Backpacker vents frustrations after discovering unpleasant scene on hike: 'What is wrong with people?'

If you can carry it up, you can carry it down. There's no excuse for littering.

Hiking is a great way to admire nature while getting valuable exercise, but finding litter on the trail can ruin the moment. TikTok backpacker WildCampPhil (@wildcampphil) encountered a frustrating find on their mountain hike: a load of trash.

@wildcampphil If you can carry it up you can carry it down. #mountains #wildcamping #hikingadventures😍🏔🏞 #wildcampinguk #solocamping #adventure #litter #cave #thelakedistrict ♬ Gods creation - daniel.mp3

"I've just come to this cave … look at that," he said. "What is wrong with you?"

The video shows a heaping pile of garbage — plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper towels, food wrappers — collected in the corner of a cave mouth.

This little cave, known as Priest's Hole, is in the Lake District in England. The cavern is frequently used as an overnight spot for hikers. Nature provided them a place to rest safely, but how did they repay her?

Proper hiking etiquette values leaving no trace. Hikers are encouraged to leave nature as they found it, if not better than before. Unfortunately, this isn't always what happens. This hiker stumbled upon a similar scene, finding an entire trash bag's worth of garbage along the trail.

Watch now: Alaska Airlines employee's suggestion diverts 15,000 lbs of plastic trash

It's not easy to calculate, but Keep America Beautiful estimates that there are "50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roadways and waterways."

And that's just alongside waterways — there are over 170 trillion pieces of litter in our oceans. Litter pollutes and clogs our waterways, harms and kills wildlife, starts fires, and even spreads diseases.

According to Keep America Beautiful, if everyone in America picked up 152 pieces of litter, we could clean up the entire country. Leave nothing behind, and pick up what you can. A little action from everyone can make a big difference.

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Commenters were disappointed with the hikers' behavior.

"The fact is if you can carry it up full, you can carry it down empty. No excuse for it. Thank you for clearing it," one user wrote.

"We have found this more and more recently," another commenter said, "[so] good for you promoting such beautiful places and keeping them clean for all to enjoy."

"What is wrong with people?" a third user asked.