Left or Lost?

[schmalz]

Too many times considering I'm too young to play the senile card.

I left a pair of flip flops near vogelsang on a college backpacking trip.

I lost a knife at a campsite in Dinkey Lakes. I went back there the next day after I realized I'd lost it and I could not find it.

I also have brought a stove, fuel, but no pump. Crazy how many of us have done that. In that case, we just ate trail bars and did 1 night instead of 2.

The last time I made this mistake was at chain lakes in 2010. We somehow forgot our tent! There were a ton of clouds in the sky that weekend and we were worried we'd get rained on, but it worked out. My first backpacking trip with my wife was 4 days in Yosemite with no tent, so it was a nice throwback

[KathyW]

I've lost a number of pairs of trekking poles - mostly by forgetting to pack them in my truck when I get back to the trailhead, but there might still be a pair in that wrong chute near Lone Pine Peak.

I lost my stove between day 1 and day 2 of a 4 day trip - dehydrated food does not hydrate if you pour cold water in and leave it sitting in the sun. Living on m&m's for 3 days is no fun.

I have forgotten my spoon a number of times, but fingers work fine.

This past year, I forgot my sleeping pad on an overnight trip to Mount Adams in the Cascades - sleeping on the pack helps but it's still a rough night.

Two years ago I found I had the wrong poles for the tent I packed on a 4-day trip. The poles were too small, but a similar hoop style; so they worked with a lot of guying up - thank goodness because it was rainy. I found I had the wrong tent for the poles or the wrong poles for the tent on another overnighter last summer - those poles and tents would never have worked together - everything was fine because it was a clear night. I guess I could have just rolled up into the tent if it started to rain.

I have lost a couple cameras, a couple gps's. I've lost hats, shirts (when they were attached to my pack), an ice axe, sunglasses.

I'm always afraid I'll forget my sleeping bag, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe because I wait until the day before the trip to put it in the compression sack and pack it every trip.

[Troutdog 59]

As I'm a checklist freak, I've been pretty good on not forgetting most items, but I'm human and have left stuff in the car or at home. That being said, most of the time I have forgotten stuff, (that sound you hear is me knocking on my desk ), it has always been in situations where we could make do. Forgot the tent stakes once for an old non free standing tent, but properly placed boulders and cord worked out fine. Many years ago (70's) I found after we got to our camp site below Piute Lake that my old Gaz Bluet stove had broken and was unusable. Thought about hiking out and getting a new stove as we were close to the TH, but we were only doing an overnighter and fires were legal in those areas in those days. With the weather forecasted to be good, we just chose to cook over the coals of our fire that night and the next morning.

Worst mistake involved forgetting the TP. We got packed into Honeymoon Lake out of Pine Creek. We had two rolls of TP for the trip (we had our 3.5 yr old with us) that consisted of a new large roll and a smaller opened one. The packers had us break our packs down into individual components and in getting our gear together, I took the larger roll out and forgot to put it back in :retard: . Left right on the packers table and I'm sure they got a laugh out of it . Figured it out when we got there that all we had was this partial roll for 5 days and 3 people . Fortunately, I was with a pretty large group and they were all kind enough to share some of their TP with us so all was OK and we stayed for the duration of the trip.

Things I've left. Probably more things than I can remember. Left a box full of lures along Bear Creek. Left a tarp, bandana, and flip flops at a camp near Senger Creek just of the JMT . Went back 7 years later and it was all still there. Weathered and ruined, but there so I packed it out with me.

[sparky]

I forgot raingear on a trip that turned out to be very rainy. Spent a lot of time in the tent before I finally gave up and walked out early.

Just last week I was in Yosemite and did Sunnyside bench. I had my hiking pole just in case sticking out of the top of my day pack. When I got to my truck I realized it was gone.

Last year I was "exploring" somewhere above convict creek and ended up on a crumbly class 4 section I had to down climb. I took off my heavy pack and tried to drop it into this little nook that was below me. Well, I missed and my pack cartwheeled away and out of sight. A couple zippers werent closed all the way and it ended up being a total yard sale. I found everything but a shirt.

Me and another member of this forum lost camp! In our defense it was a trailess and very confusing canyon once darkness settled in. Creeks would appear and dissappear to add to the confusion. Mysterious waterfalls, gnarly bushwacking, we finally gave up and found a nice rock to bivy on. Once the sun came up we were a couple hundred yards from camp

I know I have lost or forgotten more things than this, I just forgot

[Scouter9]

Last year, I updated my gear and manner to include hiking poles and was very happy with them. However, somewhere on the River Trail to TI Lake, I managed to unfasten my 11-year old, much-loved G-Shock and lost it. Presumably, the wrist straps on the sticks did it, but I don't know. I do know that a 2 mile backtrack wasn't fruitful, although I did find some flip-flops and a sun hat. I posted those on a prominent rock. I hope that whoever found my watch, enjoys it. I sure did.

I don't look at my watch often, but always do to mark sunset or when I awaken. It was very disorienting to be without it for a week --and, I turned out to be the only one with a watch! Well, until I lost it.

[sekihiker]

I snapped many photos on a climb of Finger Peak. The view was awesome from the summit so I took lots of pics. When I got back to my pack at Blue Canyon Pass, I found that I had forgotten to put a roll of film in the camera.

[oldhikerQ]

I've lost a few things over the years: my favorite ice ax on the way to Twin Island Lakes (fell off after I used the strap to repair a fellow hikers rental pack, the temporary strap wasn't up to the task), a lens cap for my OM1 while shooting in Matterhorn Canyon (took it off, missed my shirt pocket and watched it bounce in between some large boulders), and my favorite pullover ls hiking shirt (washed it and left in on a bush to dry).
Haven't forgotten anything of importance that I can recall (knocks on wood). I'm a list person. The master list gets marked first with what I intend to take on the current trip and then gets a second check when each item gets packed. All tent pieces stay together, so no chance to mix poles or forget stakes. Have to rely on the list more as the years progress.