Sweetwater Run

[bobpbx]

I got a depressing shock yesterday. I lived in Bamber 38 years, and near the end of Webb's Mill Road where it meets 539, is undoubtably one of the prettiest, cleanest little stream in the pines. I always called it Sweetwater Run. I started noticing groups of people congregating near it drinking, but they left it alone.

That has all changed. Some of them made an opening so their little side by side and motorcycles can fit in there. And then, unbelievably, they went in and built a party fire right next to the stream. I am quite sad about this. We can't have nice places with people on earth.

 

[bobpbx]

 

[RJG]

I was hiking the Batona in Bass River and as I approached a spot to stop and relax on Ives Pond I saw the ground littered with cans, plastic, food wrappers and a spent propane canister. None of that was there when I had passed by a few hours earlier. The only other people I saw on the trail were two guys hiking in the opposite direction with full packs on their backs, so it had to be them stopping there to cook and eat. I picked up all the garbage and put it in my backpack. When I arrived back at the trailhead there was only one other vehicle there besides my own. It wasn’t there when started hiking that morning so it had to belong to the two people I saw hiking on the trail who threw their garbage all over the ground. I took all the garbage out of my backpack and piled it on the windshield of their car.

 

[Boyd]

IMO, it's pretty bold to make yourself the "judge and jury" like that. Maybe they were the guilty party, maybe not. How do you know somebody else didn't come and go while you were away? Don't get me wrong, anyone who would dump garbage like that is despicable. But I don't think two wrongs make a right and what you did might also be a crime of some kind.

 

[RJG]

IMO, it's pretty bold to make yourself the "judge and jury" like that. Maybe they were the guilty party, maybe not. How do you know somebody else didn't come and go while you were away? Don't get me wrong, anyone who would dump garbage like that is despicable. But I don't think two wrongs make a right and what you did might also be a crime of some

IMO, it's pretty bold to make yourself the "judge and jury" like that. Maybe they were the guilty party, maybe not. How do you know somebody else didn't come and go while you were away? Don't get me wrong, anyone who would dump garbage like that is despicable. But I don't think two wrongs make a right and what you did might also be a crime of some kind.

It’s a virtual certainty they were the guilty party. There would have been a small window for anybody else to hike back there, cook food, eat and return back to the trailhead without me passing them. They cooked their meal on a camp stove with a propane canister. It’s not likely anybody just walking to the pond would have been carrying those items with them, however, it’s very likely the two men I passed with full packs were carrying a camp stove.

I pick up other people’s trash when I see it. I respect the environment and the people I meet when I’m hiking, but I don’t respect the people who throw their trash on the ground. Putting their trash on the hood of their car didn’t harm their vehicle or them. It was probably the gentlest reminder I could give them to clean up after themselves.

 

[Boyd]

Let's say you're right and they were guilty. What do you think happened to the trash on their car when they returned? I'm sure they would just dump it on the ground right there, making you a littering co-consipirator of sorts. Guilty or not, they're probably pretty mad about finding trash on their car. If they read this thread, now they'll know who did it.

Look, I'm not defending the kind a person who dumps trash in the woods. But I don't like the vigilante justice approach where somebody takes it upon themselves to judge guilt and hand out punishment right on the spot.

 

[RJG]

Good call. You got it. They threw the trash off their car’s hood and onto the ground and I ended up picking it up a week later and taking it home with me. I had to clean up after them twice.

While I would agree with you in principle on vigilante justice, I’m not always opposed to it. The guy who murdered the Ukrainian girl on the subway had 14 prior arrests. His own mother said he was a danger to society and pleaded with the court not to release him. Clearly the justice system failed and a beautiful young girl paid with her life for it. If the murderer had encountered vigilante justice during one of his prior crimes, that girl might still be alive today.