Imagine this scenario (which just happened in real life). You are out hiking and come across a backpack beside the trail. It looks like the pack was left there by accident, meaning someone adbandoned it for whatever reason, perhaps someone set it down and expected to come back later to pick it up or perhaps it was stolen then dumped after being rifled through for it's contents.

You being curious, check the pack and find some belongings and ID in it.

At this point, what do you do?

There a a couple of obvious answers to this and I would like to see what others here think. Hopefully after generating some replies, I'll give you the rest of the story.

BTW, I never liked Paul Harvey...

1) Make sure that there isn't anyone around who owns the pack.

2) If conditions permit, conduct a search to see if there's an injured person or even a forgetful hiker taking a nap nearby. How wide the search radius should be would depend on the terrain, conditions, and how many are in your party.

3) Carefully note the spot where the pack was found, using a map, GPS or other means to ensure that you can find the exact spot when you return. Blaze a tree, make a stack of three rocks, or something of the sort so that you can be sure it's the right spot.

4) If your cellphone works, and there's enough information to do so, call the person who owns the pack. If that isn't fruitful, call the appropriate authorities to tell them what you've found and where.

5) If your cellphone does not work, bring the pack to the authorities or to somewhere that your cellphone works. Leave a note stating that the pack was found and where you're bringing it.

1. Blow whistle to try an attract attention of pack owner.
2. Mark the spot on your map or GPS.
3. Take a picture of it.
4. Take a picture of or write down the ID information.
5. Contact the local rangers as soon as possible to let them know of the pack's location.

It's fairly common for people to set their packs down while they do a short side excursion, either of a steep slope to check out the view or to answer a call of nature. Taking a "found" pack is major bad juju on the trail. Try to find the owner if you want, but I wouldn't spend more than maybe 15-20 minutes looking. I am getting kind of crotchety in middle age...

-Blast

My answer wouldn't be any better than the one's above. I will note that Chaos said he would move that pack, while Blast didn't say he would. I'm not sure if I would move the pack. It depends...

Dumped on the trail tends to rule out that the owner is on a side-trip unless they are somewhere out of sight fertilizing the flowers.

Blowing a whistle and waiting awhile to see if the owner turns up would be the first step.

If no one shows up then it gets tougher. If I were on my way IN on my own trip I might just leave it alone and go on. If I were on my way out after my trip then there is the question of whether I could even carry the darn thing to take it to authorities.

If there were an attractive nuisance such as a falls nearby it might be worthwhile to go there and look for the owner.

Did you see -

"NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN"

Not uncommon for some people to take side trips while leaving the main pack behind. Mostly this is just an afternoon trip but it may extend, or get extended, to 24, perhaps even 48 hours.

I once took a side trip that I thought would only take a couple of hours and a thunderstorm moved in. I set up a small tarp and hunkered down. I brought my stove so I could heat soup and tea. Before the storm moved on it was dark. I think I could have safely made it back but navigating thorough a swamp at night, and across a couple of small but steep ridges that would be easy to fall on, seemed like an unnecessary risk. I was warm, dry, well fed and watered where I was. The trip back could wait.

Come the morning I was surprised to find the swamp flooded and the normally placid streams running through it to be swift and strong. I'm not sure how I would have fared crossing them at night. As it was I had to detour around the worse of the swamp I had cut across on the way out. This changed a two hour hike into a six hour ordeal. I got back to my camp worn, tired, out of food except for a small survival reserve of a couple of Cliff bars.

I wouldn't have died if someone had taken my main pack. I was only a hard day's hike away from civilization and still had access to water and food for a day or two. But it would have been rougher than I would enjoy. With little in reserve I would have been vulnerable if anything went seriously wrong. If I broke a leg, got sick, or snake bit I would have been in dire straits and in serious trouble.

Point is that you don't mess with people's stuff. If there is any chance at all that they will return you need to leave it be. They may have taken a side trip and got delayed.

I tend to cashe my gear well away from the trail and to camouflage it but one never knows. Wind, driving rain, animals, could expose it and there is a good chance anyone who knew what to look for would find it. I further try to make it clear, by wrapping the pack in a tarp and having everything neatly bundled together, that the gear has not been discarded or abandoned. A couple of times it looked like someone might have been near my cashe but it was all still there.

I can't think of a better response then Blast's.

Okay, so you come across an apparently abandoned pack.

Your role is that of a concerned citizen. If somebody is hurt or lost, you are potentially the first link in the chain of rescue.

But it may also have been abandoned by mistake or circumstances you cannot know (sudden snowstorm, change of route). People do all sorts of crazy things.

You will check around for a little while, but probably do not have the time or ability to do a thorough search of the area.

It is appropriate to check the pack for indications of the owner. Do not remove anything, or dig in too deep. But it is appropriate to check it and leave it as you found it. Make a note of what you find. If there is ID or medication, this is important as an indication that someone may be in trouble. Some backpacks have zip-off daypacks, so look for that. If there appears to be spoiled food or damage from animals, note that as well; it helps establish a timeframe of events.

Obviously, if you see any indication of foul play, you leave everything alone.

Leave the pack with a note giving an approximate timeframe when authorities will be notified. It would take some pretty extreme indications to abort a multi-day trip, but you go with your best judgement. And you do report location and gathered information to the authorities.

You do not, ever, remove the pack from its location. Not only does that put you on dicey legal ground, it may put someone in jeopardy.

Some many yrs. ago,Some friends & I were on our way back out from a 3 dayer,burnt out & Exhausted & Weak!About 2/3 of the way back to our Trucks,we stopped for a break,I had to poop,so I broke away from our rest site,down a varmint trail about 100yds or so,& Stumbled over a raised chunk of earth.It was someones Backpack,deliberately stashed,when I came to investigate,I pulled it completely out of the ground,& Poof! A Huge flash,& My shirt was on fire,I reached out to brush the fire off,& Realized I was about 15 ft. away,laying down looking up to the sky,& My friends were there throwing water on my boots,& had their guns out.It turned out,whoever stashed the pack,Booby-Trapped it,They heard the explosion,& saw the smoke & came to my aid,Asap,There wasn't much left to the pack,but there was debris of paper & Plastic of somekind,& The frame of the pack,which was Steel.It turned out I was OK,We gathered all the debris,& Hiked our butts out,Fast! Took the stuff to the Sheriff station,They said" Here's another one!It had happened to someone else,they weren't as lucky as I was,they were in the Hospital,with Severe burns& Shrapnel skids.The deputies pointed to an area on a Huge wall map,It turned out to be Real close to my incident,That area was a Claim for Gold Miners,I was Mad!They investigated,but heard nothing else for a longtime,So I enquired further,& found the case had been closed,& they couldn't help me!The moral to this story is:If it doesn't belong to you,Don't mess with it!