Well-Traveled Camera

Over the holidays, I drove away from Frankenstein Cliff in New Hampshire with my digital camera on the roof of my car. It didn't stay there long. By the time I got back to my motel, I realized what had happened. I dropped off my wife, drove back to Frankenstein, and carefully searched the parking lot by headlight and headlamp. The next morning, we returned to the cliff and looked all along the road for a couple of miles. No camera.

I posted notices on the lost and found sections of NEClimbs.com and NEIce.com that day. I also stopped in at the EMS and IME shops in North Conway to ask about the camera. No luck. Back in Colorado, I wrote off the lost camera and bought a new one. Then, a month or so later, I heard from a climber named Jesse Billmeier who had found my camera. He actually had dropped it off at IME the day I lost it, but an unhelpful counter person there hadn't directed me to the right place in the shop. Jesse waited a week or two, asked if anyone had claimed the camera, and then took it for himself. Booty! But, luckily for me, he happened to look at one of those web sites where I'd posted my notice, and, luckily for me, Jesse is an honest guy and he gave me a call. Well, to cut a long story short, Jesse took the camera back home to Alaska and then shipped it to me. After traveling more than 5,000 miles, it arrived in perfect working order. I sent him a reward and my heartfelt thanks. Moral of the story: Those lost and found notices actually work. And maybe ask twice at the store.