Collecting trash on the country’s longest trails
By Elgin Stallard, Outside
Two young men set off last year on an unthinkable task: pick up, haul out, and dispose of every single piece of trash they saw on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.
It’s a Herculean job when you consider that people leave everything from used toilet paper and diapers to spent batteries and box springs on trails across the country, and that much of the PCT wends through wilderness and large stretches are inaccessible to roads and motorized vehicles.
The final weight of junk the two men pulled off the trail: 720 pounds. Among the highlights: a mattress, a 35-pound metal-and-broken-glass television stand, children’s toys, and 26 Mylar balloons.
Wonder why so many folks think America is a trash can? Dirty diapers? Mylar balloons? How can someone who leaves this trash enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Coast Trail with a clear conscience. Hope they stay home next time, and wallow in their trash. Hard to believe folks are so self serving and think the maid is walking behind them!