I was dropping off a hiker south of Harpers Ferry on Saturday (522 road crossing near Front Royal) and noticed an awful lot of trash around. I always have work gloves and some trash bags in my truck, so I started cleaning up and ended up with a full 50 gal. bag.

Because people are disgusting.

I was going to head straight back to Harpers Ferry, but it was a beautiful day so I decided to hit the trailheads between 522 & HF and pick up some more. Worst by far was the large parking lot on the South side of Rt. 7, most likely because of all of the non-hikers who stop there (it's kind of like a rest stop). Got another full bag there. Cleanest was the smaller parking area on the South side of Rt. 7, mainly used by AT hikers.

All in all I ended up with four full bags, but before anyone gets to thinking this was all altruism without reward, I found a Gerber knife and a five dollar bill. . .

So if you're heading out to the trail for the day, throw a trash bag and some gloves in the car. You'll make everything look nicer, and you might just find a prize or two!