One man's trash ... is another man's trash

Microtrash is always a big problem, and rare is the trip I take without coming home with a cargo-pants pocket full of it.  Common offenders are cigarette butts, corners of Clif/Snickers/Nature Valley bars, crumbs of those ubiquitous blue foam pads, and the occasional bandaid.  Note, I never pick up toilet paper, so ladies, please try and pee farther away than right next to the trail.

Macrotrash is a little more of an interesting dilemma.   You see either modern dumpsites at trailheads (tires, beer cans) or you find 'historic' items rusting away at an old cabin site, or the remains of a can dump at an old shelter.   Sometimes its piles of trash, and unsightly, or its in high traffic areas where it encourages more trash.   Here's a case where a very busy caretaker in the Maine Applachian Trail Club cleaned up a massive amount of really bad trash.   I helped carry down some big rusty iron bits on my way down the Firewarden's Trail (totally overwhelming my pack's suspension, but worth it).
http://www.matc.org/assets/Resolved-Refuse-Removal-ATJourneys-MarApr2014.pdf


I can live with some of it, things like this I found in the desert of southern California.   It adds a certain atmosphere, and has some historical value.   This area was actively mined for gold.

But what kills me is the modern "woodsman's" trash.  Plastic garbage bags left behind.   Propane cannisters.   Toilet paper.  5 gallon buckets of poop.   Benches, tables, chairs hacked together with local lumber and plywood.   When I was a caretaker on the AT in Maine, I once packed out nearly a full black trashbag, just from a single hike ~40 miles and hitting 3 shelters.  Unacceptable!

These are the things that say "This area is actively used.   It is not wild, whatever you thought you were going to see.   It's a campsite, a playground, a city park.   It's to be used and consumed, not preserved or saved for the next person.   We beat you to it, so suck it."

Leaving no trace in paradise

Digging through some old hiking photos from Hawaii, I was struck how similar the trail is to New England, despite having probably 1/100 of the traffic.   That volcanic soil just can't take the abuse, similar to the thin layer of soil on top of the mineral soils covering the mountains of the Northeast.  Just like how in alpine zones like Marcy, Washington, Saddleback and Katahdin one step off the trail does irreparable damage, the terrain on relatively 'new' land like the Hawaiian islands is fragile.

First you have jackasses like this.   Despite a marked trail, an easy trail that doesn't need poles, a sign to stay on the trail, these  two decided to take a break off the trail to adjust.   The terrain seems hardly fragile, but it's the sense of wildness you're looking to preserve.   If you end up with footbeds all over the lava, then its not a cool dormant crater anymore, its a city park.

On Kauai, in the Waimea Canyon park, there's a long trail that runs through jungle then along the coast.    Here you have a hip-deep trail, and a "bonus" trail along the side, probably created by sneaker-wearing hikers in the wet season.   If you #PlanAheadAndPrepare you have the right shoes.

When the trail is eroded like this, you want to stay on it - and you can see the subtle psychological pressure to keep away from the edge; the soil is getting compacted as the trail erodes.

These are the only legitimate ones allowed to go off-trail.   Partially because they live here, partially because they have four wheel drive.

It's important to leave the land in the condition you've found it, as you owe it to the guy behind you.   Let him have his experience, just as you had yours, and perhaps next time, someone will leave something for you.