Plan Ahead and Prepare
To prevent getting lost or losing your way in the backcountry, you should always pack a physical copy of this geographic tool, along with a compass.
What is a map?
When choosing a spot to pitch your tent, you should always camp on "durable surfaces" like rock, gravel, or dry grass, while avoiding this soft, green, and delicate plant.
What is moss?
This iconic, rhyming four-word phrase is the golden rule of outdoor waste management, reminding you to take everything you brought into the woods back out with you.
What is "Pack it in, pack it out"?
Before leaving your campsite, you must pour water over your campfire and stir it until it is completely cold to the touch and this three-word phrase applies.
What is cold to the tough?
The best way to respect wildlife is to do this from a distance, never approaching, feeding, or trying to touch the animals.
What is observing?
When preparing your meals for a multi-day backpacking trip, removing food from its original box or plastic wrapping and putting it into reusable bags is known by this term.
What is repackaging?
To prevent creating unwanted new paths and causing trail erosion, hikers should walk in this formation rather than walking side-by-side.
What is Single File?
When nature calls and there are no restrooms, you should dig a small hole, commonly called by this feline-sounding name, to bury human waste.
What is a Cathole?
To keep your campfire manageable and prevent damaging live trees, you should only gather firewood that is "dead, down, and detached," and no thicker than an adult's this.
BONUS: What type of wood do we not use?
What is a wrist?
BONUS: Wet wood.
To make sure you are a safe distance from a wild animal, extend your arm, close one eye, and see if this specific finger on your hand completely blocks the animal from view.
What is your Thumb?
When packing out your trash, LNT courses emphasize that you must also pack out these small, often overlooked items like apple cores and orange peels, despite being organic.
What are food scraps?
Leave No Trace principles state that you should set up your campsite or wash dishes at least this specific minimum distance, measured in feet, away from lakes and streams.
What is 200 feet?
Even when using soap labeled biodegradable - meaning this - you must never use it directly in a river, stream, or lake.
What is breaking down naturally?
If a campsite does not have a metal fire ring, you can protect the ground from scorching by building this elevated, insulated platform using a tarp and a layer of mineral soil.
What is a mound Fire?
To allow nature's peaceful sounds to prevail, hikers are encouraged to leave these loud, portable electronic devices at home, or use headphones instead.
What are Speakers?
Before heading out on a technical or remote wilderness trip, you should leave a detailed document containing your route, vehicle information, and expected return time with an emergency contact at home.
What is a trip plan? (itinerary)
When looking for a place to pitch your tent, Leave No Trace states that these should be "made, not created," meaning you should find a spot that is already bare.
What are Campsites
Clue: When doing your business in the backcountry, this type of waste should be buried in a "cathole" dug this amount deep.
What is 6 to 8 inches deep?
When putting out your campfire, you should never use dirt to smother the coals; instead, you should use this liquid until the embers are completely cold to the touch.
What is Water?
To preserve a sense of wilderness solitude for others, Leave No Trace recommends that backcountry campers choose tents and jackets in earth tones rather than these highly visible colors.
What are Bright Colors?
In extreme, high-altitude alpine or arctic zones, trip planners must prepare to do this because decompose cannot naturally due to permafrost.
What is packing out all human waste.
While groups should hike single file on a trail, when traveling off-trail through pristine, untouched wilderness, the group should do this opposite action to disperse their physical impact and prevent a trail from forming.
What is scattering out?
To properly dispose of dishwashing wastewater using the broadcast method, you must first run it through one of these to catch food particles before scattering the water over a wide area.
What is a strainer?
When collecting firewood in the backcountry, you should follow this catchy four-word rule that dictates the wood must be dead, down, detached, and no larger than your wrist.
What is Dead, Down, Detached?
When camping in grizzly bear territory, Leave No Trace and the Park Service recommend arranging your sleeping area, cooking area, and food storage cache in a massive triangular layout separated by at least this many yards on each side.
What is 100 yards?