HikeArizona.COM

Here is a list of the trash I found, and hauled out of Horton Creek on 6/29:
1 old green Nalgene bottle
1 pair of reading glasses (generic0
1 disposable poncho package
2 cigarette butts
1 foam soda cup and lid
1 piece of foam--maybe from a visor?
multiple pieces of wrappers from granola bars and other food sources

Here is what I saw and did not haul out (shame on me):
1 pair of jeans
1 swimming suit top
1 plastic grocery bag filled with trash
too many pieces of used toilet paper to count

Has anyone else kept track of their "loot"?

fotogirl53 wrote:Has anyone else kept track of their "loot"?

I am definitely a "Detailapelli", but it would be a little over the top(for me) to think of keeping track of trail trash I pick-up

I did once, when some horse-packing yahoos trashed a historic cabin site in Oregon. I took pictures of the more important stuff I packed out as I found it, including a bunch of brass shell casings (used for plinking the "protected" cabin) and a big partially-eaten pile of dog food. (There were bears all over up there and fresh bear scat within 20 yards of the site).

Yea, I usually haul a shopping-bag's worth of trash out of the Front Range Catalina trails every time I go. I typically keep one in my pack just for that purpose. I'm probably sweeping sand off the beach, though...

Does it count that I usually haul out my sorry old butt

Al_HikesAZ wrote:Does it count that I usually haul out my sorry old butt

Al_HikesAZ wrote:Does it count that I usually haul out my sorry old butt

Better you than someone else.

Biggest thing I've hauled out was a lawn chair from Hideout Spring in the Galiuros several years ago. I usually take a bag with me into So Mtn Park because some paintballers were occupying a site close by. Last time it was so bad I called the Rangers and they bought a crew and a pick up to haul it all out.

I believe I counted (and hauled out) five mylar balloons on my AZT grand adventure. Hmm, does that mean on any randomly drawn line across the state there are 5 balloons laying there? That's a lot of balloons .

I hate to be picky but mylar balloons should really be banned. I've seen dozens over the years. Most are probably still there cause they're typically enlodged in cacti spines or catclaw beyond safe recovery.

joe bartels wrote:I hate to be picky but mylar balloons should really be banned.

This spring I bushwhacked half a mile through the Supes because I saw a glint in the distance. It was a @#$%% mylar balloon. I can't count how many times I've done that.

Seems nearly every off-trail adventure into the Sups involves a mylar balloon. Probably since the wind blows 'em out of the valley and east in the winter

joe bartels wrote:Seems nearly every off-trail adventure

Never heard back from Jayden...the Skeleton Cave trip mylar ballon.

Same goes for plastic grocery bags. While they don't last quite as long as the mylar, its absolutely disgusting how many of those bags are found just about everywhere. I've seen a website or two with dozens of photos of plastic bags littering the planet.

I'm partially guilty too, because while I keep and recycle my plastic bags, I very rarely remember to bring my re-usable grocery bags. Its one of those habits that needs to change for me. (And everybody else). If stores just wouldn't have bags at all, pretty quickly people would get used to bringing their own way to get things home.

---
back on topic, I once brought home a full-size papasan chair that somebody had left at a nice view point up on the rim. And it was at least a 1/2 mile from the nearest vehicle access point, so somebody had put in a little bit of effort.

This is what four of us hauled out of Thomas Canyon last time I was at Baboquivari:
I always carry a couple of bags with me when I am hiking south of I-10 to pick up trash left by drug smugglers and immigrants. My trailbuilding crew once took 25 large bags of garbage out from under two trees on the AZT north of Sonoita.

We picked up probably a dozen or more Bud Light cans up on the Rim last weekend, it was almost as if soem nut was using them as "Breadcrumbs."

Hope he got lost!

I found a six-pack one time on the Havasupai trail--unopened!

azbackpackr wrote:I found a six-pack one time on the Havasupai trail--unopened!

Score!!!
I pulled a brand new lawn chair and an empty twelve pack of Bud bottles out of Bear canyon Lake last year. Also pick up miles of fishing line around every lake I have been to every time I go. I hate it when idiots leave their line behind.

I'll tell you this - the worst thing is when someone decides to dominate one right next to the trail and leave it there with a massive pile of TP as window dressing!! Why does this happen SO often, anyway?!

There is a bunch of stuff I wish I could have hauled out, but was just too much. A couple years ago I found four trashed coolers hidden at various spots around Reavis Ranch. I can't remember how many pairs of boots I've found. One pair was on the summit of Mt. Audubon (CO). Another was about five miles down the middle fork of the Gila in the Gila Wilderness. And of course I found a couple pairs at Reavis Ranch. By the looks of them, a little duct tape would have made a big difference for some folks.

So, did they walk out barefoot, or did they send someone home for another pair of shoes? Inquiring minds really want to know!

Duct tape? I never leave home without it!

In May I drove a busload of 6th graders to South Fork. While they played in the creek, etc., I went for a hike. On the way back I was finding candy wrappers, cups, etc., left by those kids. The other bus driver was also picking up stuff. Then we ran into Mrs. Buck, one of the teachers. She is quite an outdoorswoman. She was also picking up trash.

You should have heard her ream those kids! I was very admiring of her lecturing skills! Once we had re-loaded the kids she got on my bus and just shot those kids down big-time! Then we waited while she did the same on the other bus! I hope some kids learned something that day!