Umsaskis
New member
Somewhere in the unwritten book of hiking rules, there is a rule that says:
"A) Any hiker who finds a glove or other item belonging to another hiker shall afix the item to a stick or sapling beside the trail, so the item will be visible in the event that the owner comes along to retrieve it.
B) Any hiker who finds a glove or other item afixed to a stick or sapling beside the trail shall not take the item, but shall leave it in the event that the owner of the item comes along."
I don't know how many soggy gloves, jackets, shirts, etc. I've seen hanging from sticks along trails and popular bushwhack routes. I've gone so far myself as to try to figure out the most common entry point for the trail and place the item at the trailhead sign there. But I've never known anyone to take the glove or jacket home with them.
I've often found this bit of hiker behavior to be both heart-warming and amusing. Heart-warming because in what other activity will someone find a good piece of equipment that has clearly been lost and is unlikely to be retrieved and, rather than take it, place it in a prominent location for the owner to find it? Amusing because it is quite unlikely that the owner will come back for it before the glove becomes a soggy, rotten mass, yet we put it on a stick anyway. Even if we could convince ourselves to break the rule and take the glove, we might think, "well, what would I do with just one glove?" Wait a few more hikes, my friend, and you will find another glove on a stick. Then you'd have a pair, albeit a mis-matched pair.
I hope that we never stop this funny, good-hearted behavior. If I ever lose a glove, I would be very grateful to find it three months later, soggy, muddy, and rodent-eaten, hanging from a stick where I lost it, as a testimony to the kindly attitude that the mountains inspire in us while we are hiking.
"A) Any hiker who finds a glove or other item belonging to another hiker shall afix the item to a stick or sapling beside the trail, so the item will be visible in the event that the owner comes along to retrieve it.
B) Any hiker who finds a glove or other item afixed to a stick or sapling beside the trail shall not take the item, but shall leave it in the event that the owner of the item comes along."
I don't know how many soggy gloves, jackets, shirts, etc. I've seen hanging from sticks along trails and popular bushwhack routes. I've gone so far myself as to try to figure out the most common entry point for the trail and place the item at the trailhead sign there. But I've never known anyone to take the glove or jacket home with them.
I've often found this bit of hiker behavior to be both heart-warming and amusing. Heart-warming because in what other activity will someone find a good piece of equipment that has clearly been lost and is unlikely to be retrieved and, rather than take it, place it in a prominent location for the owner to find it? Amusing because it is quite unlikely that the owner will come back for it before the glove becomes a soggy, rotten mass, yet we put it on a stick anyway. Even if we could convince ourselves to break the rule and take the glove, we might think, "well, what would I do with just one glove?" Wait a few more hikes, my friend, and you will find another glove on a stick. Then you'd have a pair, albeit a mis-matched pair.
I hope that we never stop this funny, good-hearted behavior. If I ever lose a glove, I would be very grateful to find it three months later, soggy, muddy, and rodent-eaten, hanging from a stick where I lost it, as a testimony to the kindly attitude that the mountains inspire in us while we are hiking.
