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What Is Leave No Trace?

To explain what leave no trace is, let me start with a story. Some time back, I was doing a mountain skills course and while we stopped for a banana break a conversation started up between a few of my fellow course attendees on whether it was OK to leave the banana peel, or any fruit waste for that matter, on the hill side.

Rotting Fruit

The argument here is that fruit is of course biodegradable so therefore there’s no harm done i.e. the banana peel will simply naturally bio-degrade into the landscape and will most likely even provide nutrients for the soil.

Now I had heard this conversation and that particular argument many times before so I knew what was wrong with it and the course instructor was quick to pick up on it and set the guys straight at the time. I should add that it was really only about a year or so before this while I was attending an introductory survival skills course (yes, I know … I attend a lot of courses … the best way to learn how to be safe and enjoy your time on the trail I assure you) that I first came across the thinking behind this.

To explain …

Now, I always knew that you should take all your rubbish out with you, that was a given. However, I too used to think that leaving fruit or vegetable waste behind was OK as it is biodegradable. This is not so and here’s why.

In short, when you’re hiking in the hills and you leave a banana peel, apple core or any other type of fruit or vegetable waste behind, while it will bio-degrade, unless it is from that habitat and grows in the mountain or countryside area you’re hiking in, you are in effect leaving an alien species in that environment and ecology.

To illustrate this, banana’s don’t grow in the Rockies so leaving a banana skin there means you’re introducing a new variable to the local ecology. That can potentially have knock on effects. For example, local wildlife might eat said banana peel and if it’s not part of their normal diet it could make them ill. Even if the banana peel just bio-degrades, you are still introducing the chemical composition of a banana peel into ground, soil, etc. that is not normally exposed to that chemical make-up.

Where?

So where did this wise thinking come from in the first place? The example I have listed above fall’s under one,  number three to be precise, of the seven leave no trace principles of the leave no trace organization. This body teaches people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. There are seven principles:

  1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
  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

The member-driven Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. This copyrighted information has been reprinted with permission from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org

If you are new to hiking or if you have been hiking for a long time and this information is new to you, please take the time to visit www.LNT.org and read over the detail of each of the above principles. There also expanded principles for some specific outdoor activities.

As with everything, education is really important and there are also a lot of resources available on the site. The more people that learn the better.

Continuing on the opening story above, after the course instructor corrected the guys who were saying it was OK to leave banana peels Banana Peelin the hills,  they proceeded to tell a story about a time they were working with a group in Ben Nevis in Scotland.

Ben Nevis is a very popular hiking destination with thousands and thousands of visitors every year. A group of volunteers went up the mountain to clean up waste left behind by the visitors. They put banana Peels into separate bin liner bags and they apparently filled a frightening four bags full with them! These must all have been dropped in the relatively recent past as otherwise they would have rotted away.

To try and hit the point home after this they got some folks to dress up in banana suits and engage hikers around Ben Nevis for the day to raise awareness! Walking around Ben Nevis in a banana suit … I don’t like the sound of that but fair dues to the folks who did it. Anything to help raise awareness with people on how to act ethically in the beautiful natural outdoor areas they get so much enjoyment from is a great thing.

In short, leave everything exactly as you found it!

Keeping our mountains and hills pristine and as they were before we hiked in them will help keep them for the enjoyment of others for generations to come.

Have you heard of leave no trace before? Where did you learn about how to act ethically in the outdoors? Let us know in the comments below.

Always Wear the Right Hiking Gear on Your Hikes!

Yesterday I went out for a hike with a great group of folks. It was a pretty unsettled day weather wise to say the least! I woke up early at 6:30am and it was pouring rain, looked like a full blown autumn day outside.

Teeming Rain

Photo Credit: dok1

I got up and started preparing for the hike ahead, packing some gear and stuff into my daypack.

A Truly Mixed Bag!

At about 7:30am, I looked out of the kitchen window and noticed the sun was poking its head out from behind the clouds. I started thinking that maybe it might even brighten up for the day ahead. The weather forecast wasn’t much use, it just said it would be unsettled with sunny spells and rain.

We weren’t all meeting at the meeting point till 10:45am so I didn’t have to hit the road till 9:45am. Therefore I had some spare time to do a few errands.

I needed some bread and a few other bits and pieces to make a sandwich to take on the hike so I went to the store around 8:30am. When I went outside I noticed that the rain had dried off and it was now very, very windy but still quite sunny with a mish mash of threatening clouds in the sky.

I returned from the store, got my sandwich ready, finished packing up and set out at 9:45am sharp. On the drive down it started to pelt rain again and by the time I got to the meeting point it was teeming but the wind had died down. It was like vertical water streams coming from the sky!

It was a truly mixed bag of weather indeed! So, on with the Rain jacket and we set off in the deluge on the hike.

On (and Off) with the Rain Gear

And so it continued throughout the day. Pouring rain for a half hour; then sunny warm and bright; then very windy again (lift you off your feet windy when we reached the summit and were exposed); then pouring rain again, etc.

The temperature was generally pretty warm but with either the sun shining down or the wind biting through you at the top of the mountain, it ranged considerably.

Woman in Rain

Throughout the day we must have added and removed gear nearly ten times! Rain jacket on, then off; hiking fleece on then off; rain pants on then off and hiking pant bottoms detached into shorts; gaiters on and off, etc., etc.

The hike was great and we did about 14 miles across a few peaks. We all had a wonderful day. It really hit home to me again the importance of always having the right hiking gear and clothing on, as well as with you when you set out on your hikes.

Conclusion

Weather in the hills and mountains is prone to rapid change. If we hadn’t had the right hiking gear with us on the hike, we would have been soaked like a wet teabag from the rain and our sweat.

For example, with the wrong hiking shirt or tee on it would have eventually been like wearing a cold wet towel, a sure-fire ticket to a miserable hiking experience!

The main point of this post is to simply reiterate how important it is for you to have the right and best hiking gear with you when you hit the trail. If you don’t, you could be pretty miserable pretty quickly and even get into difficulty very quickly should conditions turn against you.

Have you had any bad experiences while hiking with the wrong hiking gear? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear about it!

What Hiking Supplies Should I Take?

Today’s post is the next in a series on some of the basics to consider if you are new to hiking to help ensure you have a safe and enjoyable hike from the get-go! So far we’ve looked at where you can go for your first hikes, what distance you should aim for and a broad range of the basics in terms of hiking gear, from hiking pants to hiking shirts, hiking footwear to rain gear and a whole lot more!

One other key piece of gear we looked at was having a good day pack to put some bits and pieces in for when you head out on your first hikes. You need something to store various bits and pieces in, things like water, food and so on.

Lunchbox

Photo Credit: Lunch in a Box

With that in mind, today I want to take a broad look at what supplies you need to bring with you when you first head out on the trail. These posts are focused on a newbie hiker, as in someone just starting out for the first time. Again, there are certain assumptions I am making for these getting started with hiking posts:

  • It will be day hiking i.e. likely out for anywhere from two to six hours
  • Will be hiking in a very well established area i.e. sticking to well-worn and clearly marked paths and trails
  • Hiking at a pleasant time of year in terms of temperature and climate
  • Likely to be hiking with other people (always advisable when starting out)

In the context of supplies, there are many things that are good to bring but below and in no particular order below, I’ve focused on four essentials so this list is not exhaustive, far from it.

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts on hiking for beginners, please click here.

Water

The ultimate essential!

River Water BottleAs with any exercise or activity you need to be sure you have easy access to water to keep you well hydrated on your hike. There are many factors that go towards helping you decide how much water you should take with you. For example:

  • The distance you plan to hike
  • Your current state of fitness
  • How thirsty you get when exercising, etc…

All these things and more will contribute to helping you determine the necessary amount of water to bring with you. However,  assuming you’re not pushing yourself too hard on your first hikes as per the assumptions above, you can use three to six ounces (Approx 80 to 200 ml’s) per mile as a guideline amount.

Only you know yourself how much you drink but whatever you do …

Major Notice Alert: Always ensure you bring an adequate supply of water, better to have more than less! 🙂

It will only be a hassle if you go too far out on a hike and run out of water, will make your journey back a real pain. And, heaven forbid, something where to happen to you and you had to wait for help to reach you, that extra bit of water could be very much needed and appreciated.

Snacks & Food

You will burn energy as you hike and so it is handy to have some snacks with you for easy munching. I like to bring nuts, dried fruit, bananas and some small cereal bars. Another great one to carry with you is some chocolate. A relatively small amount of chocolate can provide a swift boost of energy when needed.

There is really no limit to what you can take out with you as long as it’s easy to carry and provides decent energy. Now, just because I mentioned chocolate above, doesn’t mean you can take ten Hershey bars out with you and nothing else 🙂 Common sense is required and a balanced selection is the best approach.

Food

If you need some ideas check out this post on the ten best hiking foods. They’re the common ones I regularly take with me on my day hikes.

Extra Clothing

Now, the assumptions above do stress that you should only hike at a fair time of year in terms of climate and temperature when you’re just getting started. However that may not always be possible. As well as that, even in good conditions, it can get a whole lot chiller as you head out into wide open spaces and possibly go up higher in terms of elevation. These shouldn’t be huge factors when you’re just starting out hiking, but they all add up.

With that in mind, depending on what time of year you’re planning to go out hiking and the climate you are hiking in, extra clothing is always a good idea. Keeping some extra layers of clothing in your day pack is a winner. I recommend you have an extra base layer tucked away in there as well as a fleece or jacket for insulation.

A hat and Gloves are also a good idea to have if required too. Remember, as mentioned above a lot of the time when hiking you will be going upwards and therefore exposing yourself to cooler temperatures and open winds. Don’t use the ground level temperature as a barometer or gauge of what you’ll experience when you get up to the top of a mountain!

Marmot Thermaclime Sport Crew Long Sleeve For Men

Pictured: The Marmot Thermaclime Sport Crew Long Sleeve For Men, click image to learn more.

Mobile Phone

And finally, we conclude with a crucial bit of kit! I will likely touch on this more in other safety related posts but the best device you can have with you when hiking, and people sometimes are surprised at this, is a fully charged mobile phone in case of emergencies.

Smartphone

Photo Credit: Johan Larsson

Even if you happen to have no reception on your network, if you have a smart phone and you hit the emergency call button, it should automatically connect to the nearest available network it can find in the ether near you to place your call through to the nearest emergency service to your location.

Your mobile phone is also a great location device for emergency services to locate your exact position!

Conclusion

So, today we covered just some of the key supplies you should take with you when heading out on your first hikes. This post is far from exhaustive and only covers some of the basics to get a newbie hiker out on the trail as quickly and safely as possible based on the assumptions listed at the start of this post.

There are many more supplies and accessories you should take with you as you get more and more into hiking, however, these basics should see you good for your first few hikes. You can find an extensive list of what you need for a day hike by checking out the complete day hiking checklist.

I hope you found this post useful. Please share this post and leave a comment 🙂

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