November 25, 2015, Cowlitz Rock

Headed out towards Cowlitz Rocks yesterday through Golden Gate on a bluebird day with strong winds to celebrate my buddies birthday. Leeward slopes were loaded up and wind slabs could be easily triggered. Most slab releases seen weren't too deep and wouldn't run too far. Great day for skiing though with up to 8-10" of powder throughout.

So I have a rant to tell. Pulled into the parking lot in the am at Paradise to have three fellas ask if I had a car jack for their flat tire. I was skinning away out of the lot when asked and had to pause in my tracks to think to myself 'say no and go slay some now and have bad karma or help out some fellow snow enthusiast and have good karma'. After five seconds of thinking about it I went back to my car to get it out for them thinking it would be good form. They offered to leave it at my car so I wouldn't have to hang around for an hour while they were changing their tire. Awesome. Sounded good to me...could help the guys out and the loaned items would be at the car when I returned. Perfect.

Well after returning to the car there was no car jack to be seen and nor was the car that needed a tire changed. I won't imply they drove off with it as maybe someone else grabbed it from the side of my car, but I will say that next time I'm asked while skinning away from my car for a car jack in the park I'm going to simply say 'I'm sure a Ranger has one and can help you' and skin off. So angry on the way down from Paradise yesterday thinking about not having a car jack if I got a flat on the way home and who the hell steals a car jack?

It kind of pisses me off that someone things its ok to be on the road without a car jack...

Anyway next time tell them to get help from the rangers so they can do some good for once instead of yelling at people to leave the parking lot before the gate closes.

That stinks; I am sorry your good deed was punished, not rewarded.
It would be nice to think your jack was turned in, but most likely they kept it so they would have a jack next time.
You can probably find one for dirt cheap from a wrecking yard or even on Craig's list?

Isn't there a webcam pointed at the parking lot? Maybe Amar or someone has a program that grabs the images all day long and could help solve the mystery.


Next time, get the person's contact info and take a photo of their license plate!

So lame!

I pulled a guy out of a crack just below Camp Muir a few years ago while his buddies just stared at each other. He lost his sunglasses down in it so I lent him a set. He never returned them.

I thought for sure I'd get the glasses back + a 12 pack.

I've done some volunteer work for the park in the winter and listening to tge park radio chatter it is pretty amazing the range of stupid vistor behavior . Coming up without a jack is pretty dumb, how about the folks that have no spare tire, run out of gas or gun it on a hairpin and embed themselves in the snowbank?

I was part of this group of three. I am sooo sorry the jack was not under your car where we left it when you returned. I have no idea who would have removed it from where we put it, but whoever that was damn them. Myself and the other two with me wil buy you a new jack. All I can say is I'm sorry and thank you for your generosity. I sent you a pm with my number, please call.
As for us being up there with out a jack, yes that was dumb. It is a new vehicle bought used and the owner just assumed that a jack was present. A poor assumption but not much we could do about it in the moment. All I can do is thank you for your generosity/trust and apologize once more. The three of us have put together some funds to replace the jack so please call me.
Cheers
Forrest

I wanted to follow back up on my original post and mention that Forrest and his buddies offered to help pay for part of the car jack that was stolen by some other party. A very generous act and I just wanted to say thanks. They didn't need to help at all, but did. Thanks guys.

- David