Another problem I have had is the disrespect people have for Leave No Trace. I snatched plastic out of a fire not once but twice when someone persistently threw it in! When I recently talked to a small group of lady hikers about safety and wilderness etiquette, the grimaces when I talked about packing everything out led me to continue to paint the picture of all the creatures that dig up their "waste" and spread it around. It's posted on my group that we practice LNT and no one reads that any more than they do the descriptions.

The local Sierra Club has shifted to activism - I don't think they even have a trip leader any more. They gave an award to me last year in absence of their own trip leader. I find myself wishing they were still doing what they used to do. REI doesn't seem to have enough classes going on. I tried navigation classes through the adult school without success - no one signed up - and the backpacking class would start out with 10 and dwindle to the point that three or four people went on the trip... the actual outing was most of the education, the classes were the prep work.