SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, July 1 (UPI) -- A Canadian man said he lost all his camping gear and footage for a documentary about his five-year hike when someone stole and burned his backpack.
Dana Meise said he was hiking in Saskatchewan when he was invited by a family to see the chuck wagon races in Onion Lake.
When he turned his back for a few minutes while preparing to sleep in one of the wagons, someone stole all his equipment and backpack, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Sunday. He found his backpack burned on the ground nearby.
A hard drive containing hundreds of hours of footage for a documentary about his hike, credit cards, his passport and camping gear were stolen or destroyed by fire, the CBC said.
He said the worst part was all the souvenirs that had been destroyed, including bracelets given to him by the parents of dead soldiers.
"I carried these things with me for thousands of kilometers in honor of my fellow Canadians and a gift to my country," he said.
Meise was attempting to be the first person to hike the entirety of the Trans-Canada Trail, hiking for six months of each year, the CBC said.
Wallace Fox, the chief of Onion Lake, offered to replace Meise's gear, but a local outdoor equipment store in Saskatoon has already given him a tent, sleeping bag and other necessities.
