Thursday, Nov 17th. My day started with MissCopper and PipSqueak cats having a Holy War with each other on top of my chest while i slept. Hissing and spitting and thumping each other with their big mitts. I flipped the blanket over on top of them, and rolled them off the bed. Gah....time for coffee, sans flying fur. Made a big three egg, 3 toast, 3 chorizo sausage breaky, loaded up the HalfTrack and tucked my Benchmade Bedlam into my right pants pocket. Thats the last I saw of it.......(the Benchmade). I walked from the apt to the Jeep parked 50 feet away on the street by the alley, slung the heavy pack off my right shoulder and heaved it into the front passenger seat. Got in, and drove to the Chevron fuel station on HWY 99 Sea to Sky in West Vancouver. Got out, aired up a tire, checked the oil, got a coffee and chocolate covered berries snack bag, and kept driving. Got to Squamish and drove up the Mamquam FSR about 5 klicks, to a spot where a buddy had left his jack behind by accident. Retrieved his truck jack, and realized my Benchmade was gone. *()^&^%$@##$&*()&(*&%$% cutblock where my buddy left his tire jack. Fall slash burning in progress. I checked the Jeep very thoroughly, nope. Checked the gravel road where i stepped out to grab buddies jack, I had literally only walked three feet from the Jeep to grab the jack. Nope. Called the Chevron station in West Van to see if it had fallen out of my pocket there. Nope, nothing turned in. Guy that works the pumps is an semi retiree , older hunter too......he knows my truck and me. Not the type of person to pocket a blade...The girl that works inside is totally honest too. the only place it could have been lost was right outside my apt building, when I heaved the ruck off my right shoulder up into the Jeep. Most likely the straps hooked the clip on the knife and it dropped soundlessly into the deep wet leaves by the curb. Some binner or stupid hipster probably has it now. Id rather the binner have it personally. Pissed about this......that Benchmade was a gift from KlyneSquatch here..... It was pointless to drive for an hour back to Vancouver to check.....it had been two hours already I had been gone from where I was parked by the alley. My mood at this point was beyond foul. Much like the dark grey skies and the pissing rain. Kept driving up the Sea to Sky 99 HWY, to the turnoff for the little cabin in Cheakamus. Waited for my buddy to give him his jack back. He drove down from Brandywine Falls where he was mountain biking with his GF. Chatted a bit, then they left for Squamish. I chatted with a couple ATV'ers that came down the trunkline that leads to the cabin. Learned about other weird things that have happened up there. Didn't feel like going up to the cabin, decided to head back into Squamish and turn down the Squamish Valley Road and go up the ASHLU FSR (to the old Ashlu/Osprey mine). Lots of hunters and anglers out, popular area to hunt and fish. (and grow dope and dump garbage etc ) The spawning pools have been eradicated of beaver and reworked, allowing more pools to form for the fishies to rest and spawn. Lots of cover but the eagles always get a meal regardless. I chatted with an older BC Wildlife Federation member, who was clearing the draining pipes of debris , to allow the fish to move freely. Moved on , took a few photos and then drove up the ASHLU FSR. Had planned to go to up the mine, but along the way spotted a hunter carefully stalking a massive elk along the FSR . Didn't want to be a dick and spook his elk away so I eased the Jeep around quietly without throttle and went back down the FSR a bit. Stopped to eat a cheese and pickle sammich. a few minutes later a single hi powered rifle shot rang out. BOOOOOOOOOM! sounded like a 30-06. Hunter got his elk. As i drove back towards the main trunkline, i passed an older gentlemen walking along the FSR with a flyrod in hand, and a bolt action rifle slung over his shoulder. Hunting and fishing. What a perfect combo to do. Didn't want to splash him with water from the many deep puddles on the road, so i crawled the Jeep along in idle till i passed him. Gave him a wave and he nodded without saying a word. Turned up an old partially overgrown spur road to check out a few off the path campsites i know. mmmm.....flying meat.... nurse stump pulled into a little pull out and decided to have a fire and cold brew. Its been pouring rain for a least three weeks up here, everything is beyond soaked. Yet if you know this forest , you can ALWAYS find bone dry firewood. Just look for a downed cedar or a cedar stump. BONE DRY firewood,always. MORE
Used my Junglas to split willow wood, always burns even wet. The night before I had made some waxed cotton ball firestarters and stored them in an empty boot grease tin, with some matches. Couche-Tard matches. made a nice fire and had a cold brew. battery died in the camera, so no more pics. After the incident at the cabin , I was in no mood (esp after losing my knife) for anymore surprises. I walked down the old road a bit and strung a braided fishing line across the road, attached to a mouse trap back at the site of the Jeep and fire. About an hour later, SNAP went the trap. I could hear padded slow methodical foot steps in the wet leaves and dirt. I shone my flashlight and saw the hunter/angler i had seen earlier in the day. Relaxed a little . We greeted each other again, and shared the fire's warmth. Chatted for quite awhile about hunting, fishing, survival, etc. Got invited for dinner and beers at his and his families house in Squamish. Couldn't pass that up. Met his son, an avid hunter and survivalist and ax thrower teacher. Ended up staying until about 0300 hours and planning a hunting recon trip into the interior soon. ****ty day losing the knife, but it turned out ok.
Great recovery from a shi$$y start to the day mate !! And no voodoo priests wanting to truss you up on a bush crafted sex swing in the forest either !!
WOOOOOOT!!!! just found the Benchmade knife! Somehow I missed it when i checked the Jeep yesterday! I just found it. inside the partially crumpled chip bag thats been in there for a week.
Awesome trip report Bushy, I'm glad you found your blade! That's one Benchmade I've been eyeing for a while.
The dude from the cabin dropped it back in there because he rode home with you hanging onto the jeep under carriage.
I knew damn well that knife wasn't lost. This is a wake up call to keep your jeep cleaner and ease off on the junk food! Glad you found your knife, brother. Just remember; stuff is always replaceable with more stuff. As if we need a reason!
Bushman you live in a beeeewetiful place my man! I'm glad that knife story had a happy ending too, years back as head weenie of a bunch of gear junkie grease monkeys, I had a customers auto retract seatbelt take a Benchmade off me with enough force to bend the pocket clip out several inches. Since then I've been a real fanatic about any pocket clipper being there when I reach for it.
Glad you found it bushy. I've been carrying my Adamas ever since this thread was posted. I forgot how much I like the big benchies.
