What to do -- finding lost equipment on the trail

Another poll to discuss with civil and charitable discourse...

I'm sure many of us, in the course of our hiking, have come across hiking gear along the trail that has apparently been left or dropped accidentally. What is the proper course of action? What are we obligated to do, morally and legally?

Obviously, this is situational and depends on such factors as: number of other hikers in vicinity, proximity to trailhead, value of object in question, et cetera. I was hoping for general discussion, but here are two real-life examples as well:

1) Today, I was hiking up Ascutney and saw a water bottle hanging from a tree branch. Presumably, someone had found it on the ground and hung it there for the owner to more easily see. The ice in the bottle suggested in had been there overnight and, considering I was breaking trail, had probably been there many nights. I continued up. There was no one on the summit and it was nearly sunset. On the way down, it was still there. What to do? Take it? Keep it? Leave it? Leave note at trailhead that I have it? Leave it unless I find it there again a week later?

2) Several years ago, I came across a sleeping bag in its stuff sack in an area obviously used for backcountry tentsites. There was no sign of anybody nearby, and everything indicated that somebody had just plain forgotten to stuff it in their pack when leaving (or maybe it was attached on the exterior and fell off). It was mid-afternoon and we were hiking out ourselves. What to do?

And..... go.

I would take the water bottle out with me and not worry about it too much. At that point it's kind of in the "garbage" territory. The sleeping bag, well...I would have worried that someone was expecting it to be there on returning from a day out hiking. I know, from your scenario that is unlikely. However, I would have irrationally worried about taking someone's bed away from them. So, I don't know what I would do about that. You could always take stuff to the trailhead and let other less "scrupulous" folks "dispose" of it eventually. You're not leaving it in the woods, you're giving the owner the possibility of retrieving it (without a long hike even) and then it won't become trail trash (different than trailer trash) because someone will eventually take it, even if not the original owner. Problem solved. I guess?

On a similar note, this is another option. I had a room mate who once found a pair of LL Bean binoculars on the trail. He took them. Decided they were a little too banged up for his liking so stopped in to LL Bean with them on a trip through Maine. He exchanged them for a brand new pair.

Since I tend to do out and back hikes instead of loops/traverses, if I see an item on the uphill, I take note of where it was in case I run into someone uphill who may have lost it. If I don't see anyone, I'll consider bringing it back to the trailhead. I have not yet come across anything valuable yet, so the question of whether or not to take home and ship has not come up yet.

On the flip side, on three separate instances others have helped when I or someone with me dropped something. On Kearsarge North last year, a pair of gloves and a hat fell out of my backpack. Subsequent hikers picked up the items and stuck them on branches - so it was easy for me to find them on the return trip. On Cabot a few months ago, I left behind my compass. A VFTTer fortunately picked it up and was kind enough to ship it. I was doing a loop and didn't even realize I had left it behind, so it was particularly helpful. On Whiteface in November, the person I was hiking with dropped a glove (I jogged maybe a tenth of a mile back down the trail when we realized this, but it had clearly been even further down). Fortunately I had a back up pair with me, so by the time he needed gloves, he was okay. Some subsequent hikers picked up his glove and were able to give it to him on our way back down. A bit long winded, but nonetheless some examples of different wasy others have helped me and a friend of mine out.

Why not call the local ranger and report it so if the owner contacts them, they can refer it to you. Maybe posting the lost items in your trail report might also tip us off who to contact.

I lost a pair of snowshoes several uears ago, my buddy left em on the snow bank. I called the ranger and she located em by a note left in the register box.

Between job sites and the trials I find lots of water bottles and stripped off layers like sweat shirts. If its an out and back hike and no owner is appearent by the time im on my way back, or I can determine the article has been out over night I will take it back to the trail head.

On more then one occasion things have made it in to my pack only to be forgotten about untill I am home. I did that with a lense cap I found on haystack in VT last september OOPS . If it was a really valuable item I would probably leave a note at the trail head with my contact information.

Lou

For stuff that's obviously been abandonded, I usually pack it out. After all, someone's going to do it. And the sooner it gets done, the better

Some hikes have an obvious nearby place to drop off found stuff like AMC Pinkham Notch. State laws vary but generally you should turn in found stuff to state authorities and you can have it if nobody claims it within a certain time. (State police in Twin Mtn and Tamworth NH)

I agree that a water bottle that's been outside awhile is of little value, keep it. The disposable water bottles now seem to be trash even more often than beer cans.