Sorry folks but I need to vent......I had other titles for the top of this post but refrained. As a few of you may know from a previous post of mine myself and a friend drew cow tags for the Kamas Oakley unit. This past Saturday we decided to make a run up to the unit as more of a check it out/get out of town day. As expected, lots of other people out enjoying their time on the hills, hunting, camping and just out for a drive from what it looked like.
We headed up Mirror Lake highway to Upper Setting road and headed for the top well before sun up. After getting up in there quite a ways and having no idea of where we really were we decided to wait a few for the sun to put a little light on the subject. To get to the heart of this post I will skip the morning hours as they were uneventful, just a nice long hike seen some awesome country!
It was the ride down off the mountain that made me sick and the disregard for nature people have and accountability for oneself and there trash!! We passed one campsite that had mini propane bottles, beer bottles, cans, and cardboard and trash stacked in the fire pit for the next person to burn or pick up. Heck there was even a large Rubbermaid trash can full of crap on its side with stuff spilling out of it! One spot even had what looks to be someone's old sleeping bag that they didn't want to haul home! I couldn't believe it, but wait it gets better!! A little further down the road after seeing a little more of the same here and there at other camp sites we came to a spot where I had seen on the map that I wanted to hike into. To my finding this was the idea of many others in the recent past as well. Not 30 feet after leaving the road on a heavily traveled trail someone had used a log on the trail as there personal throne to drop a deuce. Now ill admit when nature calls you gotta go you go but for gods sake on the trail!! Wait it gets better..... for probably the next 30 feet or so it continued!! Someone had been using this trail as their personal restroom for what seemed a good few days. We had just walked into a mine field and it was only two feet across!! Sh*t paper everywhere, baby wipes blowing around.....it was disgusting!!! Seriously, on the trail?! We pushed on through the mine field and get to where we wanted to be. Spent the after noon glassing and seeing a whole lot of nothing but a few people here and there. Just before we decided to call it a day and head back 4 individuals had hiked up out of the bottom, wearing orange and carrying rifles. From our vantage we watched as they head to the trail that brought us in and then they disappeared into the trees. These were the only people we had seen all afternoon use that same trail. We worked our way down and across and not long after we got into the trees there lies a fresh empty water bottle laying in the brush, that's when I started to get Pi**ed! A little further candy wrappers, a little further and more candy wrappers and then another water bottle. These items were not there on our walk in. Yes I picked them up but I drew the line when we came back upon the mine field and Sh*t paper everywhere. I was really hoping those individuals were still at the trailhead when we came out because I was going to give them there trash back! Its Bullsh*t what people do and have no second thought about it. Its really saddening that that's what some of our wilderness areas are turning into. I haven't hunted or camped in the Uintas for years because I hated seeing what people were doing to the land up there and that trip Saturday just confirmed that this is a disease that will never die. I know it happens everywhere but for GODS sake people its not that hard to pack it out if you can pack it in. Im no saint and will never claim to be but I make an honest effort.
Ok im done, ill step off my soap box now but let me say one more thing.....to those that do make the honest effort may the best of luck find you in all you do and to those who don't.....well.....I only hope karma catches up with you because Ive heard its a B*tch!
We headed up Mirror Lake highway to Upper Setting road and headed for the top well before sun up. After getting up in there quite a ways and having no idea of where we really were we decided to wait a few for the sun to put a little light on the subject. To get to the heart of this post I will skip the morning hours as they were uneventful, just a nice long hike seen some awesome country!
It was the ride down off the mountain that made me sick and the disregard for nature people have and accountability for oneself and there trash!! We passed one campsite that had mini propane bottles, beer bottles, cans, and cardboard and trash stacked in the fire pit for the next person to burn or pick up. Heck there was even a large Rubbermaid trash can full of crap on its side with stuff spilling out of it! One spot even had what looks to be someone's old sleeping bag that they didn't want to haul home! I couldn't believe it, but wait it gets better!! A little further down the road after seeing a little more of the same here and there at other camp sites we came to a spot where I had seen on the map that I wanted to hike into. To my finding this was the idea of many others in the recent past as well. Not 30 feet after leaving the road on a heavily traveled trail someone had used a log on the trail as there personal throne to drop a deuce. Now ill admit when nature calls you gotta go you go but for gods sake on the trail!! Wait it gets better..... for probably the next 30 feet or so it continued!! Someone had been using this trail as their personal restroom for what seemed a good few days. We had just walked into a mine field and it was only two feet across!! Sh*t paper everywhere, baby wipes blowing around.....it was disgusting!!! Seriously, on the trail?! We pushed on through the mine field and get to where we wanted to be. Spent the after noon glassing and seeing a whole lot of nothing but a few people here and there. Just before we decided to call it a day and head back 4 individuals had hiked up out of the bottom, wearing orange and carrying rifles. From our vantage we watched as they head to the trail that brought us in and then they disappeared into the trees. These were the only people we had seen all afternoon use that same trail. We worked our way down and across and not long after we got into the trees there lies a fresh empty water bottle laying in the brush, that's when I started to get Pi**ed! A little further candy wrappers, a little further and more candy wrappers and then another water bottle. These items were not there on our walk in. Yes I picked them up but I drew the line when we came back upon the mine field and Sh*t paper everywhere. I was really hoping those individuals were still at the trailhead when we came out because I was going to give them there trash back! Its Bullsh*t what people do and have no second thought about it. Its really saddening that that's what some of our wilderness areas are turning into. I haven't hunted or camped in the Uintas for years because I hated seeing what people were doing to the land up there and that trip Saturday just confirmed that this is a disease that will never die. I know it happens everywhere but for GODS sake people its not that hard to pack it out if you can pack it in. Im no saint and will never claim to be but I make an honest effort.
Ok im done, ill step off my soap box now but let me say one more thing.....to those that do make the honest effort may the best of luck find you in all you do and to those who don't.....well.....I only hope karma catches up with you because Ive heard its a B*tch!
