walkswithblackflies
Trail Wise!
Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
Posts: 6,934
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Sept 12, 2016 6:26:22 GMT -8
Thankfully (and strangely) I don't encounter a lot of garbage on my hikes. Sometimes the typical litter near vehicle-accessible fire pits, but not much elsewhere.
Here is one of my unique experiences:
{A little background: Our state parks operate under the Historical Preservation office. Old car chassis and rusted-out farm equipment are often found in the woods at my local state park. I'm an environmental engineer.} Once while bushwhacking at the park, I found a very old lead-acid battery at the bottom of an intermittent stream bed (dry at the time). The acid had leaked out, but the lead was still there. I wasn't going to create a mountain out of a molehill, so I double-bagged it, and brought it to the park ranger station along with contact info for the state environmental conservation officer who would take care of the disposal. But, to my surprise, they were angered that I removed a "relic", and told me to bring it back to where I had found it. By their reaction, you would have thought I raided King Tut's tomb. I complied... but then immediately notified the regional hazardous waste manager at the environmental conservation office. I told them what I found, and no longer being Mr. Nice Guy, I proceeded to create a nice project for my company that included not only the disposal of the battery, but also several sediment, soil, and groundwater samples to verify that there was no significant lead contamination near the battery. And then I "happened to remember" the old fuel storage tanks, bottle dumps, and scattered drums that I've encountered during my bushwhacks, which we also got to investigate. Watching the hazardous waste manager tear the park officials apart in the planning meeting was priceless.
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tarol
Trail Wise!
Redding, CA
Posts: 582
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Post by tarol on Sept 12, 2016 6:48:51 GMT -8
In the Golden Trout Wilderness we found a brand new orange Igloo beverage cooler, with a full loaf of bread and bunch of bananas inside. Must've been dropped by a pack train. It was the end of the day and with no pack train in sight so we decided to pack it out the last couple of miles up to the trailhead, lest it become a feast for a bear. We ate a couple of bananas first
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 9:29:24 GMT -8
A used diaper.
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Post by CompassRds on Sept 12, 2016 9:39:38 GMT -8
^ Regular or adult?
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Post by CompassRds on Sept 12, 2016 9:47:07 GMT -8
Seriously though: I know the feeling and started this thread because often get dismayed at how trashed our outdoors are, and finding it everywhere from local green spaces to what should be wilderness. Rarely getting the chance to join anything organized, but I do it out of habit and figured I wasn't alone. It's nice to hear it though. I also wanted to pipe up and personally thank each and every person who does, if you post about it or not.
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ogg
Trail Wise!
Posts: 139
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Post by ogg on Sept 12, 2016 10:13:02 GMT -8
I've found numerous Mylar balloons, and a radiosonde from NWS weather balloon. Once I found a plastic spoon when it happened that I forgot to pack an eating utensil
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Post by Kevin Palmer on Sept 12, 2016 10:22:33 GMT -8
That sucks, I love that place. Did you report it? I sent an email.
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amaruq
Trail Wise!
Call me Little Spoon
Posts: 1,264
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Post by amaruq on Sept 12, 2016 11:11:25 GMT -8
Came across this and packed it out. Meant to turn it in at the Visitor Centre's lost and found, but forgot it in the rental. I couldn't find a big enough pocket for this one, though... Other than those, just typical trash.
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Post by ecocentric on Sept 12, 2016 12:55:28 GMT -8
Our planet doesn't have any pristine wilderness left. Certain manmade pollutants like PCB's and radioactive traces of strontium and cesium can be found in the tissues of animals in the most remote places. My trips to the Arctic featured collapsing radar domes and the odd rocket motor stuck nose down in the permafrost. Archeology would be pretty theoretical if it wasn't for the trash piles and latrines that mark all human habitations. We know a lot about the diet of our ancestors because somebody was willing to analyze a pile of crap. It says something about "us" that we now promote a "leave no trace" ethic. It requires a mindfulness that must be learned. We, as a species are on the right track, led by the people that are posting to this thread.
Carry on.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 14:09:27 GMT -8
Regular, fortunately. Luckily, someone also disposed of a broken bicycle helmet at the same spot, and I was able to carry it out in the helmet (and it was only a couple miles in anyway).
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Post by autumnmist on Sept 12, 2016 19:36:23 GMT -8
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 12, 2016 21:17:11 GMT -8
And various drugs (including oxy) and antibiotics in the tissues of salmon in Puget Sound. I gather there's a problem with caffeine in the wastewater there, too.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 4:31:55 GMT -8
It was not far from Roswell, New Mexico but I don't think I should talk about it. It has been well documented, that aliens, developed space travel to be able to go vast distances, to test out the driving force of their tech; anal probes. So, I am guessing, you found one of them there alian anal probes. :(
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davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
Posts: 1,710
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Post by davesenesac on Sept 13, 2016 15:09:37 GMT -8
As a photographer, I tend to ramble over a lot of terrain that other people do not. There are vast areas away from lake edges, peakbagging routes, and trails that are rarely if ever traveled. Because of that I find a lot of trash and firepits and balloons.
From my earliest years, I began collecting helium balloons, and as someone collecting them for decades in the Sierra Nevada, like to think I have the largest collection of them in the world haha. Sometimes in big events like at stadiums there will groups of balloons let sail tied together by ribbons. The largest balloon group I've found was beside Marie Lake in John Muir Wilderness. Another long set of silvered mylar balloons in the same zone ended up in a no name pond near Seven Gables peak that was strung together by kite string.
Over the years have come across a lot of tarps and tents people tried to hide. Obviously tossed because they were too lazy and inconsiderate to carry back and maybe needed replacing for usual reasons like leaky from rain or bad zippers. Also some backcountry stashes of gear people were apparently expecting to return too so maybe locals who often visited a lake.
In the Sierra there is a program to remove frog eating trout from some listed lakes in order to help re-populate them with endangered yellow legged frogs. Well I found a big cache of their stuff they obviously intended to use in following summer work and did not want to have to carry back up. Can't blame em.
The worst trash was just last summer of 2015 at the cross hairs of the below topo:
mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.50772,-118.93348&z=15&t=T
This is on the JMT/PCT trail in the John Muir Wilderneess and nearby large Lake Virginia is one of the most popular trail camping spots on that trail. A group of 3 of us had made camp at the southwest end of the lake that is rather pristine despite the hordes daily at the other end. Just goes to show how lazy people are siting camp spots. I sometimes explore up on slopes and hills around scenic places like lakes to find view points looking down across landscapes. And the point on the hill on the topo above looked to have potential so when leaving we detoured a bit up above and came across that bouldery point. Within the group of large boulders was tons of trash apparently left by horse packers but it did not look like it had been used for at least a decade and could have been a supply spot for gear they might use again but did not want to carry back up. Stuff like tarps, tents, and food containers with decaying food, and bottles of stuff. No one had noticed it even though it was not far from a popular lake and trail because most people hate climbing up hills or slopes unless there is a destination above.
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Post by CompassRds on Sept 14, 2016 4:23:37 GMT -8
Better than many seem to do.
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