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So I have seen and read on other forums of all the different UFO sightings, dead bodies, illegal grow operations, etc. etc. that people have come across while in the back country. So I thought this could be fun sharing stories about things everyone has come across while in the back country. So what things have you come across that made you uncomfortable or that you thought were pretty crazy?

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te-wa could do one of those with that light weight breathable material with zip up ends. Call it tent-in-a-minute.

I once found a half dollar in the woods. When I brushed the muck off it was a 1840's, 50's 50 cent piece. This was in a woods near my house in CT. We hoped it was part of a bigger treasure trove, but all we found near it was old bottles. Now there are condos where those woods once stood . But more than 30 years later I still have the coin. I also found a 2 1/2 dollar gold piece in another woods not to far away and sold in the 70's for about $800. Later, I found out there was a robbery and I sold it to the guy who was robbed. He owned a coin shop, but the robbery was from his house several years prior. I'm sure he collected insurance on it. I always picked up pennies as a kid and that's what I thought it was at first . I'm hiking in the Supes looking for gold this weekend....intersted?

:PMIC:

Good stories everyone. Keep them coming. So far in my trips I haven't come across much but some old, empty glass bottles with a rubber stopper in them.

Another childhood related story. When I was about 7 years old, I belonged to an organization called Indian Guides. On a camping trip, me and a friend seperated ourselves from the group. We stumbled across some beverages soaking in a frigid stream. We did what any adventurous kids would do... beer war. We didn't know what it was but it would spray a long way.

Of course we denied the whole thing, but I'm sure some of the dads were pissed and others amused. I just wish I could stumble across some free beer in the wild now.

I was in the Indian Guides! Boy Scout-lite. Very cool. I can't recall finding anything interesting or weird out in the woods, but I have LOST my dignity on occasion

rlrjamy wrote:. . . I'm hiking in the Supes looking for gold this weekend....intersted?

Ahem, I have a map to the gold in the Supe's and for a modest fee I will share it with you.

I remember hearing about Indian Guides, and I was very interested. Of course, I'm a girl. It wasn't for girls. That was one of those wake-up moments when I realized that I would be excluded from something that interested me. I had a shelf full of books about Indians and Indian arts and crafts, etc. This was between the ages of 8 and 10 or so.

Indian Guides still exists: http://www.yindianguides.org/ And it's still for boys only.

coyotes are territorial and you were in their trail. they keep walking on the same route to mark their place and your tent must have been on top of the trail.In response to Jeff MacE:

rlrjamy wrote:Another childhood related story. When I was about 7 years old, I belonged to an organization called Indian Guides. On a camping trip, me and a friend seperated ourselves from the group. We stumbled across some beverages soaking in a frigid stream. We did what any adventurous kids would do... beer war. We didn't know what it was but it would spray a long way.

Of course we denied the whole thing, but I'm sure some of the dads were pissed and others amused. I just wish I could stumble across some free beer in the wild now.

Yeah, I wish that would happen to me too!

hulagu79 wrote:coyotes are territorial and you were in their trail. they keep walking on the same route to mark their place and your tent must have been on top of the trail.In response to Jeff MacE:

Makes sense. It was an experience, though!

???

Looks like a ferret.

PageRob wrote:Looks like a ferret

I would have agreed....except for the wierd feet.

I think Preston made that thing in his laboratory. He's just waiting for a good thunderstorm to fire it up.

It's a chupacabra!

Thanks. That image'll stick with me a while... :yuck: ut:

rlrjamy wrote:

PageRob wrote:Looks like a ferret

I would have agreed....except for the wierd feet.

The rear feet look ferret-like to me. The front feet are inside that sack of skin (the leg having been turned inside out) so it is hard to say there.

There's only a couple locations where wild ferrets can be found in Arizona, and they are endangered too. Where was this critter discovered?

Before moving back to Az., I spent 8 years on the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol. I was instructor for the Avalanche/Snow Safety and Mountain Travel and Rescue courses. The MTR course was a weekend field course where patrollers would learn shelter building as well as improvised litters for rescue. I woke up early one morning and was outside fixing breakfast when a brightly colored object caught my eye a couple miles up the mountain. I watched and thought it was kite which seemed odd because we were camped 7500 feet up Mt. Hood. As it got closer it became clear that it was in fact a dome shaped tent tumbling through the air about 500 feet above the ground. I watched it until I lost sight of it below the treeline. This would of been the end of the story had I not run into the climbers who owned the tent as I was checking out at the Forest Service office at Timberline Lodge. They were asking everyone if they had seen a tent. I recounted that I had seen it flying and indicated to them on a topo where I lost sight of it. I was surprised to learn they were unaware of their flying tent until they came down from summiting and could not find their basecamp Hmmm. Even more surprising was that they had taken the ultralight minimal gear strategy to summit so their main packs and gear were in the tent. I would've referred them to the HAZ ultralight gear anonymous had I know of its existence at that time.

I had to look at that picture just as I am eating chicken. Now I am not hungry.