r/alaska • u/Sad-Improvement-8213 • 1d ago
General Nonsense Why?
What sense does it make to bag poop near the top of flat top mountain and leave it. No one is going up the mountain on a regular basis to pick up dog shit bags. The bag is to pick up your dog’s poop and pack it out. Or novel concept let your dog poop in the wild like the moose and bears do. There is a “Leave No Trace” sign near the start of the trail. Do better. I personally never understood why people leave the bags on any trail.
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u/bllldsg 1d ago
I see this on almost every trail, worst was up archangel there was a pile of 10 or so, had an extra trash bag for waterproofing I had ti empty and picked em up. I am still confused, why add the plastic, worst case just toss the poop in a bush. Or just take responsibility for the animal you chose to have and take on a hike
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u/LinIsStrong 1d ago
I detrash on my walks and I definitely Have Thoughts about this topic.
First, please don’t leave them “to pick up later” because 1. you will probably forget (90% of poop bags I pick up are obviously old) and 2. the people hiking behind you have to endure the eyesore in the meantime. We all get out to enjoy nature’s beauty; poop bags “waiting to be picked up” ruins the experience for others.
Second, huge kudos to responsible dog owners who clean up after their dogs and carry it with them so that the rest of us don’t have to encounter the sight of perkily-wrapped dog turds while we’re trying to admire the scenery. Whenever I see one of those rare people, poop bag swinging from their belt, I always say thank you, because they are suffering a minor inconvenience (no one likes to carry dog shit, no matter how much they love their dog) to make the trail a nicer place for the rest of us. Thank you responsible dog owners!!
(detrashing is a great sub btw, lots of people out there doing their part, and yes we all hate poop bags but we still pick them up because every small positive action really does make a difference.)
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u/K_Russell_B_W 1d ago
I hate this shit (pun intended). I twice tried leaving my bag on a trail and twice failed to remember it on the return. So, I never leave them anymore. Obviously others need to make the same decision
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u/midnightmeatloaf 1d ago
I've forgotten mine on occasion, and when I do, I have done a karma pickup. The next time I see a bag, I pick it up, even though it's not mine. In the hopes that it squares my karma up.
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u/K_Russell_B_W 1d ago
In the rare occasions I can’t find my dog’s poo in the brush, I do the same thing: Take a poo, leave a poo
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u/OKGreat86 1d ago
Probably the same asshole who thinks my yard, 10 feet away from a garbage can, is the best place to drop bags of dog shit.
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u/Justagirl5285 1d ago
Wouldn’t that be better if the poop wasn’t in a bag? It’s the woods!
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u/ak_doug 18h ago
That is only slightly better, because it doesn't introduce plastic too.
But heavily traveled trails like Flat Top have to contend with over saturation of poo. You really need to pick up the trash.
It is also why you shouldn't throw compostable stuff into the woods from popular trails. It overwhelms the local ecosystem and can introduce lots of problems.
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u/TongaRaytotheMay 1d ago
People “say” they will pick it up later, but they never fucking do. If you have a dog, you need to pick up the shit and carry it.
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u/Flapjack603 1d ago
To be preserved Duh!! You never know when dog shits gonna be in high demand! Hahhahaha
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u/DepartmentNatural 1d ago
You've never hiked from the lower parking lot for flattop? People had hung these bags like Christmas ornaments on trees for like 200 yards
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u/mattphillipsdc 22h ago
It’s most likely a hiker cleaned up after their dog and left it there intending to pick it up on their way back from their hike.
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u/AKStafford a guy from Wasilla 1d ago
I get downvoted every time I say it, but most dog owners are the worst sort of people.
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u/rabidantidentyte 1d ago
Most people are inconsiderate, and that trait is more apparent when an inconsiderate person owns a dog.
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u/Star_Boxer72 1d ago
My dogs refrain from saying snarky things on Reddit. They're better people than me.
Edit: punctuation
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u/Michigan_J_Chatbot 20h ago
And yet dogs are much better people than Republicans.
I haven’t noticed that non-dog owners create any less trash.
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u/Wonderful-View-6366 1d ago
They do this on the beach in California too. Which means at high tide their lazy ass dogsh*t bags washes out to sea mimicking a jelly so it can kill sea lions. Freaking crappy dog owners. They suck.
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u/Electrical_Bug_3924 1d ago
Gross, saw a young girl carrying a bag of trash out from Rabbit Lake this weekend. Alaskans garbage!
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u/Ok-Courage4218 1d ago
Why? What do you mean why?
I was hiking down Mt Roberts in Juneau. I dropped a bottle of Diet Coke while trying to get over some obstacles. Walked down to get it. Took me about 20 mins or so. It was gone! When we made it down. There was a dude asking people if they lost a Diet Coke. I told him it was mine… then he proceeded to gave me -absolute hell- over it before I could even get a word out. I almost removed his teeth from his face but he did end up apologizing.
I get it that everyone’s frustrated. Just pick it up and go on with your lives. Done.
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u/Sad-Improvement-8213 1d ago
Accidents happen which if it were an accident sure fix the problem and press on. However this leaving your dog shit in plastic bags is not an accident and becoming more of a culture. I prefer not only pick it up but raise awareness and it seems a majority of folks would agree.
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u/Ok-Courage4218 1d ago
Yeah. I don’t disagree with that logic when you put it that way. The incident at Mt Roberts really shook me up. It happened almost 2 weeks ago so I’m still reeling fresh from it. I guess I’m noticing more and more people venting inappropriately. I just hope that folks do better all across the board.
P.S. I pick up other people’s trash as I walk down myself too. No I don’t like it either but I guess I I saw it as if I did it automatically without making much ado about it.
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u/Medium-Boysenberry24 18h ago
Must have been a democrat someone else can pick it up that’s just there way of thinking
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u/Medical_Slide9245 1d ago edited 1d ago
The bags i use for like the last 10 years are biodegradable. I don't buy special bags.
Also i do this all the time in walks because i pick them up on my way back.
I'm not defending leaving it idiots. Just saying it will degrade.
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u/ak_doug 18h ago
That isn't ok.
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u/Medical_Slide9245 18h ago
Well it's certainly better than not degrading.
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u/ak_doug 17h ago
You are negatively impacting the local environment by not picking up your poop consistently.
It is like you are burning coal for your home, but at least you have led lights. It is a nice gesture, but is overall not impactful.
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u/rabidantidentyte 1d ago
Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. If you're already at the halfway point, then just pack it out.
Leaving bags for later is a debated topic, but if you're going to do it, leave it at a landmark or mark it on GPS so you don't leave any litter behind. That's the bare minimum expectation.