View Full Version : Trash in fire pits
Inspector
09-09-2014, 19:13
This was at Darlington Shelter about 2 weeks ago. A few months ago found a similar situation at Dick's Dome. Shame on anyone who does this.
28296
Pedaling Fool
09-09-2014, 19:34
What's new....
saltysack
09-09-2014, 19:36
Agreed....hate to say it but at least the lazy pieces of sh!@ pit in fire pit than around shelter...I seem to spend time every hike cleaning up after a?! Holes like this!! I don't tolerate a litter bug....don't have a problem confronting them!!
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Like the recent discussions we've had on taggers, this is also unavoidable. Whatever areas that are open to the public are also open to the low-lives in our society. Granted there are some people that think all trash can and should be burned because of their own ignorance, and that's not quite as bad as those that know and just don't care, the fact remains that this is going to continue as long as trails are open to humans.
The best we can do is to educate the ignorant and try to leave a shelter and/or campsite a little cleaner than when we arrived. That's my opinion at least.
saltysack
09-09-2014, 20:21
Just a few weeks back while staying at the new long branch shelter I found a pair of work boots and several weeks prior to that while hiking the standing indian loop found another pair at carter gap shelter...who the f... leaves boots behind much less wears steel toed work boots hiking? Good luck educating someone that DUMB!!?
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2015 Lady Thru-Hiker
09-09-2014, 20:28
Saltysack, I for one happened to be one of those people who started out wearing steel toed boots hiking. Why? Because the first time I was asked to go it's what I already owned ( from prior life as a roofer). Graduated to actual hikers and now sport trail runners. Now I wasn't in a position to just leave them behind on the trail and earthing wasn't a thing yet so I wore them in and out - one time. So......
rocketsocks
09-09-2014, 20:29
Knuckle Heads...prolly leave dirty dishes in the sink for someone else to do as well.
saltysack
09-09-2014, 20:41
Saltysack, I for one happened to be one of those people who started out wearing steel toed boots hiking. Why? Because the first time I was asked to go it's what I already owned ( from prior life as a roofer). Graduated to actual hikers and now sport trail runners. Now I wasn't in a position to just leave them behind on the trail and earthing wasn't a thing yet so I wore them in and out - one time. So......
Don't take it personal.....just a generalization...:)
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Just a few weeks back while staying at the new long branch shelter I found a pair of work boots and several weeks prior to that while hiking the standing indian loop found another pair at carter gap shelter...who the f... leaves boots behind much less wears steel toed work boots hiking? Good luck educating someone that DUMB!!?
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Saltysack, I share your frustration on this matter. But projecting it at those that are doing these things, calling them "DUMB", will not improve the situation as much as you would like.
Lone Wolf
09-09-2014, 21:28
This was at Darlington Shelter about 2 weeks ago. A few months ago found a similar situation at Dick's Dome. Shame on anyone who does this.
28296
been walkin' on the AT for 28 years now. it ain't no worse or better
This was at Darlington Shelter about 2 weeks ago. A few months ago found a similar situation at Dick's Dome. Shame on anyone who does this.
28296
Well ... just plain laziness coupled with bad nutritional food choices. Each fed by the other :)
been walkin' on the AT for 28 years now. it ain't no worse or better
Well ... just plain laziness coupled with bad nutritional food choices. Each fed by the other :)
Both are true.
2015 Lady Thru-Hiker
09-09-2014, 23:48
Don't take it personal.....just a generalization...:)
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Oh I didn't take it personal. I know I'm pretty smart. Just wanted to give you a hard time...:)
Traveler
09-10-2014, 06:31
The best we can do is to educate the ignorant and try to leave a shelter and/or campsite a little cleaner than when we arrived. That's my opinion at least.
"Ignorance can be cured, it's stupid thats forever"
Tipi Walter
09-10-2014, 09:10
I have a keyword in my Smugmug pics called "Rednecks" and it is where I put all my trashed firepit pics---
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/Coy-Williams-and-the-25th/i-4tqrZ6c/0/L/TRIP%20114%20095-L.jpg
Found this mess in a firepit near Cheoah Bald. Wonderful folks.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Backpacking-Bryan-DeLay/i-LBGjkTd/0/M/TRIP%20148%20174-M.jpg
Found this wonderful garbage in a firepit and surrounded by a giant blue tarp. None of these pics are car camping shots---all are backpacking destinations.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2002-2004/13-Backpacking-Trips-Of-2003/i-Q73B7wf/0/M/Trip%2021%20%202-M.jpg
This splendid display of the species Redneckus bonobo was left by fishermen out for a weekend who couldn't be bothered with hauling crap out. I'm amazed they had the gumption and knowledge to haul out their own fat bodies to the trailhead. They also left a giant wad of clear plastic.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Backpacking-Bryan-DeLay/i-XbpfQrm/0/M/TRIP%20148%20173-M.jpg
Here's the giant blue tarp left as trash by some backpackers in North Carolina. Pieces of work.
colorado_rob
09-10-2014, 09:18
One of the major things I noticed on the AT last year (and this year) is the large amount of trash left at camps/shelters, especially firepits. There are exceptions, of course, but in general you just don't see this out west. I'm not bad-mouthing the east, I believe it's all about population density being so much higher out there vs. CO, for example, so you have so many more jerks that leave trash (the percentage of these irresponsible a-holes might be right about the same).
One other major gripe is the frequency of TP "flowers" all over the place along the AT... right on top of the ground along the trail, just off the trail. WHAT's with that?????? Is this generally accepted practice out there???
Tipi Walter
09-10-2014, 09:27
One other major gripe is the frequency of TP "flowers" all over the place along the AT... right on top of the ground along the trail, just off the trail. WHAT's with that?????? Is this generally accepted practice out there???
Thanks for bringing up the Human Turds Left by the Idiots. Your comment is a gateway to a disturbing tendency I have in posting pics of such offensive behavior, i.e. Stool Shots!!
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpack-2014-Trips-152/24-Days-in-the-Cold/i-Zcsg6jX/0/M/TRIP%20152%20172-M.jpg
I found this wonderful sign of the species "Redneckus deranged femaleus" on a wilderness trail by a river.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2009/Taylor-HeavyPack-From-Trip-46/i-Z2ZTXXt/0/M/TRIP%20100%20147-M.jpg
WARNING: Do not look at this picture! I found this human pile next to the South Fork Creek in the Citico Wilderness. (No where near a car or a car camping spot). Yes, humans are themselves pieces of Stool. And are themselves Tools. You'd think a simple low IQ monkey human could scratch out a hole in the dirt and bury this crap but NO it's beyond their grasp.
saltysack
09-10-2014, 09:34
Maybe the dumb a$$ rednecks need to buy camo tp so we don't have to look at it!!
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Likeapuma
09-10-2014, 09:35
Just read a news article about some idiots burning down a shelter & a latrine (one separate occasions) in a state park down the road from me (nowhere near the AT).... Dirtbags are everywhere!
Pedaling Fool
09-10-2014, 10:08
I don't know what the term Redneck means anymore, since it's used all the time in so many different situations. If by redneck, you all mean College kids and a bunch of 20-somethings, then I guess I agree since that seems to be the largest group out there.
One of the major things I noticed on the AT last year (and this year) is the large amount of trash left at camps/shelters, especially firepits. There are exceptions, of course, but in general you just don't see this out west. I'm not bad-mouthing the east, I believe it's all about population density being so much higher out there vs. CO, for example, so you have so many more jerks that leave trash (the percentage of these irresponsible a-holes might be right about the same).
One other major gripe is the frequency of TP "flowers" all over the place along the AT... right on top of the ground along the trail, just off the trail. WHAT's with that?????? Is this generally accepted practice out there???
I definitely noticed fewer trashed fire pits and trash in general in Colorado vs. the AT. Also, on the AT, the general rule of thumb seems to be that the closer a shelter is to a road, the more garbage likely to be in the area, which of course is counterintuitive since the incentive to dump trash should be higher in more remote areas if the motive is to avoid carrying out trash.
I had only one unpleasant experience in Colorado when I found human waste under a rock right in the middle of a campsite where I was pitching my tent. Who takes a dump in the middle of a campsite and then puts a rock over it?
saltysack
09-10-2014, 10:38
I definitely noticed fewer trashed fire pits and trash in general in Colorado vs. the AT. Also, on the AT, the general rule of thumb seems to be that the closer a shelter is to a road, the more garbage likely to be in the area, which of course is counterintuitive since the incentive to dump trash should be higher in more remote areas if the motive is to avoid carrying out trash.
I had only one unpleasant experience in Colorado when I found human waste under a rock right in the middle of a campsite where I was pitching my tent. Who takes a dump in the middle of a campsite and then puts a rock over it?
True meaning of hitting "rock bottom" haaa...
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Chair-man
09-10-2014, 10:47
What's new....
Since most of us don't belong to a trail club that does trail maintenance this would be a good opportunity to do your part.
Then, when you die and go to the pearly gates and they do your background check you'll have that on your resume:)
Lone Wolf
09-10-2014, 10:48
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redneck
saltysack
09-10-2014, 10:51
Since most of us don't belong to a trail club that does trail maintenance this would be a good opportunity to do your part.
Then, when you die and go to the pearly gates and they do your background check you'll have that on your resume:)
Good point!
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Tipi Walter
09-10-2014, 10:55
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redneck
"a white person who lives in a small town or in the country especially in the southern U.S., who typically has a working-class job, and who is seen by others as being uneducated and having opinions and attitudes that are offensive."
Opinions and attitudes are one thing, it's their Actions which can be offensive, as noted in my pics above. People who leave trash in the woods, leave piles of turds on the ground, build giant bonfires in alcoholic bacchanalias with loud chortling and screaming, ride ATVs where they do not belong (in wilderness areas), etc all these actions for me defines the term Redneck.
Being white or living in a small town in the south or having a low-wage job---none of these are offensive. It's the other stuff.
Pedaling Fool
09-10-2014, 11:19
Since most of us don't belong to a trail club that does trail maintenance this would be a good opportunity to do your part.
Then, when you die and go to the pearly gates and they do your background check you'll have that on your resume:)I would say that riding a bike so much so that I end up driving a car less than 100 miles per year is doing my part and I've been doing that for over 20 years:)
I hate seeing trash as much as the next guy, but fact is most trash is just an eye sore, not a pressing environmental issue. All paper will be consumed by soil organisms.
Just Bill
09-10-2014, 11:59
The ignorant of the world; young, old, poorly neck tanned, or hill dwelling are bound to litter. It is what it is.
The only thing that ever gets me too upset is trash from those who know better. When you find a Mountain house meal, carefully stuffed with Ramen, snickers, and granola bar wrappers, tucked neatly alongside other trash as a disguise or simply left laying about is inexcusable. Ain't no hillbilly buying $6 a piece mac and cheese. No redneck bothering to consolidate their trash. Your silly disguise or laziness in dumping your load alongside others is no excuse and fools nobody.
I pack it out when I can. If a fellow hiker goes by, I expect them to do the same, not add to the pile. Knowledge and good folks always overwhelm ignorance.
Ignorance is excusable, and the trash trail occasionally tells a funny story. With few exceptions, these folks are far outnumbered by the outdoors community.
A hiker passing up trash or adding to a pile deserves every ignant jeer, redneck retribution and hillrod style torturous abuse I can think of. I hope you squeal.
.... build giant bonfires in alcoholic bacchanalias with loud chortling and screaming .... for me defines the term Redneck.
Hmm... Well then I fit the bill if I go by my experiences at Trail Days.
I never knew. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Tipi Walter
09-10-2014, 13:33
Hmm... Well then I fit the bill if I go by my experiences at Trail Days.
I never knew. Thanks for the enlightenment.
One reason I never go to trail days. Anyway I'm usually out backpacking for 3 weeks in May. Once a person struggles with alcohol addiction and kicks it, there's absolutely no attraction to the stuff, most especially using it in the woods on so-called backpacking trips (by so-called outdoorsmen/women). End O Rant.
88BlueGT
09-10-2014, 14:23
I would be livid if I came across this on the trail. Thankfully, I don't see too much trash in fire pits in/around NJ. If there is, it's usually small debris and if it's not completely disgguisting I'll pack it out. Always carry an extra garbage back for lazy fools when I go out.
The nice thing about the AT is that it is such a well used trail that when you leave your trash behind some do gooder will be along shortly to pack it out for you. If you want to be creative, get up really early at the shelter and put your trash in someone else's pack before you leave.
Just a few weeks back while staying at the new long branch shelter I found a pair of work boots and several weeks prior to that while hiking the standing indian loop found another pair at carter gap shelter...who the f... leaves boots behind much less wears steel toed work boots hiking? Good luck educating someone that DUMB!!?
While I wear trail runners for three season use, my go to winter boots are a pair of insulated steel toe work boots. They work great for the task. What's the issue?
saltysack
09-11-2014, 10:04
Issue was idiots leaving trash st shelters including steel toed boots....I can't imagine wearing steel toed boots hiking as all the ones I've ever worn were heavy!! But just my opinion..
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saltysack
09-11-2014, 10:06
Didn't mean to offend anyone...I only 4 season hike from Va south on the AT...& wear trail runners including winter...
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Seatbelt
09-11-2014, 11:28
get up really early at the shelter and put your trash in someone else's pack before you leave.
So YOU'RE the guy that.........uh-humph
i hate when people do this. but if i had to choose the lesser of two evils, id rather see it in a pit then scattered throughout the trail. even though it still is bad form no doubt.