Recently me and my cranky wornout rattletrap of a Subaru, Yolo McFukitol, spent a few days camping in an undisclosed location on a lovely hilltop overlooking the Arkansas River valley.
I'm not disclosing this location because it's one of the few places left in this entire valley that nobody seems to know about.
Everything from Leadville in the north, to Salida in the south, is now crowded out with tourists and wealthy out-of-state invaders bent on buying up everything they can get their bloody hands on and forcing the less well-to-do locals out. And they are succeeding.
I find myself feeling a bit discouraged when I compare the current situation to what it was like when I first moved here in 2015. So I won't go there, and instead I'll just be grateful that there are still places like this one available, if you know where to look.
But let me say this: They are going to ruin this valley, just like they ruined the Front Range.
People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty. – Chief Left Hand
Anyway!
One fine evening after driving up the steep-ass road we really had no business driving up to our undisclosed campsite location for like the third day in a row, we got ourselves all good and liquored up, and then we got to the trash collectin'.
It was a box wine kind of night for me, and I'd wined my way through about six boxes and was feeling exceptionally healthy for putting so much wonderful nutritious fruit inside me. I was also kicking myself a little for forgetting to purchase cheese at the general store down in [REDACTED] before fleeing to the hills for the night.
YMF usually sticks to fossil fuel based alcohols, but on this particular evening he too was partaking in box wine. Pouring it directly into his radiator, he was. I think it keeps him from overheating or something?
Well that's enough foolish blathering for now, let's get on with the garbage show shall we?
After the godawfully gigantic haul in my last campsite cleanup, this current report will seem tame by comparison. And I for one am quite content with that. "Satisfy your hankering for hearty"… by throwing a Campbell's can on the ground when you're done sucking out its lifeblood? Sure.
Looks like they gave this beer can a trial by fire. Fire: 1, beer can: 0.
Well. Fire: 2, beer cans: 0. They never had a chance.
A bunch of brown bottle bones. The poor bastard. Hope it was quick.
And there's the rest of him. Bud Light, the finest sparkling water money can buy. Rest in pieces, friend.
Those right there are garbage words if I ever saw 'em. Who even wrote that? Taste point ode inside r chance to? That doesn't even make sense. What a terrible excuse for writing. Garbage.
Uniformed bottle cap.
Plainclothes bottle cap.
Cigarette ass. So sexy!
An article of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, I believe.
Round worthless pieces of metal you can exchange for things of actual value, at least until the government says you can't anymore.
And there you have it, the whole haul from Campsite Cleanup #7. Sponsored by Mission tortillas. Barely a drop in the bucket compared to last time, eh?
Who ever would have thought, that finding so little trash, would make me feel so happy?
It's always nice to watch them fight against rubbish sinners. I wish you a long life.
Somehow I missed this comment, sorry. Thank you for the well wishes! The fight against rubbish sinners goes ever on…
P. S. what's up with those upvotes on your comment? Seems fishy.
Never give up a good person 🙂
Seek-and-finds, those books for kids where you have to locate a teeny tiny Waldo mixed up with a hundred poorly behaved vampire guys that are also teeny tiny, that's what these pictures make me think of. Only the man-made stuff is all too obvious in its ugliness mixed in with all the pretty natural textures it is resting on.
We've done several trash clean ups at the waterway here. The intentional human littering is depressing, as is the litter from hurricanes. Still finding huge chunks of styrofoam from floating docks as a result of Hurricane Matthew several years ago.
I'm going through these trash posts, and it is just making me want to go camping. Trash or no trash, alcohol or no alcohol, it sounds nice. Except for the deer legs. That's a deal breaker.
I think some of what I find might be the result of wind blowing through campsites, but I'm also pretty sure most of it is just humans being shitheads. Want to know something interesting I often find hiking out in the wilderness? The remains of mylar balloons that used to be filled with helium. That's where they end up when people let 'em fly.
Those deer legs were bizarre. Strange enough that they were there, even stranger that I pitched my tent right next to them and didn't even see them till after dark. Maybe they actually didn't appear until the night arrived…
Ugh, you are reminding me of the state of the hill behind my house
Sounds like it's time for some trash collectin'!
:)
Don't forget the liquor!
You're a good man, @otherbrandt. Don't let Can 'o Beans tell you otherwise.
Also, the tabs on those beer cans-- 1990s?? Finally laid to rest, thanks to you.
Some of the trash I find has clearly been sitting out there for decades. Just patiently waiting there for someone to come along and pick it up.
So sad that it gets all garbagey like that. It was kind of you to clean it up, but I wish people would not use nature as a trash can. Many people regularly clean up Jasper and Banff near where I live, but I have still seen trash at the side of the road there, and it makes me sad.
It is sad to see it, for sure. But there is some joy to be had in cleaning it up… once I get past my anger :D
Jasper and Banff… Canadian Rockies, right?
Can you tell me where your new place to hang out is? I need a new place to litter.
Seriously tho it's good to see you keeping the place clean, even if it is someone else's shit on the ground.
Note to future self:
Bud doesn't even qualify as sparkling water, it's what came out the bowl the next morning 😉
You stay the hell away from my super secret campsite ;)
I agree, Bud is pure shite isn't it?
Bud is what's left after they've made actual beer, I'm convinced they just recycle other breweries waste products and slap a label on it.
Some mighty lives lost in those fires!
When one valiant beer can falls to the flames, two more step up to take its place. The fire shall be vanquished no matter what the cost!
Its a never ending army of beer cans. You are a true warrior in the vanguard with them!
Yes, for I know that if I die in this skirmish, I shall have an eternal home in the heavens surrounded by 72 fountains of beer that never run dry and fully immune to the scourge of hangovers!
That don't sound half bad. Consider me converted. Death to the unholy fires!!!
Let them burn in hell!!
Your neck of the woods sounds like what they working on doing around where I grew up. Red River Gorge is nearby and outsiders are buying that shit up and then putting rentals on it and renting them out, usually at prices approaching the average monthly income in the area for a couple nights. Have the shitheads ruined the area around Twin Lakes yet?
Dammit how did I miss this comment? I'm usually on top of comments so my bad here.
Twin Lakes hasn't been as badly impacted I don't think. It is definitely busier than it used to be though, especially in summer/fall when Indy Pass to Aspen is open. The clock is ticking, probably.