Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Etiquette of lost/found items

I hiked JMT from Shadow Lake to Garnet Lake last week and found the following items:

A cheap tent
An army flashlight (weighs a lot)
An expensive water filter

I left the tent at the junction between JMT and Shadow Creek trail figuring someone would pick it up on the way back from Lake Ediza. Or they didn't want it, it appeared to be a Wal-Mart special.

The flashlight was too heavy to carry and I assume someone who left it felt the same way. It was about half way up the switchbacks from Shadow Lake to the summit overlooking Garnet Lake. It's probably still there.

At Garnet Lake I picked up the water filter. Someone had left it deliberately at the JMT sign at the north end of the lake, I think another hiker thought it proper to leave a lost item there. I still have the filter.

Since I have my own filter I am wondering what the etiquette is or should have been on my part. Leave it where I found it? Take it to the nearest ranger station? Post here and hope whomever left it behind would respond?

Thanks for the help, the filter will stay in my car till next time in the Sierra on 19 Sept.

I think taking it to the nearest Ranger Station is the way to go, I did that with two dogs I found on the trail, found their owner that way:)
They had been wandering the trails for weeks bumming food off backpackers and eating horse poop.
Dogs are a bit different, but I still think the Ranger Station is a good call, I bet they all have lost and founds.

We were chatting with some rangers on our way down last time and they said that the first time they see something on the trail they leave it. If they see it two or three days in a row, they bring it down to the ranger station. The reasoning is that someone may have forgotton or dropped something going up and will reclaim it on the way back, but after a few days that's unlikely.

I lost the diamond out of my wedding band on the JMT around Donahue Pass this past July. I think it flew out with all the "G" forces I was using to swat away all the mosquitoes. That was one expensive hike for us! If anyone comes across a nice little diamond...It's mine

I see my original question remains unanswered. It is too bad, someone's out a filter.

Sounds like it will not be easy to get the filter back to the original owner, especially if they lost it on the way out. Seems like the closest Ranger station is the best bet, although the person who lost the filter might not even know where to start looking. That is the way it goes sometimes.

There are fundamentally 2 schools of thought I've found amoung climbers finding gear on the mountian: 1) leave it alone and let the owner (or someone else) claim it or 2) it is booty and whoever finds it gets it. Since #1 often becomes #2, I'm guessing that is where most gear ends up.

Just make sure it goes to a good use. Give the filter to a hiking buddy who can't afford a filter. Get yourself set up for some good trail karma.

How the world has changed... If it's not yours,
leave it be {TRASH EXCLUDED}.
I've read, editors of climbing rags promoting the selfish behavior of "finders/ keepers." Imagine yourself finishing the crux of a multi- pitch route, when out of the blue, your rack falls 600' feet to the talus & 'lil Johnny runs off w/ it. HORRORS
Having discovered the Forest Service cache in the past, I'd again refrain from hoisting something I didnt bring w/ me {TRASH EXCLUDED}.

I don't want the filter. I was talked out of leaving it at the ranger station because there must be a limit as to how long the office will keep it on the shelf before the rangers become finders and keepers.

I'm thinking I should have left it for someone who might really need it? The filter will sit in my car till next month one way or the other and then I'm done with it (I don't particularly like the model anyway).

Like I said, there are 2 schools of thought. You've now seen them both for yourself on this board. You decide.

1: Never take anything that is "stashed" or "cached," such as packs at the base of a climb, a rope left on a climb, stuff out of someone's camp etc.
2: Everything else, including climbing hardware that the original party couldn't remove from a crack, is booty. Congratulations. Try to pick up more than you lose and you'll be all right in the end. (Obviously this doesn't apply in all cases, like the story of the dogs above.) Also, if it is an expensive item (an entire rack, a rope, a tent,) take it and make all efforts to find the owner. If they contact you, fine. If not, congratulations.

Desperado, that's what I'm thinking. The water filter was left at the sign at the outlet of Garnet Lake below the JMT sign. Perhaps when I return I'll leave it there for someone who wants it.

I think someone found it elsewhere along the lake and left it there at the crossroads between PCT/JMT.

Is there another place I can post a lost/found item on the internet? Also, to suggest, write with permanent ink your name and address and/or email on your stuff if you want to keep it.

Thanks!

for D alpinist a full rack that falls 600 ft. is probably not going to be worth more than what you can get for it at the local recycling center. i wouldn't trust my life to it. and why is your rack falling off u in the first place. i've found over a dozen stoppers, countless biners and a handfull of cams in my time. there is a definite difference between finding a solitary piece of gear in the middle of nowhere and jacking someone's gear when their not looking.

on the other hand i've probably bailed and left more pro than i've found, so it all evens out to me. finders keepers, with common sense and discretion

Not really sure if proper etiquette is the right question here. I'm sure your intentions were honorable, to return the found items to their rightful owner, either through this board, or other means, but one thing to consider is, with the number of items stashed - left someplace with the object in mind of retrieving them on the return trip - knowing that most hikers are honest and your stuff will be safe - how can anyone know just by walking by an item on the trail that this was not the original intention?

I think that is why the Rangers have a policy of only retrieving the items after they see them for the second time, days later.

Sounds to me like these items: a tent which would not be needed until the return portion of the hike - a flashlight, which would not be needed if the return was expected before dark, and a water filter, which would not be needed if a summit bid was being attempted, and all filtering was already done, and the concern was to go as light as possible to the top and back from that point..

I think I would have left everything right where I found it, and leave it up to the Rangers to determine after several passes, that this is abandoned or lost property.

After all, how can you "Lose" a tent?

When I "stash" something, I hide it pretty well or otherwise ensure it is obvious I'm coming back for it. I don't lay it next to the trail for the next guy along to find and wonder about. I think most of us can distinguish between stashed items and those that were lost. Whoever lost the water filter is probably long gone and has already replaced it, so I would just make sure it found a home with someone who will make use of it.

How I hate these debates. But the water filter was found at the JMT sign.

Don't you think that's as good a place to put it to "Ensure" you're coming back for it?

It's pretty common to see people's stuff laying next to trails, and picking it up has never seemed like the right thing to do. (unless it's trash, as stated above) I always assume the owner has left it there for a reason and has plans to return for it. I'm just glad I've never returned for my stuff after a long climb only to find that someone's done me the favor of claiming it for me! (even though they may have had good intentions)

Then there was the water bottle I found on the main Whitney trail this summer (July '03)carefully labelled "I will be back for this tomorrow. Please leave it here. 10/23/02."

Hey Vinze. Was that you climbing w/ that booty rack? Would be glad to follow...NOT!