I hike the Lake Overlook Trail four to five times per week and enjoy the fresh air, views and friendly faces I meet. But I’d like to appeal to the dog walkers to pick up their dog messes and dispose of them properly.

Some of these folks pick up the poop and put it into a plastic bag, but then leave the bag on the trail. I wonder who they think will pick it up? In my opinion, this is very selfish and inconsiderate to the rest of us. If you don’t want to carry it, make a little pouch for your dog and make him carry it. Maybe he’ll poop less!

On a related topic, a few months ago I started seeing brightly painted rocks along the trail. Most of the rocks had environmental slogans, and I enjoyed picking them up, reading the slogans and putting them back. I found an article in The Fountain Hills Times explaining what these were and who was putting them on the trail. I found them very pleasant to look at, and they made me smile.

Unfortunately, they started disappearing. I guess some people thought they looked better on their coffee table than on the trail. I would appeal to those people to put them back so we can all enjoy them. Read the article and you can paint your own rocks.

Happy trails!