Let me start by saying this is obviously my fault for not considering this but I wanted to know if anyone has ever had the same experience I had this weekend.

So I hiked to the Reflector Oven area of Old Rag this weekend with a 45 lb pack full of climbing and camping gear. Anyone familiar with Old Rag knows how much of a pain this is.

I laid out all my climbing gear on a safe looking rock for the evening and went to sleep. In the morning I was looking over my gear and noticed my rope was chewed more than half way through in 2 different locations. Also, a piece of webbing was chewed up too.

I should have put my gear inside the tent with me, but I didn't consider an animal chewing up my gear.

Needless to say it hindered my climbing day and made a long, difficult hike/approach nearly worthless.

Lesson learned. Anyone else ever have an animal chew up their gear on a camping/climbing trip?