[pct-l] Hiker Trash

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I've been pretty surprised by how many PCT thru-hikers are on their  
first backpacking trip ever. I also think that part of the problem is  
that they are hiking in So Cal and many of the hikers seem to think  
the trail doesn't really begin until Kennedy Meadows. Everything  
before that is hateful "desert" that they don't have to know about or  
care about. Nobody carries the wilderness press guide books anymore  
so they have no awareness of anything special about the places they  
travel through. It's all just miles.

On Jun 5, 2011, at 11:59 AM, Stephen Clark wrote:

> You may be correct.. I think for some (especially novice wilderness  
> hikers) it requires the that deep breath we all take when we reach  
> the Sierras, and continue to take around every corner.
>
> The yellow and orange wires, now that's a puzzlement.  Not to make  
> light of it but maybe someone has a Hansel and Gretel complex.
>
> Quackers
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 11:42 AM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes  
> <diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:
>
> On Jun 5, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > On 6/5/2011 8:13 AM, Charles Doersch wrote:
> >> We're also planning on the thru-hike in 2012 ~ and I guess I'm just
> >> baffled by the reported incidents of trashing.
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> >> Is there a subset of PCT-hikers who are likely to do this?
> >
> > Two comments:
> >
> > First, yes, it seems that there is a small number of thru hikers and
> > section hikers who are irresponsible, and will trash the trail.
>
> I don't think it's even that small. I section hiked over the San
> Jacintos last weekend and followed a trail of blue, yellow and orange
> electronic wires. I thought okay, maybe these wires are being
> discarded by the hoards of dayhikers or boy scouts or whatever that
> come up Devil's Slide or the Tram, but no, the wires continued all
> the way down to the faucet and beyond. Who hikes that section of the
> desert but committed PCT thru or section hikers? And why would
> someone keep cutting of pieces of wire and leaving it on the trail
> anyway? It was baffling.
>
> At the faucet there was some trash under the rock.
>
> Two weekends before my San Jacinto trip I hiked from Big Bear to
> Cajon Pass area and picked up wrappers and other trash all along the
> way. Forget road crossings, the trash was in the wilderness areas. I
> picked up a fresh wrapper right in front of a hiker just standing
> there next to Holcomb creek. Was it his wrapper? I don't know, but I
> made a big deal about picking it up. I camped at a spot with a piece
> of polyurethane foam in the trail and hikers were walking back and
> forth from their camp spot to a creek, stepping right on the foam. I
> picked it up. It fit in my pocket.
>
> Many hikers, even if they aren't leaving the trash, are not bothering
> themselves to pick any of it up. And they are not bothering to leave
> places nicer than they found them. A lot of the hikers I met have a
> sort of "we're so awesome, our adventure is so extreme" attitude.
> Only a few seem to have a grateful attitude toward the wilderness.
> Maybe that comes after the High Sierra?
>
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