NY Forest Rangers Ticket Hikers, Can You Believe What They Left Behind?

Have you heard the phrase 'Carry In, Carry Out'? Typically this is applied to New York State Parks and nature areas where you are asked, if you are carrying items in, make sure you carry your stuff back out when you are done. Nobody wants to see your garbage left behind

The carry in, carry out policy is mostly intended for food, bags and anything else you might be bringing with you for a picnic, etc. I doubt that the folks that came up with the phrase thought it would one day apply to Adirondack chairs but this month that actually happened.

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On Saturday July 8th, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), a group of hikers set out to climb Slide Mountain in Ulster County. For this journey one might expect that they had backpacks with provisions and making a sturdy walking stick. This group also had a few Adirondack chairs that they carried to the summit.

New York State Forest Rangers were notified that the group from New Jersey not only carried the bulky chairs to the summit, they intended to leave them there for others to enjoy. Sounds like a nice gesture but carry in, carry out applies to these chairs as well.

Slide Mountain is the highest Catskill peak with an elevation of 4,120 feet. It is not confirmed if that is the reason but the Jersey hikers refused to carry the chairs back down the mountain. Officers explained that it is illegal to leave the chairs at the summit.

The Rangers issued the group a ticket for abandoning property in a wilderness area then officers retrieved the chairs themselves.