Crazy Things You Have Seen on the Trail?

[Gearspoke]

What is the craziest thing you have seen, or witnessed while backpacking?

Example) When backpacking around El Capitan in Yosemite, we don't know how they got there, but we came across a very large pile of coconuts. Husked already but not broken and just sitting in a pile a little bit off the way of the trail. Now we don't know why they were there, how they got there, my thoughts an African Swallow maybe (Montey Python). But to be safe, we left hem alone and kept walking. lol

[HikerJen]

Your Monty Python reference cracks me up - that's a great movie! I haven't really seen anything crazy like that. I have seen backpackers with instruments, just strolling down the trail playing a mandolin...and I saw someone else with bagpipes (but I think he was a day hiker). Other than that, just trash on the trail.

[PaulGS]

I guess the craziest thing I saw was along the ocean on the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island two years ago and it was my own nephew. 17 years old, the last thing he wanted to be doing was backpacking with his dad and uncle. He wanted to be relaxing and suntanning somewhere. So as we hiked along the ocean on the sunny days, he hiked in his bright plaid underwear wearing his hiking boots with his large pack on his back. Interestingly enough, along the trail and even at camp, people hardly took notice.

[DesertHiker]

Probably not crazy bu more scary out on the trail, a woman and two kids were hiking with their long haired dog and the dog got into a jumping cholla cactus. These things stick to everything they touch, they had no supplies with them so I helped get most of the stickers out of the dog with my multitool. She had to take the dog to the vet to get the rest of them out completely.

[ogg]

A few years ago driving my Jeep up Last Chance Canyon in the El Paso Mtns in the Mojave Desert, I saw a portly, goofy looking guy in bib overalls and big floppy hat burying a wooden crate a little bit larger than a foot locker.

[lonerock]

A few years back while backpacking in the California Trinity Alps Wilderness I came across a couple backpacking with two goats. I had my dog with me at the time and he got along great with the goats. When they continued on the goats wanted to stay with my dog so finally the couple yelled out "Come on Lewis. Come on Clark". I left with smile on my face.

[trekkerman]

(1) A backpacking gun nut in the Wind Rivers carrying a shotgun hanging from a sling around his neck and a bunch of shells across his chest. "If there's any bears around here, I'm ready," he told me. (Gun nuts look for excuses to carry weapons.)

(2) A backpacker carrying a banjo into Island Lake in the Wind Rivers. "I want to set the Guinness Record for playing a banjo furthest from a road," he told me. (I wish I had heard the sound of Deliverance that evening across Island Lake and bouncing off of Fremont Peak.)

(3) A young woman on the Tour du Mont Blanc using a garden hoe as a staff. They wouldn't let me bring my trekking poles on the plane as carry-on luggage. The took them so I bought this when we landed in Geneva."

Trekkerman

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Summer before last, while backpacking offtrail in the Winds, we noticed the toe of this old boot sticking out of the ground. This area was pretty far from any marked trail and quite a ways from the nearest trailhead as well. We excavated the boot carefully (Unsure if we'd find anything inside the boot) but this was all we found. Somewhat of a mystery, as this was the last place you'd want to lose or toss a shoe aside...and while it could be anything really, at the time it definitely seemed a little out there.

[Jen]

One strange thing comes to mind, although I think Aaron may have mentioned it in one his "Drive Home" articles... When we took our son on his first backpacking trip in the Wind Rivers as a baby, we saw some hikers on the other side of the lake. One young guy had what looked like a twin mattress strapped to his backpack. He was struggling with the weight & awkwardness of the load, but I bet he slept really well that night.