A hiker shared a sampling of the massive amounts of litter and trash she's been dealing with on the trail in recent months.
Hiker Angela Marie Schmidt (@angelamarieschmidttt) posted a video on Instagram highlighting the significant amount of litter she has found while hiking in the Rocky Mountains in recent months.
"I have seen an ungodly amount of garbage littering the Rocky Mountains this year," she said in the caption to the video.
And sure enough, the video shows her picking up standard trail litter like multiple bags of dog poop, a beer bottle, and a rubber cap of some kind. But there are stranger pieces of trash as well. Schmidt shows off a non-disposable face mask and a women's shirt tossed aside on the trail.
"I LOVE that more people are getting outside and enjoying nature," Schmidt says in the caption, "But with exploring the outdoors comes the responsibility of learning trail etiquette and picking up after ourselves so we can continue to enjoy Mother Nature."
Litter on trails is a growing concern around the country. Campsites in Yellowstone, Grizzly Peak trails in Oakland, and even the ancient site of Panticapaeum in Crimea have seen littering incidents.
Setting aside aesthetic issues that littering causes, it can be a hazard to nature. It's enough of a problem that the National Park Service has encouraged visitors to follow the seven principles of Leave No Trace. The principles are: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of others.
Commenters thanked Schmidt for cleaning up others' messes.
One commenter said: "That's a lot of trash! Thanks for making our world a little cleaner!"
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"Thank you for leaving it better than you found it!" outdoor brand REI commented.
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