In March of 2021 I went on a weekend bouldering trip in the Eastern Sierra in California. It had been a pretty crowded weekend at the crag due to the good weather, and many indoor gyms still being closed at the time.
After climbing we hiked back to the car. I left my climbing pad and Rotation backpack next to the car and visited the restroom before our 5 hour drive home.
When I came back to the car, my backpack had disappeared. I looked around the area and asked people passing by if they had seen anything. No luck. I asked all my local friends to keep their eyes/ears open, filed a police report, and hoped for the best. I was pretty devastated and also broke at the time.
Fast forward to December 29, 2023. I get a message request on Facebook. Someone saying they had found a camera that may have belonged to me.
They sent photos, and it was my gear! My Rotation backpack was found below some bushes, north of the road. Somewhere I had never been. My best guess is someone who was part of a larger group grabbed and stashed it before their friends could see and call them out. I assume they were unable to relocate the spot, and gave up, or assumed someone else had stumbled upon it. This is just my best guess, I wish we could know the whole story.
Somehow after two years in direct sunlight, rain, and a record year of snow, my D850 was still functioning like new, and all the lenses were perfect. I’m sure with a cheaper pack it would have been a much more disappointing end to the story. So, thank you again for the quality gear.
Too bad you went through that. Very disappointing I’m sure. It is however, a great testament to the equipment and the people who found your gear and went to the effort of tracking you.