Evidence of stupidity/lack of thought in the bush

[Petew]

Hi,

Thought it would be interesting to have a thread showing evidence of stupid stuff found out in the bush.

Found a firepit on Mt Solitary with four 1.25 ltr water bottles, full of water, left on top of the fire....which was well and truly out.

All bottles were intact and partially melted, still containing water.

Probably thought to themselves....how clever, the embers will melt the water bottles and put out the fire. Genius!

Yes, we got our packs all filthy carrying them out.

Please post any photos of similar cleverness.

[Xplora]

That appears only to be the half of it. What about the tin foil and then all the flammable material around the fire. It may not be the bushfire danger period but still stupid.

[Petew]

Yeah, I couldn't believe my eyes. Why would anyone go to such a nice place and just leave all that junk?

[Xplora]

Unfortunately places like Mt. Solitary are not longer the domains of those who care about the bush. Instagram, forums and other social media has opened up many places to the minds of this sort of person. Any wonder NPWS closed off the cave to camping. Thinking maybe soon there will be a no fire rule up there or at least should be. Not that it would stop them.

[Petew]

Things have changed there for sure. On this last trip there were two separate groups walking with music blaring and someone flying a drone. I couldn't see the pilot and I rather childishly gave it the double finger salute. Drones are incredibly annoying.

[Orbita_Serenitatem]

Evidence of stupidity/lack of thought in the bush:

I carried (and used) Reef Shoes to cross the Geehi/Valentine etc. rivers... while reviving/reliving my hiking urge in 2015 to tramp ground that I covered in 1989 as a 17yr old...

As a 17 year old, I'd have looked at the old man putting on his Reef Shoes to cross a river as evidence of stupidity.

[rcaffin]

You could of course do what many of us do: just keep walking straight across. The wet socks will dry soon enough.

Cheers
Roger

[Tortoise]

You could of course do what many of us do: just keep walking straight across. The wet socks will dry soon enough.

Cheers
Roger

Unfortunately that doesn't work for some of us. In spite of wringing out socks, I got such bad blisters on day 2 of an 8 day walk, I ended up doing most of it in borrowed Teva sandals - including some off track.

[Zapruda]

You could of course do what many of us do: just keep walking straight across. The wet socks will dry soon enough.

Cheers
Roger

This is the correct answer.

[Moondog55]

You could of course do what many of us do: just keep walking straight across. The wet socks will dry soon enough.

Cheers
Roger

This is the correct answer.

Not for all of us. This is why I carry Crocs but I'd rather walk a mile or three than wade through waist high alpine water. Stupid is .303 holes in road signs

[peregrinator]

You could of course do what many of us do: just keep walking straight across. The wet socks will dry soon enough.

Cheers
Roger

This is the correct answer.

Nah, that's for feeble minded humans. You need to be more aspirational and learn how to walk on water.

[Warin]

Nah, that's for feeble minded humans. You need to be more aspirational and learn how to walk on water.

Evolve. Levitate.

[puredingo]

At the risk of derailing this thread completely....I’m another for marching directly through the water, I’ve even broken the missus down to the idea and that’s saying something!

[Huntsman247]

At the risk of derailing this thread completely....I’m another for marching directly through the water, I’ve even broken the missus down to the idea and that’s saying something!

Well I think your right on topic. Certainly the type of evidence the OP was looking for.
[WINKING FACE]

[north-north-west]

To get back to the original topic, if I had a photo of the Bert Newton Nichols Memorial Palatial Monstrosity at Windy Fridge, I'd put that up. There may be somethings about the design that are OK, but I'm struggling to think of even one.

[Petew]

I'll be there in around four weeks. I'll take a happy snap.

[Son of a Beach]

To get back to the original topic, if I had a photo of the Bert Newton Nichols Memorial Palatial Monstrosity at Windy Fridge, I'd put that up. There may be somethings about the design that are OK, but I'm struggling to think of even one.

The only part of that hut that we enjoyed has been long gone. When it was first built, they had a wood heater in there, and all the trees they'd felled to make way for the hut were chopped into firewood and stored under the hut.

When we stayed there that first winter, while it was snowing outside and we were the only people in the hut, we slept right next to the fire, and I added wood to it a couple of times during the night. That was so cosy, while the snow was bucketing down outside.

(No, I don't condone chopping down huge eucalypts to build this monstrosity of a hut. But I was happy to make use of the resource.)

The hut has nothing going for it. Not even a balcony or a view.

Although if people think they need a lot of exercise, walking back and forth between their packs the bunk rooms and the kitchen/dining room should keep them trim.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

At the risk of derailing this thread completely....I’m another for marching directly through the water, I’ve even broken the missus down to the idea and that’s saying something!

Yeh me too. The only time I'll cross with shoes off is if the crossing is right at the start of a walk/day... ie. I won't bother getting shod until accross. But otherwise they get wet... non - waterproof shoes and light socks squish out quickly enough

Sent from my F8131 using Tapatalk

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

To get back to the original topic, if I had a photo of the Bert Newton Nichols Memorial Palatial Monstrosity at Windy Fridge, I'd put that up. There may be somethings about the design that are OK, but I'm struggling to think of even one.

Nup I've got nothing. No redeeming features whatsoever. Tas parks have had a shocker there.

Sent from my F8131 using Tapatalk

[wayno]

people crapping outside of toilets because they don't like the smell. crapping right outside huts, people deliberately crapping right on tracks like its a joke... saw three on one trip of the routeburn..... dont bother to bury their toilet paper.
i dont know whats happening with people, it didnt used to be like this, the people who went outdoors were more likely to be responsible and care about how they treated the environment
the general increase in rubbish
they just treat the outdoors like a bit of titilation, and are lazy about how they treat it.. its become worse with the rise of overseas tourists who only come once and dont have to bother about the consequences of what they do because it won't be their problem...
or they are too busy knocking off as many miles a day to spend any extra time being responsible...

[Aardvark]

people crapping outside of toilets because they don't like the smell. crapping right outside huts, people deliberately crapping right on tracks like its a joke... saw three on one trip of the routeburn..... dont bother to bury their toilet paper.
i dont know whats happening with people, it didnt used to be like this, the people who went outdoors were more likely to be responsible and care about how they treated the environment
the general increase in rubbish
they just treat the outdoors like a bit of titilation, and are lazy about how they treat it.. its become worse with the rise of overseas tourists who only come once and dont have to bother about the consequences of what they do because it won't be their problem...
or they are too busy knocking off as many miles a day to spend any extra time being responsible...

That's hitting the nail right on the head.

[Gadgetgeek]

Ignorance before malice. I think that if the influencers spent a bit more time on the realities of walking, and set an expectation of behavior, it could improve. I don't think we can put it on one group or another of walkers, but I do think that we can put it on the policy makers and the social leadership.
"It didn't used to be like this" is a common phrase, and I've never once found evidence that this is true. I've been to many campsites that have been destroyed when there were fewer rules and "more respectful" people. How people destroy things has changed, but not necessarily the impact.

I've certainly not met everyone, but I've met by far enough people who "should know better" who don't follow the basics of LNT without even realizing what sort of damage they cause because "I'm just one person" and no concept of long or short term impacts. In many ways we are still acting like its 1810 and not 2010. I know that for a lot of folks, the thought of a flush toilet is a useless extravagance in the woods, and something that removes from their experience. The reality is however that maybe we need to re-evaluate how we use some of these places, and make sure they can handle the traffic. Its not an easy thing to solve.

[wayno]

i've never seen human excrement on a track in over 30 years, i've been on the routeburn several times over 12 years and nothing then three in one day...
talking to other trampers it is definitely on the rise over the years...
yes theres always been issues with littering, and near road ends, but i've seldom seen issues once i'm several hours from a road end, unlike recently

[Petew]

Definitely on the increase.

I think park management could be a bit more proactive on popular walks with signage about acceptable disposal of bodily waste. Just a paragraph or two on signage at the trail head.

I have only spotted a couple of poo pyramids on a track but endless toilet paper on popular walks.

It's just not that hard to carry a zip lock bag for TP, particularly for wee.

[bobcrusader]

People just don't read signs though. Saw a guy on the Great Ocean Road standing next to the Drone Free Zone sign... flying a drone. Claimed he didn't speak English, but the picture of the drone with the cross through it looked just like his!

[Petew]

Drones are super annoying.

[wayno]

Drone SHOT DOWN by 'hunters'

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/entertainment ... vi-BBoNUt9

[Warin]

Drone SHOT DOWN by 'hunters'

Excellent. Would that be a case of 2 stupids making peace?

[north-north-west]

People just don't read signs though. Saw a guy on the Great Ocean Road standing next to the Drone Free Zone sign... flying a drone. Claimed he didn't speak English, but the picture of the drone with the cross through it looked just like his!

But he knew enough English to understand you having a go at him, and to reply.

[peregrinator]

This mob of mindless morons (I can go anywhere I like and do any thing I like) takes the cake:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-10/uluru-climb-closure-breaking-point-overflow-tourists-waste/11296256
[url]

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-u ... f66c52e824[/url]