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LNT principles: travel on durable surfaces
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Highly trample-sensitive cryptobiotic soil
For the second post in my series on Leave No Trace ethics, the subject is traveling on durable surfaces. When moving through the backcountry, part of leaving no trace means avoiding negative impacts on our surroundings. If we look at the relation between our travel and its impacts, we’ll be closer to minimizing the potential damage caused by our recreation pursuits.
I want to reiterate that Leave No Trace is not about rules and guilt-trips. Let’s just be honest with ourselves: everyone has at least one thing more they can do to reduce the trace they leave on the outdoors. And there’s no way around it—if we’re serious about enjoying any particular form of outdoor recreation, we want to be able to continue to enjoy it. Which is what Leave No Trace ethics help ensure.
So, back to travel damage. What is it? Any time surface vegetation or communities of organisms are disturbed beyond the point of being able to regenerate themselves. When no regrowth can happen, soil erosion kicks in easily, because the barren area can’t sustain the biodiversity that gives nature its beauty.
Where can travel damage happen (or, Where do we need to remain conscientious)? Destructive travel can occur anywhere, both on trails and in off-trail areas.
Trail Travel:
- While untouched swaths of landscape are picturesque, the fact is that sometimes established trails necessarily concentrate traffic into one area. So if there is a trail, stick to it.
- In a way, the trail takes one for the team, so the whole area doesn't get scarred up with a webby network of trampled paths.
- Avoid cutting switchbacks too (whether you're fighting the masochistic urge to scramble straight up the slope for the first summit view, or feeling pressure to get down off the ridge and back to the car before dark).
- In general, the name of the game is concentrate your traffic in trailed areas.
Off-Trail Travel:
- When you're fortunate enough to take an excursion so remote that it doesn't have trails, try to keep it that way. In other words, leave no trace.
- The two main things to keep in mind are the durability of the terrain, and how frequently you're walking on it.
- Slickrock takes a while to show signs of a trail, and so many pairs of feet can travel over it pretty frequently. A wet meadow, however, shows signs of trampling very easily. Therefore, make sure that no one path is walked on too frequently.
- When it comes to off-trail travel, consider durability and frequency to appropriately diffuse the effects of your travel.
Campsites:
- Similar to trails, concentrate your campsite use when in well-established areas, and diffuse it in the backcountry.
- For high-use campsites, do what you can to stay away from water sources, and set up your site with a reasonable level of visual shielding from trails and other sites.
- As for backcountry camping, it's very essential that you're sold on and skilled at leaving no trace. Again, it's not to limit your backcountry fun or be exclusive, but to ensure that others can enjoy that site or area for generations to come. Some best practices are to spread tents out, avoid repetitive paths across the site, wear soft shoes or sandals, and camp in a new location each night if possible.
- When you leave, take extra care to erase as much impact as possible. Smooth over scuffs in soil, ruffle trampled vegetation, etc.
For more info: Leave No Trace page encouraging low-impact travel and campsite selection.
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