Balls and Sunshine Ripped-off on the CDT!!

[Nick Gatel]

Their water cache in the desert was stolen by other hikers. Despicable.

Post from their trail journal here

My thoughts here

Edited to add the picture from their trail journal.

[Luke Schmidt]

Pretty low if you ask me. Remember in the Old West when horse stealing was a capital offense?

[Bob Bankhead]

Range wars were fought over water rights.

[Luke Schmidt]

You know those ultralight lines we bear bag with? Wonder if it would be possible to do a "neck tie social" using those, the thief and a tree?

[Justin Baker]

If you are going to take water in an emergency, then you had better replace it somehow. Even if that means hauling a ton of water back in or somehow driving to the cache.

[Nick Gatel]

"If you are going to take water in an emergency, then you had better replace it somehow. Even if that means hauling a ton of water back in or somehow driving to the cache."

And you need to purify it or leave a note about what you did. Anyway, I hope someone figures out who did this and crucifies them either physically or psychologically.

[BlackHatGuy]

I'd like to say I'm surprised, but, unfortunately, I'm not. I also hope karma deals with these cretins in a most unpleasant way.

[Nick Gatel]

"I also hope karma deals with these cretins in a most unpleasant way."

Doug is always the nice guy, even when he wishes bad things to happen to bad people. So being non-PC, I say, crucify the bastards :)

[David Lutz]

I performed a sophisticated handwriting analysis and determined the perpetrator was a girl in her late teens to early 20's.

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I ran a Simple Handwriting Interrogation Tool (SHIT) analysis and came to similar conclusions.

[Tim Drescher]

Definitely a chicks handwriting.

[Hoot Filsinger]

People like this have the ability to justify anything they want. Hit and run without a care. The trail has it own strict code maybe a posse is in order.

[M G]

A millenial with a typical sense of entitlement.

[Fitz Travels]

Exactly one week before i was headed out to New England to do some vagabonding/hiking this past October, someone swiped my crap at my basecamp. Stole over 1300 of gear, luckily they left my 230$ arctyres mittens, probably didnt realize how expensive they were. I checked out all the homeless camps around the area, and didnt find anything. I think it was a hunter.

Im actually, now, glad it happened. Im going to be abke to shave around 7 pounds now off my new gear this summer for my trip.

By the way, my zero degree REI Radiant was taken, and this January was the coldest in our states history. Amazingly i got by on a 45 degree MH phantom and a 30 degree REI Kindercone that i used as an overbag. I took that down to 0 plenty of nights, not comfortably of course, but not that bad either.

They call it "getting raped" when your crap gets swipped. I dont mind my crap getting stolen in the summer when im working a lot and its warm, but boy, that really came at a bad time this past year. I was broke and a week later we had 5 degree nights for 4 weeks.

In the winter, i carry my crap with me now. I hate being stereotyped in town, but i like keep my crap more

[Travis Leanna]

I would LOVE to hear these people try to justify their actions. Unfortunately, they'd probably get slapped the hell up before finishing their first sentence.

"So why'd you take the water?"

—-"Well, like, we were really totally thirsty and *!!SMACK!!*…….

"Sorry. Needed stress relief."

What's also pretty scary is if they do this kind of stuff on a trail, think about what kind of people they are day in and day out. I know its hard (ok, impossible) to make a complete judgment on a person without meeting them, but sometimes, just sometimes…

[Daniel Pittman]

I'd probably look for another water source before I'd steal from someone named 'Balls'…

And if it were truly an emergency situation, I'd take some water too. How much was taken?

[Travis Leanna]

I'd probably look for another water source before I'd steal from ANYONE.

And as someone else mentioned, if I TRULY had an emergency and needed water NOW, I'd make sure what I took was replenished forthwith.

I've cached water before and on the jugs I've written: "This water has been cached for hikers that are depending on it for their health and safety. Please leave undisturbed. Taking it puts their lives in danger."

[Luke Schmidt]

My guess is this person(s) wasn't planning ahead. Most people don't PLAN on stealing other people's water caches. Not just because its wrong, it certainly is. Aside from that who says "I'm going to hike through a desert without enough water and hope that other people leave some for me to steal." They probably weren't planning ahead and suddenly found themselves in a dry place with no water.
Hopefully they won't be on the trail long, if they are word will likely get around and they will be mighty unpopular.

[Tom Clark]

Agreed!

[Paul Mason]

How did B&S stash their water? Was it hidden in some way or visible to other hikers?

[Dena Kelley]

That is pretty despicable. Did the thief somehow think that the person who cached the water would not be thirsty and depending on it? I agree that the least they could have done was replenished it forthwith.

[Brad Fisher]

My idea. Some local BPL hiker find the next dry section where a cache is needed. Plant another cache and label "Balls" as the other. However this time piss in the cache and let's see if we can get the to steal again. Just saying.

Brad

[Jeffs Eleven]

Personally, I would never drink from a container labeled "Balls"

[BER —]

Unconscionable. If you found yourself in dire need, one would hope you'd think to replace the water immediately so as not to cause the owner to be in the same predicament you found yourself in. Sad, but indicative of the general mindset of our society, or at least a growing portion of it.

[Art …]

who among you who cast all these stones would not drink someone else's water if dieing of thirst ?

[Author]

Posts