I grew up with a dad that would pick up trash, even along the streets of New York City, in attempt to keep his world beautiful. How can you not respect that? So… how does it make you feel when you see trash? And what do you do about it?To this day it remains a great upset of mine. And never more disturbing than trash in the wilds. You’d think the back country, the wilderness and Wilderness are no place to leave trash behind… but still you’ll find it. Perhaps it’s an accident at times; I’d like to hope it is. Perhaps something fell or blew away unnoticed, or the drag rider (for me, usually my son Forrest who is well trained in the art of trash spotting) did not see.
Does anyone else remember that commercial from the 70’s with the wise old Native American man riding his pony, a single tear falling down his cheek as he looks upon the litter spread out before him on this beautiful land? That was powerful stuff.
What can we do as we ride by except stop our horses, get off, and pick it up? I will every time. Fortunately, where I live, we are lucky enough to have trash be an exception, not a rule. But still, my horses no longer fear plastic bags (those things always seem to fly away from folks, I guess), and my saddle bags often come home full.
Trash is anything we humans left behind that does not belong. Including fire rings. How campers came to believe that stones had to be gathered and stacked in order to build a temporary fire is a mystery to me, and how one can leave a fire pit and think that the next folks by won’t notice… Stones don’t “grow” in a ring with a burned out center. We notice. Perhaps those campers are trying to be “thoughtful” by leaving it there for the next camper to use. No. The next camper hopefully knows how to follow Leave No Trace ethics.
This week I came across two such rings filled with trash. Hmmm. I’m thinking that either the campers didn’t know beer cans don’t burn and must have left the fire before it was dead out. Or else the campers thought their trash was… OK? Either way, I just don’t get it. You took such great efforts to pack your gear and get this far out. Did you find trash here when you arrived which spoiled your impression?
I’m far from perfect. I am certain I have lost and left things behind out there. Hopefully the next rider after me is caring enough to stop and pick up my mess. On the other hand, I do my best to clean up after others if need be. I just don’t think I’ll ever understand why it needs to be, if you know what I mean. There are few places remaining unspoiled by mans heavy hands. I’ll do what I can to keep the wild and the wilderness pristine
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