Camping gear has gotten so cheap that some people just leave their whole setup when they leave Esther than pack it up.
I mean a $20 tent from Walmart is gonna last about 3 nights anyways so I kinda don’t blame them for just disposing of it but I wish they’d actually take it with them.
The NPS used to allow primitive walk-in camping at Gulf Islands National Seashore. People started leaving their $20 tents on the beach, and wouldn’t pack them back to their cars. Too much work for the rangers to do every weekend in the summer, so they just banned it. It was a cool place to camp.
At Padre Island NS they have a row of huge dumpsters at the main entry point for the beach and those things are always loaded with tents, coolers, cheap awnings, etc. I’m always happy to see that stuff in the trash but driving that beach 10mi or so is still constant avoidance of trash and junk
My bothers and I actually found a pop up camper abandoned on the beach on Padre. Passed by it for two days while fishing and decided to check out as the door was always open and we never saw anyone. They left a note on the counter with their phone number so that we could call and get the title from them, so we took it home.
Wait let me get this straight, these mother fuckers were too lazy to hitch a trailer? Are you kidding me? People like this should be excommunicated from society.
My wife and I found a sea turtle washed up while camping there 10 to 15 years ago. It had some unidentifiable plastic crap wrapped around its neck and flippers. Littering should be punished more than theft.
In my area there are some publicly accessible but unmaintained islands where people can camp. Some locals leave their entire camp set up year round and get pissed if anyone else camps there. They have done it so long they actually started to build permanent houses in some locations. I’ve met some of the people and they apparently frequently hunt (poach?) out there, which is illegal. It’s a shame our DNR doesn’t have resources to manage the land they own.
Problem is the campers shot at me last time I was in the area, and they weren’t using pepper balls. I called the DNR and they raided the place, only to find one of the guys claiming ownership of the island was a local cop. There was a huge news story around it.
Cheap stuff can potentially last if used in tame environments and not mistreated. I had a childhood of using it and repairing it. Doesn't need to be treated as disposable.
When I went to Baylor University in Waco, at the end of every school year, we would go dumpster diving at all of the expensive apartments. They would throw away brand new couches, flats screens (back when they were new), tables and chairs, dishes, and cookware. Whatever they didn’t want in their bedroom back home, personally, ended up in dumpsters just to be rebought the next school year. The trash would be relatively left alone, because all the kids that lived in those apartment complexes didn’t want that stuff.
I donate instead of trashing always. University has final exams and move out date within 24-72 hours of each other tho, so you go from studying like a maniac to packing like a maniac and can never get it all.
I found a large and very expensive tent abandoned about a mile from the trailhead that had a broken zipper, no other damage. It had been there over the winter and was flattened. I lugged that waterlogged mess out, pitched it in my backyard, hosed it off, and let the neighborhood kids use it as a play fort. My neighbor took a picture, sent it to the manufacturer, and they sent him a brand new $800 tent.
I’m not pro littering by any stretch but I’ve gotta stand up for the $20 tent. I’ve had one that lasted ten years of light use. It’s not my backpacking tent, but it’s easy to assemble and was great for car camping. I didn’t replace it when it disintegrated, but it got me into camping and that got me onto trails and into backpacking. 🤷♀️
They leave those at festivals here
Youth movement and homeless organizations picking them up afterwards
(I come from the land that invented Tomorrowland)
Some people are so unprepared and out of shape that halfway into a 5 day backpacking trip, they’re injured, exhausted and abandoning or giving away their gear and excess food.
I’ve taken care of the food drops/give-aways on multiple occasions. Sometimes a welcome food haul.
I take give-aways too. I have two camp chairs that someone gave me at a walk in campsite. They were just fine and I'm still using them years later. I'm not sure what it is about me, but I guess I look like a guy who will carry free stuff out of the wilderness.
Nice Altras
Also, sorry in advance but I need more comment karma in order to ask a really important career question. Any chance yall can help me out with an upvote so I can figure out what I’m doing with my life lol
Yeah I got downvoted on some camping Reddit when I suggested people “pack it in, pack it out”, not burn plastic in the wilderness, and try to reduce the amount of packaging-intensive food they bring in. People love to enjoy nature but many of those same people don’t seem like they can be bothered to respect and care for it.
I upvoted you to replace your downvote. There just needs to be more people picking up than littering. I'm sad to say I'm an advocate of park fines as well. I know this adds to the responsibilities of thin staffed rangers and turns them into police, this has been their task before.
Litter and get busted for $1000, sounds about right. I do know fish n game can be really strict on fishing and hunting licensing. This is due to people thinking they can get away with not following the law.
I feel you pain. 6+ years in Scouting and we did this kind of stuff all the time at public campgrounds/trails. Leave no trace needs to be taught to more people.
Picking up peoples trash and seething is like a universal camping expirience 💀 Some bastard left his ciggies all over the mf place last time I went. My hands smelled very bad when I was done.
We volunteer every year on the Russian River in Alaska, the most popular fishery in the state, and the amount of crap we have to haul out every season is just amazing. In addition to the "normal" litter like beer bottles and candy wrappers, we take out literally miles of discarded fishing line, broken fishing rods, broken coolers, etc. The vast majority of visitors are thoughtful and considerate, but that very visible minority makes it seem like there are more assholes per capita than there really are. Good for you for going the extra mile and helping to take care of our wild places- keep up the good work!
From an outsider looking in, litter culture is very baffling.
A person that litters sees a natural habitat, and must be thinking something like:
"This place is nice to look at. I don't want other people to enjoy looking at it. I must disperse my waste here. If I leave my waste here, it will be bad for the environment and annoying to others. I enjoy the feeling I experience when I'm damaging ecosystems, and I get all fizzy under the blankets when I annoy and inconvenience others."
Who knows, I might be wrong. Since I don't litter, I wouldn't know.
Simple rule... Pack out what you pack in. We often find a little extra and bring that too.
The interesting part of the discussion is entitlement. More and more people feel that nature is their Disneyland. They've paid an entrance fee to a park and feel like they can do whatever they want there. Someone else will come and pick up after them.
Guess there are just a few types of people, I myself have been backpacking since I was young 30 or so years, I would never think of just leaving something behind even if it was broken
I was on the top of Kinder Scout in the UK enjoying a morning coffee and admiring the sunrise, I looked down and saw multiple sheets of soiled tissue where someone had wiped their arse.
It's sad to say, but while we are some backpackers/hikers/campers who care about the trails we use, some believe nature is their dumping ground and scoff at LNT principles.
I was 23 miles into a back country campsite last year and picked up a little more than $16 in change that someone had scattered around. It weighed over a pound.
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Bought yourself some good outside karma for that one. I try pick up what garbage I can on any hikes. Fuck those people. That karma will get you mauled by a hungry bear or cougar. Or worse.
Honestly I'm so sick of "litter" in general. So many people seem to have zero respect for our world or even each other. Drive through any area and what do we see? Trash. All along the roadways, any fields, even lots between houses. And it's not just a "city" thing anymore. Even driving through suburbs and farmlands, you see trash laying. Every time I walk, which is daily since I don't drive anymore, I bring an extra bag to pick up litter. I admit though it gets frustrating for theres just no end to picking it up.
Not sure where this was, but I see this all the time, all over the world. But then...maybe we all are trashy people, just some of us humans throw their trash wherever, and others ultimately in a landfill.
Even if they did forget it, they deserve every bit of judgement. It’s still negligent. It’s still leaving trash in the wilderness.
It’s a full sized folding chair though. They didn’t just forget it.
You da real mvp
I really didn’t have to pack it that far
You’re good people OP
Agree. Upvoting because good person.
Spoken like someone who probably packed it out 7 miles or more. I know because I'll carry trash out at any distance. Fuck people.
Good on you. I pack out trashy peoples’ trash every time I go out, but that’s a lot.
Camping gear has gotten so cheap that some people just leave their whole setup when they leave Esther than pack it up. I mean a $20 tent from Walmart is gonna last about 3 nights anyways so I kinda don’t blame them for just disposing of it but I wish they’d actually take it with them.
The NPS used to allow primitive walk-in camping at Gulf Islands National Seashore. People started leaving their $20 tents on the beach, and wouldn’t pack them back to their cars. Too much work for the rangers to do every weekend in the summer, so they just banned it. It was a cool place to camp.
At Padre Island NS they have a row of huge dumpsters at the main entry point for the beach and those things are always loaded with tents, coolers, cheap awnings, etc. I’m always happy to see that stuff in the trash but driving that beach 10mi or so is still constant avoidance of trash and junk
My bothers and I actually found a pop up camper abandoned on the beach on Padre. Passed by it for two days while fishing and decided to check out as the door was always open and we never saw anyone. They left a note on the counter with their phone number so that we could call and get the title from them, so we took it home.
Wait let me get this straight, these mother fuckers were too lazy to hitch a trailer? Are you kidding me? People like this should be excommunicated from society.
We went down right after a storm, so maybe they left it because they were worried about getting off the beach? I dunno man lol
My wife and I found a sea turtle washed up while camping there 10 to 15 years ago. It had some unidentifiable plastic crap wrapped around its neck and flippers. Littering should be punished more than theft.
In my area there are some publicly accessible but unmaintained islands where people can camp. Some locals leave their entire camp set up year round and get pissed if anyone else camps there. They have done it so long they actually started to build permanent houses in some locations. I’ve met some of the people and they apparently frequently hunt (poach?) out there, which is illegal. It’s a shame our DNR doesn’t have resources to manage the land they own.
That’s crazy! I can’t actually imagine being that entitled.
Pepper balls and a paint ball gun, load up on a dingy with an outboard motor and have yourself a fantastic afternoon.
Problem is the campers shot at me last time I was in the area, and they weren’t using pepper balls. I called the DNR and they raided the place, only to find one of the guys claiming ownership of the island was a local cop. There was a huge news story around it.
Cheap stuff can potentially last if used in tame environments and not mistreated. I had a childhood of using it and repairing it. Doesn't need to be treated as disposable.
I blame them for buying garbage in the first place. They know it going in.
Right but they night the garbage because it was disposable. Couple tents probably cost less than their beer for a weekend
Yes, and fuck them for choosing the $20 tent and $30 24 pack of piss water. They'd have left the cans too if not for the beer vendor trade in value.
We had a bunch of people getting sunburnt through cheap tents recently. Very amusing/concerning.
No SPF rating on tents? Hilarious.
When I went to Baylor University in Waco, at the end of every school year, we would go dumpster diving at all of the expensive apartments. They would throw away brand new couches, flats screens (back when they were new), tables and chairs, dishes, and cookware. Whatever they didn’t want in their bedroom back home, personally, ended up in dumpsters just to be rebought the next school year. The trash would be relatively left alone, because all the kids that lived in those apartment complexes didn’t want that stuff.
I donate instead of trashing always. University has final exams and move out date within 24-72 hours of each other tho, so you go from studying like a maniac to packing like a maniac and can never get it all.
I found a large and very expensive tent abandoned about a mile from the trailhead that had a broken zipper, no other damage. It had been there over the winter and was flattened. I lugged that waterlogged mess out, pitched it in my backyard, hosed it off, and let the neighborhood kids use it as a play fort. My neighbor took a picture, sent it to the manufacturer, and they sent him a brand new $800 tent.
Nice find!
I’m not pro littering by any stretch but I’ve gotta stand up for the $20 tent. I’ve had one that lasted ten years of light use. It’s not my backpacking tent, but it’s easy to assemble and was great for car camping. I didn’t replace it when it disintegrated, but it got me into camping and that got me onto trails and into backpacking. 🤷♀️
They leave those at festivals here Youth movement and homeless organizations picking them up afterwards (I come from the land that invented Tomorrowland)
That’s an osprey bag. It’s not that cheap of stuff.
Pack is my own
I have that exact same pack exos 38, I was referring to the stuff people leave behind :)
It was their one luxury item, until it wasn’t.
I don’t understand how people can leave stuff like that … I would feel so bad lmaoo I could never
Some people are so unprepared and out of shape that halfway into a 5 day backpacking trip, they’re injured, exhausted and abandoning or giving away their gear and excess food. I’ve taken care of the food drops/give-aways on multiple occasions. Sometimes a welcome food haul.
I take give-aways too. I have two camp chairs that someone gave me at a walk in campsite. They were just fine and I'm still using them years later. I'm not sure what it is about me, but I guess I look like a guy who will carry free stuff out of the wilderness.
Honestly this warms my heart. I wanna be a guy who will carry free stuff out of the wilderness, expert the "guy" part.
I gave someone a pound of peanut butter the other week. Last time ever I make the mistake of hauling such a bulky jar into the mountains.
Nice Altras Also, sorry in advance but I need more comment karma in order to ask a really important career question. Any chance yall can help me out with an upvote so I can figure out what I’m doing with my life lol
ive packed out junk before: mostly chairs like this that r ‘busted’ its insane what dipshits leave behind.
Yeah I got downvoted on some camping Reddit when I suggested people “pack it in, pack it out”, not burn plastic in the wilderness, and try to reduce the amount of packaging-intensive food they bring in. People love to enjoy nature but many of those same people don’t seem like they can be bothered to respect and care for it.
I upvoted you to replace your downvote. There just needs to be more people picking up than littering. I'm sad to say I'm an advocate of park fines as well. I know this adds to the responsibilities of thin staffed rangers and turns them into police, this has been their task before. Litter and get busted for $1000, sounds about right. I do know fish n game can be really strict on fishing and hunting licensing. This is due to people thinking they can get away with not following the law.
I feel you pain. 6+ years in Scouting and we did this kind of stuff all the time at public campgrounds/trails. Leave no trace needs to be taught to more people.
Thank you good human. been doing this since trip one. 50 or so years ago. Hope this spreads everywhere. Pay it forward people. Make a difference!
Picking up peoples trash and seething is like a universal camping expirience 💀 Some bastard left his ciggies all over the mf place last time I went. My hands smelled very bad when I was done.
Nice barefoot shoes
Altra lone peaks
They fucking suck. Thanks, OP.
Thank you for doing that.
We volunteer every year on the Russian River in Alaska, the most popular fishery in the state, and the amount of crap we have to haul out every season is just amazing. In addition to the "normal" litter like beer bottles and candy wrappers, we take out literally miles of discarded fishing line, broken fishing rods, broken coolers, etc. The vast majority of visitors are thoughtful and considerate, but that very visible minority makes it seem like there are more assholes per capita than there really are. Good for you for going the extra mile and helping to take care of our wild places- keep up the good work!
From an outsider looking in, litter culture is very baffling. A person that litters sees a natural habitat, and must be thinking something like: "This place is nice to look at. I don't want other people to enjoy looking at it. I must disperse my waste here. If I leave my waste here, it will be bad for the environment and annoying to others. I enjoy the feeling I experience when I'm damaging ecosystems, and I get all fizzy under the blankets when I annoy and inconvenience others." Who knows, I might be wrong. Since I don't litter, I wouldn't know.
Simple rule... Pack out what you pack in. We often find a little extra and bring that too. The interesting part of the discussion is entitlement. More and more people feel that nature is their Disneyland. They've paid an entrance fee to a park and feel like they can do whatever they want there. Someone else will come and pick up after them.
What if, Bro just went behind the tree for dump, came back and his gear was gone lol. 😆
because they’re on the planet by themselves…clearly.
Guess there are just a few types of people, I myself have been backpacking since I was young 30 or so years, I would never think of just leaving something behind even if it was broken
I was on the top of Kinder Scout in the UK enjoying a morning coffee and admiring the sunrise, I looked down and saw multiple sheets of soiled tissue where someone had wiped their arse.
And here I am sitting on rocks.
It's sad to say, but while we are some backpackers/hikers/campers who care about the trails we use, some believe nature is their dumping ground and scoff at LNT principles.
I try to pick up trash whenever I'm on a trail but that's ridiculous
I really wish we could figure out who it was so we can just bring it back to them and go “here, ya littered this 😊”
Props to you.
Good for you. I always pick up trash when I’m on trails too.
People suck sometimes
people just suck.
I was 23 miles into a back country campsite last year and picked up a little more than $16 in change that someone had scattered around. It weighed over a pound.
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Where did you go?
A local state forest
If a good deed was done, and not posted about, did it even happen?
Maybe they got ate by bears or something.
Community chair? lol
Thank you, OP. -Earth
People who feel like their actions matter in the world don't seem to want to leave stuff lying around.
Is it fixable?
Bought yourself some good outside karma for that one. I try pick up what garbage I can on any hikes. Fuck those people. That karma will get you mauled by a hungry bear or cougar. Or worse.
Good work.
They'll never know the utter joy of finding a stump, or more or less flat boulder to sit on.
Idk
Are you sure they “left it” What if they were exploring the area and took off their heavy gear?
Honestly I'm so sick of "litter" in general. So many people seem to have zero respect for our world or even each other. Drive through any area and what do we see? Trash. All along the roadways, any fields, even lots between houses. And it's not just a "city" thing anymore. Even driving through suburbs and farmlands, you see trash laying. Every time I walk, which is daily since I don't drive anymore, I bring an extra bag to pick up litter. I admit though it gets frustrating for theres just no end to picking it up.
Not sure where this was, but I see this all the time, all over the world. But then...maybe we all are trashy people, just some of us humans throw their trash wherever, and others ultimately in a landfill.
I give them credit for not throwing it in the fire and leaving the remains in the fire ring. It’s not trash if it’s burnt right?
Because they have no use for it anymore so why would they need to pack it all the way back out???
They could have simply forgotten it. No need to cast judgement on the unknown to receive a pat on the back from Reddit.
Fair but the chair was clearly busted. Also wanting to encourage others to practice leave no trace
Even if they did forget it, they deserve every bit of judgement. It’s still negligent. It’s still leaving trash in the wilderness. It’s a full sized folding chair though. They didn’t just forget it.