Take Only Pictures, Leave Everything?

Have to rant. Sorry folks, but this one just pissed me off royally. I only took one picture of this rubbish, but there were many, many piles. This was only the first we encountered. The rest were too wretched to photograph.

As I wrote a few days ago, I climbed the Big Black Mountain on Saturday with an international group of local hikers and mountaineers. We went up the back way, bypassing the stairs, vendors and smoking teens found on the path up most mountains in China. This meant a real climb on real rocks with real trees and one hell of a view.

But we were far from the first to take such a route. I know this because there were piles of trash lining the trails. Not just a few scattered wrappers, rinds or forgotten bottle caps. These were the remnants of picnics, simply abandoned and left where they lay, to remain unrotten and unrecycled.

Maybe I'm sounding like someone who graduated from UC Santa Cruz here (go ahead, make a Banana Slug joke, I dare ya). But what is it about a pristine mountain away from the city that says, "Put your trash here, please"?

We passed a few other groups of trekkers on our way up, some walking and some eating. The ones taking a lunch break had coolers, blankets, bottles, food with wrappers and napkins. Most of this was spread in a wide arc on the black ground, and I couldn't help wondering how much would be left behind. Passing one group, I wanted to stop and ask: "You're going to pick all that up, right?"

Maybe I'm asking too much. Maybe I'm remembering too fondly the untouched settings at Kings Canyon (left) and Sequoia (right) National Parks, where I last camped before coming to China. Those trails have signs at the entrance saying "Pack in, pack out." Hikers were told explicitly not to leave anything (used toilet paper included).

Before: ??? DaHeiShan: It sure is a big black mountain | After: They want my MTV, but will they GooTube?