Gear Stashing
- I do this alot. It is always a risk. For myself I make that decision based on factors such as:
where I am hiking
The season
what day of the week
how far am I going
how long I will be leaving the gear
How far away from the trailhead
how valuable is the item- either counted as in money or in safety.
I am always prepared to buy it again when I stash it.
I also figure a positive correlation between human integrity with;
distance from the trailhead
harsher season
difficulty of terrain
Found gear can be stashed gear, or lost gear or garbage.
I will carry out trashed gear to throw away, but I do not like to touch things that look as if they have been stashed.
I would never move gear in order to teach someone a lesson. You may be endangering their life and safety. Besides the world is filled with harsh lessons enough and I will not be the professor of bullshit like that.
I often see things left in leantos. I once saw a new tent left in the Dutch Doctor with a tag that invited anyone to help themselves to it. It weighted like 20 lbs and the campers were too lazy to take it out themselves. I have seen things like food and tinder and matches left in leantos.
All are non-conforming. I will take the food to prevent the animals getting it, but leave the matches (candle, tinder...) because someone may really need that in an emergency. I know that I have a few times been on the receiving end of something like matches (or once a spoon) and these small gifts helped to make my trip. Thank you annonymous donor.
I have at times found stuff left behind in the woods By people too lazy to tote it out themselves, like food bowls or underwear (a surprising amount of lost underwear) that have been obviously discarded and if I can I take it out as garbage.
I have seen small items left on the trail that you know you will never be able to reunite again with the owner- like a water bottle. I have kept that stuff, or donated it.
I have found stuff and posted it on the net and have gotten it back to it's owner. A pack cover found in the trailless range in the Catskills was gotten back to the owner. The guy lived in my neigborhood no less! thanks Ted.
A map found in the same range got to it's owner at a 3500'Club dinner. He was the only person hiking that day and the map looked too new to have been out long). Alot of stuff gets lost in that range. I once had the ridgerest ripped off my pack when I was on the bushwhack. But I returned for it 6 weeks later and it was still there tauntly strung bewteen the spruce. By the way- anyone find a pair of black suede gloves- size small?
I was once told of an incident where a hiker found alot of camping gear scattered near a trail in the SNF. It was like an entire outfit of camping gear. There was some really good stuff like new trekking poles. He did not have trekking poles. But he left it there and I thought that he did the right thing. It could have been someone that had an emergency and had to leave abruptly and would have liked to reclaim his gear. Or maybe they were never coming back. It's a judgement call. Once while camping at Moss Lake in the Adirondacks a guy walked up to us and asked if we had seen his camping gear. He had to leave it the night before in the site we now occupied. We hadn't seen anything. When we got there to the site the gear had been removed already by person(s) unknown to us. I advised him to check with the ranger.
In fact turning in found gear to the "authorities" is a good idea. That is where I would check.
But as to the topic of gear stashing- yeah, that's a judgement call we all make for ourselves. And I have done it for reasons stated by others.
Ned Kipperson- Marmots are in the western us, at high altitudes. But we have pesky critters here in the east, like pine martens, squirrels, mice, raccoons, crows and jays, etc. Many threads devoted to this topic.
Hillman1- I am with you. I have lent gear to total strangers and been loaned gear by total strangers. I can report that we all got a gold star for honesty. And I would do it again to help someone.
Jasonst- I am with you. But I am still looking for the a-hole(s) that stole 2 pairs of sherpa snowshoes while my partner and I were sleeping.
