Two hikers on Granite Gear’s Packing It Out Team completed their environmental stewardship journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, adding 721 pounds of trash to the 1,090 pounds they collected on the Appalachian Trail last year.
Seth Orme and Paul Twedt ended their thru-hike – hiking a long-distance trail end-to-end – on September 28. They left the southern terminus near Campo, CA late in the season, on May 6, enabling them to clean up trash that previous hikers had left behind. The team aimed to steward other hikers’ cleanup efforts through leading by example, and were able to connect with and inspire thru-hikers at campgrounds and popular sections of the trial.
“Our ultimate goal this year was to leave the people we met and places we traveled to better than how we found them,” said Orme. “Looking back through the photos we’ve taken of the trash we hauled out, I feel we succeeded in leaving the PCT a better place for those who come after us.”
“This team is so passionate about their mission, and their message and actions truly serve as inspiration to others,” said Rob Coughlin, VP of sales and marketing at Granite Gear. “Our relationship with them has been nothing short of incredible, and we’re proud to be aligned with these two remarkable human beings.”
Located in Northern Minnesota, Granite Gear is a designer and manufacturer of outdoor products including backpacks, adventure travel gear, storage sacks, lifestyle accessories and canoe gear. Its Packing It Out program aims to inspire a greater sense of environmental stewardship within communities by raising awareness for litter conditions along America’s trails.
To keep up with Packing It Out’s current and future projects, visit packingitout.blogspot.com.
