[Just_Some_Hiker]

Have the mountain gods ever bestowed the gift of free gear to you? Conversely, have they demanded any unwilling sacrifices? The last few seasons have been good to me. On Broken Top I found a like-new micro-down jacket, in my size. Retailed for about $250. On Hood I found a barely-used ice axe with a fancy BD leash, also in my size. I've collected probably about half a dozen trekking/ski poles from various places. On Baker I recovered a really nice hatchet. I've picked up a lot of little things, too. Ice axe pick covers, ski straps, gloves. On one trip I cracked the cup that snaps on to the bottom of my Jetboil. A few weeks later, while hiking up to Camp Muir, I found an undamaged one just laying out in the middle of the snowfield. Amazing coincidence. I've sacrificed quite a few Nalgene bottles. I lost not one but two pairs of expensive sunglasses on Shasta. Blown right out of my hands by the wind. Camp booties also lost in the wind on Shasta. The worst loss was a camera on North Sister. Dropped while crossing the "terrible traverse." A real bummer. So what have you gained or lost?

[zephyr]

Well this doesn't quite match your survey, but sorta. Several years ago Opus lost one of his trekking poles enroute or returning from Grindstone Peak near Icicle Creek. He did a pretty good job of describing where he left it behind. Not too long afterwards, I was up that way with EastKing. It was a long day involving an overnight at a campground nearby for an early start. (That year the road was still washed out.) I was determined to find that pole. It was supposed to be collapsed and standing beside a bush. On the way back we detoured a little and I managed to find it. Later I drove it over to Wallingford to reunite with Opus at work. If I come across the reports later, I will link them. I did lose a black glove liner coming back from Horseshoe Lake this past October. When we stopped at Stuart Lake, I discovered it was missing. I ran back along the lake, but it was getting dark. Maybe someday I'll retrieve it. Or maybe Opus will go looking for it. haha Looking at your list of "finds", you do have some good luck going on. ~z

[Stefan]

Found 750ml of gin at the base of South Twin Sister.

[MtnGoat]

Sacrifices: Cave Ridge... I had an immediate need for a sudden vegetable belay, vs my MSR ice axe, so off the drop went the axe. Glacier Lake (Hwy 2) gap between blocks in shoreline talus swallowed a favorite smoking device. Unnamed peak 7400' on McCue ridge: Talus ate half my gear when my pack rolled over on it's own (not good placement!) and took off over the cliff to the S. It had the car keys in it, so I had to descend for recovery, and it went way down. I followed the trail of gear thrown in the crazy spinning bouncing tumble down the hill and recovered the pack, keys still in the pocket. But at least the only key broken was the car key. Square Lake: Nice string of trout for dinner when the stringer tied to the boat broke. Upper Hyas lake: left sunglasses on a rock after pumping water from a creek along the trail Dirty Harry's balcony: a chunk of my shin on a boulder Thunder Creek (Tenpeaks range) slide alder in 100 degree heat and endless biting flies: My sanity. Haven't recovered this yet. Countless bits of food to camp robbers Gifts: Snowall Creek: Nice pair of sunglasses on a rock. Lichtenwasser Lake: A new favorite device *and* something to put in it, in a candy tin. Didn't hate that! Upper Klonaqua; Leatherman multitool Rattlesnake Creek, Naches area: Nearly brand new tennis shoes which fit real nice.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

You always have to wonder if found mountain booty was just stashed by another party w/ plans to grab it on the return from wherever they went. My buddy had a pair of trekking poles jacked from a pass above Hwy 20 when we climbed Kangaroo Temple or whatever the name of one of those crags is. They weren't left there for more than a few hours. How do you ever really know? If it's in the middle of nowhere and you are reasonably sure nobody is there and hasn't been there for some time, that's one thing. But if it's a place that sees a reasonable amount of traffic and there very well could be other people out and about on that particular day, thinking the mountain gods smiled on you and grabbing the item might be hard to differentiate from stealing. Just sayin'.

[Just_Some_Hiker]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[Pyrites]

I set a fly rod down a hundred feet in obscure spot off the trail to hike up a side knob. Guy must have left trail for a call of nature. He was walking up trail with it. I said it was mine. No. I said my name is the custom rod under the gloss coat. Coincidence. Really. I have a more than unusual last name. Basically had to go toe to toe to get it out of his hands. Less inclined to set things down now.

[Malachai Constant]

Titanium tent stakes on PCT in CA. Trekking poles on Snoqualmid, Bryant, and Parking lots Fillet knife near Murtle Lake glass balls on Coast Dope at Whistler CMI bottle opener in Canyonlands $$$ More knive than I could count my theory is the woods maintain a constant number of knives because for each one I lost I found one.

[DIYSteve]

Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco

[KekistaniProphet]

The only mountain booty I'm concerned with are women in yoga pants, holla!

[awilsondc]

I opened this thread wondering if it might be about a different topic... Lost: Mt. Ellinor - MP3 player, standing glissade got out of control and crashed into a small tree, MP3 player went flying... couldn't find it Ragged Ridge - set my sunglasses on a rock while taking a break and forgot them Found: Mount Thomson - Josh Lewis's water bottle he lost when it fell off of a ledge near the class 4 section. I found a water bottle near the base of the east ridge route and had seen a climbers log on SummitPost saying he lost a water bottle on Thomson. Contacted him and sure enough it was his. The road to Stuart / Eightmile trailheads - Trekking poles. Someone must have put them on the roof and forgot about them and drove off. Mount Ellinor - generic Columbia beanie that I sill use on occasion to this day, crappy sunglasses I used a couple times

[flatsqwerl]

the mountain version of garage-saleing is hiking under the downhill ski lifts as soon as the snow melts out...I lost track of the single gloves, and poles I've found ( not saved either ) . I did manage to score a beautiful swiss army knife and some weed...

[treeswarper]

Found two cameras but found their owners. Still have ice axe with owner's name on it but couldn't find the guy. It was 1978, I think? My 50 cent wool jacket from a thrift store was lost somewhere in a thicket in the Methow area and I lost my favorite easter hanky while planting trees a few years ago. Other than losing my sanity at times, I've managed to keep things pretty well. I have not picked everything up. I think that maybe the person who lost it will return or maybe it was left to be picked up on the way out.

[zephyr]