Well, it is March and that means it is Thru-hiking Season on the Appalachian Trail (AT). While this is an annual event, something else has also and that is a Wood Booger rant about trash on the trail. In 2014 I wrote one in mid-March on litter that I found out hiking. Last year I wrote not one, but two blogs after encountering trash on the trail and reading of people leaving food out for hikers unsecured (you know from bears). Anyway, it is 2016 and I wondered how long it would be before I had to come back to this subject and I didn’t even make out of March.
I was reading a story on the Appalachian Trails Facebook page that said people at Mountain Crossing (in Georgia) had already hauled out 300 pounds of trash from the AT in the Neel Gap area (which includes Blood Mountain). Just let that sink in 300 pounds!
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| Picture from Appalachian Trails |
I know on two of my AT hikes in February I hauled out half bag of trash (I carry a small garbage bag these days) and this was before thru-hiking had really got rolling (it doesn’t get to East Tennessee until early April). On my last trip out to the Humps I thought I might have made it without having to carry out any refuse, but in Yellow Mountain Gap I picked up a plastic bottle. Oh, but that wasn’t the best thing...no someone had tossed a sleep pad just off the AT, this was the largest item I have packed out to date. I get tried of having to say this and I know it is not every AT hiker, but remember there are not any people paid to pick up after you. Maybe your mommy does that at home, but it doesn’t work that way in the woods. So, remember, like I said last year, pack your shit out and Leave No Trace!!!! I don't know if these blogs make any difference, but they make me feel better.+
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