JMT: Help! United/Alaska Air lost my pack & gear!!

I'm sorry to say that United sucks worse than any other US airline. They recently screwed my 18 year old daughter big time traveling back from Nanjing. Cancelled her LAX to PDX connection at their whim and gave her 2 connections . One to PDX before her Air China Flight landed, the other to Phoenix with no connection. Refused to put her up at LAX. Refused to let her sleep in a UA lounge. Offered me a $100. And that was 2 days later. The recently stranded a Shanghai to NJ flight for 3 days. Black Mass. Nobody wanted their $1000 vouchers.They are toast.Alaska may be better. Good luck. John

"As a contingency, can anybody recommend some ways in Mammoth or nearby to re-outfit without breaking the bank for some good (hopefully UL) options. is there a rental place in town?"

Susan,

About the best you can do in Owens Valley is Wilson's East Side Sports in Bishop. They have everything you will need gear wise, even including food things like Cliff Bars, etc. They are not UL oriented, but you may be able to rent some big ticket items. It owuldn't hurt to give them a call at 760.873.7520. They are open until 9 PM. You can catch a bus down there if you decide they can help you.

Best of luck, and I am very sorry to hear about your loss.

Mammoth Mountaineering Supply. 760-934-4191
mammothgear.com

hours 8am to 8 pm everyday

When I last visited them in 2009 they had GoLite and Osprey packs and a large selection of lightweight gear.
They even helped me and a fellow hiker arrange warranty replacements of some of our gear.

They are loacted near the Chevron station on the opposite side of the street.

Hope you get your gear back!

Thank you gentlemen for your support and recommendations.

I'm keeping my fingers and everything else crossed that it turns up on the afternoon flight. With only one flight a day arriving at 5pm, the local airport staff doesn't get in until a few hours before then so I'll be on pins and needles until then and I can talk to a human being and not a recording.

I'll go the the gear shop in Mammoth to review my options. Hopefully they ca help me put together a reasonable kit there, otherwise I'll try heading to Bishop.

Mahalo nui loa!

other help is still appreciated. Will keep yu guyz posted on how things progress.

Susan

I hate to hear that Susan. There are so many things that could have gone wrong on the trip that wouldn't mess things up this bad. We had a problem with them last month when flying out of San Fran. after leaving Yosemite N.P. They changed our flight times without warning and changed our gate 4 times in an hour. By the time you got to one gate and sat down for 10 minutes, they moved you again. One lady at the airport had been stuck there for 3 days because of AA.

We booked one more trip through AA to Colorado next week (booked before our previous experience) and i hope we don't have problems then too. Hearing your experiences, Susan, makes me nervous. If my pack doesn't show up I guess i'll test this Super-Extra-Ultra light technique some of these crazies on here talk about!

Nevertheless, I don't plan on flying AA ever again.

I hope your pack is there at 5 and you can enjoy the rest of your trip!

Latham

Mammoth mountaineering also have an outlet combined with a consignment shop on the main street in Bishop, if you ask nicely you might be able to get some cheaper stuff sent up.

Hope it goes well for you,

Dave

Check your PMs.

Susan, sorry to hear about your gear! With that said, both Tom and Matthew are correct both places that they mentioned are great options. Both have very knowledgeable staffs. Good luck with your gear

I'm headed to Mammoth Thursday after working half a day, getting a wilderness permit, then heading to Mosquito Flat for the night, south of town, above Toms Place. Not sure I can help any. I should be in town around 2:30PM or there abouts, headed to the FS for a permit first thing. Post a help wanted here, or hang out at the FS office in town there, look for a '93, grey Toyota pickup, gray bearded dude with glasses and a black HD Financial Services shirt.
Duane

Well, I almost got my pack back. I received a phone call from Horizon/Alaska Air just affter 5pm sayng they did indeed have may bag. The guy I spoke to said he personally would deliver it to me and could meet me in town in 30-40 minutes and that he would call before he got to town to nail down a meeting place. Well, it's now 930 pm and I haven't heard back from him since.

I callled him more than a dozen times and as the sun set, I finally had to get a room. I am now nicely accomodated at the Shiloh Inn, nice helpful folks. Also, the guys at the Shell Station market charged my phone for me, again, very nice and helpful!

I really don't know what to make of the the Horizon/Alaska guy never calling back or turning up. I can only hope he wasn't in some sort of accidnet. I hate to think he just blew me off, especially since they weren't going to comp me another room because having my bag, I would be able to camp. The only number I have is for the airport desk, which is only manned for a few hours in the afternoon and apparently nobody checks the voicemail until then. It's looking like I won't make the 0830 YARTS to Yosemite tomorrow morning.

If I don't hear from them, I will probably head to the airport myself about 2pm. Hopefully my pack is there.

Thanks for all with offers to help. Duane, I'm at the Shiloh, will PM you my contact info. Doug, I'll reply to your PM.

Much Aloha,

Susan

Susan, I certainly hope you finally get your pack! I'd definitely file a formal complaint with the airline, especially with the non-delivery by the person who said he was delivering it! I'm sure you'd far rather be backpacking than sampling the Mammoth motels!

I haven't tried flying to a backpack yet (I prefer to drive, even if several days, and since I'm retired I have plenty of time), but if I do, I will definitely take my backpack as a carry-on and check only the items that can't be carried on (trekking poles, knife, matches). That way if the checked bag disappears en route, I'll have only a few things to replace. The last time I flew (last week) I was charged $25 each way for a checked bag, so it would be cheaper to mail the darn thing!

Susan, I went to bed early last night, so any PM's will not able to view until after my vacation. Sorry. I hope all works out, things happen. Sounds like you have a plan anyway. Enjoy your time in CA. I'll check back here on my AM break at around 7:45.
Duane

Susan, I made it to the Mammoth Library, I'll pop in at the Inn here in a bit.
Duane

I have my pack!!!

the delivery guy was mis-dialing my number and apparently had no way to check teh airline voice mail for all the voice mails I had been leaving.

Long story short, me ad my gear are renuited so I will be heading to Yosemite tomorrow! Yippie!!

Also, shout out to Duane for checking up on me. Great time sharing a brew and talking story for a while in Mammoth. Have a great time on your trip.

Doug, thanks for your most generous offer! Enjoy your upcoming trip.

Mahalo all for your help and support.

Susan

The trail gods smile upon you.
Cheers and have a great hike!

Susan saw me off, we had a good chat over just one brewski, I was driving to my trailhead, so we drank water after just one. Very down to earth, confident lady, even after the mess up with her pack, good sense of humor, not caught up in herself, I'm sure she could give me much bp related info as she has done a few long bp trips and I've only done solo 7-8 day trips. Hoping your trip finally started without delay in the Valley. Chat when you finish.
Duane