LETTER: Thanks to hikers for courtesy in returning lost GPS unit

Recently, my family and I had the pleasure of visiting the Jewel Basin on a six-day, five-night backpack trip. Unfortunately, on the first day I lost my GPS. I didn’t recognize this until much later in the day, but I figured it fell out of my pocket at a common resting place near the Divide.

Further down the trail we met a fisherman from Kalispell on his way out. We had a nice visit. I mentioned, almost jokingly, should he find a GPS near the pass to please hang it on a tree. Well I didn’t let my early misfortune detract from the rest of our trip. We enjoyed a wonderful week in the Jewel spending each night at a different beautiful lake. It was fantastic.

Well, as we returned to our starting point, the Camp Misery trailhead, I asked the Forest Service ranger on duty if there was any chance someone had brought in a Garmin GPS. I had lost it on Monday. He had taken the following Tuesday through Thursday off, but on Friday when he returned to work my GPS was hanging on the bulletin board at the trailhead. I was amazed and very thankful.

So, here is a quick shout out of thanks to the fisherman we met on the trail. I hope he was the one who found my GPS and returned it to the trailhead. Regardless, a huge thank you to the whole community of hikers, backpackers and fishermen from the Kalispell-Bigfork area that left my GPS hanging on that bulletin board for three days.

We had an incredible backpack trip through the beautiful Jewel Basin. To top it off we left with a very thankful memory of the kindness of fellow backcountry hikers. Montana truly is the Last Best Place. —Glenn Hockett, Bozeman