Chapter 2Backcountry Travel
An excerpt from Soft Paths
Chapter 2
Examine the gear of someone who is about to embark on a backcountry journey, and you are likely to find organized piles of lightweight equipment -- everything from maps with trimmed borders to a toothbrush with a shortened handle. Why such fastidious organization? Because a successful trip depends on careful preparation and bringing just the right equipment.
These days, thoughtful backcountry visitors are asking another question: How can I travel through wildlands so that I leave as little impact as possible? Many are learning that the same care and planning that contribute to a successful journey also serve to minimize disturbance to other visitors and the environment. If backcountry travelers find themselves wet and cold without the necessary equipment or clothes, they may be forced to build a large destructive fire to stay warm. Visitor safety is clearly the priority, but careful planning often precludes unnecessary impact.
Methods of wildland travel vary greatly, but with a few exceptions, motorized recreation is either prohibited or impossible (or both). Hiking, horseback riding, or boating are the primary modes of transportation for most visitors. Although many of the recommendations apply to all methods, in this chapter looks primarily at how to reduce the impact of the most frequent mode of backcountry travel: hiking. Later chapters deal with the specifics of travel with pack stock and boats.
The Impact of Hiking
A superficial look at the numbers raises doubts about whether there really is an impact problem caused by backcountry travelers. Although wilderness areas are visited by millions each year, use intensity averages only about 0.2 visitor-days per acre annually. That's less than a single three-hour visit by one person -- not much compared with other kinds of land use. Yet according to a 1980 survey of land managers conducted by researchers Randy Washburne and David Cole, crowding was a problem in more than half of all wilderness areas. Why are so many managers complaining of crowding if visitor use is so low?
Visitors don't distribute themselves evenly across our wildlands. Most use is concentrated in a few specific places in a few specific wilderness areas. In fact, more than half of all wilderness use occurs in a mere 10 percent of the total 100 million acres of designated wilderness. Similarly, in most wilderness areas, over half of all use occurs on only about 10 percent of the trail miles.
Visitation is also unevenly distributed over the course of the year. Certain seasons tend to be popular; others see little use. Weekend and holiday use is also high. In Yosemite National Park, for example, wilderness use on Memorial Day weekend is five times as great as on the weekends that follow. With this in mind, it is easy to see why crowding is a problem in many wilderness areas.
Examining why so few acres are favored is even more revealing. The popular spots are often close to population centers -- areas with easy access, scenic views, or attractions such as good fishing or pleasant camping. Researchers have learned that within these areas, people generally prefer to go where others have traveled; most often this means following a trail.
The Trail Dilemma
Why do people concentrate on trails? Sometimes travel off established trails is prohibited or impractical, perhaps even dangerous; sometimes visitors just like the familiarity and ease of following constructed paths. Whatever the explanation, we users are profoundly affecting the areas we like the most. Trails may be a small part of the wilderness acreage, but they are crucial to our wilderness experience because we spend most of our time along them.
But trails are declining in number. In the 1930s, our national forests had 132,000 miles of trails; today there are fewer than 100,000 miles. The reasons for the decline are many. The primary one, however, is that land managers deemphasized trails when fire control and timber harvesting became increasingly mechanized. As a result, road mileage increased while the number of trails declined. Today, although our national forest backcountry has 25 percent fewer trails, the public's use of trails has grown steadily. For every person hiking a trail in 1960, more than three people now leave their bootprints.
Increased trail use has prompted more than half of all wilderness managers to list human-caused soil erosion and injury to vegetation as major problems on trails. The next most widespread trail problem is erosion caused by horses, mules, burros, and other pack stock. Although only 11 percent of all parties entering the wilderness use pack animals, pack stock damage on or near trails is considered a problem in almost half our wilderness areas.
Today, new trails are mostly wishful thinking, and existing trail maintenance budgets have been cut back severely. Some land managers have recommended increased off-trail use in the belief that visitor impact will spread more evenly throughout the backcountry, resulting in less damage to established trails. But cross-country travel has proven no panacea, say its opponents; indeed, the worst nightmare for these managers is a backcountry that looks in its entirety like their most heavily eroded trail. They point to how thoughtless off-trail use in New Hampshire's White Mountains resulted in having to limit travel strictly to trails. By 1977, surrounding alpine vegetation had suffered so much from cross-country use that scree walls were needed on both sides of a path to keep hikers confined to the trail.
As a user, you're often faced with a choice: Should you travel off-trail or on-trail? Our answer is that depending on local regulations, your evaluation of the land, and your skill in minimum-impact techniques, either choices can be appropriate. Although heavy use of existing trails does increase contact with other visitors, staying on them is a good way to avoid disturbing fragile areas. When trails are well-designed and maintained, they can accommodate a great deal of use and minimize impacts -- particularly in popular areas.
There are times, however, when cross-country travel is appropriate. Highly skilled travelers can often minimize their impact by choosing an off-trail route, but they have to be willing to exert special care. The message is clear: The user must carefully consider the trade-offs when deciding to travel either by trail or cross-country.
Traveling on Trails
Even traditional, well-established trails can suffer abuse. Problems surface when they receive too much traffic, or when hikers walk out of the established tread. Properly designed and maintained trails rarely suffer if visitors simply stay on them. But not all trails are well designed or properly maintained. What happens when they deteriorate, and how can we minimize the damage?
The major environmental problems with trails are erosion, muddy stretches, and the development of informal trails. Most often, the solutions to erosion and muddiness are effective trail location, engineering, and maintenance. These are the responsibilities of the wilderness manager. Still, there are several things visitors can do to avoid contributing to further damage.
When following existing trails, walk single file and stay on the path. This is an important part of concentrating impacts. Walking outside the tread -- for example, traveling abreast or trying to avoid rocks or mud -- breaks down the trail edge and widens the path. Such behavior also leads to the development of multiple trails, which scar some of our most beautiful meadows. Staying on trails is sometimes difficult when conditions are wet, yet this is when they are the most susceptible. Wearing a pair of well-fitted gaiters allows the hiker to walk briefly through wet or muddy areas while remaining dry.
As with muddy stretches, it's better to cross low-angled snow banks than to skirt them and thus create additional trails. If you're familiar with the area and know where the trail is under the snow, tramp a path to lead the way for others. When crossing high-angled snow banks, however, safety is often the foremost concern; in this case, there may be no alternative to skirting the snow bank. Here it's better to risk widening the path by walking on the edge of the trail than to encourage the development of an entirely new impromptu trail. Sometimes merely avoiding popular backcountry areas during wet periods such as the spring thaw is the best practice.
To limit erosion, trails are typically designed in such a way that steep grades are avoided. Where trails negotiate steep hills, the grade is kept low by using switchbacks. Many hikers are tempted at times to shorten their distance by shortcutting these switchbacks. Yet by doing this, hikers cause erosion and damage to vegetation. If the slope is vegetated, the first shortcutters probably just damage a few plants. But if the plants die, their roots no longer bind the soil, and soon the topsoil begins to wash away. Without topsoil, other plants can't recolonize the site, and the shortcut becomes a barren trench. Runoff and erosion accelerate. Eventually, the shortcut becomes impassable, stripping away the corner of the switchback. Once erosion begins, it's hard to stop and it may become impossible for nature to repair itself, particularly at high altitudes where growth is slow. If you come upon shortcuts, you can help by throwing brush or logs across them to block hiker access. If an established switchback is impassable because of erosion or mud, walk on hard surfaces (such as rock, sand, or snow) as much as possible, and notify the managers responsible for that area. You may be surprised what action a few voices of concern can bring.
Another major trail impact caused by hikers occurs when they encounter other visitors. The result: less solitude for both your group and the other party. Encountering others often detracts from the user's wilderness experience. The impact of this situation can be lessened if you follow a few simple techniques. Unless regulations prohibit it, take breaks some distance off the trail at a durable stopping place, preferably out of view. Durable stopping places include rock outcrops, sand, other nonvegetated places, and sites with resistant vegetation, such as dry grassy meadows. Here you can enjoy more natural surroundings, and other parties can pass by without noticing you.
If you do meet other hikers on a trail, move off to one side and stop; continuing to walk at the edge widens the trail. When you meet a horse party, allow it plenty of room, as horses frighten easily. Your entire group should move off to the same side of the trail, preferably the downhill side, and stand quietly until the horses pass. It's easier for the wrangler to control a spooked horse if it bolts uphill rather than downhill. Sometimes it helps if one of your party talks in a low voice to the first rider to give the horses advance notice of your presence.
Traveling Cross-Country
Leaving the trail allows you to explore the 90 percent of wildlands not accessed by most backcountry visitors. Off-trail travel can be difficult, however, and is not for everyone. In particular, it is not for those who are unable to leave minimal traces of their passage -- those who hike in large groups, choose routes over fragile ground, or travel with large numbers of pack stock. When you travel off-trail in remote backcountry, you must accept a special responsibility for the greater impact you have the potential to create. Off-trail areas are special because they have seldom been visited. Trampling will change their pristine qualities, so these areas require a different attitude and commitment to extra care.
When traveling cross-country, don't blaze trees, build cairns, or leave messages for members of your group in the dirt or sand. Such markers detract from other visitors' sense of discovery.
Select a route that avoids fragile areas, particularly wet areas, unstable slopes, and areas covered by dwarf shrubs or dense broad-leaved herbs and ferns. These are the most fragile types of vegetation and a few passes by hikers will cause lasting damage. Spend as much time as possible on durable surfaces such as bare rock, sand and gravel, snow and ice, the deep duff of the dense forest floor, and other nonvegetated surfaces. Watch where you put your feet -- try to step on as few plants as possible. Travel in small groups of no more than four to six people, and when not on a hardened surface, spread out rather than follow the same route and create a path. Where places are so fragile that even the passage of one person leaves a trail, it is better to walk single file so that only one lane is created. Although this may be the best you can do under some circumstances, challenge yourself to find routes that avoid such impact.
Why all this concern for avoiding plants and unstable soil and minimizing the trampling any one place receives? Most plants die if stepped on more than a few times, and unstable soils start eroding even with light trampling. Once these processes begin, the impact accelerates quickly. An obvious path soon attracts others; footsteps on top of yours kill more plants and displace more soil. Trails develop where they are not wanted. Without the careful route selection and maintenance of constructed trails, informal trails erode into permanent trenches that continue to deteriorate even without use. When these trails finally become too difficult to use, cross-country hikers move away, initiating trails elsewhere.
Studies show that for many types of vegetation, just twenty-five people per year walking along the same route leave a discernible path. Even where effects aren't immediately obvious, trampling alters plant communities, changing them in subtle ways. Damage begins with injury to plant tissues; through loss of leaves or stems, plants lose their ability to photosynthesize food. Growth slows, and plants produce fewer flowers. Reproduction declines. Plants that are most susceptible to damage become less common, and once trampling reaches levels where all plants are affected, barren areas develop.
On steep terrain, it's generally less damaging to walk on rock or snow. In the eastern mountains, however, even walking on rock can cause problems. Many rare and endangered plants grow in the crevices of rocky ridges.
You create less damage ascending steep soil-covered slopes than you do descending. Boot heels carry extra force when moving downhill, and this increases erosion. If slopes are so steep that it's necessary to dig toes and heels deeply into the surface to get a grip, some other route should be taken, if possible. Sometimes all that is necessary is to switchback your way down the slope. Spreading out on steep slopes also reduces damage. When descending loose scree, move slowly and cautiously. Rapid descents can be fun, but they move sizable quantities of scree downhill, causing erosion that would take years to occur under natural conditions.
Many of us know of places that were once little-known destinations but today are reached by webs of informal trails -- the all-too-frequent result of cross-country travelers not treating pristine areas with the care they require. These places will continue to deteriorate if they receive further concentrated use. But they still have the ability to recover if they are given a rest. Shun places where user-created trails are developing, and stay off trails that managers have closed. Either go some place else or spread out and stick to routes that show no evidence of previous use.
Respecting Wildlife
The backcountry is the home of many different animals, from soil invertebrates to frogs, birds, deer, and bears. Although the potential impact of wilderness visitors on these animals varies, the principle remains the same: Respect their needs for food, water and a secure home, and minimize the disruption of their lives. (It may be difficult to apply this principle to mosquitoes when more than an occasional impact may be necessary.)
For most visitors, the simplest kind of wildlife disturbance to avoid is that which attracts animals, causing them to lose their wildness. When Ron Rau, an Alaska biologist, reports that wolves chase pickup trucks because oil pipeline workers toss sandwiches out of windows, it's easy to criticize such behavior. Backcountry visitors, however, are often equally at fault. When a bear ransacks a camp in the Great Smoky Mountains or Yosemite National Park because someone carelessly left food lying about, the effects of wildlife disturbance hit home.
Wolves and bears may be the most glamorous animals attracted to food but they aren't the only problem. Careless scattering of food scraps attracts ants, which have become a nuisance at many desert campsites. Some birds -- such as gray jays, which are nicknamed "camp robbers" in many wildland camps -- and most rodents, are also attracted by food scraps, food handouts, and even food left unprotected in packs or in tents. Camp marauding raccoons are a problem at many campsites in the eastern states. Loss of food, damage to equipment, and animal bites are some of the undesirable consequences -- but the worst effect is the change that occurs in the animals themselves. Wilderness animals that lose their wildness often lose their lives as well.
Although attracting animals is an obvious problem, some of the most serious visitor impacts on wildlife are more difficult to detect. Few of us realize that camping near a water hole in the desert keeps bighorn sheep away. If the bighorns don't get enough water, or if they move to less productive habitat, they will be less healthy and less likely to reproduce. Ultimately, populations will decline. We also alter the habitat of smaller animals when we disturb vegetation, alive or dead. Many small mammals and birds live in shrubbery, standing snags, and downed wood that are affected when campsites are trampled or firewood gathered.
Unintentional, seemingly innocuous, disturbances of animals, such as encountering them along the trail or camping close to a nest or den, can have severe effects -- particularly on large mammals and birds. The animals often react with excitement, alarm, and even flight, all of which consume energy needed for growth and reproduction. Animals that are healthy, well fed, and with places in which to escape, are more capable of withstanding disturbance than those that are underfed, highly parasitized, weakened by severe weather, nesting, or giving birth.
Sometimes animals seem totally unconcerned even when approached closely, while in other situations they disappear in a flash when you come in sight. Animals tend to be disturbed by unexpected and unpredictable events; quick movements and loud noises are particularly stressful. Those that are regularly disturbed by visitors are more likely to tolerate your intrusion than those that have had little previous contact with humans. In Yellowstone National Park, for example, elk that live close to the town of Mammoth Hot Springs typically do not flee until cross-country skiers get within fifty feet. In more remote parts of the park, however, elk take flight when skiers are as much as a quarter mile away. Studies elsewhere have shown that hikers who stayed on trails disturbed marmots less than those who left the trail.
Animals are particularly vulnerable to disturbances that are reminiscent of interactions with predators, or that block their escape routes. For example, a person suddenly appearing over a ridge will cause bighorn sheep to flee, yet humans approaching from below are often watched with little concern. When dogs accompany those people, however, the level of disturbance becomes severe.
To be fair, we don't always know how stressful it is to cause an animal to flee. Sometimes they simply return a little while later, none the worse for the experience. But there are numerous situations where rapid escape is clearly harmful. Flight of pregnant animals has caused miscarriage. There have even been accounts of disoriented mammals, such as deer and elk, drowning in escape attempts. Numerous studies have shown how frightened adult birds have either abandoned their nests and young permanently, or left them momentarily vulnerable to predators. Gulls, for example, eat eggs left unattended by frightened seabirds--birds of many types from eiders and cormorants in New England to brown pelicans in Baja California. Some predators have even learned to follow human scent trails to nests.
Subtler consequences of flight have also been documented, Frequently disturbed feeding areas that are abandoned for less productive ranges. Crowding more and more animals on the ever-smaller undisturbed parts of our wildlands causes populations to become less healthy and dwindle in size. The upshot will be less wildlife, one of the most valuable qualities of our wildland heritage.
What can you do? First, don't come with unrealistic expectations of close encounters with wildlife. Make it your goal to observe animals in their habitat, rather than on your terms. Second, learn about the animals indigenous to the place you're visiting. Your appreciation of the area and your chance of seeing wildlife will increase; plus your knowledge will alert you to the times of year (particularly birthing seasons) and places (nest sites, watering and feeding grounds) where disturbance is most critical. Armed with this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about where to travel and camp. For example, observing animals from behind cover and at a distance, or collecting water from a spring but camping out of sight, are simple means of avoiding disturbance. Don't continue to approach animals when you can tell they are aware of you. At this point their behavior is being affected by your presence and stress is more likely. Give animals a particularly wide berth during the nesting and birthing season.
Finally, be fastidious about food storage and food scraps. Don't pollute the animal's homes or teach them bad eating habits. Store food in sealed containers whenever possible. Bearproof canisters are available for backpackers, and can serve to protect all forms of wildlife from becoming habituated to human food.
Wildlife should be enjoyed, but remember that you're entering the animals' home. With knowledge, respect, and a lot of care, you can avoid adversely affecting them. As always, the need for care increases as you explore increasingly remote off-trail areas. These areas are the last bastions for truly wild species. You have the luxury of choosing to visit these places; wild animals have no place else to go.
Keep in Mind
Most backcountry visitors prefer not to encounter other people. In a study of visitors to two western wilderness areas, Forest Service researcher George Stankey found that people were most satisfied when they had no contact with others. In addition, he found that the type of visitor encountered was more important than the number of encounters. Most visitors are particularly annoyed when they run into large parties or people on horseback.
There are a few simple ways to minimize contact with other parties. Again, plan ahead and prepare. Whenever possible, visit the backcountry during seasons or days of the week when use is low. Avoid travel when the environment is particularly fragile, or when animals are susceptible to disturbance.
Travel in small groups. Although large parties usually represent only a small percentage of total use, they can have a disproportionate impact on the experience of the people they encounter when traveling the backcountry. In Stankey's study, most users, given the choice, preferred meeting ten groups of two to one group of twenty.
What is the optimal group size? Researchers admit that any "optimum" is arbitrary; still, most regard parties of more than ten or twelve individuals as large. A group size of at least four is optimal for safety reasons, especially when traveling off-trail. In case of sickness or injury, one person can stay with the victim while two people go for help. A group of four is also large enough for safe travel in grizzly bear country, while still being small enough to minimize impact on other visitors and the environment. Traveling in small groups is particularly important when moving off trail.
Large groups can reduce their impact on other parties and the environment by hiking and camping in groups of four to six. For group activities such as classes, choose a durable site that is well-hidden from trails and campsites, but then split up into smaller groups for cooking and camping. To reduce encounters, pay close attention to the planning element of your trip -- consider off-peak seasons and avoid camping at popular destinations. Group size will vary whether people are hiking with friends, family or organized groups, such as scouts. Each of these experiences seeks a sense of remoteness, so it is important to remember that even a larger group should choose to mimic the style of small groups to reduce both ecological and social impacts.
Whatever the time of year or the size of the group, whether on or off-trail, always travel quietly. One exception, however, is in grizzly habitat, where it is imperative to make noise to avoid confrontations. But in places where you can travel silently, you'll find that your senses are heightened in the still, slow pace found in wildlands. Such a setting is conducive to understanding more about the subtle rhythms and balances of nature. If you travel quietly, you will be more aware of your environment, wildlife will be less disturbed, and other visitors will appreciate the solitude.
To minimize the likelihood that others will see you and your camp, other than during hunting season, wear and carry earth-colored clothes and equipment, particularly tents. Although vivid yellows, oranges, and purples may be the hues of an alpine hillside in summer or autumn, bright human colors reinforce the feeling of crowdedness. Small objects, however, such as tent pegs or handkerchiefs, may not be visible and could be left behind if their color is muted.
Consider your route when selecting shoes. Always choose a hiking boot or shoe with comfortable, yet safe, support. Too often, inexperienced hikers pick a heavy, stiff-soled boot beyond the requirements necessary for the backcountry they plan to travel. One hiker, William Harlow, experimented with the amount of earth that was raised and exposed to erosion when a cleated hiking sole was pressed into wet soil. Harlow's experiment suggests that one hiker traveling one mile can leave 120 pounds of raised earth in his bootprints -- earth that is ready to wash away with the first heavy rain. Although this is probably a worst case example, it illustrates the potential damage of a lug-soled boot.
When hiking gentle country, consider using a light pair of footwear. Grandma Gatewood, the sixty-seven-year-old woman who hiked all two thousand miles of the Appalachian Trail three times, wore a pair of sneakers. Although such light shoes are not appropriate if you are carrying a heavy pack, or hiking over boulders and snowfields, bring a pair of lightweight, smooth-soled shoes to slip into once a campsite is selected.
Carry out all of your litter, and on the way out -- when your pack is light -- pick up a little extra. Some hikers even reserve an empty pack pocket and a plastic bag for trash found on the trail. Allow others a sense of discovery by leaving rocks, plants, cultural artifacts, and other objects of interest as you found them. Enjoy an occasional edible plant, if it is not prohibited by law, but don't deplete the surrounding vegetation or disturb plants that are rare or do not reproduce in abundance, such as morel mushrooms and many edible lilies.
Traveling with dogs is prohibited in most national parks and increasingly discouraged in many other backcountry areas. A growing number of managers and users alike feel that a pet's place is in the home, not in our remaining wildlands. Arguments against dogs in the backcountry center on their tendency to chase wildlife, defecate in or near water sources, and harass other users when unrestrained. Where coyotes or wolves are found, another argument has recently surfaced: the tracks of a dog rob others of the certain knowledge that similar tracks may belong to resident wildlife. Yet many visitors feel that dogs have a place in the backcountry, especially if the owner accepts responsibility for minimizing the problems they may cause. One way to control a dog is to leash it or load it with a pack. When heavy enough, a pack will keep a dog close and restrains it from chasing wildlife. Dog feces can have adverse impacts on the backcountry. Remove them from trails or campsites, and dispose of them as you would human waste.
Like a carelessly constructed fire, dogs can have adverse effects and are certainly not necessary to the enjoyment of a backcountry experience. Still, when handled in a responsible manner, they are a comfort to many users and need not be a problem.
Finally, whether you travel by trail or cross-country, always keep in mind that someone else will be coming along after you. Strive to make the effects of your passage through the area invisible to them. This is the ultimate message of the Leave No Trace program. We aren't alone in our wildlands, and even though our impact may seem small, the overall effect of our presence in wilderness is cumulative.
Plan Ahead and Prepare
Camp and Travel in Durable Areas
Respect Wildlife
Leave What You Find
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Copyright © 1988 National Outdoor Leadership School, 288 Main Street, Lander, WY 82520-3140.
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