Hikers clean up of trails of trash in wilderness

After Bill Bens, JoeAnne Erickson and a group of Quail Creek hikers came upon huge amounts of trash in the Huachuca Mountains, they wanted to do more than complain.

Working with “caver” Steve Wilsey of the Cochise County Cavers recently, the hikers spent the greater part of a day cleaning up garbage and trash left behind by illegal immigrants.

“With the exception of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, everything had a Spanish label… You expect to see pristine nature, not trash,” Bens said.

It’s because the hikers want to hike in pristine natural surroundings that they banded together to help with the cleanup. On a recent Saturday, a group of 12 hikers worked from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. picking up and filling 26 huge trash bags. “We each carried two full bags; I’m 5 foot 9 inches and was barely tall enough to carry two bags that were tied together and around my shoulders,” Bens said.

On another recent hike in the Tumacacori Wilderness, the hikers came upon more trash. “It was a most beautiful cave-like area; it was probably a stopping point… a lot of clothing was left behind,” Erickson said.

Bens explained that some clothing and extras were likely discarded here so more illegals could be squeezed into a pick-up. He referred to this as a “lay-up area” where illegals dump everything getting ready to be picked up.

More of a problem than getting hikers to clean up the trash is getting the bagged trash picked up. Referring to Josephine Canyon and Temporal Canyon Bens said, “Some trashed areas are very remote and it’s difficult for bagged trash to be picked up… we’re hoping to coordinate with the Forest Service or Border Patrol for bag pick up because we have plenty of hikers to help picking up trash.”

Asked what in their opinion should be done to stop the seemingly endless amount of trash from destroying beautiful nature trails, Erickson said, “That’s a whole other issue… I’m trying to address the practicality; that’s what I can deal with.” Hiking most of her adult life, Erickson said the amount of trash she’s seen is “startling.”

“We’re trying to keep the Santa Ritas from looking like the Huachucas; they’re the worst,” Bens said.

Summing up the vastness of the ongoing cleanup he added, “Unless you’re a hiker you don’t realize how wilderness areas are being destroyed… We can’t fix the cause; we can only fix the result.”

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net