"Cleanliness is next to Godliness"

[PackRat]

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but what the heck...

Over the years my wife and I have gone to the high Sierras to camp, fish, hike and just "get away". While going to the middle of nowhere wasn't our objective, we did go to camps that had sites you could reserve, lakes or rivers, etc. You know, "God's Country"?

Yet for some reason we eventually ended up carrying some plastic garbage bags along in our day packs. That would be to pick up some of the trash we found along the trail that marred the beauty of the place. We got into the habit of just picking up some stuff left on the beach or on the trails each day which we carefully dumped into the garbage cans to thoughtfully provided by the camp hosts and so miserably ignored by some of the campers who visited before us.

It still makes me mad but we still stuff a garbage bag into our day packs and still try to pick up trash left behind. We did the same thing when scuba diving; after the dive was through we'd dump out the contents of our BCs on the deck of the dive boat and unload the stuff into the trash. It really impressed the dive captains and crew and I think kinda embarrassed the othr divers...but picking up trash is somewhat interesting...while grabbing a beer can in a hole in the reef off Tortola, I happened to find a very nice new dive knife and sheath. The captain said no one had lost it off his boat so I was entitled to keep it.

One mans trash may lead to another mans treasure....so if you see stuff by the side of the trail, pick it up if you can....for karma if for no other reason!

 

[craig333]

I've been known pick up the occasional item.


The trasharoo is great for picking up those items you really don't want in the vehicle.

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Thanks guys, good job!

We also endeavor to leave our camp sites cleaner than we found them.

 

[Mark G]

Way to go guys! Especially Craig.

 

[ski3pin]

Craig's photos also show the effects of parents allowing their kids (and themselves) to whack on trees with hatchets. The two stumps are trees that died after being hacked to death and then needed to be removed by the usfs as hazard trees.

It is not only trash that is bad behavior...........................

Thanks folks for stepping up to the plate.

 

[Durango1]

Sioux is constantly picking up and carrying out trash. I drew the line at dog turds though!

 

[craig333]

Good point Ski. After cleaning up that mess I started carrying rubber gloves and hand sanitizer.

 

[ski3pin]

We carry gloves and a heavy black garbage bag. With the shovel we go after piles of human waste and toilet paper. Walk a short distance away from a heavily used campsite like Craig photographed and the horrors begin. They should not be allowed on public land.

Many people think of public land as "theirs." I think of public land belonging to my neighbors. Would I go over to my neighbor's property and discard my trash and take a dump behind a tree and leave it? No.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Packrat and Craig are setting an example for all of us! Well done gents!

 

[klahanie]

One mans trash may lead to another mans treasure....

Hmmm, I'd be more convinced if your screen name wasn't "PackRat" ! JK, that's about the only humour I can find in the trash topic.

Good thread though, and good on you folks who are walking the talk. To be honest I've become a bit lax on picking up after others over the years - it's become overwhelming - so this is a good reminder. I do often pick up in remote areas because it bugs me so much "out there" and I do believe even a little garbage begets more garbage. Better to nip it in the bud. The popular, easy access areas are next to hopeless and now often have daily paid clean up crews.

Seeing Provincial Park beaches littered with discarded kids toys, underwear, swimsuits and diapers makes me shake my head. It sure wasn't like that before. Make it better if you can but do enjoy what we have now ... this is tomorrows "good old days" !

 

[SunMan]

Gets worse and worse every year, and sadly, I expect it to get worse and worse as more and more people "recreate" in nature. Maybe someday people will learn.

 

[pvstoy]

Gets worse and worse every year, and sadly, I expect it to get worse and worse as more and more people "recreate" in nature. Maybe someday people will learn.

People will only learn if they are willing to or some trigger that they are forced to. By then most likely it is too late.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I found a new place to swim Fritz this morning, nearby and handy, and totally trashed. It's a small pond used mostly by people fishing, but it appears they have no sense of pride towards keeping their garbage where it belongs. This was wrapped around both Fritz and me... Just a small sample...

I will go back with some big trash bags and clean it up...

 

[PackRat]

We had Russian River property as kids, between Mirabel and Hacienda across from Martinelli Rd. That was around '59 to maybe late 60's when they raised River Rd. Back then we stayed for weeks at a time, but every weekend the yahoos who rented canoes or tubed down the river occasionally tossed trash in the river or left it on the beaches. They also lost all kinds of stuff when flipping a canoe.

Sunday afternoons had flip-flops, thermos bottles, paddles, etc. floating downstream. The only good thing was we used to scour the riverbanks for bottles to turn in for a 3 cent or 5 cent deposit so we could buy .22 cal ammo for us kids! Man, I can't believe all the stuff we ran across in the bushes on the riverbanks! No dead bodies but everything else...we also rounded up every beer can or coke can we could for "targets".

Every winter when the river flooded it washed all that excrement, etc. out into the Pacific Ocean....what the heck did we know, the Earth Day idea to pick up after others really hadn't been taught to us back then! Those who stopped on our beach to picnic we kept an eye on and usually would clean up if they knew you were there and it was your property if asked nicely. Excepting for the occasional belligerent drunk of which there were some verbal confrontations with.