It is always odd to find abandoned gear in the mountains. People should understand that the chances of their returning to exactly the same spot are often slim, unless it is at a well-defined trail junction or some prominent landmark.
It often ends up like this:
LOST: backpack near Cirque Peak on 6/8/13I once found a sweatshirt near the top of Giant Kaweah. It smelled bad--some sort of weather/environment/chemical change. I packed it all the way out, a day and a half. Even after washing it, it had that awful smell. So I threw it away.
