back of his pack, if you got too close to him like when trying to hike by you had to be careful the potato sack didn't swing around and hit you in the face). Of course, iron skillets(some large and heavy enough to cook a meal for the entire Clampett Clan and then knock them all out with it. A few trout. A few Largemouth Bass and two tiny Bluegill sunfish(both times in bear country, and humans talk about bear problerms). Umbrellas. Wrapped presents for far away relatives(?, I assume she was trying to save postage and wanted to hand deliver them herself, restrained myself from inquiring further, obviously, when she asked where I was intending to camp for the night I didn't exactly tell her where, ?). Ferret, twice(they don't sit still, once in camp it gets worse, they are curious about everything, if you leave an untended pack open they'll nose around inside and possibly take a dump in it which leads to a Jeopardy Bonus Round later trying to determine exactly what the crap is and how it got into your pack, and they have an OHDOOR that they leave on things, keep one away from your sleeping bag, trying to keep a straight face when others are asking, "what's that smell?" is worthy of the best poker player when they are bluffing). A tall fuzzy red/white striped Dr Seuss hat. A shaggy white stuffed monkey. A brown shaggy motorized monkey with symbols that when turned on played music( maybe he was looking for tips to fund his hike, sometimes it's just best not to ask, ?). Ukes, guitars. Although stored in his pack this one guy had a small toy piano that he felt he needed to pound away at when at a shelter like like Schroeder from the Peanuts. I think, best of all was a live hissing 3 ft alligator(?, I was stupid enough to try and touch the thing because I ddin't think it was real at first. Snapped at me almost catching my fingers. I don't think folks would have believed me if I said I had to abandon my AT hike because I got bit by an alligator). I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. I heard about someone hiking with an iguana but personally missed out on that. Most of this is on the AT. Lots of DIVERSE people on the AT. You'll love it. It's a sociable trail.

[Wise Old Owl]

A pressure cooker, (the norm in England) odd to see it here, and this ...DSCN1223.jpg Yep that's a surgical glove on a stick in the middle of the trail north of the Pinnacle after Sandy.

[Thirsty DPD]

In August, we passed two middle age guys, one; black tee w/camo trousers & military boots, not unusual. His side kick, Gestapo; German uniform head to toe. Colonel Klink (Clink) hat, wool jacket, w/ badges & medals, & armband, belt, holster, wool spats, high german boots, sweatin' like a pig. Both had period canteens, no packs. It was the 1st time in 30+ yrs of backpacking, that I caught myself looking over my shoulder.