Wallace Falls State Park — Sunday, May. 10, 2015

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

My companion and I ventured only as far as the lower falls on this trip. The scenery is gorgeous. The trail is well taken care of, as it is a very popular trail. Which brings me to the one thing that saddens me about hiking. Litter. If you bring it in, that includes receipts that are in your pocket from Fred Meyer that has a list of what can only be guacamole ingredients, there is no need to rip it to shreds and litter the forest floor with your trash. I highly doubt that the raccoons made a trek into Federal Way for taco Tuesday ingredients, when they live in the foothills of the cascades just outside of Goldbar, however that raccoon is racking up some serious gas points. Likewise, I can only imagine that the squirrels had a great time drinking three Budweisers. Three cans can get a whole herd of furry critters tossed, why they are practically kegs to them. Then again, it could be the chipmunks, they are pretty rascally. And let's not forget Bambi's terrible habit of smoking. That deer will smoke anything, and I mean any cheap brand of cigarettes. Sticking the butts on the trail, off the side, and even hiding them in the decomposing stumps. They are complimentary to the gum and candy wrappers that Flower throws around. Clearly, Thumper has a penchant for kids drinks, but only leaves the straw wrappers, since he doesn't want to get blamed for his friend's lack of regard for the environment. And then there's the countless drink containers that are over the side on the hills and off of the path. All I can say is that those centipedes must be really thirsty. Those hill sides are really steep and there is no way a person could get down there, it must be some animal that has a hundred legs that can easily navigate those steep sides leaving those drink bottles where no one can get to them and remove them from the landscape. The one thing that does concern me is the bears. Oh yes, it must be the bears who are pooping in the woods and leaving their feces out in the open along with yards of toilet paper. Who else would have a disregard not only for sanitation, but for the possible contamination of streams, ground water, and sharing of e. coli. I know it's not my neighborly PNWer's, they have all kinds of laws and regulations regarding such things in the cities and towns, and are adamant about public health and saftey. And yes, I picked up that bear ****. All silliness aside, I typically carry extra bags inside my backpack, along with the ten essentials. Initially I was happy to pick up a few things, but after two pounds of garbage, my good natured "I'm helping the environment" attitude quickly became extreme grief coupled with anger, and really I just wanted to sit in the middle of the trail and cry because this is not what the environment deserves. I started picking up garbage going up the trail, coming down, I was STILL picking up garbage. Look, I'm all for more funding and keeping trails open for people to enjoy them, but if we, the general public, cannot take care of the places that are open, why should we insist on having more spaces open for us to enjoy if we can't take care of what we have? Seriously, this is why we can't have nice things. Please have a pack on your back. It doesn't have to be a big one, but it will free your hands from the refuse you bring in with you. It gives you a place to carry out your garbage. If you HAVE to poop in the woods, meaning you took the time to make sure you eliminated your bowels at the trail head before heading into the woods or you took the foresight to not go hiking after eating tacos, follow good pooping in the woods practices. Make sure you are 500 feet away from a water source and the trail. You could poop into a doggie style poop collector bag and pack it out, OR dig a cat hole in the dirt at least 6 inches down. Put your poop in the hole and bury it. The paper you wiped your butt with should go into a plastic bag in your backpack. Not in the hole, in your backpack. If you don't want to carry out used butt wipe, do not wipe your butt in the woods, OR poop BEFORE you head up into the woods. But, seriously, if you are less than a mile away from the trail head and there's a toilet at the trail head and you feel a need to poop, you didn't plan ahead. There's no reason for you to take a crap in the woods. Your poop will attract predatory animals, like bears. Also, bears don't take a crap in your house, why are you crapping in theirs? There are several trash and recycling receptacles at the trail head. Please use them.