People suck

[rdy4adventure]

We camp a lot, however I brought my mom and dad out with us this time and my mom prefers AC, showers and power so we got a cabin. While we were on an adventure away from our cabin we were staying at, I wanted to show them one of our favorite campsites from the area we were in, which was George Washington National Forest coming down from Flagpole Knob towards Switzer Lake outside of Harrisonburg VA.

Pull up to this mess stacked inside the firepit and around it. We took the 2 trash bags I had on hand and cleaned up this site and one a little further up, threw it in the back of my truck and took it to some dumpsters.. Found what looked like a little bag of coke or heroin. Couldn't really tell due to it being watery inside the bag. Really wish we had the technology to find these people and put them to community service cleaning up the forest. What makes things worse, is there was a trash bag right there in the picture that was empty....why?? People are disgusting and have zero respect for others and the things around them.

I know this doesn't apply to any of you guys because most of us share the same opinion when it comes to cleaning up campsites and the forest.

 

[Offroadnutz]

I cant tell you how many times ive seen stuff like that. People like that get areas closed down.

Worse are the ones that leave campfires going after they leave. Came across this one in NM in an area already hit hard by forest fires.

 

[Kevin108]

Flagpole is an incredibly popular spot simply because of how limited the number of trails in our region are. Figure it's one of the closest spots for all of us east of 95, from Baltimore to Virginia Beach. But all the "visitors" I've come across treat the area well. Maybe it's the locals that haven't figured out "throw it in the woods" isn't appropriate conduct. I can't say for sure. But I come loaded to cleanup whatever sites I stay in.

 

[FishinCrzy]

I don't mind doing a little cleaning up along the way as I am not usually in a hurry. Trash just reminds me of ignorance. Can't fix stoopid I reckon.

 

[John Bishop]

I'm venturing a guess that was one of the easier to access sites. Thank you for cleaning it up.

 

[jeepers29]

The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs. Since covid, I have found the forests are getting trashed. I am thinking the people who did not enjoy the outdoors before covid are the responsible group for this. I make every site I stay at cleaner than I found it, or in OP's case, just clean. Good job OP. As far as the drugs, the users will eliminate themselves soon enough.

 

[dasmi]

I always leave with more trash than I bring in. And I've got one of these on my car and all my laptops, just to remind people.

Clean up Your Shit Sticker Outdoor Ethics Anti-litter National Park Sticker National Park Gift - Etsy

This Laptop Decals item by AdventureResponsibly has 852 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Centerville, UT. Listed on Apr 12, 2024

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[K9LTW]

I'd pretty much bet the farm that that mess was from a bunch of JMU kids. We'd regularly find the large sites trashed with JMU sweatshirts/t-shirts/chairs being left behind. Lazy ass kids that just go out, trash the woods for a night, then stumble back to their vehicles in the AM. Sadly the rangers are so dispersed and overworked that there's simply no enforcement. Would be minimal investment for the forest service to invest in trail cams for problem sites to record traffic into/out of the site...it doesn't need to record the actual site (and no ranger wants to see me doing my morning stretches )

We pretty much never go up there anymore unless it's winter. Too much traffic. Too many stupid people. Just one of a billion reasons we do a big trip every year out west, and our time is limited out here. Not that there aren't slobs out there, but there are fewer and far more space to get away from them. On the flipside...Virginia DOESN'T have long droughts, massive wildfires, and feet upon feet of snow. Trade-offs, I suppose.

More dogs...less people. This is the way.

 

[MOAK]

I'd pretty much bet the farm that that mess was from a bunch of JMU kids. We'd regularly find the large sites trashed with JMU sweatshirts/t-shirts/chairs being left behind. Lazy ass kids that just go out, trash the woods for a night, then stumble back to their vehicles in the AM. Sadly the rangers are so dispersed and overworked that there's simply no enforcement. Would be minimal investment for the forest service to invest in trail cams for problem sites to record traffic into/out of the site...it doesn't need to record the actual site (and no ranger wants to see me doing my morning stretches )

We pretty much never go up there anymore unless it's winter. Too much traffic. Too many stupid people. Just one of a billion reasons we do a big trip every year out west, and our time is limited out here. Not that there aren't slobs out there, but there are fewer and far more space to get away from them. On the flipside...Virginia DOESN'T have long droughts, massive wildfires, and feet upon feet of snow. Trade-offs, I suppose.

More dogs...less people. This is the way.

Agreed, we go west at least twice a year for the same reasons. The eastern seaboard is inundated with people. There really isn’t anywhere one can actually overland without running into lots of people.