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Front and center of any website to outdoor activities should include some education about Leave No Trace (https://lnt.org/ https://lnt.org/). It's an absolutely

Front and center of any website to outdoor activities should include some education about Leave No Trace (https://lnt.org/ https://lnt.org/). It's an absolutely laudable effort to get more people outdoors. However, people new to the outdoors aren't very cognizant of the kind of footprint they leave behind, not to mention the *holes who intentionally throw trash at public parks like they're in their own backyards. For the former type, educational efforts should be enough to get them to pick up after themselves. For the latter, hopefully seeing more people speaking out about LNT would make them think twice about throwing trash around.

almog 7y ago
And for people who follow the LNT protocol, and perhaps even carry other people trash, the next step I suggest is to destroy bushcrafters' "shelters". They disrupt soil, more often than not made out of live cut trees (and hinder wood decomposing when not) and 9 out of 10 times, will come with beer cans/tp scattered around and it's illegal to 'build' them on public land. If you happen to see one, destroy it, you'll be doing well for the environment. In fact, USFS and NPS often do just that as part of their job. Here is one guy who's work on that field inspires others: https://douchepacker.com/2018/07/09/destroying-buschcrafter-shelters-a-how-to-guide/ https://douchepacker.com/2018/07/09/destroying-buschcrafter-...
- majos 7y ago
  Not knowing anything about this topic, I’m curious about why this comment is downvoted.
  - Kye 7y ago
    They might be reactive downvotes over the domain name.
    - RandomBacon 7y ago
      Geez, there are threats involving boobie traps and explosives in the comments. Some people... My guess it's downvoted because maybe some readers here are offended that they're being called out. Anything to feel superior I guess.
  - almog 7y ago
    Since my original comment didn't include explanation for why it's a good thing to restore lands back to their pre-bushcrafted state and the fact this very task is done by NPS and USFS, I edited my comment to add that missing info. Not sure if it was you asking about it that got it upvoted or the additional explanation. I'd guess both and I'd further estimate that most people that are not involved in the hiking/preservation community could pass near one of these 'shelters', without recognizing that it's bad for the environment. It's easier to recognize a call to destruct structure such as this as a vandalism.
- Jamwinner 7y ago
  Hear hear. The number of 'survival cosplayers' vs actual campers has shifted is a bad way recently. It is illegl to build a structure, bury food, etc on public land. You wanna be a prepper, buy your own damn land. Stop destroying ours. P.s. kick over some carins too.
  - gk1 7y ago
    *Cairns Be careful with that, though. Some times they’re used as trail markers. Last year I was on a trail in the Southwest that had loads of cairns, like every 20-30 feet. Rather than feeling disgust at silly Instagram tourists that must’ve built them, I made a game of kicking over as many as I could. When I returned to the trailhead I saw a sign asking to please not touch the rock stacks because they mark the trail. Oops. That felt awful. On the drive home I made a donation to the park so I could go on living.
    - almog 7y ago
      lol, as a general rule, I think that's a good call, below the treeline for sure. The original Steve Roper's guide book for its brainchild — Sierra High Route, opens up by instructing hikers to do just that so it doesn't end up becoming a well worn path. It's probably not a good test case for whether or not it's good for the environment since very few people hike this route. Anyhow, the vast majority of (official) trails in the US are so well marked and maintained compared to any other country I've visited, that cairns are nearly always redundant.
      - brewdad 7y ago
        There aren't a lot of trees in the desert southwest. Those cairns ARE the markers that make it a well-marked trail. Additionally, in an extreme environment like that a single well-worn path is far less impactful to the environment than wandering all over in generally the right direction.
        almog 7y ago
        That is why I mentioned that the SHR is not a good test case, it's an outlier - very few people hike it every year, there is really no trail other than where it coincides with the JMT highway. In that case, cairns are nothing but impact on the environment, since people will have to make their own way between them anyway. I totally agree that cairns are a good marker when there is an official trail that in parts has no visible trail (usually in boulders/lava/talus fields). btw, which desert of the southwest is in question? That's a LARGE area. If we're talking SoCal for example, the entire 700 first miles of the PCT are desert with trail so well maintained and visible that when I hiked it last year, I walked many nights well into night without having to take my flash light out until it became pitch black.

almog 7y ago

And for people who follow the LNT protocol, and perhaps even carry other people trash, the next step I suggest is to destroy bushcrafters' "shelters". They disrupt soil, more often than not made out of live cut trees (and hinder wood decomposing when not) and 9 out of 10 times, will come with beer cans/tp scattered around and it's illegal to 'build' them on public land. If you happen to see one, destroy it, you'll be doing well for the environment. In fact, USFS and NPS often do just that as part of their job. Here is one guy who's work on that field inspires others: https://douchepacker.com/2018/07/09/destroying-buschcrafter-shelters-a-how-to-guide/ https://douchepacker.com/2018/07/09/destroying-buschcrafter-...

majos 7y ago
Not knowing anything about this topic, I’m curious about why this comment is downvoted.
- Kye 7y ago
  They might be reactive downvotes over the domain name.
  - RandomBacon 7y ago
    Geez, there are threats involving boobie traps and explosives in the comments. Some people... My guess it's downvoted because maybe some readers here are offended that they're being called out. Anything to feel superior I guess.
- almog 7y ago
  Since my original comment didn't include explanation for why it's a good thing to restore lands back to their pre-bushcrafted state and the fact this very task is done by NPS and USFS, I edited my comment to add that missing info. Not sure if it was you asking about it that got it upvoted or the additional explanation. I'd guess both and I'd further estimate that most people that are not involved in the hiking/preservation community could pass near one of these 'shelters', without recognizing that it's bad for the environment. It's easier to recognize a call to destruct structure such as this as a vandalism.
Jamwinner 7y ago
Hear hear. The number of 'survival cosplayers' vs actual campers has shifted is a bad way recently. It is illegl to build a structure, bury food, etc on public land. You wanna be a prepper, buy your own damn land. Stop destroying ours. P.s. kick over some carins too.
- gk1 7y ago
  *Cairns Be careful with that, though. Some times they’re used as trail markers. Last year I was on a trail in the Southwest that had loads of cairns, like every 20-30 feet. Rather than feeling disgust at silly Instagram tourists that must’ve built them, I made a game of kicking over as many as I could. When I returned to the trailhead I saw a sign asking to please not touch the rock stacks because they mark the trail. Oops. That felt awful. On the drive home I made a donation to the park so I could go on living.
  - almog 7y ago
    lol, as a general rule, I think that's a good call, below the treeline for sure. The original Steve Roper's guide book for its brainchild — Sierra High Route, opens up by instructing hikers to do just that so it doesn't end up becoming a well worn path. It's probably not a good test case for whether or not it's good for the environment since very few people hike this route. Anyhow, the vast majority of (official) trails in the US are so well marked and maintained compared to any other country I've visited, that cairns are nearly always redundant.
    - brewdad 7y ago
      There aren't a lot of trees in the desert southwest. Those cairns ARE the markers that make it a well-marked trail. Additionally, in an extreme environment like that a single well-worn path is far less impactful to the environment than wandering all over in generally the right direction.
      - almog 7y ago
        That is why I mentioned that the SHR is not a good test case, it's an outlier - very few people hike it every year, there is really no trail other than where it coincides with the JMT highway. In that case, cairns are nothing but impact on the environment, since people will have to make their own way between them anyway. I totally agree that cairns are a good marker when there is an official trail that in parts has no visible trail (usually in boulders/lava/talus fields). btw, which desert of the southwest is in question? That's a LARGE area. If we're talking SoCal for example, the entire 700 first miles of the PCT are desert with trail so well maintained and visible that when I hiked it last year, I walked many nights well into night without having to take my flash light out until it became pitch black.