Marty’s photo of the day #4469: Want to have some fun with an interesting moral question? When Deb and I took three days off-the-grid to rent the Canyon Creek Cabin, we did a lot of playing and hiking in the area. On our second day, we spent a few hours along a tiny stream. These 15 cans of Coors Light were neatly contained in a shallow pool, bounded with rocks, roughly 100 feet from where the gravel road crosses the stream. Obviously, someone had stashed them there to cool for later consumption.
It was impossible to tell exactly how long the cans were there. They could have been there for weeks or for hours. It was a Monday, so the forests and roads were quiet. But on Sunday, it was a different scene, with 4-wheelers traveling the network of gravel roads. Also, there was a trailhead a few miles away, and this was the last stream on the map before the trailhead.
So there were at least three possibilities:
#1: Some backpackers could have hidden the cans there for a post-hike celebration. Imagine how great even a shitty beer, like Coors Light, would taste after a long backpacking trip. If we took those beers, those backpackers would be incredibly disappointed upon their return.
#2: Those same backpackers could have already returned, forgotten the beers, and decided it wasn’t worth it to drive back to get them.
#3. The beers could have been stashed by any of the many weekend 4-wheeler assholes who had been racing up and down the roads and had now gone home to Butte, Melrose, or any of the other small towns within a few hours’ drive. Considering how little respect so many of those people have for nature, not returning for their forgotten beers fits the pattern.
What did we do? At first, I thought about possibility #1 and said we should leave them. Then, after thinking some more, I changed my mind. Anything other than #1 and the beers become nothing but river trash.
So Deb and I did what some might consider impossible: we actually enjoyed drinking Coors Light. It’s amazing how after a day of hiking ANY cold beer tastes absolutely fabulous!
What would you do if you found beers stashed in a remote mountain stream? I look forward to your comments.