Ever notice stashed trail magic doesn't use bear bags?

[blw2]

Got to chuckling the other day about trail magic....you know, the stashed boxes and coolers of drinks and snacks unattended at the trail side.....
and
the debate about sleeping with food, hanging your food, etc....

[Shrewd]

Oh yeah, hire a few people think leaving trail magic is more akin to littering than magic.

That said, I found several sodas and beers on trail last year that meant to much to me i couldn’t advocate against them

[MuddyWaters]

Yep.
Usually close enough to roads nothing happens, just inside trees.

But, its still ignorant, self-serving, and often illegal. It is often illegal to cache food or leave unprotected on nfs land.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Got to chuckling the other day about trail magic....you know, the stashed boxes and coolers of drinks and snacks unattended at the trail side.....
and the debate about sleeping with food, hanging your food, etc....

Oddly I've never found one trashed by animals. Either the coolers I've left, or the coolers I've taken from. I think it must be combination of proximity to the road and that animals tend to be less active during the day. I bet if you hauled a cooler far into the woods and left it for a few days there'd be a different story.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Oddly I've never found one trashed by animals. Either the coolers I've left, or the coolers I've taken from. I think it must be combination of proximity to the road and that animals tend to be less active during the day. I bet if you hauled a cooler far into the woods and left it for a few days there'd be a different story.

I certainly have run across the remains of a cooler on trail that was ransacked by animals. It looked as if it exploded in a 25 yard radius.

[Slo-go'en]

There's a sturdy wooden goodie box stocked by a church group somewhere in NC, but it might be in VA. There's a steel goodie box also stocked by a church group just south of Damascus. But these are permanent. Not the spur of the moment "I'll just leave a cooler full of snacks next to the trail and maybe come back to pick up the trash in a few days" type of deal. How come when ever I come across one of these coolers, it's always empty?

[Uriah]

Random acts of kindness shall not be tolerated!

[egilbe]

Random acts of kindness shall not be tolerated!

More often than not, it turns into litter. Who cleans that up?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

[Christoph]

Most of the ones I ran across had some sort of lock on them or were just outside of a parking lot. There were a few though that were empty of magic and people started dumping trash in them. Huge mess and animals were obviously present. Not going to say I didn't enjoy a little magic here and there but if it's out there, I'd hope it's being done right (come back and clean up, make it secure so animals don't trash it, etc...).

[blw2]

Random acts of kindness shall not be tolerated!

I don't really know for sure if that was directed at the original post....but that's not what I meant. My comment is more about that leaving food unattended on the ground doesn't magically mean that animals WILL get it it right away...... it's just kinda funny, not worried about it here, but then just a few steps down trail we invest tons of money, time, and effort into the merits of getting a good hang of our bag, or do we need a 'certified' and overpriced container...

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I certainly have run across the remains of a cooler on trail that was ransacked by animals. It looked as if it exploded in a 25 yard radius.

You have? Or you certainly have? I would hope that you're certain.

[Sarcasm the elf]

You have? Or you certainly have? I would hope that you're certain.

The only thing I’m certain of is that between the baby being up late and my toddler waking up at 5:45am I’m running on about 3.5 hours sleep. I probably shouldn’t be trusted to word my comments correctly.

[Highland Goat]

When I was hiking through Maine I saw a cooler on a bridge with gnaw marks all over. However, I suspect that hikers got to the chocolate cake before the wildlife did.

[SWODaddy]

Random acts of kindness shall not be tolerated!

trail-magic-18.jpg

(not my picture)

[rocketsocks]

trail-magic-18.jpg

(not my picture)

...and that’s the reality right there!

[rocketsocks]

So next time you’re bushehackin’ or set up high on a cliff and ya think to yourself, man I bet no ones ever been here before, so remote...and then ya spot an empty box of Krispy Creme’s. Kinda takes the Wow out of it, eh?

[SoaknWet]

Wonder if the person who took that picture bothered to do anything about it. Easy to complain little harder to correct a problem. I've carried more trash from the woods then I can to remember, sad part 99% wasn't mine.

[Offshore]

Wonder if the person who took that picture bothered to do anything about it. Easy to complain little harder to correct a problem. I've carried more trash from the woods then I can to remember, sad part 99% wasn't mine.

I've come across this type of display in NJ and have cleaned it up. I'd say the real question is whether whoever put this trash out (I consider food left on the trail in a disposable Styrofoam cooler in a bear-rich environment like NJ to be trash) ever planned on coming back to clean it up. From what I've seen, the answer is no.

[Malto]

I've come across this type of display in NJ and have cleaned it up. I'd say the real question is whether whoever put this trash out (I consider food left on the trail in a disposable Styrofoam cooler in a bear-rich environment like NJ to be trash) ever planned on coming back to clean it up. From what I've seen, the answer is no.

Probably not. They were too busy going on Facebook to tell everyone what they did in a sad attempt to get likes.

[BuckeyeBill]

I also pick up trash while out hiking. the one thing I also do that has almost led to a few fights, was when I called someone out on dropping their trash on the trail or throwing things into the fire pit. Some people just don't get it.