We hiked past this sad example of LNT ignorance high in the Sierra between Woods Gulch and Jenkins Canyon. Somebody must have been watching way too many TV shows about how to live in the wilds…without ever seeing a single webpage or pamphlet from Leave No Trace.
We met them later, a few miles below their camp, as they returned from a day of fishing. They were a little embarrassed about the camp, and described it as a cowboy camp. But I don’t think that these four, polite young men had ever met a real cowboy. They were just playing Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer up in the mountains. And unfortunately, there were other folks around.
We didn’t say much to them about the camp. But I did hand one of the guys a piece of trash that he had left on the trail. I suggested that it might be his. Yep, he said. Thanks.