missing things ...

... I have a funny and somewhat disappointing story from the weekend, but it has a happy ending...

On Sunday, a buddy and I went up into the foothills of the Sandias to go for a light hike, and shoot some photos in the afternoon/evening light. It was a lovely fall day and I didn't want it to pass without getting out a bit. We had a great hike - saw a couple of mule deer and managed to stalk them to within several yards - that was very cool. That, however, is not the story.

No, the story is that, after arriving and going only a hundred yards or so, I stopped near a large juniper tree to pull my camera out of my Camelback where I'd been carrying it. I got it out, took a few shots, and kept moving to catch up with my buddy. About 10 minutes later (maybe even less) I wanted to throw on my 75-300mm lens and get some shots of birds perching on cacti. My lens, which I'd stuffed in one of the side "water-bottle" pockets of my Camelback, was not in my bag !! I panicked a bit, and retraced in my mind what might have happened to it. After some deliberation, I decided we should continue our hike, as it must be back at my buddy's house. I was incorrect. It was not in my truck, nor at his house, nor (by some chance) had I left it at home.

I knew roughly where we'd been, so I knew I had to go back later and re-trace our steps. It was very dark by the time we left, so I planned to hunt for it today. That's one advantage to the desert - other than a coyote messing with it, I wasn't too concerned about anything happening to it spending the night outdoors, as it was clear and calm (and cold!) last night. Ironically, I had my GPS (which would have been invaluable) the whole time, but we weren't planning on going very far so I didn't bother to turn it on. Doh !

I came to work this morning knowing I'd be heading out at lunch to (hopefully) find it. So, when the time came, I headed back up to the parking area, and found our tracks leaving the parking-lot for the grasses and underbrush. I was scanning the ground (as you do around here anyhow to make sure you aren't stepping on cacti or snakes) and made it easily to the tree where I presumed it must be. Was nowhere to be found, and I looked good and hard for it there. Our trail from that point was surprisingly obvious, so I followed it until I crossed a couple of washes. Still nothing. I remembered clearly where I'd noticed it missing, but kept going just a little further in case I was wrong - all the time moving back and forth across our supposed path in large zigzags. It was actually sorta' fun :-) and a gorgeous day to be out there (autumn in NM is hard to beat!). I eventually turned around, and headed back, still zigzaging and scanning the ground. Went back to the tree, just in case. Starting to realize that I might have just lost a $400 lens, I was getting a little desperate, so I started inventing other places to look as I approached the parking area again. Well, wouldn't you know it, but right before I hit the asphalt, there it was, resting in a little clump of grass only about a yard from the parking-lot ! Looked like it had had a comfy night out there !! No worse for wear on visible inspection, I trotted back to my car, waving my fists and the lens triumphantly at the sky and smiling :-D . Yay ! I still need to put it on my camera and make sure it's OK, but at least I found it. WHEW !