Backpacking Ethics

Backpacking

Ethics

Again, I must highly recommend that you subscribe to the rec.backcountry newsgroup. It is filled with a wonderful morass of highly valuable information and if you have any particular questions or concerns about a particular area you intend to hike in, or need information about some equipment, you're sure to find someone through the newsgroup that can help you out.

The following is from rec.backcountry, part of the regular 'distilled wisdom' memos that are published there:

Backcountry Ethics Distilled Wisdom (2/28)

ETHICS

"The perfection of means and the confusion of ends seems to be our problem."
-- Albert Einstein in 1971 Chouinard catalog

Many different people with vastly diverse activities read backcountry: climbers, backpackers, campers, hunters, wind surfers, regular board surfers, white water (kayak to rubber boat, ocean to river), 4WD, mountain bikers, horse riders, bush pilots, ski tourists to ski mountaineers, professional and amateurs.
Even arm-chair versions of the above. Irrespective of the activity note the following.

If you are just starting, REMEMBER:

1) Don't leave any trash what ever activity you are doing. Don't bury it, take it out. Leave the place cleaner than you found it.

2) If you are hiking, stay on trail, don't cut turns (switchbacks). This causes erosion. This area is fragile.

3) Don't make new fire rings, and never leave a fire unattended. Don't cut wood from standing trees, no matter whether are they live or dead. Don't knock down standing dead snags; use only downed wood. Try not to disturb the vegetation. Use stoves in preference over wood above 9,000 feet.
[This was written for the Sierra, might be 4,000 ft. or lower on the Eastern US, Canada, etc.]
Keep camps away from water, lakes, streams, and the trail. See suggestion 8).

4) Be considerate of other people doing different activities.

5) Don't get yourself into trouble, and be prepared for trouble. This area can kill you. [First aid class?]

Ref: Ed Abbey's definition of wilderness. What's all this junk about hiking where there are cougars or bears? If the possibility of attack concerns you, don't insist that the gummint come in and kill the animal! Stay home, where you can be attacked by other human beings.

6) Learn how to use your equipment in advance, don't rely on it, consider alternative uses.

7) Use caution when passing livestock and heavy machinery.

8) Don't use soap (even bio degradeable kind) in a lake or stream.

9) Camp 100 feet or more from trails and water.

10) Check out rules specific to the areas you are travelling. There are places where you are asked not to camp except in designated areas. There are other places where you are asked not to wander off the developed trail. They usually relate to a fragile environment [See suggestion 2)].

These are the kinds of things you learn when you travel with outing clubs, the Sierra Club, and other various societies.

"The elevation of ends and the simplification of means is the goal."
--Henry David Thoreau, subsequent Chouinard catalog

See Leave No Trace Principles

If you notice a problem or something is glaringly missing, please email me