Leave The Wallet In The Car! - And Open Thank You To An Amazing Hiker Couple

[Quietman]

Wanted to hike Monadnock today, and to avoid the crowds I started from the Gilson Pond Trail head for the Birchtoft Trail. Only a few cars at the parking area so I decided to carry my wallet in my pack as I knew it had some cash in it. 1st mistake, I should have tucked it under the carpet under one of the seats.

2/3 of the way up the Spellman trail my cell rings, it's my daughter telling me that someone found my wallet on the mountain. I said WTF and sure enough when I took off my pack, I see that the way that I lashed my jacket to the pack caused the zipper on a pocket to open, dumping my wallet. My daughter gave me the number of the person that had called her and although I didn't have enough bars for voice, we were able to text and they said that they would meet me at the top of Spellman in 30 minutes. 25 minutes later a voice says "Are you Mark?" and then hands me my wallet. I offered them(a younger couple) $20 for an after hike beer but he said "no, just make sure if you ever find my wallet please return it." Only after they hiked on did I open my wallet to discover that all of the $100+ in cash was still there!!!(In addition to the credit cards and everthing else!!!)

So this couple was not only amazingly honest, but also took the time to look up my home phone number from my drivers license info, and handed my wallet back to me 30 minutes later.

I am a cynical person by nature, but this really touched me!!! There were a lot of hikers on Monadonck today, and I am thankful that at least 2 were true trail angels. I hope to pay it forward as often as possible.

 

[Hillwalker]

Pay it forward!

 

[Tom Rankin]

First of all, way to go to the honest person, and glad you got your money/wallet back.

But I hope you DO continue to carry your ID with you. I also hope you buy a bigger pack, because if you have to carry stuff on the outside of your pack, your pack is too small. This is especially true if you ever do any bush whacking.

 

[NH Tramper]

That's the sort of thing that makes me think there's still hope for us all.

 

[DSettahr]

But I hope you DO continue to carry your ID with you. I also hope you buy a bigger pack, because if you have to carry stuff on the outside of your pack, your pack is too small. This is especially true if you ever do any bush whacking.

Yep. This makes identifying the body a lot easier.

 

[Stash]

Yep. This makes identifying the body a lot easier.

Road ID on the wrist. THat way they can still ID if you lose your pack....

 

[wardsgirl]

What a wonderful story!

I once lost my wallet (at Ethan Pond Shelter) and had it returned to me intact. It's such a good feeling!

 

[marnof]

Great story, and it backs up my feeling that hikers in general are kind people. My wallet "left" my pack on a mountain bike trail once, and someone found it and returned it to me too. He refused a reward, so I had to leave it without him noticing! I was able to pay it forward after finding a woman's purse, ransacked and tossed aside in a state park. It did contain ID and precious photos, which brought the lady to tears when I met her at a police station. She wanted to reward me as well, but seeing her joy was all the reward I needed--it still makes me feel good thinking about it.

 

[Irishskier]

Great stories. At least a few of us good folks left. Always pay it forward!

 

[hiking lady]

Great story. I had something similar happen to me this past week. I unknowingly dropped my cell phone in the office complex parking lot where I work. I had gone home sick and it must have fallen out of my pocket. A lawyer next door to the office I work in found it and went through quite a bit of work to find me. After asking people in the various offices, and people in the parking lot, he finally called the last person I spoke to which was my husband. The man then dropped it off in the office I work and my husband let me know what happened when he got home later in the day. I sought the man out the next day and gave him a thank you card with a $25.00 gift certificate to irving for gas. I wrote "thankyou for restoring my faith in humanity." He didn't want to take it, but I wanted him to know how much I appreciated the time he took to find its owner.

I also managed to drop a roll of stamps in the parking lot which I discovered missing the next day. Again someone who works in our office thought it might have been the agencies and inquired. I ate some humble pie on screwing up 2x in one week, but was grateful to see there is still honest people out there!