The Gear House

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When you are out and about in the wilderness, whether backpacking, camping, rock climbing, or just hiking, it is important to remember the seven principles of Leave No Trace and to follow them as best as you can. Here are some different tips to be sure you follow the Leave No Trace principles when you are taking a hike!

Limit Group Size - Large groups have adverse impact on both the land and on other wilderness users. One person hiking along sees more wildlife than two people. Two people see more than tree people. A group of more than three people is unlikely to see anything at all.

Stay On The Trail - Most especially, don’t cut switchbacks. Obviously, this is more of a temptation going downhill than going uphill, especially on those western pack trails that swing back and forth as evenly as a pendulum. Switchbacks make for easier climbing, and they also help control erosion on steep slopes. That straight route down the fall line can’t handle years of foot traffic and soon turns into an eroded mess.

Hike Single File - Traisl are cut and constructed for one hiker at a time. They’ll last longer, erode less, and look nicer if that’s how people hike them.

Shore Up Water Bars - These devices are a simple, low-tech solution to the problems caused by the collusion of water and gravity. Water seeks the quickest course downhill, and a trail very often serves the purpose. Water bars divert water off the trail, which prevents erosion, lengthens the life of the trail, and provides a more even footway. If the drainage is blocked, simply clear it out so that water has an unimpeded route downhill and off the trail. If the water bar is looking a little weak, you can shore it up with dirt and stones.

Walk In The Mud - Here is your chance to act like a child again and get dirty! Play in the mud, stomp in the puddles. Go right smack through the middle of the trail isntead of cowering on the sides, which widens the trail and turns the area into a big boggy mess. You can clean up your boots at the evening’s campsite.

Weed Infestations - In many parts of the country, infestations of hardy exotic species are wiping out local flora. Check with local land management agencies to see if you can do anything; in some cases, they’ll ask for a report.

Remove Blowdowns - You can’t get rid of all of them, but if every hiker removed just one, the trail would be improved.

Block Off Shortcuts and Social Trails - Peopel take shortcuts because they are easy and convenient. If you make them less so by blocking them with a big pile of brush, people are more likely to stay on the real trail.

Make Blazes Visible - If you have trouble seeing a blaze because shrubbery has grown up in front of it, when you do finally find it, cut or tear away the obscuring vegetation. The next hiker will thank you.

Make The Trail Visible - Sometimes the trail just is not clear. There may be social trails, a variety of paths around a blowdown, or an unclear junction. Put some kind of barrier across the wrong way (two or three sticks in a row is the trail community’s commonly understood symbol for “don’t go here”), and put a small cairn on the right trail.

Don’t Build Personal Trails and Cairns - Some hikers leave cairns for their partners. But these impromptu trail markers can confuse people who come after you, especially if they head away from the established official trail.

Deconstruct Rock Rings - Many hikers feel that a good campsite with a fire ring is a nice thing to find at the end of the day. Fire rings concentrate impact and, in forests below tree line, there are places where fire making is acceptable. But a lake pockmarked with hundreds of rings is a different story. Your sense of aesthetics will tell you when it’s time to practice for the Olympic shot-put competition by hurling fire ring rocks into the woods. There are many different points of view on this one and many arguments can be made, what do you think?