Expectations

I have been disappointed by how much trash hikers leave around campsites and shelters: dirty hats and shirts, broken tent poles, lots of food wrappers, and hand warmers. I had expected other hikers to love nature (why else would you be out here?), but not all of them do. Some people are out here to get away from responsibility - no job, no school, no family. Younger hikers especially seem to be out here to have a good time - hang out with friends, new and old, smoke weed, and lots of it, and get drunk when they get into towns. I had expected to find a community of hikers who were out here for more noble reasons or had goals for their trip, which there are many such hikers. I had just expected more of that kind and fewer of the former.