Bags of poop beside the trail?

Dogs, dogs and even some cats
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matt pierce
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by matt pierce »

Cruiser wrote:...if you're going to accept the responsibility of taking your hound into the wilderness then can't you also accept the fact that other people don't want to see bags of $h1t along the trail?
100% agree
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Ed Matthews
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Ed Matthews »

It really is a simple courtesy and in order to preserve the quality of the experience for everyone we should not leave the crap in the woods.....bagged or unbagged. To the people who say we should just leave it because it will decompose, this is true, however if you have ever been on Mount Sanitas in Boulder on a hot summer day you know that when everyone leaves their crap on the mountain, it ends up smelling like crap, even if not in a bag. I think that we all have a responsibility to do our part, and if you are a dog owner, that means dealing with your dogs crap. I would not let my child take a crap in a park and just leave it......
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Mike Shepherd
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Mike Shepherd »

One of the best parts about RMNP is the lack of dogs. It's also another reason to do technical routes, in addition to the solitude from the masses they are almost always dog free as well.
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by justiner »

I would say most of RMNP. Two dogs on my last trip from the Longs Peak TH. Awesome looking dogs (I love, love, love dogs). Just not the place for them.


There's a great book out that lists dog-friendly trails.
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tlongpine
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by tlongpine »

Mike Shepherd wrote:One of the best parts about RMNP is the lack of dogs. It's also another reason to do technical routes, in addition to the solitude from the masses they are almost always dog free as well.
This thread has become another tiresome collection of anti-dog catharsis. This ground has been plowed - so many times. :yawn:
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Jeff Valliere
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Jeff Valliere »

Oh boy, another doggie thread. I know better than to get involved, it has all been said before somewhere or another, but I'll add my .02 and walk away...

A stinky issue for sure. It bothers me too, but I see how it happens. You get 5 or 10 minutes into a hike or run, the dog poops, then what, you carry around a bag of $hit for hours or all day? If your dog will tolerate a pack, then great, make the dog carry it, but most dogs I see do not have packs. I personally would rather see somebody just flick the poop off the trail vs. leaving a bag (simply the lesser of two evils). I think people bag the poop with good intentions, but it is easy to forget, or change your mind during the hike and do a loop or whatever. I am typically not one to leave/forget things, especially while out in the woods and have been accused of being hypervigilent (sometimes to a fault), yet I have made this mistake once or twice (but not more than twice). These were instances where something came up on the hike (bumped into somebody, altered my route or got distracted). I learned my lesson and do not leave poop bags on the trail any longer, not just to not forget, but who wants to see it? Still no excuse though and to compensate, I regularly carry out other's poo bags or any other trash I see (certainly numbering in the 100's), have gone on my own to busy overlooks in Boulder (off Flagstaff) and filled multiple trash bags with garbage, participated in trail clean ups, so hopefully this offsets my Karmic balance for forgetting those one or two bags. I started doing this long before even owning a dog now that I think about it and I also know many others who do this as well (whether or not they own a dog).

There is also a good bit of flexibility in my mind, depending on where the dog poops. In busy areas, I'll make an effort to bag it and run it back to the trailhead if I can and ALWAYS dispose of it if in a high traffic area. The number of Dog visits to areas like Boulder OSMP is staggering and if it were not picked up, it would be quite the problem (might be argued that it still is a problem around Chautauqua and Sanitas). In lesser used areas though, I really don't see a problem with a dog dropping one far off in the bushes. I also find the argument that dog poop contains a harmful bacteria to be a bit overblown. I am certainly no expert, but it seems like this "fact" is somewhat tilted in such a manner by those looking to restrict dog usage. At the very least, I hear conflicting evidence of this on both sides and like many issues, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Despite our best efforts, the problem will persist to a certain degree. Fortunately, I think it is a very small percentage of dog owners, quite possibly leaving/forgetting a bag a small percentage of the time, so if you happen to see one, treat it like any other trash and just pack it out yourself.
Last edited by Jeff Valliere on Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
peter303
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by peter303 »

Douglas County explicitly posted signs about this in their trail system. It is considered littering and fined as such.
Walking/jogging locally with a dog for an hour is probably a different situation than an all day hike in the mountains.
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Gizzygonzymoemoe »

Why would anyone come on here talking about how they don't like dogs? Seriously? Keep your negativity to yourself. I'd rather encounter poop bags for miles than a bunch of sneery, judgy snobs and their bent out of shape facial expressions. Reading some of these comments make me want to never pick up another turd again, just so you can enjoy it!
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Phill the Thrill
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Phill the Thrill »

Digging up a year-old thread for your first post? Who's the one spreading the negativity?
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Oldskool70 »

Or that ultra tough-dude Rangerguy from the Mt. Bierstadt hike thread. Maybe we can ramp this up to the Hall of Fame status ??? :-#
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by Hungry Jack »

Dogs aren't the problem here.
please rotate your device
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adamjm
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Re: Bags of poop beside the trail?

Post by adamjm »

I think the Facebook group is leaking over here. Funny, I thought 99% of the posters there didn't even know there was a website.

The post that resurrected this thread sounds strangely like the name of someone who trolls the FB group quite often. You know the type...moved from a different state (country?) to Breck/Frisco, now makes a hobby of telling people who have lived in CO their whole lives to "stay out of my mountains"
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