When you forget something

[AK Granola]

I’m a ridiculous over-planner, and often pack a week ahead of time, so that I’m not frantically doing things last minute. So I did that a week ago, in prep for a trip this past weekend. The problem came when I decided to switch backpacks, and didn’t remove all the gear from one into the other, and didn’t check my list again. I missed a vital piece of gear.

So… we snowshoed out to a rental cabin, an 8 mile trek, much of it uphill, in pretty fresh snow. Snowmachines (snowmobiles) had packed it a bit, but with a good 5 feet+ of snow in the woods, it was soft. So it was hard work! About minus 10F when we started and a bit of a breeze, but we were in the woods so somewhat protected. Beautiful blue sky, bright but not very warm sunshine, and spectacular views of the ridges all around. We were tired, cold and hungry when we got to the cabin.

Enjoyed a lovely evening keeping a fire going, having dinner and talking, and appreciating the bright moon and stars. Then, bedtime! Oh no, forgot the sleeping pad! I folded all my extra clothes (mostly dry by then) and tried to arrange them under my sleeping bag (which fortunately was in my pack!). It actually wasn’t too bad on the wooden sleeping benches, except that clothes migrated to different locations all night. Actually the hard wood wasn’t bad at all under my back, but the hip bone didn’t appreciate it. I finally just made a nest of my puffy under my hip and slept that way. I volunteered to keep the fire going since I knew I would be tossing and turning a lot.

Moral of the story – you just make do. And no use complaining at length after the first $%@$ reaction, because it isn’t going to change. Then I became grateful it wasn’t my sleeping bag that had been left behind! If it had been, I’d have put on all of my clothing. You just find a way, because you have to. What have you forgotten?

In all, a really relaxing weekend with a hard hike, cold weather, and great friends. I’m not much of a photographer, but I’ll put up a few anyway to give you the idea. First is view from the cabin window.

 

 

[Hopearotie]

Looks awesome. Im glad to know I’m not the only one that forgets things  🙃 Way to have a great weekend anyway.

 

[dirtbag]

Im like you. Lay everything out in my basement a week before and i go over it all every day untill the day before i leave.. then i pack it all in. This usually works and my obsession helps me be sure I have everything i need. My last trip to Pharaoh Lake Wilderness I did not actually forget anything, but I did manage to drop my sunglasses on the ground while I was putting my gaiters on.. and unfortunately I realized I dropped them when I heard the cracking crunch under my boot, just after I stepped on them. Crushed garbage now. Anyway, i made due without them. You made it work and fortunately it was not a horrible situation, though uncomfortable it didn’t make or break your trip. It definitely made this trip a memorable one and Im sure you will always have memories about “That snowshoe trip to the cabin where I forgot my sleeping pad”.

[JCH]

Karen – Beautiful pictures of a beautiful part of the country.

I’ve always thought that a little adversity is what turns a trip into an adventure, and its the adventures that we remember best (and most fondly).

[Paul Wagner]

That reminds me…

Not that we have ever forgotten anything, except the time my wife forgot the gas canister (Thanks to an exiting hiker at the trailhead who gave us his partial…saving our trip) or the time I forgot my epi-pen (sixteen hours, and $500 later, I found it in my backpack) or the time…

Not to mention the time that we loaned a lighter to someone who forgot both lighter and back-up matches in Lyell Canyon.

Nothing to see here…

[Kevin Babione]

I did a trip to Dolly Sods a couple years ago and “that guy” was all proud of himself that he remembered a lighter (he had forgotten one on the previous couple of trips).  We spent the night before hiking in the Red Creek Campground enjoying some car-camping fare.  The next morning as we’re all packing up, “that guy” started lamenting that he’d forgotten his hiking boots!  Fortunately he was wearing decent sneakers so that’s what he wore for the trip and he was fine.

I hike with two different groups:

• With one group we try to make sure that we don’t carry redundant items, lightening everybody’s load.  We’ll take one stove (we all eat together), one FAK, typically two water filters, one saw, etc.
• With the other group we all hike as if we’re going solo and just happen to meet up on the trail, so each person has a stove, etc.  Redundancy here is a given so when “that guy” forgets his lighter each of the rest of us has one that he can use.

Clearly, forgetting something is very different with the two different groups.  It would be bad (or at least very inconvenient) if, for example, the person who agreed to bring the stove in my first group forgot it.  We’d be eating cold-soaked food!

[Philip Tschersich]

I don’t think I have forgotten anything in many years because I use a detailed list when I pack. The list is in an app on my phone (and is sync’d via the cloud to my iPads, etc) and so I can wander around my house/shop picking the items up and checking them off. You can check/uncheck individual items or do it to the whole list (handy if you want to ‘double check’ that it’s all there). I have the items in categories like ‘Clothes’ and ‘Packraft’, etc. The app is called Packing Pro.

This of course only works for items you anticipate needing. I’ve found myself on a mountainside thinking, “gosh, I wish I had brought an ice ax.” Which is in the ‘Snow’ list, but but I made a conscious (and incorrect) decision to leave it at home. Oops.

[Jerry Adams]

I usually forget something even though I have a list.  Sometimes I’ll skip by a list entry thinking I’ll pick it up later, then forget, for example something that’s in the refrigerator.  Or I’ll put everything on the list in my pack, later remove it for some reason and forget to put it back.  Like, I decided to top off the charge on the inreach.

When I forget something I’ll consider it a serendipitous opportunity.  Like, do I really need that sleeping pad?  Or can I make do with other stuff I carry anyway?  (No to that one)

Or, I’ll forget to take some food out of the frig knowing it will be spoiled when I get back – not on my list

Or I’ll take the lightweight vest instead of the warmer vest.  Oh well, a bit chilly but survivable.

[BlackHatGuy]

I don’t do lists (or spreadsheets, etc.). I generally pack the night before I leave on a trip. As I gather gear, I say to myself — okay, i’ve got this and this for when I get to camp (shelter, pad, quilt, pillow) and I’ve got this for when I go to bed (sleeping clothes) and I’ve got this for when I’m on the trail … etc. I ‘touch’ each item as I think about it to ensure I have it, then pack everything up and leave the next morning. It’s worked well for me so far. I won’t say I’ve never forgotten anything, but I will say I’ve never forgotten anything important.

[DWR D]

I have a very detailed list. I am methodical about packing.

I have a backpack friend that is quite critical of me taking so long to consult my list an pack up…

That friend almost always forgets something he needs to borrow from me during out backpack trips :)))

[Jerry Adams]

wait until you get old and you start forgetting things Doug, then you’ll need a list :)

[jscott]

I usually seem to forget one unimportant item. I think this is actually a cry for help from the healthy part of me that isn’t caught up in OC planning.

A number of times I’ve dreamt that I’ve been out hiking and forgot my sleeping bag.

[Dan]

Good topic!  I’m not a list guy either.  Recently I haven’t been forgetting important things because loading my pack is so habitual. However, over the years I’ve forgotten almost everything at least once: fuel, stove, tent poles, sleeping pad, various clothing items, water filter, various food items, dog-related items, etc. One time I even forgot the insoles for my boots that I had removed to dry. I just look at it as practice for when things break. Like Karen said, you make do. I usually go solo, but on a trip with my wife, she forgot her sleeping pad. We collected a bunch of pine boughs and put them under her side of the tent. She said it was ok.

[Matthew / BPL]

Not forgetting exactly but I went backpacking with a friends a few years ago. One guy accidentally brought a 50° bag rather than a 20° bag despite a forecast around freezing. Both bags were the same brand and color. He had a very cold night.

[JCH]

3 nights in Tuolome…I forgot my spoon.  I ate with someone else’s spoon after they were done.  Last time I did that.

One time I thought I had forgotten my FAK.  Around dinner time I discovered that to save space I had thought it would be a good idea to pack it inside the new hard-sided coozy I made for rehydrating meals.  Whew!

[YoPrawn]

IT guy who used to work at the same company as me never had to worry at all about his gear list. Dude was a bit insane and would ONLY take beer in his backpack. No sleeping bag,, no food, no tent, and maybe just some extra clothes. He would then drink beer all day and night and “gutter sleep” in the bushes all night waking up to pound some brews every little while. I don’t think he ever did any trips longer than 1-2 nights, probably due to the weight of carrying 20+ beers per day. LOL Strange thing, is that the guy didn’t drink much outside of his camping binges. He was also super fit and could out-hike anyone I ever known, even with 24+ beers on his back. I think he might have been some sort of Viking God. :)

[Bob Kerner]

I do the same as Philip. The Notes app (Apple ecosystem) will allow you to make a detailed checklist and categorize multiple lists into folders. Sync’d onto multiple devices. My goal is to touch things only once: pick it off the shelf, pack it, check item off the list. I have a touch of OCD, and have found the ‘lay it out on the floor’ method becomes a time-toilet as I stare at it, pack it, unpack it > it becomes a loop!

[LARRY W]

Gear, no problem. But I did once forget my passport. Sigh…

[Steve Thompson]

Maybe I am too anal or just lucky, but I’ve never, in 53 years of backpacking, forgotten something at home or in a hotel room the  morning of a hike.  I have my list and EVERYTHING gets checked and scratched off.

So far so good.

However, once on the trail and without the list I’ll periodically leave camp without something, the biggest deal being the quarter I carry to open my bear canister.  Fortunately I was camped close enough to bum a coin from someone.  But in all I do a pretty good job of not forgetting.

And now I’ve probably jinxed myself for he rest of my life!

[AK Granola]

On the quarter for the bear canister – I got a tip from someone and it works. Attach velcro to the bear can lid, and the other side of the velcro to the quarter, with super glue. Works perfectly. You can see how I did it in this photo, lower left.

[Jeff]

I don’t usually have issues, but the list of forgotten items grows ever longer. Tent poles (used some cord instead to keep the ceiling somewhat elevated). Spoons (used credit cards after aggressively washing and sanitizing them). Sleeping pad (used a couple life jackets instead). I’ve only ever forgotten those things once. My family takes the opportunity to … reminisce about these events before each new trip.

A friend forgot his wallet somewhere on Isle Royale and had a tough time getting home. Apparently it IS possible to fly without an ID (for some people, at least). Amazingly, someone found and returned it a few weeks later.

[Dan K]

After a trip to the Cottonwood Lakes area, I got back to my car, took most of my gear out of my pack, leaned my pack up against a tree – with my tent and sleeping bag still in it – and put the unpacked gear away. When I got home 3 1/2 hours later, I realized I had left my pack leaning against the tree. I drove back to the trail head and my pack was still there, with tent and bag still in it. And I drove home – again. Long day. Lesson learned – I unpack after I get home.

[Chris R]

Arrived in Banff NP after driving for two days across the prairies and found we (I) had packed my single, albeit extra wide quilt instead of the double. Fortunately my wife was able to see the funny side and it wasn’t too cold for the week of our trip.

[Elliott Wolin]

Jerry Adams wrote:

“wait until you get old and you start forgetting things Doug, then you’ll need a list :)”

Ain’t that the truth!  I now have lists for everything, including for leaving the house for more than a day or so.

Worst while backpacking:  I forgot my spoon and had no eating utensils.  We were high up in alpine meadows and there was no dry wood suitable for making chopsticks.  Finally I found a few small twigs on the ground that weren’t rotten and was able to eat after a fashion.  I may still have them.

Worst car camping:  I forgot the box with all our cooking gear, fortunately it was just for one night and we were able to find a restaurant that wasn’t too far away.

[AK Granola]

Utensils, don’t forget your fingers! When we jungle trekked in Indonesia, we just scooped up the rice and meat with our fingers. Even with non sticky rice, it works. Best to clean hands well beforehand…

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