IronNoggin
03-09-2010, 02:15 PM
Recently a couple of Buddies wandered over to The Rock to engage in the pursuit of steelhead on our local flow. Unfortunately I did not become aware of that visit until it was too late to establish contact while they were here. I had simply been pounding away HARD on the same water for days upon days, and not even bothering to check Emails before falling into the rack for some much needed recovery time before wandering out well before daylight again the next morning. By the time I realized they were here, we had no way to make contact. Nonetheless, these two fine Anglers persevered, and I heard did get into a few. The Goddess of this particular River is often generous. :-D
The day after they returned home I received a panicky message that a rather nice (read pricey) GPS unit had been inadvertently left behind at the trail head. Jumped in the truck, roared out there, and had a boo. Even with the Super-Noses in tow (The Hounds) we found no sign of the missing item. BUMMER! :cry:
So we decided to hang a few Reward posters at the local shop, and at the trail head itself. Long Shot was my thoughts and words. IF a local happened on it, maybe... If someone from afar did so, likely never going to see it again.
Days passed, I had forgotten about the signs that were out there. Following the Gold Medal win by Canada's Mens' Hockey Team (still amongst the better games I've had the fortune to watch) a call: Did you see that Game?!! WOW! Not recognizing the voice, nor the name on the Rat Phone, I assumed someone had imbibed a tad too much and dialed a wrong number. This escalated in my mind when the fellow asked: Missing Something? Huh? ??? :confused:
He then explained that on his way to work, an hour or two before I ran out to look, he had passed by the pull-out and seen "something that looked sorta like a phone" lying there. "Being the nosy SOB that I am, I stopped and picked it up". This fellow then went out of his way to try and identify the rightful owner, but had little in the way of luck. Then, his wife saw the Reward poster hanging at the pullout, and brought it home to compare against their find. BINGO!
Took a couple of days to make the schedule mesh, but eventually t'other Matt and I wandered out to retrieve the unit, suspecting a mere ten minute visit would be sufficient to conduct that business. The Man greeted us warmly, pressed the GPS into one hand, and a beer into the other. I tried to make him take the reward offered, but he actually got his dander up saying: "Put that away now, you're starting to p me off!". Not wanting to take no for an answer, we settled in for a bit of a chat. Turns out the fellow has lived here all his life, and at one point was an addicted angler and hunter in the area. Although he has slowed a little on these pursuits, he noted that he still partakes on a reasonably frequent basis. In fact he noted, that he knows of several very little known spots that produce some excellent fishing - off the beaten track, and "pretty well no-one goes there any more". Interesting! :twisted:
One thing lead to another, another beer, more BSing, repeat and suddenly better than 2 hours had raced by! Given his pursuits, I did eventually come up with something he would take as a reward, and it felt good to me to that he did so.
So now we have a standing offer to visit "any time" and a Plan to get out and check those little Honey-Holes he was raving about. Turned out to be a Hell of a FINE Gentleman, and indeed very much looks like a new Buddy coming on line!
He had checked the value of the unit on-line, knew exactly what he was looking at, and this drove him even further to locate just who it belonged to!
Impressive! This day and age I find it so very much refreshing to run into an Honest Person! In the Final outcome, ALL is well. The unit has been well packed and sent home, the Man and us found some like kindred spirits right in our own back yards, and there will actually be some good FUN coming from what appeared to be a rather unfortunate incident!
Win - Win Scenario! :mrgreen:
Just thought I'd share a little restorative faith in our Fellow men!
Cheers,
Nog
The day after they returned home I received a panicky message that a rather nice (read pricey) GPS unit had been inadvertently left behind at the trail head. Jumped in the truck, roared out there, and had a boo. Even with the Super-Noses in tow (The Hounds) we found no sign of the missing item. BUMMER! :cry:
So we decided to hang a few Reward posters at the local shop, and at the trail head itself. Long Shot was my thoughts and words. IF a local happened on it, maybe... If someone from afar did so, likely never going to see it again.
Days passed, I had forgotten about the signs that were out there. Following the Gold Medal win by Canada's Mens' Hockey Team (still amongst the better games I've had the fortune to watch) a call: Did you see that Game?!! WOW! Not recognizing the voice, nor the name on the Rat Phone, I assumed someone had imbibed a tad too much and dialed a wrong number. This escalated in my mind when the fellow asked: Missing Something? Huh? ??? :confused:
He then explained that on his way to work, an hour or two before I ran out to look, he had passed by the pull-out and seen "something that looked sorta like a phone" lying there. "Being the nosy SOB that I am, I stopped and picked it up". This fellow then went out of his way to try and identify the rightful owner, but had little in the way of luck. Then, his wife saw the Reward poster hanging at the pullout, and brought it home to compare against their find. BINGO!
Took a couple of days to make the schedule mesh, but eventually t'other Matt and I wandered out to retrieve the unit, suspecting a mere ten minute visit would be sufficient to conduct that business. The Man greeted us warmly, pressed the GPS into one hand, and a beer into the other. I tried to make him take the reward offered, but he actually got his dander up saying: "Put that away now, you're starting to p me off!". Not wanting to take no for an answer, we settled in for a bit of a chat. Turns out the fellow has lived here all his life, and at one point was an addicted angler and hunter in the area. Although he has slowed a little on these pursuits, he noted that he still partakes on a reasonably frequent basis. In fact he noted, that he knows of several very little known spots that produce some excellent fishing - off the beaten track, and "pretty well no-one goes there any more". Interesting! :twisted:
One thing lead to another, another beer, more BSing, repeat and suddenly better than 2 hours had raced by! Given his pursuits, I did eventually come up with something he would take as a reward, and it felt good to me to that he did so.
So now we have a standing offer to visit "any time" and a Plan to get out and check those little Honey-Holes he was raving about. Turned out to be a Hell of a FINE Gentleman, and indeed very much looks like a new Buddy coming on line!
He had checked the value of the unit on-line, knew exactly what he was looking at, and this drove him even further to locate just who it belonged to!
Impressive! This day and age I find it so very much refreshing to run into an Honest Person! In the Final outcome, ALL is well. The unit has been well packed and sent home, the Man and us found some like kindred spirits right in our own back yards, and there will actually be some good FUN coming from what appeared to be a rather unfortunate incident!
Win - Win Scenario! :mrgreen:
Just thought I'd share a little restorative faith in our Fellow men!
Cheers,
Nog