Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Abandoned Backpack in the North Fork

We ran into a fully loaded blue backpack up in the Northfork yesterday. It was in a dry section of rocks, surrounded by snow with no footprints, under a tree. It is still in good condition.

There was something you wouldn't normally take hiking strapped on the bottom.

I can see losing alot of things on the mountain - but that one takes the cake. hope the hiker is not lost in a ravine somewhere

After giving the backpack some thought, I believe it was left in the tree and fell down...due to the way the sleeping baq was extending out of its cover. I can imagine someone leaving it there for a return visit. I hope this this the case.

It is not everyday you run into a fully loaded backpack, in a place you wouldn't be camping.....a place not easy to get to. I didn't open it but I would guess it has no food in it.

Here is a photo of the mystery backpack.

<a href="http://client.webshots.com/photo/355990090/360060849knpNUR"> mystery backpack</a>

The mystery deepens!!

Looks like the pack was just too big for the "teddy" hiker or it could have been the first hanging by backpack.

I think the owner was abducted by aliens and is probably getting "probed". Hmm...could you open it and see if there is a permit inside?

BeachAV8R

Check out VVR message board. There is a missing hiker on the PCT..

What is the VVR message board?

The missing hiker posted on the VVR site was reported missing May 2 near Idyllwild...at least 300 miles south of the North Fork area where the backpack was found. EXTREMELY unlikely that there's any relation.

elmichael - we never assumed they were related. Just a heads up about a missing hiker. I believe we mentioned the PCT - not Mt. Whitney.

No offense intended, but perhaps something as vitally important as a missing hiker should be posted under it's own topic. We have a very close-knit mountaineering community that is very good about jumping in to help one of it's own. Posting under an aptly named header is a much better way to grab as much attention to an issue this critical as possible.

Again...Not trying to flame or offend, just concerned.

Has anyone heard any updates to this abandoned backpack? Seems quite disconcerting...

We will be up in the area in a few weeks. We will go take a look and post an update. Hopefully it won't still be there.

Well, what happened to the abandoned backpack? My son Matthew and Nephew Brent went to search for it over the weekend on our way up the North Fork.

It is gone, which is good. The owner must have come back for it.

According to recent posts on the PCT-L, the missing hiker near Idyllwild, one John Donovon, of Virginia I believe, was recently found by a pair of concerned civilian searchers. They surmised that he slipped on a snowfield and fell, suffering fatal head wounds. Donna Saufley of Agua Dulce, an active trail angel & participant on the PCT-L, has been consolidating information from various sources and will know more.

After climbing the slabs on the south side, to bypass the EB Ledges, we ran into the abandoned backpack. It was lower then we originally found it and scattered by an animal over a much larger area.

It was dissapointing to find it still in the area.

We collected much of it and brought it down to the portal

<a href="http://community.webshots.com/photo/465862237/465871941OPaBKd"> Abandoned backpack is still there</a>

Was it checked for a permit? Someone should of opened it to see if there was a name or something in relation to the owner. Maybe an I.D or a piece of paper with a frieds name or phone #. What happenedx to it after all? Owner found yet?

When we first ran into the mystery backpack in late May 2005 it was on a dry spot next to a tree. It was mostly together. We did not touch it or move it, thinking the owner would soon return.

Since it was still there last weekend (although now scattered around the rocks), my son and Brent carried it down to the portal. They opened up the backpack and went through it, looking at the contents. There was a pair of gloves, some liner type pants, XL wind breaker, metal sierra cup pan, broken head flashlight, two water bottles, nasty dirty toilet paper, ripped up sleeping bag and brown teddy bear.

Unfortunatly, No ID or anything like that.