Crazy true story.

Chaco Fiasco

By Ben Small

Once upon a time I went backpacking with my family (Just my Dad and brother, my mom stayed home with the old pooch.) and some friends from the bay area. We decided to meet in a very remote place called the Plumas Nation Forest which, if you didn’t catch my drift, is in the middle of nowhere. We got there late, couldn’t find a campground and decided to spend the first night in our cars. The second day we got on the trail and everything was going fine until... We start to leave the spot where we had lunch and I realize that one of my new Chaco sandals is missing! In case you've never owned Chaco's they are the best shoes money can buy and I hadn't worn anything else since I bought them. They are simply the best. Imagine losing one of your children, your dog or your most beloved pet/possession. So, I ran back on the trail as far as I could remember to the spot where I last took off my pack just in case my baby fell of when doing so. With no luck I decided to leave it forever. On this trip we camped at some beautiful lakes and I would have loved to use my sandals to explore them. Well, we hiked for 3 more days and finally ended up back at the cars. I decided to run back up the trail a second time to try and find my lost sandal, but alas I had no luck and returned to the cars even more exhausted and disheartened. In desperation I left a badly handwritten note scribbled on a torn tuna wrapper at the trailhead with only my cell phone number as a contact, and sadly began the trip home. Before leaving I even went to check the lost and found at some hotels nearby and still no sandal. My feet were very hot in my boots during the 6+ hour car ride back home to Ashland and this only added to my pain as I was grouchy because I was in mourning over my lost sandal. After a day of being home I told my Chaco pals the story of what happened. They sympathized with my dilemma and recommended checking out chacousa.com for help. I did and from reading the FAQ realized you can order one sandal through your local dealer. I checked the FAQ because I came up with this crazy story that I was rafting a gnarly river and pinning mad lines when my Chaco broke (yeah right) and was lost in the carnage. And I just simply wanted to know if Chaco’s warranty covered stuff like that. Well, I guess Chaco is smarter than they look and low and behold one of the FAQ’s was the perfect clone of my story; and of course this was not included as part of the warranty. I also found out that you can make custom designed Chaco's in any color, style or fit you can dream of, irrelevant to my story but it's still cool. The next day I went on down to the one and only outdoor store to place an order for a single right foot blue men's 13 z/2 Chaco sandal. Luckily my bro T-Call was there and said "Dude, you don't want to just order one sandal because it costs like fitty bucks with shipping and handling and the people at Chaco are lazy S.O.B.'s and it will take like 2 weeks to get here." Of course I don't have 2 weeks because I'm leaving for Portugal in 6 days and I need my Chaco's for that. So, he looked around and found a new pair of Chaco's in my size (last years but still fresh and basically the same as this year’s) but in brown. I don't mind the color but I really did love my blue ones. So since they were last years he gave me a whopping 55% off. Thus, I got a new pair of Chaco's for only $49.50 to be exact. (O.K. I’ll do the math for you. That’s $90 new.) BUT THAT"S NOT THE CRAZY PART. A couple of days passed and I liked my new Chaco's a lot. I was just minding my own business when I got a call from some random number with some random area code I had never seen before. I answered and the voice on the other line said, "Have I reached 944-6063" and I'm like yeah??? And then the voice (some dude) says, "I have your lost sandal." BLAM! What!? "I looked for that darn thing for hours" I say, and tell him what I went through. "Well I got it," says the guy, "And boy do I have a story for you." I laugh, how can this guy’s ordeal be any worse than mine? Well, here's what he said: "I was on a long day hike way out in the forest having a good time when suddenly the sole of my right boot just decided to fall off. With no sole my boot was rendered useless and I was S.O.L. I sat down off to the side of the trail to try and repair my boot with duct tape when I saw your sandal. I picked it up and was awestruck that it was the right foot and in my size! I used your sandal the rest of the day and it saved my butt. If I hadn't have found your shoe I would have nearly been stranded in the woods with only a quart of water and would have been forced to walk out with a busted up boot that would have chewed my foot to shreds." "Wow," I said. "I am no fan of blisters." "Me neither," he said. "Your sandal really saved me. I don't know what sort of divine intervention or coincidence created this but boy am I thankful." "Glad I could help," I said. He said he'd ship me back my shoe on him for all the help it was. I am just ecstatic to get my shoe back and since the Outdoor Store doesn’t take returns on discounted items I don't know what I’ll do with the extra pair. I guess I can always be creative.