Leave No Trace

“If I arrive at a camp site and find it a mess and full of garbage and then clean it up and pack out all the trash, did I leave no trace?

;0”

“lol”

“Yes, you did good, I want you to go have a drink & put it on my tab, I'm buying.”

“If I fart in camp and you're up trail, do you smell it?

LOL!”

“Really, fight the good fight and understand that you do everyone a good service by picking up the crap. Think of it like "our rangers are under staffed and need my help" type of thing.

Now, if yer at a spot where this keeps happening, either quit hiking there, or start a hikng club to take care of it.”

“Yes you did and anyone who is a big enough person to clean up after others so the next hiker can enjoy a clean campsite is my personal hero.”

“I generally pick up trash on my way back to the trailhead, regardless of who put it there.

When I am on patrol as a Forest Service Volunteer, we usually hang a bag off of one of our packs. Fortunately, we don't have to put very much in these days.

Ruby, what part of Indiana are you in? My wife is from Lafayette.”

“Here's my question......

If you arrive at a "wilderness area" with no designated campsites and you happen upon a previously used site with a stone patio and two benchs, which you enjoy immensely, do you disassemble the benchs and patio before moving on, returning the site to "wilderness"?”

“Phil: I'm in Gary. Lafayette would be a whole lot nicer.

Sass: LOL!!!!”

“I actually have a bit of guilt about adding the bar! But then again, a tiny bit of pride at Birch's and my teamwork and improvisation skills. It's amazing what one can do with driftwood.;)”

“I would like to think everyone has the class to leave a campsite better then they found it.


I was asked to write a little story about LNT for a local paper a few years ago. The area that this paper was circulated was, well, lets say they all pack guns, beer, coolers and lawn chairs into their campsites (not that there's anything wrong with that) I tried to come up with an angle that would work.....

I called it stealth camping. Implied that the reason was to blend in with your surroundings, kinda like the camo paint job on their trucks.

They loved it.”

“Well, I'm one for practicing LNT but I alway's questioned the concept of backpacking and LNT at the same time. It's a bit of an oxymoron I think. If I really cared about the environment I wouldn't go tromping around the woods all day destroying it. By simply not littering am I doing all that I can or should I have not even made the trip to begin with if I truly cared?”

“good job mtnsteve, just goes to prove that you gotta know your audience!”

“Simply walking through the woods and sleeping on the ground does not destroy the environment. Humans are just as part of the environment as anything else.”

“I think your in denial. As individuals we may not make what you would feel to be a significant impact but the combined impact of hundreds, if not thousands, of people like us constantly using an area for our own selfish purpose does have an impact.”

“A friend of mine use to say it's about the" bubble".

.If you travel through the woods with a large group of folks, put up tents, build fires, talk loudly and in general move your ass's in, you have a large bubble around you. Your actually insulating yourself from the very nature you came to enjoy.

Travel off trail, with small packs, tread lightly in sandals with just one or two people and the bubble gets smaller...no fires or tents, just throw your bag down when your tired, the bubble is smaller yet. Use your night vision when ever you can, carry only what you need to really survive and leave the stove at home ...the bubble is even smaller.

Now you are moving "through" the mountains, your not an intruder anymore. You are sharing with those that live there, leaving only footprints and your own scent. You will see animals that most folks only read about, perhaps you will see them interact in ways biologists would give a years pay to observe (ever see baby fawns play leap frog with rabbits?) In time, animals may come up to you, birds will sit a few feet away, fox's will walk past, a weasel may play hide and seek next to the rock your sitting on or you may feel the rush and concussion of a bald eagle diving at you, only to break at the last very last moment and peel off.

We were privileged a few years ago to have two mountain lions accept us in their woods. They walked with us (following a hundred feet away at times) , passed near us and walked by us while we slept (tracks were 3' away). The rangers said that they did so because they were accustomed to us.

We hiked off trail in small groups, mostly at night, didn't use tents, build fires, use headlamps or make noise. ...we traveled through the mountains like they did. I truly believe they shared the mountains with us because we respected their home.”

“please don't read this like I doubt your words but for me I picture myself walking off trail at night without a flashlight and tripping over bush and tree,scaring up a bear who chases me into a mountain lion that saw me trying to run but tripping and offering myself up as fast food. Thats me...the picture you paint in your post just makes me want to sit in the woods and reflect on it but I doubt I'd ever be brave enough to LNT like you did. Great Tale.”

“That's pretty cool, mtnsteve. Thanks for sharing the bubble theory. That's a good way to look at it.”

“We are putting together a full moon hike for October 29th (fri). It may be following a trail (Bumpass Hell to Kings Creek Campground) or cross country, somewhere in Lassen National Forest, depending on the weather. Perhaps you can increase your comfort level for night hiking, hear some of the lion story's and see some incredible country. These hikes tend to run most of the night, so don't expect to get back to your vehicles till near sunrise.

I will post this one on the trips page next month.”

“Denial? You assume too much.

Impact is not the same as "destroy".”

“Individual impact compounded by years of use, and an increase in those individuals, is a destructive algorithm. LNT only prolongs the process, which is fine, but that does not mean it's not happening.

I'm not sure why you would take this personally but it's not meant to be. We all have a choice and I just don't like the fact we choose to be a part of this process but then turn around and act high and mighty like we're not. Sure, there are people who are making it worse but that doesn't change what is going on in the big picture.”

“so, what do you suggest? stay home on the couch?”

“Personally I'm bringing an inflatable couch on my next trip. Now if they only made inflatable TV's.”

“Peace J.
You are assuming too much again. I am well aware of the causal relationship and no one is getting high and mighty. I simply object to the notion that responsable backpacking "destroys" the environment. Impacts, yes, that's indesputable. Destroy? I don't think so.
We really are on the same side.”

“the point of the LNT is to keep the impact within parameters that nature can easily "heal" from.

we're all on the same side, thats why we all use the same board!”

“...I burn my trash....
Yupp, really!!! I buurrrrrrnnn it!!!”

“What I don't understand, is that it is acceptable for other things in the wild to be an "impact", yet we think that just because we're human, we destroy. Doesn't a deer, a bear, or even a chimpmonk for that matter have an impact in the wild that could be on the same level as responsible, LNT following human?

What I'm getting at is that wild is being impacted on a daily basis and not all of it is from humans. I would hedge a bet that the vast amount of animals do a fairly good job of ripping up the outdoors as well.”

“Leave No Trace is a wilderness philosophy to be followed as dictated by our settings. LNT in an alpine environment versus a lowland forest campsite are two vastly different things. I guess there are also some very common variables that affect LNT, especially - hiker density. The greatest effect of hiker density can be seen in the trails themselves as they become wider and deeper with increased usage. But these things can be stabilized through the hard work of so many outdoor volunteer groups.

Someplaces you only need to dig a cathole to dispose your waste and in other places you have to pack it out. I look at LNT according to circumstances and try to follow these golden rules;

1. If you pack it in, pack it out.
2. Leave your campsite in better condition than it was found, including cleaning up trash from slobs that were there before me.
3. Pick up any trash on the trail.

I've come to the conclusion that my job is to be a steward for the area that I'm hiking in. But I don't need to take it to an excessive extreme. Trees grow back and mud is just... mud.”

“According to Roget's Thesaurus, a trace is...

Entry: trace
Function: noun
Definition: evidence
Synonyms: bit, breath, crumb, dab, dash, drop, element, footmark, footprint, fragment, hint, indication, intimation, iota, jot, mark, memento, minimum, nib, nuance, particle, pinch, proof, record, relic, remains, remnant, scintilla, shade, shadow, shred, sign, slot, smell, smidgen, snippet, soupcon, speck, spoor, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suggestion, survival, suspicion, taste, tincture, tinge, tittle, token, touch, track, trail, tread, trifle, vestige, whiff, whisper
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

So PLEASE don't leave any of the above bolded items in the wild when you hike. 8)”

“LNT= birth control”

“uh oh.

Artex is screwed - "whiff" is a synonym for "trace"”

“I would truly follow you...But not on a Friday. Work related hazard. Some other time tho or see you in January.”

“trees do grow back, but mud is only "just mud" when we don't walk around it. If we walk around it, we are widening the trail, therefore increasing impact. Goretex boots make it so we can walk thru mud, and water that doesn't go over the tops of our boots.”

“I like mtnsteve's bubble idea. The biggest factor in my bubble size though is mosquitos - and my desire not to be bitten by them.

The idea of "pay it forward" made me think of LNT.

Anybody my age with any sort of a soft heart is still motivated by the now laughably non-pc crying Indian standing by the roadside with a pile of recently tossed trash at his feet.”

“Heck yeah, I remember him, I think I recall hearing he wasn't even an aboriginal America (how'd ya like that for pc?!). And Woodsy the owl.”