“It’s only 1 wrapper”…”Don’t worry, some animal will eat it”… comments I hear all the time on the trails.

Ironically, both statements and actions can be devasting to the ecology of the natural surroundings we are hiking to enjoy. The golden rule for all hikers is to leave no trace! Which means we all need to leave nature the exact way we entered it.

Examples of Leaving No Trace are:

1. Leaving flowers, rocks and historical artifacts in place and only taking photos of them so others can enjoy them as well. If we all picked the flowers, carried out the rocks and took a scoop of the sand, there would not be any left.

2. Pack out your dog’s doo doo! Too many people leave the bags hanging on trees which attract animals and gross out fellow hikers.

3. Speaking of doo doo, bring a ziploc bag for your own droppings, feminine hygene products and toilet paper. Or dig a deep hole to place them in. The amount of toilet paper I see on the trails in the last 5 years is beyond reasonable.

4. Pack out all your garbage, fruit peels, apple cores and egg shells in a ziploc. These can take a long time to biodegrade and they attract wild life.

5. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you apply any type of graffitti to the rocks or carve your name on trees. This is another disturbing trend I have noticed in the past 5 years.

6. Bottom line…think about the thousands of hikers that came before you and the thousands of hikers that will come after you. Everyone has a duty to not ruin it for future generations.