[pct-l] Billy Goat's lost poles

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, all,



In ’08 I resupplied at Castella on Friday, and wanting to get up and away
from the Castle Crags Park weekend congestion I continued up the PCT north
till dark.  Just as I was settling into camp about 2/3 the way up Castle
Creek Canyon two hikers came down the hill.  The first one had a large pack
and mumbled something to me that they had gone “way up the canyon” and
couldn’t go any further.  The second guy was dragging his butt along behind
without a pack and he passed by without saying anything.  The next morning
at a steep outside switchback about a mile further up the canyon I came upon
a huge pack – complete and unopened --  along the side of the trail.  It was
wet with dew and it wasn’t in a place where a hiker would leave it to step
off the trail to dig a cat hole.



My guess is the two guys were week-enders who started out Friday, and
crapped-out after gaining about 3,000 ft. elevation above the park.  I have
no idea if that was the guy’s pack nor, if so, whether he ever came back and
retrieved it, and I wasn’t about to haul it back down the hill or, worse,
haul the “bootie” on through to Etna. People like that almost never carry
anything I need anyway.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 12:17 PM, Brian McLaughlin <brianmclaugh at comcast.net
> wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> > HELP:  Billy Goat's hiking poles walked away without him!  He was
> > northbound
> > at the Red Rock water tank mile # 502.8 and he left his poles at the
> trail
> > intersection.  After collecting water and returning to the trail they had
> > mysteriously vanished.
>
> As many have pointed out, it is hard to know what to do
> with items found in or beside the trail, and picking them up
> is often a better idea than leaving them. There's just no
> right answer.
>
> There is one obvious exception to this: when the "item" is
> an entire pack. It would be rarer than hen's teeth for a
> hiker, whether day hiker or backpacker, to walk away
> from their pack unawares.  I am surprised that Billy Goat,
> being such an experienced hiker, did not take this step to
> avoid any misconception about his poles being left
> inadvertently.
>
> I wish him all luck in reuniting with his poles.
>
> As for the idea that found items are "trail booty", even
> in the face of finding their true owner, that is known
> as rationalization. Isn't it amazing that, after you have
> applied the process of rationailzation, whatever
> it is that benefits you most, suddenly becomes what is
> right, proper and correct behavior. It's like magic!
>
> ; )
>
>
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