GREEN NEWS & VIEWS The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace Camping
BY FALLON KEPLINGER When I was younger, during summer break when most families went to the beach, mine went camping in the Shenandoah mountains. My dad had a shirt he always packed that read, “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” To me that meant respect the land, nature is there for everyone to enjoy, so don’t pick the flowers.I haven’t been camping with my family in ages, but I always remembered the saying. Fast forward to summer of 2024, the hottest summer on record. The scorching temperatures had me thinking about a respite in Maine. My husband and I decided to take three weeks to explore the northeast and attempt to escape the temperatures. We booked our camping sites through the app Hipcamp. When booking camping sites, you are reminded to adhere to “The 7 Principles of Leave No Trace” Camping. I had never heard of it before. What is it and what does it mean? Leave No Trace (https://lnt.org/) is a national educational program to inform visitors about reducing the damage caused by outdoor activities, particularly non-motorized recreation. Coincidentally, 2024 is their 30th anniversary of their mission to provide “innovative education, skills, research and science to help people care for the outdoors. The 7 Leave No Trace Principles are: 1. Plan Ahead and Prepare. Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you›ll visit. 2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces 3. Dispose of Waste Properly 4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts 6. Respect Wildlife 7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors With these principals in mind, we began our journey… • Plan Ahead and Prepare We brought our rescue pit bull with us on the trip, so planning the route as well as places to stay was important. We were tent camping, glamping, and cabining. We had to make sure the site was dog friendly with the non-negotiable amenities; not all campgrounds are dog friendly, but many are. Since we were camping on privately-owned land, we had to check host rules as well before booking our stay. Most will allow campfires, however some properties do not have fire rings. If you plan on having s’mores or cooking over a fire, those details are important to look into before securing accommodation. • Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces After our first night tent camping, we realized our tent’s placement wouldn’t work during the day because we were directly in the sun’s path. Our first few days camping, temperatures peaked over 100 degrees and shade became our friend. We relocated our tent and later that night we encountered a thunderstorm. We inevitably learned the hard way that our tent was at the bottom of a small slope with water collecting around us. From that point on we looked for higher ground in case of rainstorms. • Dispose of Waste Properly In planning the camping trip, it had never occurred to me there would not be trash receptacles readily available. Pack it in, pack it out was the slogan repeated at many of the parks. Spoiled fruit and trash can seriously hurt animals. I also didn’t realize how important the concept is until I happened upon a campsite with broken glass. It has made me appreciate everyone who does clean up properly. • Leave What You Find We encountered beautiful meadows of wildflowers. Simply taking a picture is harmless and leaves the flowers for everyone to enjoy. A trend over the years has been to make rock cairns (stack of rocks).
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78—PATHWAYS—Fall 24
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