Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board What have you lost or found in the Sierra?

Last year I lost a pair of sandals in Agnew Meadow and missed them much. Year before that, I left a new PUR filter hanging in a tree below Donahue. I also, last year, found a down jacket that I tripped on in the dark of night––draped over my pack for several days, but no one ever claimed it.

Best thing I ever found though* was––I met some Brits in Crabtree. they had just come over Whitney on day three of their JMT, and were realizing that three guys didn't fit in the two man tent they brought, so I gave them my REI tent, since I only had one tent-less night on the Summit to go and three weeks later, I got my tent in the mail and put it away. Months later, for some odd reason, I pulled it out of the sack and found Fifty dollars and a thank you note.

*No, really it was the canned ham at the Rae Lakes Ranger Station. Thanks Dario.

I found more sunglasses than I'd care to count.
A pair of brand new (no joke) High Sierra brand jeans.
A GPS that had the owners address stored in it. I got a 6 pack of beer for that one.

I think it was in 1996. I had recently finished backpacking in the Grand Canyon and purchased a bandana with a map of the GC. I lost that bandana on the MWT. Have since purchased another GC bandana and have managed to hang on to it. Two of my favorite backpack arenas - the GC and the Sierras.

Lost one of them old plastic cylindrical film containers full of weed on a ridge just below the summit of Conness - that one hurt ;( Probably made someone really happy tho...

Once on a nine-dayer thru Kings Canyon a friend of mine lost his sleeping bag while bouldering in the dark - that was on the evening of day three so he used our tent ground cloth as a cover for the rest of the trip. Sweaty - he said.

Have also found a few swiss army knives.

Once found an old B-17 size crashed aircraft on top of the east wall of Glacier Valley (Cirque Crest in Kings Canyon). That was eerie - it was foggy and wisps of mist were blowing by - all of a sudden there looms a monster propeller, then globs of molten aluminum, and finally the remains of the fuselage. True story!

I lost my favorite grey beenie near cathedral. i sat down on a rock to rest and forgot it.

I found a nearly brand new color mapping GPS in the backcountry in Yosemite one fall. The owner left his name and phone number on it so I gave him a call a week later when I got out. I didn't hear from him for over a month, eventually got it back to him (he thought it was as good as gone). Anyway, a week later I got a Christmas card from him with a $50 REI gift card.....now that's good Karma.

On that same trip I lost my sunglasses which were total crap anyways. After numerous repairs to them, (they only cost $14 to begin with) I was happy to be done with them. The interesting thing is the way I think I lot them. Coming around a switchback, I bent down to tie my shoe and when I stood up and rounded the corner, a bear was doing the same. We weren't more than 10-15 feet apart. I still don't know who was more surprised. After snapping a few pictures and sending him on his way, I reached on top of my hat to put my glasses back on and they were gone.

Found a pair of Vivatar compact binoculars laying in the middle of the trail just below Franklin Lake out of Mineral King.

Fishing Bernice (YNP) backside, off the large boulders and put my Perrine Fly-box down...well you know how this ends...it slid into a deep crack...gone.
Spent the next few hours walking around the lake looking for any hooks/ lures/ flys snagged - even "tied" a few from thread and goosedown. Turns out that I "found" enough to keep going and fishing for the next 10 days of my trip. Now I always look and scavange wherever...a well learned and valuable lesson about being careful, and adapting.

A few years ago I washed a pair of socks and hung them low in a small bush next to my tent at my favorite Sierra campsite near Little Five Lakes (no, I'm not providing details of the location.). I somehow missed them when I broke camp. Went back the following summer and the socks were still there - exactly as I had left them, a bit faded but wearable.

In the Sierras ...

I have lost the stresses of life.

I have found wonderful friendships.

Priceless.

Lost in August 2006: Somewhere between the top of the 99 (+/-)Switchbacks and Mt. Whitney summit- my red paisley bandanna.

Found an hour later: The joy of standing on the summit and how it makes one forget about little things like a runny nose and the need to wipe it now and then.

Not a huge deal, but...

On a hike in the Mono Recesses area in 2002, I took my sunglasses off and set them on a rock while we ate lunch beside the creek. After walking for an hour, I realized I had left them.

Three days later, we were back through the same area. My son remembered the spot and calmly picked them up off of the rock and handed them to me.

Sorry Alan, the year-old socks story beats your 3-day-old sunglasses!

Ten years ago, I lost a thermarest pad off the back of my pack just as we cleared the crest of the Whitney MR at the toilet. It tumbled down and out of sight, probably to the Arctic Lake area.

We spent the night on the summit camped on snow. It was the most miserable night I ever spent in the mountains. I did have a closed-cell foam pad too, but it was not enough insulation from the snow.

One thing I find 2-3 times per year in the backcountry is mylar balloons. They just float in when released and don't degrade. They're in every mountain range that's near a population center, and their highly reflective surface is easy to see on a sunny day. They float in and land in the most remote areas you could imag.

if that thermorest is blue - look in the tarn at the top of Carillon creek drainage - you can see a picture in one of Snow Nymph's camping albums - they were worried there was a body mixed in with it.

Worst lost:
ice axe in Nov '04 somewhere between Lone Pine Lake and the John Muir trail sign - I hope somebody really enjoyed that - it was gone the next time I went up to try and hunt it down.

Booty finds:
twice I have found two pair of snow shoes -
the first time I turned into Ranger who assured me we had first right to unclaimed booty if rightful owner not found - what a shock to later be told(previous followup confirmed not claimed and had to wait till end of season) that no booty is returned to finder - all lost property is insteady forwarded to Sheriff department to auction off - never again - I only file reports now with contact phone.
the second time I found two pair of snow shoes - closer inspection later found one pair with enough damage to make them relegated to spare parts - that day I also found a sleeping bag (0d synthetic) hanging in the willows. I was at my carrying capacity coming down the NF drainage. I left the rope which looked like was used for a rapel down by the elephant ear. A fellow R/C friend claimed it the following week on a hike.

Best find/loss story for me - back in the days when we did a lot of backpacking for weekend fishing. We were camping up at the Hilton Lakes for 3 days of great fishing and relaxation. At the NW corner of Lake #2 the avalanche carnage path flows right into the lake. It has always been fun to fish this but easy to snag and lose lures. One year I pulled in a snag and there was a lure unlike none I had ever seen before. The design was unique and I was unable to determine the vendor. I began to use that lure for the next 3 seasons and it was always guaranteed to bring in fish when the others seemed to be dead. 3 years later during a camping trip at the same lakes...... you guessed it - the lake took it back. I looked at it as a gift from the fishing Gods. I fugured after my time was up they took it from me to pass along to some other fellow angler to enjoy. To this day I have still never seen another lure with this design - and that includes hunting around on the 'net(not yet in existance at that time - we had alot more time to fish)

Easily. My sunglasses smelled just fine.

Let me get this right Scott L. The Bear was bent over tying his shoes also?

I lost my cell phone when taking an early morning off-trail break (in the dark) by a s/b above Outpost Camp. I did not realize that it was missing until I reached Trail Camp. Nonetheless, I was able to recognize the turn (where I had stopped) on the way down and find my cell phone lying on the ground with only a couple of minor scratches.

Yeah, that is what surprised me the most. It looked like a real pain in the butt though since he has to wear 4 shoes, and you have to take off 2 shoes every time you tie the other 2. So what I couldn't understand is after you tie one set and you go to put on the others, how do you tie them?

you may find this very hard to belive , however on a solo trip up at sunrise several years ago as I went by the windows and spotted a thin clear glass tube with a cork in it, inside was a was a nicely rolled joint.
no I did not smoke it . it was a truley a amazing find