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Man caught living for 8 years among half-ton of trash in national forest, feds say
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2026
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With the way shit is going, I don't blame the guy for wanting to live alone in the woods
His residence was a giant pile of garbage. I mean, he's not like, 3M or Mr. Burns, but we I don't think we want people trash dumping in national parks. They're in enough danger as it is. If you move your campsite every 14 days and don't litter, you could live there indefinitely, it would seem.
I'm all for living in the woods, but this guy was definitely doing it wrong multiple ways
I do volunteer work for a couple homeless orgs in Canada and reading this story doesn't surprise me. he wasn't "doing it wrong" he was doing what was logical in his head. I see guys all the time carrying around bags or pushing a car literally filled with garbage. paper, cans, tim hortons cups, whatever. They pick it up, they keep it. It's a form of hording. It's not so much "I could potentially use this one day" its more like "I have nothing and having something makes me feel a bit more normal". It's 100% a mental illness and you always find it with older individuals. They carry around too much and the majority of which they don't need but they carry it because they need "something". They need some kind of possession. they just collect garbage.
I never thought about it in that way, but it certainly makes sense to try and get a bit of control and normalcy back.
"You are homeless THE WRONG WAY!"
Yes, having fires during no burn times ,and not properly putting it out, living next to active trails , trash everywhere including hazardous materials is not doing it "right".
Causing harm is bad, yes.
I'm making plans to do that
Likewise. I was homeless and lived like that. It was hard but also one of the most liberating experiences of my life. I already had survival training and lots of outdoors experience which helped.
Things are looking pretty grim for me again and I have been stocking up on supplies, bought all the gear I need for a prolonged stay outdoors, tent, clothes, everything.
I'm not gonna get caught living in a trashy one man summer tent in the middle of winter again, I'm gonna be homeless in style.