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"You took it? How could you know it was forgotten? A pitched cuben shelter was unlikely to be forgotten. If you are not joking and trying to bait a reaction here you have questionable ethics in my book."
Come on now…sarcasm – hence the emoticon. I would hope no one on this forum would steal someone's gear. Besides, if someone lost a cuben duomid I'm sure the entire forum would know about it. :)
Innumerable plastic bags of dog poo left on the side of the trail. I'd rather they flipped it into the bushes with a stick than render it a permanent part of the trail side. My dog has his own pack to avoid such things. He makes a good trash hauler with that rig.
What a beautiful dog!
What breed?
On a day hike with the family, my daughter in a child carrier, dropped her ruffed monkey without us knowing. We didn't realize did we had everyone back in the car. I was about to go hike the whole 7 miles again to look for it (yeah it's that important) but found resting on a fence post near the trail head, much to the relief of my daughter , and wife! Thanks to whoever found it and brought it back!
If it was in large cavern by a pool… Mine
Hiking in the desert I found a whole bunch of water stashed under a bush. I drank it all and left the empties behind…
Scott,
I hope it was not so somomes stash.
like this
in a lost-and-found section.
If collecting gear is your thing then hike the AT approach trail in the spring during peak thru season. I have found tents, cook sets, bear canisters, axes, food bags, sleeping bag and countless articles of clothes plus hordes of smaller items. Local Boy Scout tripos could be completely geared up if they hiked that trail on a regular basis.
A case of gelatin dynamite, 200' of primer cord, 24 blasting caps and 50' of 1 ft/min fuse. I'm not sure this counts as gear but it does count as a find. BTW, I left it where it was and reported it to the USFS. A trail crew had left it there by mistake. I wouldn't have wanted to be the crew foreman on Monday.
>"I hope it was not someone's stash."
I had a regular route with the dog and I'd leave a gallon jug of water and a water dish tucked under a tree to give her a drink mid-hike (there was road access to the mid-way point).
I'll cache food and drink in advance of a very long (40-60 mile) day hike. It wouldn't be a survival situation if someone took it, but it would bum me out to do 10 miles without the food and water I'd planned on.
In a SW desert, taking a few gallons of water from someone's cache of water could result in a few dead undocumented immigrants.
Sarcasm. It's hard for some to fathom.
Found $2 today in the woods with the dog.
A liter Nalgene bottle filled to the very brim with some excellent tequila. Found amongst a bear ravaged campsite on the Lost Coast. Improper food storage. 1 Lara Bar also there untouched.
CharlieDog found a yellow tennis ball at a totally off-trail lake in the Winds. He was thrilled.
Garcia Bear Canister on JMT. First thought was some unwitting traveller dropped his food. Further inspection of the water logged contents revealed the ugly truth. Misc. trash including a pair of soiled tighty whities and possibly the remains of a WAG bag. Though tempting to score on a canister, I could never bring myself to store and eat from the soiled container as such would be a constant reminder at mealtime.
I found a hat once on the trail. It took me awhile to realize it was mine. I'd lost it the year before.
I have a theory that if you look hard enough you'll find a tent stake at every camp and I've found some and lost some.
I really feel guilty on the trail when I realize I dropped something out of my pocket, mostly trash. I double up on my trash pickup on the way out when that happens.
And by the way, if anyone found a long handle titanium spoon about halfway between Muir Pass and Le Conte canyon a few years back just keep it. I learned to carve spoons out of sticks and ended up switching to plastic spoons as a result of that loss. I haven't lost a spoon since.
Over the years I've continued to renew my rights to my trail name.
Still Lookin'
Well, this has been fun and I have literally laughed aloud.
3 red tent poles. Person came by the next day hunting them.
2 times, small piles of human waste. 1 on the trail, 1 with some little effort to conceal it. Bears don't use tissue…
1 hunting dog that missed the ride home. He staid with us until we had to go home…
Countless piles of stone. Some large some small. All mysterious…
I was wondering where I'd left all my stone. Thanks Tanner!
"I hope I'm not the only one, but I have never left the woods without somebody else's trash in my pack."
You will rarely see me packing out other people's trash.
I did find this, but someone grabbed the gear(s) before I got to it. Too heavy for me to pack out.
We left this magazine where we found it.
Sleeping bag (cheap)
Tents (2 or 3) (cheap)
Packs up trees and contents everywhere (probably lost during flood)
Cigarette lighters (plural)
Sunglasses (plural)
Shoes (usually one at a time)
Trekking pole (Makalu Titanium)
Camera lens covers
Food (including 1 kg block of cheese in good condition)
Fuel bottles
Ancient rifle (not historic, just rather old)
Ancient ammo for rifle
Ancient saddlery – possibly even 'historic'
Ancient waterbottle – probably historic
Ancient cannon – definitely historic
Ancient gold stamping battery, definitely historic
Antique cars, rusting
Remains of (many) pot (grass) plantations, with tools, pots, chicken wire etc etc
I could go on …
Cheers
I encourage everyone to pack out other people's trash, when reasonable.
Leaving it better than you found it is a courtesy that more than makes up for the disregard of others, and seeing a pristine wilderness might keep would-be litterbugs from justifying their actions.
"I encourage everyone to pack out other people's trash, when reasonable."
When contradictions exist, check your premise.
Max,
I'm with you on this topic. I guess I've been a professional babysitter for enough years and have been on enough police calls in the military that it doesn't bother me to pack out the occasional water bottle or whatever.
That is with the exception of this "artifact" that I found in the Juniper Dunes Wilderness. I figure he's been sitting there since the '70s or early '80s without hurting anyone so I left him alone.
.
+1, Max.
Personally, when I've hiked 20 miles without seeing any trash and then there is a piece, (1) it typically is a little scrap that most likely got dropped accidentally as someone pulled out a bandana or some such, and (2) it is jarring enough to see it and more upsetting to know if it remained there after I passed. Sure, it "belongs" in someone else's pocket. But I'd rather it was in my pocket than on the trail.
We are social creatures. Most people comply with most societal norms. If the norm (as evidenced along the trail) is "some people litter" then lo and behold, some people will litter. Whereas in places where "essentially no one litters", then almost no one litters. So I skew the results. I try to make hikers, collectively, look better than they actually are. A small fraction of people doing a little more than their share can change the mindset of the masses. I've seen behaviors improve over the decades (not perfect, but improved) about litter, cutting live trees, fire circles, not cutting switchbacks, etc despite there being many more people on the trail now.
Ian, at what point does an old pepsi can turn from garbage to a relic of archaeological significance that needs to be left in situ so that future generations will be able to study them?
Given enough time even the contents of feces can become an object for study by the professional archaeologist, but I'm not sure where the demarcation point is for a can.
I've been to a couple places where I could not pack out the trash. I would need a pack animal to pack out the trash, and even then it might be a couple trips. It's really depressing.
Maybe I should burn it all? It would be better than just leaving it there.
Yes, I've left a few items in the wilderness. A couple water bottles, a pair of synthetic socks, a few tent stakes. I do feel bad about that.
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