Homeless or just inconsiderate backpackers?

[maverick]

When I was out in Little Lakes Valley at on of the Hidden Lakes I set up camp on a
small hill, and while walking around afterwards I found a sleeping bag, and a large
15 gallon kettle left at the base of a tree hidden in the bushes.
The bag looked beat up, and looked like it may not have been used for a while.
Since LLV is so easily accessible I wonder whether this was some one who was
homeless and moved on, or some one who was inconsiderate, and did not care about
leaving it out there.
I found a lot of things out there that makes me think it was just some inconsiderate
individual leaving there stuff so some one else can carry it out.
Have any of you run into campsite where sleeping bags, kettles, lights, food wrappers
ect.., was left?
I did let a ranger know of the location, so hopefully they will bring it out.
I guess this will all ways be an issue when such beautiful location are so easily
accessible.

[rlown]

i'm guessing a 15 gallon enameled pot, right? how close to the lake?

[maverick]

I did not get a real close look at the pot between the bushes, in was silver in color
and I was surprised about the size of it.
Maybe 40-45 feet.

[rlown]

what kept you from just picking it up and taking it out? 40' is a long way away..

[maverick]

There was a ranger, and trail crew I saw earlier, who I notified the next day about
its location, if I had not seen the group the day before I probably would have carried
it to the trailhead the next day.

[dave54]

I have seen some elaborate wilderness campsites with chairs, tables, BBQs, cast iron grills, big wall tents, etc. Used repeatedly by the same group over the years, who just keep packing in more stuff each year and not bothering to remove the junk. Such camps are illegal in a wilderness area, of course. So when they get discovered we were called to haul it out.

Not in a wilderness, but I found a large cache of cast iron cookware and grill near a popular lake accessible only by trail. The gear was stashed a couple hundred yards from the lake, and hidden under a tarp. Obviously a cache used by frequent visitors. Since it was hidden and often used, and not in a wilderness, I left the stuff there.