I hope this blog doesn't bore you, but the oddity of it was so unique I thought it would be worth a few words. Nearly a year ago to the date I was exploring high country for elk sheds and possible elk hunting haunts. The ascent was extreme and the hike put me miles into the backcountry. Except for following an elk trail on the way up, I was roaming off-trail and snooping in the nastiest holes I could find.
Somewhere during the task of taking my backpack off to tie antlers onto to it my watchstrap caught the backpack strap and fell off. I noticed it after strapping an elk antler onto the pack and immediately looked for the watch to no avail. Since I'm historically hard on watches I shrugged off the loss and kept hiking. The watch was a $30 Casio Forester and I'd just have to drop another $30 and hope for the best.
The other day I was descending off the mountain in the same general area. My pack was loaded (I had a good day of shed hunting) and Sage, and I were pooped. Stumbling through the brush I looked down and what do you think I found? Yes, it was the old Casio watch with the missing watchstrap connected minus one connecting pin.
The find in itself was remarkable enough considering the thousands of acres I explored and the ruggedness of the country. Don't click off yet. There's more. I picked up the watch and it was still running. The time was off by a four minutes and of course the date was off a few days due to the varying length of months, but it was in perfect mechanical order.
That watch had lain on the mountain for a complete year in searing heat, pounding rain, deep snow and subzero temperatures, not to mention dodging elk hooves! It was an accidental field test, but it was a real as it gets.
If you're in the market for a $30 watch I have a recommendation for you.
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| Neither rain, nor snow or extreme elk droppings could harm my Casio watch. |