stolen trekking poles on Quandary

[grizz Profile 14er Peak List Not Entered]

I love how some members on this site compare 14ers to Everest… seems to happen weekly.

[gcoldewey Profile 14er Peak List (10) 13er Peak List (2)]

Not related to this thread...but David, nice shot of the monument on Guadalupe Peak. That's a nice climb when it's not too hot. Way to be Texan and be proud from one Texan to another!

[cletons Profile 14er Peak List Not Entered]

My wilderness experience has now officially been completely enhanced by the above pink font...cool. I noticed. And you know don't forget all the annoying noises that intrude on the wilderness experience like people talking about the latest episode of Scrubs or whatever...or people saying "way to go, you're almost there"...I have taken to wearing my Ipod for some of my hike just to avoid hearing conversations...maybe we should enlist a mountain code of silence to go along with a code against strewn gear....and as a p.s., please know Mr. Irish American, I am proud to be a Texan-American...don't forget it...

[David Connolly Profile Website 14er Peak List (2) Trip Reports]

"people talking about the latest episode of Scrubs or whatever..."

[Jim Davies Profile 14er Peak List (57) 14ers in Winter (1)13er Peak List (58)Trip Reports]

Carol & I packed out not one, but two abandoned water bottles off of Quandary yesterday. One was half-filled with a yellow liquid that proved, after I cringily opened it, to be gatorade. The other was a Nalgene covered with stickers. If anyone wishes to claim them, they'll be in my garbage can until the next pickup on Wednesday morning.

[otr13 Profile 14er Peak List (9) Trip Reports]

When I cache/hang food and/or water on backpacking trips, I will write on some duct tape w/a Sharpie something like:
"Please do not remove. Cache placed on 8/2...will pick up on 8/4" and put that on on my food bag or dromedary.

[dustj Profile 14er Peak List (58) 14ers Skied (12)14ers in Winter (1)13er Peak List (36)]

LNT...?

[fluxrad Profile Website 14er Peak List (17)]

When I cache/hang food and/or water on backpacking trips, I will write on some duct tape w/a Sharpie something like:
"Please do not remove. Cache placed on 8/2...will pick up on 8/4" and put that on on my food bag or dromedary.

This.

[cbinkley Profile 14er Peak List (17)]

LNT...?

Not 'L'ing if you intent to carry it out eventually... To be a symantic nit picker... It's not called Leave No Temporary Cache (LNTC), eh?

I think it's not so much a LNT as a "Don't get seperated from your stuff" thing.

[covfrrider Profile YIM 14er Peak List (30) 14ers Skied (3)13er Peak List (3)Trip Reports]

Just to play Devil's advocate for a minute here... Why would you leave any piece of gear behind that you may need in the event of an emergency or change of plans? What if you have to pursue an alternate route later in your trip? So, trekking poles weigh what? 2 lbs, maybe 3? If you really think that much weight makes that big of a difference, maybe you shouldn't carry poles at all. Kinda like the old, should I take my crampons? argument... IMHO, if you are carrying your ice axe, it probably means that there is steep enough snow that it may warrant crampon use, so best to have them and not use them, than to get in a jam and wish you had them.

As far as caching, I will cache a gatorade once in a while, providing there is a snow bank or cold arse creek to stick it in, in a very discrete way, otherwise, what's the point? And losing a $1 bottle of gatorade is a lot different than losing trekking poles or snowshoes.

[utepasspro Profile 14er Peak List (21)]

i'm really surprised that somebody would see gear and not leave it alone. Talk about obnoxious! Maybe i've just hiked the wrong mountains but every conversation i've had with someone on a 14er has been polite as if we're all in the same boat- struggling for air and thankful for the back yard we have up here...i can't believe that gear gets stolen on a regular basis- that blows me away. I was up on Massive this week and passed an abandoned tarp and just left it alone...figured somebody was coming back for it..thought that was standard practice

[AT14er Profile 14er Peak List (51)]

Hopefully mountain Karma will sort things out.

I will continue to leave my basecamp tent and related accessories at basecamp.

However, we should remember that separation from essential gear is not wise (especially during cold weather climbing). Backpacker Magazine has featured stories of folks who left packs for the final summit push, only to loose their gear due to a combination of disorientation and changing weather conditions. They were up the preverbal s!@# creek without a paddle.

Although socks, poles and snowshoes are not essential, raincoat, food and water likely are.