For Earth Day, volunteers removed trash from a treasured peak

Apr. 22—To celebrate Earth Day 2023 on Saturday, Caitlyn Murphy of Laconia and her 3-year-old daughter Violet hiked Mount Major, a 1,786-foot summit that draws 80,000 visitors each year, including from Rhode Island, New Jersey and Maine.

The full parking lot at the base contained a smorgasbord of license plates. Parked cars lined Route 11 for a quarter-mile. It was Violet's first climb under her own power, and Murphy wore a child-carrying backpack in case she got tired.

"I love to hike," said Violet, waving their trail map.

"I feel like putting kids in nature is so important," said Murphy. "In a time of technology, you have to unplug. It's so important to do this, too." She lifted the bag they brought to collect litter and left-behinds. "Pack in, pack out. It's stressful on me to see trash on the trail. If we don't take care of it, the things we love about nature will stop existing."

That was a no-nonsense way to sum up the Earth Day mission on the Lakes Region's best-loved peak — second only in number of hikers and day trippers to Mt. Monadnock in Cheshire County.

With sweeping views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the White Mountains, including Mount Washington and trails for most skill and energy levels, Mt. Major is one of the most sought-after outdoor attractions in southern New Hampshire, according to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, which owns the 200-acre reservation.

With its appeal comes litter. Tossed when no one is looking. Stuffed behind rocks where some think no one will see it. Accidentally falling from pockets. Scattered like confetti in the woods. Sliding into cracks at the top.

"A lot of people hike Mt. Major. Just because of that, there ends up being a lot of trash and debris," said Carrie Deegan, head of reservation stewardship and engagement for the Forest Society, which purchased the area in 2013.

"Most of the trash is in the parking lot. That was pretty ugly," said Jay Frost, a Forest Society trail volunteer who came early on Saturday to ready the trails for spring.

Some visitors bring their trash down then drop it inside a porta-potty, said Frost. Baggies containing dog poop are frequently hung from tree limbs. Snack bags, tissues and granola bar wrappers are blown by wind into the woods.

On the first large-scale cleanup since winter, "You don't see much litter. Most people are respectful."

The bounty of refuse is found at the trailhead or the summit where people eat lunch — and where it gets stuck between rocks.

Frost pointed to a boulder where the main trail joins the parking lot. "If you come up midsummer, you'll see a pile of trash in front of that rock. Someone starts it. Then others follow. Dog poop bags. Beer cans. Soda cans. I don't know who they think is going to pick that up," said Frost. "Do they think we have a janitor?"

Novices and first-timers may not know the hiking rules, and they increased exponentially during COVID when people flocked to new outdoor pursuits. "It was one of the safe things to do," said Frost. "If you come back in two weeks there will be litter again. Like anything, it's a small percentage of people who ruin it for everyone else."

Forest Society volunteers staffed a table with information on hiker safety and "Leave No Trace" — a campaign to leave with everything you bring, including snacks, food wrappers, paper cups, tissues and plastic. Volunteers passed out trash bags to mission-driven hikers, some of whom have come to Earth Day cleanups for years and others who didn't know it was Earth Day, but took a bag and happily agreed to pick up what they saw.

"There's a bunch of trash right there," said a high school freshman from Brunswick, Maine, pointing to bagged trash near the entrance. "Imagine how much trash there is in the world."

"It's important to clean up the trails no matter where you are," said Chad Doody of Windham, Maine, who started hiking during the pandemic and has tackled most of New Hampshire's 4,000-foot peaks. He sometimes finds ripped-up shirts and soiled underwear, but most hiking trails seem litter-free.

Asleigh Roberts, a Forest Society volunteer, said some hikers bag pet waste on the way up, set them down "with wonderful intentions," but forget to collect them. "Whatever is left here that isn't cleaned up eventually makes its way down to the lake."

Megan Lybarger, a Mount Major regular from Braintree, Mass., compares it to Acadia National Park in Maine for it breathtaking water views. On Saturday, she scooped up a cigarette, a glove and a water.

Partly filled kitchen-size bags mounded up next to the Forest Society Table.

Craig Mabie of Loudon, a volunteer land steward for Stillhouse Forest in Canterbury and Northfield, contributed empty beer cans, plastic water bottles, an old hoodie and six tied plastic bags of dog waste, much of it tossed into the woods. Because of the volume of year-round visitors, "This place just gets hammered," he said. "To do this once a year is just great."

"It's one of my top winter hikes because it's really accessible and the views are spectacular," said Katie Burns of Manchester, who comes in winter to the peace and clear vistas. It's the poop bags that irk her most. "We should think about nature and try to reduce microplastics in our water."

For Heather Wagner, a 10-grader at Hillsborough Deering High School, Saturday's event was her second time hiking. Trash in nature? "It's bad for the environment. I don't like it," she said.

"It just takes away from the experience," said Nicole Zodhi of Rye, who came with a companion from Iceland. "It makes it look like it's flooded with people. It's important not to throw anything in the woods. You're setting a precedent for someone else to do it. Then it's just a domino effect."

Cans, wrappers, COVID masks, bottles, poop bags and lots of tissues. Michelle Hanley of Barnstead and her granddaughter filled a bag which ended up too heavy for Hanley so her granddaughter carried it down from the top.

"I was surprised to see that much," said Hanley. "People who hike, you assume they're nature people and they'd be more environmentally conscious."

Bill Lambert of Boscawen and his dog Tuukka scooped a Dunkin' cup and a couple of tissues. "It's being a good steward to pick up what someone else left behind," he said.

Fuzz Freese of Gilmanton came with two buddies from Trailwrights and the Belknap Range Trail Tenders — including Russ Wilder, a member of the Alton Conservation Commission, who has volunteered at Earth Day events since 1972. Armed with firefighter-grade hoes and shovels, the trio cleared blow downs and drainage ditches and repaired water bars to keep the main trail intact.

"I feel an obligation and want to give back to the trail I wear out," said Freese.

Together they kept a keen watch for any lingering refuse.

"You have to look," said Denis Proulx of Loudon. "Sometimes they stuff it behind rocks."

At the bottom of the trail, Deegan from the Forest Society, collected hikers' bags and comments — including, "This is a great thing to do" and "I didn't know it was Earth Day."