Trail Trash Fun

Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
Post Reply
User avatar
mattherrington
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:04 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Oceanside, CA

Trail Trash Fun

Post by mattherrington »

To not revive a dead thread I went a few pages deep here around the campfire but if I have, apologies. Anyways...

As we approach the season I was longingly looking at pictures last night and began to notice how many pictures I have of myself or friends (always smiling) with trail trash. I don't begrudge the original owners of most trail trash. I think we're are very conscious group and do what we can. I just chalk it up as a wrapper that fell out of a pocket and gladly accept the opportunity to give something back. Some type of holy gratitude to everything within eyeshot if you will.

Of course there are those one night areas where you can find all 30 Coors Light cans crushed in the box they came in and to those people I say you're an ass, don't let me catch you, but once they're already gone I'll still pack it out. What I noticed in my pictures though is that I have an affinity (I'm like a magnet) for a particular kind of trail trash that really gets my goat because it's not from anyone you'd ever meet on a trail.

Maybe you know it; it happens like this:

It's usually mid-day when I'm walking along and in the not so far distance (<100 yds) I get a flash of light and unnatural color usually off the ground. My brain says WTF is that? I'm in the middle of nowhere. I of course leave the trail and approach the object. En route it "flashes" again and seems to be moving. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I suddenly have memories of massive alien themed parties in rural Colorado in the 90’s. Then, at about the 20 yd mark I realize its shape, size, and material. You bastards. It’s 15 in. wide, round, and made of reflective Mylar. Thank you once again 3M for making a (super UV, weather and decomposition resilient) party decoration which retails for $1.99 that everyone buys that’ll practically fly to space before landing itself hopefully in some urban area.

I find 5+ a year now. It’s kind of a game for me. I found one last month on what’s commonly presumed to be one of the least travelled and least attractive stretch of the PCT, San Felipe Hills. If I’ve been to a park I’ve probably found one there and I find them in the weirdest spots. So much so that I carry 75 ft. of 550 cord even when I day hike as I use that and a Nalgene bottle as a bit of a snag. Not terribly effective but I tried a hook/leader type of snag on the same line and had to climb a big tree to get my own trash out of it. Well, I went looking around the internet and found all kinds of awesome trail trash that people have packed out. I even saw the equivalent of a cast iron bear can that was like two paint cans stacked atop one another. The photo was at Trail Crest on the MWWT. Awesome!

So my question to the forum is this:
What the deepest you’ve ever found a Mylar balloon?
Last edited by mattherrington on Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
maverick
Forums Moderator
Forums Moderator
Posts: 11823
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:54 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trail Trash Fun

Post by maverick »

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4504&p=33064&hilit= ... ash#p33064" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
User avatar
mattherrington
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:04 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Oceanside, CA

Re: Trail Trash Fun

Post by mattherrington »

Thanks Mav,

Knew it was there somewhere. Appropriate edit to isolate my fun to Mylar only!

Cheers,
User avatar
Carne_DelMuerto
Topix Expert
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:43 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Auburn, CA

Re: Trail Trash Fun

Post by Carne_DelMuerto »

Last summer in Emgrant Wilderness we found a few mylar birthday balloons in the area between Rosasco Lake, Big Lake, and Pingree Lake. We found about one a day hiking between these points. They appeared to all be from the same batch and had settled within a 5 mile radius. It happened to also be the birthday of one of our group, so he packed them out.
Wonder is rock and water and the life that lives in-between.
User avatar
RoguePhotonic
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1693
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:52 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Bakersfield CA
Contact:

Re: Trail Trash Fun

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Baloons are probably the most common items of trash I find in the Sierra. I have seen them every where. Even the typical rubber ones make it onto the highest talus fields.
User avatar
paul
Topix Expert
Posts: 787
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:35 pm
Experience: N/A

Re: Trail Trash Fun

Post by paul »

Red Mountain Basin
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 51 guests