Packing It Out Crew Tackle The Pacific Crest Trail

As sad as it may sound, littering is a huge problem on trails throughout the world.

Despite the fact they often wind through areas of outstanding natural beauty, trails can end up choked with garbage left behind by careless hikers. The Packing It Out project is a collective of thru-hikers that aims to restore some of the most famous trails in the United States by removing the trash thrown away by others.

Last year, the team picked up 1,090 pounds of trash over 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail. This year, it’s the turn of the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada.

Over the course of the trek, the team found almost a pound of trash per mile. Founders Seth Orme and Paul Twedt will complete the 2,560-mile trek in an attempt to raise awareness of the need to keep trails clean.

Ultimately, we should be adhering to the Leave No Trace principles whenever we leave our homes. The idea is to leave a place better than you found it, taking all of your trash with you and even picking up any stray litter that you find.

If everyone could at least take their trash with them there would be no need for the Packing It Out project, but the team should be applauded for their heroic efforts to make up for the carelessness of others.

The team was supported in their work by REI and GearJunkie.