Leave details in your rucksack

[Tringa]

Mrs Tringa mentioned something she read online this morning which made me think.

A walker NW of Bridge of Orchy found a rucksack on a hill with no one anywhere to be seen but thought it might have been left by someone nearby but out of sight. He camped overnight and found the rucksack still there.

I reckon most of us leave info on where we are walking with someone, or perhaps a note in a car, but I had not thought of leaving contact details in my rucksack - perhaps a laminated card.

It could be argued if you have left details with someone there is no need but it might help.

The local MRT got involved and mentioned it had happened before.

Dave

[AyrshireAlps]

Tbh I've never liked the idea of leaving my bag to go and do outlying munros etc anyway, My bag has all my stuff that I need in the event of an accident, leaving it is a massive gamble.

[Tringa]

I agree, but it would be easy to drop the rucksack for a short wander. I have done it quite a few times; taking a quick and short amble for a better view.

Dave

[weedavie]

There are other problems. Three of us had gone up the Lancet's Edge on a cracking summer day. We dumped our rucksacks on Geal Charn and headed for Beinn Èibhinn. Nobody thought of bringing water, and the return to geal Charn was an Ice-Cold in Alex moment.

[CharlesT]

Tbh I've never liked the idea of leaving my bag to go and do outlying munros etc anyway, My bag has all my stuff that I need in the event of an accident, leaving it is a massive gamble.

Agreed, and you have to know exactly where you left it.🥴
I dropped my (heavy multi-day pack) to bag Beinn Fhionnlaidh in failing light on the Mullardoch round. Could I find it on my return? No. No one else was daft enough to be doing this round in late November so it hadn't been nicked. Darkness fell and inevitably the torches were in the pack. It took me a good hour of stumbling around in the dark before I found it. I wasn't aware there was more than one path, but I am now. Never again.

[Giant Stoneater]

Tbh I've never liked the idea of leaving my bag to go and do outlying munros etc anyway, My bag has all my stuff that I need in the event of an accident, leaving it is a massive gamble.

Agreed, and you have to know exactly where you left it.🥴
I dropped my (heavy multi-day pack) to bag Beinn Fhionnlaidh in failing light on the Mullardoch round. Could I find it on my return? No. No one else was daft enough to be doing this round in late November so it hadn't been nicked. Darkness fell and inevitably the torches were in the pack. It took me a good hour of stumbling around in the dark before I found it. I wasn't aware there was more than one path, but I am now. Never again.

Done the exact same thing on Luinne Bheinn, dropped my pack, went to the summit, returned and could not recognise anything, eventually worked it out that i had dropped to far down the mountain, so back up to look for pack,found it.
The stupid thing was the GPS was in the pack which would have been useful for marking the spot where i left it.

[Scraggygoat]

Been doing it for years, in winter head torch and Bothy bag go in a coat pocket and depending on weather goretex or belay jacket tied round waist. Mark spot with walking pole which I’ve put highly reflective SOLAS tape on. Always to the side of high confidence navigation feature. Summer and Winter climbers regular leave sacs stashed in corries and sometimes if you descend to the climb over a col or ridge you will pass or climb upto on the way back you will stash there.

In summer will deliberately hide well but next to a confident navigation feature as there are a lot more casual and inexperienced walkers around and folks from down south whom wouldn’t dream of leaving a sac in North Wales or the Lakes, and would potential assume something is wrong.

If I found a sac that wasn’t stashed I’d look for evidence of being dropped, the ground above and think about potential fall lines associated with it ect. If it was not associated with any hazard and was still there next day, I’d look in it to ascertain if contents were securely battoned down, no preshhiable food, no electronics stored where they could get wet and no wallet. If the answer to any of those is no I’d consider the context further and potentially call MRT.

If it was deliberately stashed under a Boulder, weighted down with rocks, marked with a pole or wand I’d leave it well alone and leave it there.

On occasion I’ve stashed whole sacs for friends whom are doing ultra endurance challenges, or long walks, or might be doing a bit of an unusual jolly where they have cycled miles and are transitioning from the bike to the hill.

[Tringa]

Rather than deliberately leaving a rucksack to do a nearby top I was thinking of accidentally becoming separated from your bag buy accident.

A couple of years ago on Beinn Eighe I decided Stuc Coire an Laoigh - the small outlier overlooking Glen Torridon - was a good place for a bite to eat. I dumped my rucksack a few metres away from where I was eating. If I had take a tumble as I wandered around then a note in the rucksack could have helped if someone else had found it.

Dave

[jupe1407]

I've dumped mine a few times to nip up to an outlier, although I wouldn't do it if i was going to be any more than 20-30 minutes walking away from it. Usually only done this when I don't have my camera with me (rare) and/or when it's going to be too unpleasant at a summit to enjoy a bite to eat.

[simon-b]

Common practice with a professional guide, eg guide and client(s) will stow their sacks at the bottom of a rock before a climb or scramble, particularly in places like Skye. Solo, I generally prefer to keep my sack with me. An exception is a very short there and back scramble, eg. The Howitzer on Helm Crag in Lakeland. I guess I might do the same for The Cobbler if I ever get there.

[Essan]

This is the incident that prompted the original post:

Officers are appealing for help to trace the owner of a rucksack which has been found near the summit of Stob A Choire Odhair, The Black Mount, Bridge of Orchy.

The rucksack is a black Lowepro (30L capacity) and contains items of clothing, food and water. Other items found suggest it was being used by a photographer.

Sergeant Nigel McDonald said: "The bag has been at the summit since Saturday, 24 April. Police Scotland's Mountain Rescue Team together with support from the search helicopter and other specialist resources have been conducting searches of the area but have not yet traced the owner.

"We have not received any reports of missing people in the area however we are keen to trace the owner to ensure they are safe and well. If you are the owner of the rucksack, could you please contact police on 101, quoting incident number 1315 of 26 April."

https://www.facebook.com/ArgyllWestDunbartonshirePoliceDivision/photos/a.518571168247860/3592468210858125/

Still trying to track the owner .....

[Chris Henshall]

The discussion reminds of arriving on top of Càrn Eige in poor weather and finding two weighty sacks stashed against the cairn, presumably as their owners headed out to Beinn Fhionnlaidh and back. Neither my mate nor I were remotely concerned about their owners' wellbeing but decided to show it by swapping the positions of the bags in a childish effort to persuade them of the existence of Am Fear Liath Mòr of Càrn Eige. Can't imagine that it worked - the bags' owners probably didn't even notice when they retrieved them - but apologies if it was you!

[rohan]

The discussion reminds of arriving on top of Càrn Eige in poor weather and finding two weighty sacks stashed against the cairn, presumably as their owners headed out to Beinn Fhionnlaidh and back. Neither my mate nor I were remotely concerned about their owners' wellbeing but decided to show it by swapping the positions of the bags in a childish effort to persuade them of the existence of Am Fear Liath Mòr of Càrn Eige. Can't imagine that it worked - the bags' owners probably didn't even notice when they retrieved them - but apologies if it was you!

Certainly wasn't me. 18 years ago myself and my partner set off from Alltbeithe YH to do An Socach to Beinn Fhoinnlaidh and back but due to good conditions and good progress decided to add on Creag a choir Aird and Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. Leaving the summmit of Carn Eige and a pile of rucksacks,we met a group returning to Carn Eihe from BF. Heading the group was Mr Know-it-all who instructed us in a very pompous manner that we could save a lot of effort by leaving our rucksacks and collecting them on the way back He really was a pompous ass but was deflated somewhat by our response that we were going on to C a'c A and S n C (the latter by its real name rather than Chrysthenmum).

Good advice from Scraggygoat although as I have got older I have become less and less keen to be separated from my bag.

[AJ01]

Common practice with a professional guide, eg guide and client(s) will stow their sacks at the bottom of a rock before a climb or scramble, particularly in places like Skye. Solo, I generally prefer to keep my sack with me. An exception is a very short there and back scramble, eg. The Howitzer on Helm Crag in Lakeland. I guess I might do the same for The Cobbler if I ever get there.

When I did the scramble to the top of The Cobbler I left my rucsac at the bottom. IIRC the scramble would have been made very awkward if I had been carrying it, and I was only away from it for 5 minutes or so.

The only other occasion was when I was with two friends who suggested leaving the daysacs to bag a summit about half a mile away as we were coming back the same way and then continuing along a ridge. It was a clear, sunny summer day so there wouldn't have been any obvious hazards, but I was not entirely happy being parted from my gear and only went along with the majority opinion. If I'm on my own I would never leave my sac, not least because I carry a small first aid kit, and you never know when you might need it.

[Bonzo]

A friend of mine left his rucsac on the main Pennine Way so he could yomp over to the summit of the Cheviot in a more lightweight manner.

On his return his rucsac, which contained his tent and other belongings, had gone.

He spent over two hours searching in all directions before giving up and heading to Kirk Yetholm. Fortunately his wallet was in his coat so he could pay for lodgings.

The theft was reported but his rucsac was never found.