Backpacking pet peeves......

[tennecedar]

I see your point, but yeah it does ruin my day a bit to run into someone. I don't resent them for it or anything just sayin I like to feel like I'm exploring areas for the first time when I'm out and an interuption just breaks up the unreality I like to place myself in while on a jaunt. What I have noticed by responses to this thread is that a lot of you seem to hike parks I generally walk in different places where you really wouldn't expect to see people.

I hike National Forests. I used to hike on the AT but I got tired of it. Now when I'm out a few miles on an over grown trail and see someone I smile and say howdy. It does my heart good to know there are others that like the same places I do. I'm not the kind of person to make believe I'm the first person to explore a section of wilderness. I certainly don't get upset when it becomes apparent by the presence of another hiker.

[Papa]

Anything motorized. ATV's, Personal Water Craft, dirt bikes, 4X4's, snowmobiles...

I also hate mountain-bikers who build jumps, ramps, rails and such on trails.

I have no problem with horses, though. But I ride myself, so I may be biased.

LJT

My knees probably wish id buy one

[Sides]

I hate trash as well. It seems like hunters are the biggest cause of this. One of the most common things I see is people throwing their tin cans into a fire pit and leaving them there.

So you can look at a can, and tell who left it. If you can do that, why don't you send it back to them? I can go to an area where hunting is not allowed, and see the same trash. I will tell you I have seen that at Yellowstone National Park, no hunting allowed there. That is a tree huggers paradise. To blame hunters in general, is narrow minded. There are a lot of hunters on this forum that will be offended by that comment.

[Papa]

I'm not the kind of person to make believe I'm the first person to explore a section of wilderness.

Guess I never grew up...

[Blueraja]

Almost had to put one guy down on a fishing trip a buddy and I took up to Mount Hood one spring. Made for a very tense weekend to say the least.

Put down, as in kill the guy? Seriously???

[Blueraja]

Even in Ohio, where there are not many prime hiking trails, I hardly ever run into other people on the trails, and if I do, I just chalk it up to me backpacking at the wrong time or place, but it never bothers me.

Trash left behind bothers me, though.

If I ran into a homeless man "living" in the woods where I romp, I wouldn't be angry. To the contrary; I would like to know some of his secrets.

Lastly, if I find trash or other people on the trail, and it bothers me too much, I guess I'm missing the whole point of being out in the woods. I do not let other people negatively affect my time alone for reflection.

[PineMartyn]

So you can look at a can, and tell who left it. If you can do that, why don't you send it back to them? I can go to an area where hunting is not allowed, and see the same trash. I will tell you I have seen that at Yellowstone National Park, no hunting allowed there. That is a tree huggers paradise. To blame hunters in general, is narrow minded. There are a lot of hunters on this forum that will be offended by that comment.

I can't say that hunters are the biggest offenders (so I think Justin_Baker overstated the matter a bit), but spent shells and casings make it easy to tell when the mess was left by hunters. Same thing when you see that some angler has made a fire for a shore lunch...and has left the fire ring full of tangled fishing line and styrofoam worm containers. And when you see fresh ATV tracks in the middle of the woods, and dozens and dozens of empty beer bottles and broken lawn chairs, miles and miles from the nearest trail-head, you can reasonably infer that all that was not lugged in on foot, but was brought in by ATV and left by those persons.

Part of the reason for such patterns is that when people are backpacking for camping purposes, they are there to live in the woods for a few days or more and they typically want to enjoy an undiminished wilderness experience, and - especially when they are getting their under their own steam (on foot, or by canoe or kayak) - they tend to avoid bringing in the extra weight and volume of bottles, cans and boxed goods. But when people are there just for a day or a few hours - especially with motorized assistance - they tend to bring in a lot of crap that would be almost impossible to pack in under their own steam over such distances; and when they are there just to hunt, or just to fish, they tend to be more preoccupied with those pursuits and so place less value on leaving the woods untrammeled and undiminished. It's just a function of what people are trying to get out of being in the wilderness and how long they intend to be there and how they get to it. These are all relevant variables that serve as reliable indicators of how much waste they are likely to leave behind. A reliable indicator is just a reliable indicator - a basis upon which one can make some reasonable predictions - it's not a perfect predictor, and nobody should think that because there are such patterns of human behavior that everyone fits that pattern. I'm an angler myself and I'm not one to leave tangled line around or leave my garbage on the shore after a shore lunch, but that doesn't mean that these regularities of human behavior don't exist.

Hope this helps,
- Martin

[GrandLarsony]

<Sigh>... A few more terriffic bits of writing by Martin... unfortunately the content and message was oh-so-sad.

I have seen far too many similary situations in my travels, and it saddens me to think on such things.

The only thing to do is try to leave things better than you found them. Good on you all for cleaning up behind the a-holes out there.

[PMSteve]

When I was just out of the Coast Guard in 1971, I hiked a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail from Donner Summit to Bishop, Calif. (Mt. McKinley area). I did the thing solo for a reason - to get away from people so I could hear myself think.

On the trail, I met up with a guy that was in his late 20s or early 30s (I was 22). I hiked by his camp as he was getting packed up to resume his trip. I had gone about 2 or 3 miles down the trail when I hear this jangling sound coming up the trail from behind me.

There was this guy huffing and puffing up the trail trying to catch up with me. His cook pot clanging against his "Sierra Cup" with both being tied to his pack. He had his sleeping bag bundled in his arms and was pushing hard to catch me. I stopped to let this 'tard go by me, but he stopped and decided to roll up his bag right there while I watched. I knew he wanted some company on the trail and thought we were "Family" or something, like I was just up there looking for a friend.

I decided to start walking and he caught up with me again. The dude just wouldn't stop talking and I was really trying to be polite but I just couldn't take it anymore. I started to get really rude with him and explained that I was hiking solo for a reason and didn't want his company.

He just didn't get it and would not take the hint. Finally I reached into my pack and pulled my 1911 (not pointing it at him). I told him that the last three guys I shot because they just got on my nerves and I couldn't take their BS anymore.

His eyes got wide and he started down the trail at almost a dead run. I shouted that I'd take a break for an hour and then I was gonna follow him.

Never saw him again. Happily.

[wilderness]

The hunters around these parts (myself included) keep a clean camp. While there and it's clean when they leave.
The same thing however, can't be said for some of the remote lakes that I've hiked into to camp and fish at.
We've brought back our backpacks full of other people's trash. These areas are only assessable by foot or horseback.
I think most of the trash left behind in these areas are from other hikers that are to lazy to carry their trash out ,not the folks on horseback. We rarely see anyone on foot or horseback, but we defiantly see their trash.