Are you fed up with slob campers ?

[killgar]

I used to do a lot of camping and hiking, and I believed in leaving a "minimal footprint" (packing all my trash, leaving no trace, not staying in the same spot to long, etc). But what I can't do is presume to make "camping rules" for the rest of mankind. Sure, I may, and do, object to some of the things that other campers do, but who am I to say how others should enjoy camping. If other campers like a larger fire than myself, if they want to chop the limb off a tree, or move a few rocks, who am I to judge them and say that they shouldn't.

And if you really take the "cause no harm/leave no trace" philosophy to it's logical limit, you wouldn't go into the wild at all, because every step you take might crush some bug or plant. Every time you walk through a stream you are turning stones and stirring up silt. And every time you urinate or defecate you are expelling toxic chemicals into the environment.

I'm sure there are many nature lovers who believe that people shouldn't go trampling around, and expelling their toxic wastes, in otherwise pristine natural environments at all. So people might want to think twice about judging who is hurting nature, who has the right to be there, and how others should enjoy the outdoors.

Just my opinion.

 

[drvoxmentat]

Coming back to this, I'm surprised this is a topic for real outdoorsmen. Where I go on vacation in the US, even with my family, it is remote and full of "solitude." Find BLM land or go to a state or national forest. Find a nice spot off a fire road. Geez. Freaking get out of the rv and backpack.

 

[spencereyring]

stayin classy

 

[upnorth]

Coming back to this, I'm surprised this is a topic for real outdoorsmen. Where I go on vacation in the US, even with my family, it is remote and full of "solitude." Find BLM land or go to a state or national forest. Find a nice spot off a fire road. Geez. Freaking get out of the rv and backpack.

Thank you for your considered declaration. Too bad that you weren't around when the local native community was warning us about the pack ejected wolf that was edging the reserve at night, when we were on a fly in and out only, northern teaching contract. That is just one experience. Life is not static and it\we change. You get older, you relocate for a job, etc. I would bet my last dollar that there are ''real outdoorsmen\women'' In New York, Toronto, Chicago, and out here in the southern prarries. You see them with a deer in the fall or with a fishing rod in the summer. When they are not working their office job. If you find your inner peace in a downtown park, I say rock it, don't knock it. I used to look down my nose at city people when I was in the Boreal. Then life happened and I realized how arrogant my attitude was.

 

[brianv]

Yeah there are slob campers and I don't like it BUT I like camping a lot more than I dislike slob campers. When I camp I enjoy myself and relax and leave the place in better shape than I found it. My kids do the same.

 

[Ebbtide]

Yeah there are slob campers and I don't like it BUT I like camping a lot more than I dislike slob campers. When I camp I enjoy myself and relax and leave the place in better shape than I found it. My kids do the same.

And that's the best you can do... lead by example.

 

[OwenM]

It's the same everywhere you go, whether it's work, the grocery store, or the woods. There are always a disturbing percentage of people, so-called "adults", who think it is someone else's job to pick up after them, or who simply have no concept of, or consideration for, anyone but themselves.
I came close to violence with a hiking club a couple of weeks ago who were dayhiking a loop that served as the starting point for my overnighter. Coming and going on a side trail to a waterfall, I met them twice. Went through them at the trail junction where the whole group just stopped in the middle of the trail even though there was open space all around. Pushed through them again and growled a few remarks at a couple of them who tried to stop me on the way out, where they were intentionally blocking the trail for privacy-so members of their party could pee ON the trail instead of stepping off into the woods. Wouldn't want to go in the woods on our hike, now, would we?

 

[Mastalerz]

It's the same everywhere you go, whether it's work, the grocery store, or the woods. There are always a disturbing percentage of people, so-called "adults", who think it is someone else's job to pick up after them, or who simply have no concept of, or consideration for, anyone but themselves.
I came close to violence with a hiking club a couple of weeks ago who were dayhiking a loop that served as the starting point for my overnighter. Coming and going on a side trail to a waterfall, I met them twice. Went through them at the trail junction where the whole group just stopped in the middle of the trail even though there was open space all around. Pushed through them again and growled a few remarks at a couple of them who tried to stop me on the way out, where they were intentionally blocking the trail for privacy-so members of their party could pee ON the trail instead of stepping off into the woods. Wouldn't want to go in the woods on our hike, now, would we?

Exactly, anyone who's ever worked in retail can tell you the amount of self entitled people out there. Just walk in a grocery store during cherry season and you can find puts people spit in every book and cranny.

 

[ChrisTopherloaf]

Only posted once ever but i love camping so i figured id chime in.

It really is about the people being everywhere. When I was a boy earning my Eagle here in Texas, even as a kid we would run across SCOUT ONLY campsites and camps where the previous troop didn't do what we called "walk the line" before they left. So far as an adult I've seen some pretty shoddy sites both in remote and camper sites. (Camper sites??? Really??? Stay your butt in the camper)

It's sad that some jackwad thinks its a tailgate party all night. Have a beer or two, sure. But pick up your crap, leave the plants and trees alone and when you don't see lantern light anymore...if not going to bed, at least be quiet!

 

[22-rimfire]

Is there any surprise that there are slob campers and hikers? Many young people have absolutely no respect for other people or the environment. It is often a class thing.... lower class and income people often simply do not have the training to pick up after themselves. They didn't learn it at home or their peers. Many have no respect for anything (including human life) unless there is the threat of force behind the suggestion (aka law enforcement). I am glad that for the most part, "those people" have not invaded my woods beyond the picnic tables in parks.

 

[Dan57]

If other campers like a larger fire than myself, if they want to chop the limb off a tree, or move a few rocks, who am I to judge them and say that they shouldn't.

You'd be someone who cares about preserving the beauty of nature. (Though, really, the examples you listed aren't as bad as the other ones in this thread. I wouldn't care about a large firepit or a few rocks arranged in a circle as seats. Chopping the limb off a tree would annoy me, though.)

And if you really take the "cause no harm/leave no trace" philosophy to it's logical limit, you wouldn't go into the wild at all, because every step you take might crush some bug or plant. Every time you walk through a stream you are turning stones and stirring up silt. And every time you urinate or defecate you are expelling toxic chemicals into the environment.

While you're technically correct, (which is, of course, the best kind,) none of your stated examples are even remotely noticeable. Unless you accidentally crush some sort of rare bug or plant that happens to be the last of its kind, none of the actions you describe would have even the slightest effect on... anything, really. The stuff being talked about here is completely different.

I'm sure there are many nature lovers who believe that people shouldn't go trampling around, and expelling their toxic wastes, in otherwise pristine natural environments at all. So people might want to think twice about judging who is hurting nature, who has the right to be there, and how others should enjoy the outdoors.

And they're (sometimes) partially correct. That's why some places that are especially popular, or have especially sensitive ecosystems, have limits on the amount of people allowed throughout the year, or require visitors to pack out their waste.
In places where overcrowding isn't a problem, and the ecosystems aren't so delicate, though, those arguments don't hold up. It's not as if human shit is more "toxic" than that of any animal. And any "trampling" will occur on a scale so small it won't be noticeable.

 

[plue]

I try to stay away from people when in the out of doors, and I'm lucky to live in a place where I can do that. The way that many people treat nature is really disgusting, I get the feeling that they think that just because they are leaving, then it doesn't matter what the place looks like when they're gone.