High Sierra Topix

Harlen wrote: ↑Fri Jul 09, 2021 5:11 pm Why on earth do people still filter Sierra water? The only water I won't drink is water with horse or cow manure floating in it!

I filter the water, because there might be horse manure in the stream, out of sight, just ten feet upstream.

@Harlen - Love it! I'm also very good at hauling *other* people's stuff out! I carried out I think around seven or eight pounds of trash while thru-hiking the Colorado Trail (I was weighing it for a reason, not just morbid curiosity) and always stuff microtrash, etc. into my pockets when hiking. I guess this was just my turn to leave something behind, alas.

And ha - I know, I know...but as someone who had her first colonoscopy while still in college, I am very fussy about my digestive system. Funny enough, last trip I not only drank straight from a lake, but also shared that same water bottle (filled with the unfiltered water, lemon-lime Nuun tablets, and whiskey...it wasn't my concoction, I swear!) with several others - a far bigger risk, I'm sure. (Oh, and you wouldn't exactly be able to tell from my username, but my name is actually Shawnté!)

@rlown - I'm just disappointed because usually *I'm* the one with the OCD. Many of my friends think it's bizarre that I have an actual gear checklist that I print out and run down each time I pack for a trip, and I lay everything out on a small tarp before putting it back in my pack after breaking camp...so that I don't...miss...anything. (Palm to forehead over here...)

No Harm. My list is mental, which adds to overthinking it. Only thing I've ever lost was a tent stake, but when looking for it I found a really nice, small folding knife. Some I know put everything in their tent and and pack it there and the tent is the last to go into the pack.

"but my name is actually Shawnté!"

LOL, I was going to rib Ian about that, but you already nailed him.

"I found a really nice, small folding knife."

Russ, I've found several nice pocket knives over the past few years. The last one was at Alta Meadow. Must have been lost within a week of my find because it was in perfect shape. It also marked the perfect kitchen spot.

The only item I've ever lost was an REI towel that stuffs into a tiny stuff sack. The ironic thing is, I found that little towel the year prior on the Cottonwood lakes trail. Easy come, easy go.

rlown wrote:

Only thing I've ever lost was a tent stake...

Jimr wrote:

Russ, I've found several nice pocket knives over the past few years.... The only item I've ever lost was an REI towel that stuffs into a tiny stuff sack....

I don't believe it. Never lost your cool sunglasses... never lost your cool?
What about underwater? I'll bet between you and Russ the ocean floor is littered with shark knives, flippers, and weight belts, and sacks of Abalone you planned to come back for.
Me, I once lost my mind! And someday, I'm gonna find it

No shark knife. A friend bought a shark knife but never dived. Pretty sure he didn't even know how to use it.
Have all my Ab equipment. Flippers and 22lb of weight belt accounted for. Don't do sun glasses. Hate the prescription lenses for them.

BTW, your mind is right over there, right next to the big fish behind the big rock.

BTW, your mind is right over there, right next to the big fish behind the big rock.

Russ.

Harlen wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 3:44 pm I don't believe it. Never lost your cool sunglasses... never lost your cool?
What about underwater? I'll bet between you and Russ the ocean floor is littered with shark knives, flippers, and weight belts, and sacks of Abalone you planned to come back for.
Me, I once lost my mind! And someday, I'm gonna find it

Ian, Ian, Ian.,. No, I've never lost sunglasses (that's what lanyards are for). Haven't lost my cool since I stopped backpacking with 'Dude" decades ago.
Shark knives? Shirley, you jest. I can't recall ever losing any sort of dive gear. Almost lost my life a couple of times. I have found many things others have lost. The coolest find was from a loss by a fisherman. A custom rod and Newell reel. Must have been lost earlier that day or the day before because it was in perfect shape. Just needed to break down the reel and clean/lube it very well so the internals would not corrode. I actually found the owner of the rod (his name was embedded on the blank) and returned it to him.

I recall thinking you lost your mind when you decided to hike down to Cecile Lk from Volcanic Ridge, then back up to Minaret Lk. but it seems you found where you had misplaced it.

I am human- lost plenty of stuff from 1966 to present. Two! titanium sporkes- they blend into rocks so well. Lately, as I get old and forgetful, I go for very colorful stuff- spray painted safety orange on a lot of small items. Socks- slip out of my hand when washing, down the stream they go. Wading shoes- stupidly tie them on the back of my pack, then go through massive bushwhacking (Edith Lake)- one shoe below the outlet. Camera- yes $500 camera- in VERY nasty downed timber- took 2 hours to go a mile - was dead tired, did not go back-more chance of getting injured than finding the camera. $250 bifocals- in pocket, forgot to zip it up, bent over, glasses fell out and down an endless hole in a boulder field. Another pair of bifocals- fell flat on my face on a rock, lenses went flying, only found one. Tent stakes- they just seem to disappear in the ground. I have found twice as many as I have lost, so I am ahead on that one. Any items dropped out of your hand while technical climbing are bye-bye lost down the cliff. Got a few cams stuck so hard that I had to leave them too. Most impressive loss- jumping rocks, headfirst into a raging stream, anything in my hand or tied to the pack -lost, lucky that partners got me out alive.

If you never lost anything, you just have not been out enough.

Kind of an Holier than thou statement.