not just for camping - a blog trip report

[the_tc_life]

no, this trip report is not really a trip report. does it involve our camper? yes. was today's trip worth sharing and getting people to think about things? yes.

so here you go, i hope it inspires you.

blog link

[spacedoutbob]

I always clean up my area when I go camping, I try to leave it in better condition than when I got there. Fantastic job of cleaning up by the way.

Bob

[hedge]

nice story. We do a similar thing here with our ATV club. In an effort to keep the trails open we go out and clean up after long weekends after the yahoos have been 'camping'. It's frustrating what a mess people can make and just the sheer lack of respect they have for the land and others but what can you do.

[Dadio24]

Very Nice...thanks for sharing this story...maybe it will remind us to take one bag of gathered trash to the dumpster for each day we camp. People see the difference and will start doing it themselves. If you ever camped near me, you have seen our family make a cleanup run in the mid-morning hoping to make the campground cleaner for lunch...

[ejfranz]

Thanks for the info TCLife and bringing more awareness to this problem and what we can do.

Sadly this is a common site near metropolitan areas and people will continue to pollute the areas even after they have seen it cleaned. The 4WD club of BC carries out a number of clean ups each year. On April 19 they were cleaning up east Stave lake, in Mission BC about 50 miles east of Vancouver BC. In the past 3 years they have removed 43 tonnes from this area.
On June 14, they will be cleaning up West Stave lake. Many areas are being gated off. Areas I use to camp in 20 years ago are now either behind gates or the roads have been serverly deactivated ( 12' deep trenchs).

I don't know how it is in the USA, but in BC there is a push to reduce access to back country use and only through the actions of the speciality back country users groups (4WDs, Motorcycles, ATVs and mountain bikes) are some areas being kept open or limited access being granted.

I encourage all back country campers to get envoled with a group and help keep tha back country open and clean.

[cewillis]

Great work, thanks.

[SRT]

Regretfully there is a small percentage of people in this country who feel the outdoors is a trash can. We see McDonald's trash on the roads around here all the time. At one time I thought that "drive-thru" trash cans would work. But some people start leaving their house hold trash.

I applaud your efforts to clean up the trash. Wish more groups would do so. Too many parents have not taught their kids to clean up after themselves.

[pa_traveler]

Good job on cleanup,was that mess from previous people camping or some type of tornado or high wind damage? If that's from people ,wow that's bad.

[JumboJet]

Good community service! That was a mess. I was driving home from work the other day and thought to myself how clean the sides of the road looked. Most people out where I live are responsible and caring.

My daughter did have 3 beer cans in the ditch that borders her property on a different road. AHs!

[the_tc_life]

Xpd77 wrote:
Unfortunately I had to work this weekend and couldn't attend any of the CITO events around here. I've only ever been to one of these events before and we took out a ton of trash that time as well. Thanks for the blog post.

yeah, there was/is several cito events around the world this weekend. im actually the one who set this one up. i was hiking and caching in the area a few weeks ago and i saw the mess. i made the call to get it done. we had a great turn out for it.

[Xpd77]

Unfortunately I had to work this weekend and couldn't attend any of the CITO events around here. I've only ever been to one of these events before and we took out a ton of trash that time as well. Thanks for the blog post.

[Desertboy]

Looks great, Thanks, and thanks for sharing.

[realter]

Really iritates me to see what a mess some people make. Thanks for groups like yours. Such a pretty area of the USA, around Spokane.

[rickeoni]

Nice work, I applaud your effort.

[the_tc_life]

tonyandkaren wrote:
Wow, that was a mess! In all of our years of camping and boondocking I've never seen anything like it. Do you think it will stay clean now that you've got it looking good again?

Time will tell. I'll be back there in a couple weeks hiking.