Hiker finds locked box on Colorado trail, breaking it open to shocking surprise

You never know what you'll find on the trail in Colorado, and sometimes, items that are found should be handled with care.

According to the Summit County Sheriff's Office, a woman was hiking in an unincorporated part of the county in recent days when she found a small lock box. Curious and unable to open the lockbox on-site, she decided to take it home to see if she could get into it.

Eventually, she managed to open the lockbox up, discovering a 9mm handgun and two loaded magazines inside.

She opted to turn her discovery into a sheriff's deputy, who was able to book it into evidence for safe keeping.

Given that it's illegal to keep a found gun in nearly every scenario, the woman did the right thing by turning it in. Should someone remove a potentially lost item from the trail? Maybe not – it's generally better to bring it to the trailhead or put it in an obvious spot near where it was found so that someone returning to find a lost item will be able to easily locate it. Granted, it can be a case-by-case scenario – leave no trace, after all.

In this situation, it ultimately proved to be a good thing that she collected the lockbox as she was able to later get the weapon it contained into safe hands opposed to it falling into the hands of someone who may have been less responsible with the firearm.

Do you think the hiker did the right thing by taking the locked box home to open it? What would you have done differently? Let us know in the comments.

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