Clueless campers

[NMroamer]

There is another thread about the trash people leave behind. Here it has gotten so bad that a campground is closed because of it.
Not to mention the abandoned campfire that started a forest fire. Second campground closed.
Makes me wonder what their house looks like. I grew up spending as much time as I could in the forest. As it makes me so angry to see people that have so little respect for nature.
If you hear about the old guy that went berserk on a trashy camper or one who left a campfire burning it will probably be me.

 

[neighbormike]

It is a damn shame that people refuse to clean up after themselves. Just no excuse for it. It really seems that there are far more idiots to contend with lately.

 

[gladecreekwy]

It’s been really bad around the Parks up here. Now things are bone dry and there’s a fire ban. Only a matter of time till we start seeing wildfires started by these morons. They are stuffing trash in the bear boxes, leaving fires actively burning, damaging the park with dirt bikes and harassing wildlife. Disgusting

 

[Jimbow]

Education is our best tool. Camping practices have changed. Leave No Trace has been the norm for a couple decades but some new campers are still thinking 1950s hatchets and shovels.

Plus a movement of "if I offend you it's your problem" has taken hold.

 

[WrkrBee]

Last week I removed screws from trees at the campsite. This one is weeping. I guess people think it is okay, since they use wood screws.

 

[Snow]

At the july Ontario summer Rally there was this group of hillbillies camping just down from us, well when they all pulled out they left one of their fire pits blazing away.. we'll myself and another Rally attendee (wrenchgear) grabbed his fire tongs and my fire gloves and went and grabbed the burning logs and brought them over to our fire pit and added them to our fire.

 

[Sneezer]

I think it is more of a society problem. I see so much trash around the city where I live. I often see people tossing empty soda cups out their window at stoplights and such. If the trash can is full people just pile on top of it instead of looking for another. Every time I go to a fast food or counter service restaurant there will always be at least one family, group, couple or customer who leaves all their trash on the table when they leave rather than take it to the trash can. It is sad and disheartening to see this kind of behavior everywhere, not just at campsites, and from all walks of life, all ages, everyone. My brother in law even admitted to using his city issued recycling bin for regular trash when his got too full. It is always someone else problem to deal with, even though they are the problem.

 

[kitphantom]

I've only been out once this year so far, a long weekend at a SOTF event only 3 hours away. Since the campground was operating at limited capacity, we were about the only ones there. SOTF tries to educate the members on being responsible campers, so it was pretty good. The families who came into the site behind mine for the last night or two were not too bad - except for the smokey fires (smoke came directly into our trailer), which didn't seem attended at all times. There may have been someone left in their camper(s), but not exactly close supervision of a fireI didn't see it, but the friend with me said there was a long tree log just pushed into the fire, I assume to just keep feeding it. We had actually been surprised that campfires were allowed in the (private) campground, many places in the area had banned then due to dryness - and the region is just beginning to recover from a wildfire several years ago.
We're heading out tomorrow for 10 nights in Colorado, so we'll see how it's going there. One campground has gotten busier over the years we've been going, with a higher proportion of what we call the casual camper - one who hasn't done much camping, doesn't seem to care about rules, regs, or good camper citizenship. The other is 45 minutes from the closet town, so doesn't get as many casual folks, though we have seen our share of stupid camper tricks there. Bear country, someone had a turkey fryer (we wondered just what type of fish they were catching!), and left it and the multi gallon jug of oil sitting unattended in the site. The host told us later the bear had come and bitten the cap off of the jug.
I have seen multiple reports from USFS and others in NM, AZ, and CO recently on how trashed they have been finding places, overfilled dumpsters, etc.

 

[WrkrBee]

It amazes me how much trash some campers generate. We can camp for a week and may have a partial small grocery sack.

 

[neighbormike]

Maybe time for some chlorine in the ol’ gene pool!

 

[Mark CASTELLANI]

we just got back from a week in NY's ADKs.... I'm not sure if this qualifies but, it looked like the previous "campers" disassembled a cabinet [remodeling their camper?] and left it next to the fireplace..., albeit, it was neatly stacked.

maybe they thought somebody could use it for kindling?... the maintenance staff must have thought so... they didn't pick it up before we got there.

DW said she wouldn't burn it 'cause "who knows what it might have been treated with"

anyway... it was weird...

Happy Trails

 

[Steveo4090]

There is another thread about the trash people leave behind. Here it has gotten so bad that a campground is closed because of it.
Not to mention the abandoned campfire that started a forest fire. Second campground closed.
Makes me wonder what their house looks like. I grew up spending as much time as I could in the forest. As it makes me so angry to see people that have so little respect for nature.
If you hear about the old guy that went berserk on a trashy camper or one who left a campfire burning it will probably be me.

I put out a fire out last week that my neighbor left "on" and smoking...and blowing into my camper. I dumped a gallon of water over it and it sent a steam cloud rolling up in the air, then the big fat dude sitting in his chair in the next site instructed me that I was not putting it out correctly. Also told me the next person might be mad that their fire pit was all wet. I skipped saying the 1st thing that came to mind as well as the next dozen or so as well. I settled on "thanks" with a thumbs up.

 

[tfischer]

I've told this story here before, but when my boys were quite young, we attended a local festival that ended in fireworks. Thousands of people had been there most of the evening starting at 5pm. We were using our flashlights and picking up all of our trash and wrappers and such, and one of my boys said "why are we doing this? Nobody else is". Sure enough, virtually everyone else was just walking away leaving mounds of trash behind everywhere. I explained to them the value of leaving things as good as, or better than, you found them. I explained that if everyone picked up after themselves it takes a minute or two, but the next day a small crew would be spending all day cleaning up the mess because of everyone else. I explained that we can't control other people, but we don't have to add to the problem.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

I've told this story here before, but when my boys were quite young, we attended a local festival that ended in fireworks. Thousands of people had been there most of the evening starting at 5pm. We were using our flashlights and picking up all of our trash and wrappers and such, and one of my boys said "why are we doing this? Nobody else is". Sure enough, virtually everyone else was just walking away leaving mounds of trash behind everywhere. I explained to them the value of leaving things as good as, or better than, you found them. I explained that if everyone picked up after themselves it takes a minute or two, but the next day a small crew would be spending all day cleaning up the mess because of everyone else. I explained that we can't control other people, but we don't have to add to the problem.

Leading by Example, well done.

 

[Orchid]

I've told this story here before, but when my boys were quite young, we attended a local festival that ended in fireworks. Thousands of people had been there most of the evening starting at 5pm. We were using our flashlights and picking up all of our trash and wrappers and such, and one of my boys said "why are we doing this? Nobody else is". Sure enough, virtually everyone else was just walking away leaving mounds of trash behind everywhere. I explained to them the value of leaving things as good as, or better than, you found them. I explained that if everyone picked up after themselves it takes a minute or two, but the next day a small crew would be spending all day cleaning up the mess because of everyone else. I explained that we can't control other people, but we don't have to add to the problem.

This reminds me of fireworks on the mall, in DC. We used to go every year, and as the crowd clears you can just see nothing but trash and junk covering the entire area. So much trash, I mean a mind boggling amount. Lots of people would leave blankets, coolers, chairs, clothing, and just about anything you could think of.

We've never added to the trash, always packed out what we packed in. But, I'll admit we never picked anything up either. Really no way you could without bring crushed to death by the crowd as everyone pushed toward the Metro station.

 

[Steveo4090]

I explained that we can't control other people, but we don't have to add to the problem.

Thats a lesson lacking today...we should be responsible for our own actions.

 

[Steveo4090]

This reminds me of fireworks on the mall, in DC. We used to go every year, and as the crowd clears you can just see nothing but trash and junk covering the entire area. So much trash, I mean a mind boggling amount. Lots of people would leave blankets, coolers, chairs, clothing, and just about anything you could think of.

We've never added to the trash, always packed out what we packed in. But, I'll admit we never picked anything up either. Really no way you could without bring crushed to death by the crowd as everyone pushed toward the Metro station.

Yes, been there and done that. Same thing with going to all those "the washington football team" (don't offend anyone) games and the stupid amount of trash people leave there under their seats.

 

[mandolinpicker]

This reminds me of fireworks on the mall, in DC. We used to go every year, and as the crowd clears you can just see nothing but trash and junk covering the entire area. So much trash, I mean a mind boggling amount. Lots of people would leave blankets, coolers, chairs, clothing, and just about anything you could think of.

We've never added to the trash, always packed out what we packed in. But, I'll admit we never picked anything up either. Really no way you could without bring crushed to death by the crowd as everyone pushed toward the Metro station.

What is really amazing is that the next morning the Mall is just as clean as anything. You would never know that it was trashed the night before. Worked a bunch of night shifts on the ambulance and got to see them clean the area between runs. They literally have it down to a science.

 

[1380ken]

Yes, been there and done that. Same thing with going to all those "the washington football team" (don't offend anyone) games and the stupid amount of trash people leave there under their seats.

I always leave my trash behind in stadiums. I pay enough to be there and to buy the overpriced food. They can pay to clean up the mess.

 

[WrkrBee]

I always leave my trash behind in stadiums. I pay enough to be there and to buy the overpriced food. They can pay to clean up the mess.

There's the problem. "Leave no trace" applies to all we do, even if we pay to do it.