Always check the lock…
I boarded the bus at Elphin after the driver stashed my rucsac in the boot locker. Half an hour later, at Lochinver, we opened the boot to find….no rucsac. Christ on a bike! A high speed drive back to Elphin followed, eyes glued to the verges; we eventually found the pack by the side of the road, a hundred yards from where I’d been picked up. It’s clear some good person had moved it there from the middle of the road, which cheered me up a little, but the Crux AK70 is a write-off - shredded fabric and the internal struts mangled. My Evernew pan is crushed, my Black Diamond pole and Sigg bottle destroyed. The rather nice Henry Shires Tarptent Moment I’ve been using for a few weeks, strapped outside the pack, came off quite well, but has a few rips in it.
One has to be philosophical about these things. There’s little point getting worked up about what is, after all, just ‘stuff’. The driver was mortified, so I simply got the bus company’s phone number and we’ll sort it out next week. Meantime, the rucsac has been bent into shape and patched up wth gaffer tape. I’ve bought some bathroom silicone sealant and fabric in Ullapool which will enable me to make a temporary tent repair, but a dreadful forecast for the weekend means I’m running for the shelter of a bothy to do it. Not my top choice of accomodation for a summer Saturday night, but there y’go.
Moral of the story?
