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pula58
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pula58
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 2:36 pm 
For the last few years my Wife and I have been going to the enchantments the last one or two weekends before permit season starts. Usually just a handful of people are there. This year, this Sat morning the parking lot was full, and the parking overflowed all the way past the lake Caroline trailhead. I have never seen it like this in 20 years of backpacking in that area. The place is being loved to death. People building camp fires at Colchuck lake, trash all over the place at the lake , people hiking and camping in areas clearly designated as "Stay off, trail restoration," broken bottles hidden in tree stumps. Toilet paper and fecal messes. Yuck! So,I think the fact that it was the last weekend before the permit season starts AND because of the low snowfall this winter, the people were out in swarms, which included a fair percentage of the thoughtless. The place was also dustier than I have ever seen it. What would normally be a winter of fallen pine needles on the trail surface was pulverized into dust by all the boot traffic. I can only hope that we get a ton of snow this coming winter. It continually shocks me to find garbage stashed under trees, in hollowed-out tree stumps, and people building fires. I was taught "carry in-carry-out and pickup up any garbage you see along the way" To me it's like a prayer, a mantra of goodness. I must give credit to some of angry hiker's posts to inspire me to come-up with the title of this post.

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Stefan
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 2:45 pm 
Go to the Beartooths in Montana or the Wind River range in Wyoming. Each are: Very similar in appearance to the Enchantments. The areas are mucho larger than the Enchantments. You can definitely find your own lake. There is NEVER a permit. Beartooths: http://www.hillmap.com/m/ag1zfmhpbGxtYXAtaGRychULEghTYXZlZE1hcBiAgIDgiIaFCww

Art is an adventure.
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crazyhiker
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 3:35 pm 
That is pretty sad. People are the worst.

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Jack's Mom
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 4:01 pm 
People can be such pigs -- we just were hiking in the backcountry of the Grand Canyon; used to be there were containers for campers to stash their food but they've been removed -- a ranger told us hikers filled them with their garbage! Back country hikers should know better!!!

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mbravenboer
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 4:44 pm 
That does sound sad. Maybe the permit season needs to start earlier? I do think the Disenchantments should be reserved for this: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8006929 wink.gif

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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 5:01 pm 
Believe it or not, it was way worse in the 80's before permits and banning dogs. All the papers had glowing articles with glossy pictures of the area and the guidebooks prominently feathered them on the cover. On a summer weekend it was near impossible to find a campsite let alone one not have TP scattered around. The dogs ran off all the goats and it is only relatively recent that they returned. There were massive group sites there and at Nada Snow lakes and no privy.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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pimaCanyon
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 5:23 pm 
really sad to hear. I ran into poop and TP around Tuck Lake a couple of years ago. I was pretty appalled. Seems like there are folks out there who don't have a clue about how and where to poop. And what to do with the toilet paper (pack it out, burn it, or just don't use any, use local vegetation instead). I'd suggest a sticky topic "How to Poop in the backcountry" in every category, but I suspect those who need to read it wouldn't. But maybe it would be worth a shot--if only a few hikers who don't have a clue about bathroom etiquette in the backcountry actually read it and then did what it suggested, it would be worth it. Fires are another story. Seems that some folks think that camping without a campfire is not camping. Would a sticky help those folks? Again, I doubt it, they'll never read it. frown.gif

It's never too late to have a happy childhood
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pula58
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pula58
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 7:00 pm 
I used to have a book called "How to sh## in the woods" No foolin' http://www.amazon.com/How-sh##-Woods-Edition-Environmentally/dp/1580083633

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fourteen410
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 7:05 pm 
mad.gif

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jimmylegs
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jimmylegs
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PostMon Jun 15, 2015 8:17 pm 
Whoa, Harvey Manning rises from the grave. clown.gif I hate to see anyplace trampled but what MC said is the truth, it used to be much worse. I remember wandering around for hours looking for a place to throw my tent, and then ending up with some sh!tty rocky spot right next to the trail. but do you think all the dust is really because there was a lot of hikers...or because it hasn't rained in weeks after a dry winter? maybe next time wait until permit season.

guns don't kill people, blood loss and organ damage do.
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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Jun 16, 2015 12:32 am 
Call the ranger station in LW and TELL THEM ABOUT THIS! They may or may not know. Give it a try.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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coldrain108
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coldrain108
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PostTue Jun 16, 2015 9:19 am 
jimmylegs wrote:
Whoa, Harvey Manning rises from the grave. clown.gif I hate to see anyplace trampled but what MC said is the truth, it used to be much worse.
The High Divide/7 Lakes basin was the same before the quota system started. I was first there in 1990 and the place was trampled to death. I didn't return until 2008 or so and it was so much better by then. Cascade Pass is another example where unencumbered selfish ignorance destroys the landscape.

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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RichardJ
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PostTue Jun 16, 2015 10:42 am 
I also have the books How To sh## In The Woods and Up sh## Creek. Very very entertaining and informative books. Everyone should have them.

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Randito
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Randito
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PostTue Jun 16, 2015 10:53 am 
Douglas Adams wrote:
For years, the fabulously beautiful planet of Bethselamin increased its booming tourist industry without any worries at all. Alas, as is often the case, this was an act of utter stupidity, as it led to a colossal cumulative erosion problem. Of course, what else could one expect with ten billion tourists per annum? Thus today the net balance between the amount you eat and the amount you excrete while on the planet is surgically removed from your body weight when you leave; so every time you got to the lavatory there, it is vitally important to get a receipt.

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Studebaker Hoch
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Studebaker Hoch
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PostTue Jun 16, 2015 12:10 pm 
No sh## last time I was in the enchantments I saw a guy taking a dump right beside the trail; yelled at him and he ran off trying to cover is gleaming white ass

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