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BACKCOUNTRY ETHICS / ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
A few things to help your experience be safe and enjoyable. Everybody must be responsible for keeping our Human impact to a minimum. Alpine and Sub alpine areas are very sensitive because
of server conditions and a short growing season.
We all must achieve a “No Trace Camping� attitude. If you pack it in you pack it out! Make sure you have plastic bags for raingear and garbage detail.
Camping with no pit toilets:
You should bury your human waste in a hole at a minimum of 200 feet / 50 meters from water sources, campsites and
trails. All feminine products should be packed out. Don’t urinate around your campsite or on plants, as animals are attracted to the salty smell. Soaps that smell can attract wildlife as well so keep this in mind
when picking a soap, and wash-up area. Please leave the area as if you haven’t been there at all. The area is not your home; you are only a guest in the home of the animals that live there.
WATER:
any water that you encounter that is moving is good to drink. If you feel you must disinfect, boiling is the best way.
A full boil for a minimum of one minute
is the safest way to kill bacteria viruses and parasites. To take the flat taste away let it stand in a clean covered container for a few hours or pour the cooled water from one clean container to another a few times.
TICKS:
To protect from tick and other insect bites, wear long pants and long sleeves and insect repellent on exposed skin and on your clothing. Check
skin, scalp, genital area and folds of skin. Have your partner check hard to see spots. Check all over if there is one there could be more. Use tweezers to remove, if possible as close to the skin as possible. Do
not squeeze it, Do not jerk it, lift steadily and make sure its all removed. Wash the area and disinfect. If you develop muscle and joint pain, fatigue, headaches, a skin rash that looks like a target bull’s-eye,
see a doctor as soon as possible.
BEARS:
NEVER FEED BEARS!!! THEY ARE NOT CUDDLY, GENTLE, OR TAME.
Most bears are transient and
will try to avoid you, but food or garbage can attract bears. When possible store food in airtight containers and cache all food and garbage in unreachable bear caches. Don’t eat in your tent or sleeping bags,
spilled food will attract bears, Do not clean fish near your camp and dispose of fish entrails in deep or fast moving water. Clean up right after eating. Never pour grease etc from cooking near your camp. Cosmetics,
toothpaste etc they should be cached as well not kept in your tent. Always sleep in a tent not under the stars. Avoid hiking alone it is safer to hike in a group. Watch for bears signs tracks, droppings, rotten
trees torn up, trees clawed, bitten, or rubbed, fresh droppings or trampled vegetation. Stay clear of dead wildlife and leave the area, if there is a bear present they will protect their kill, you do not want to be
the dessert. Bear sprays do work against some bears, but avoiding the bears altogether is the safest.Bears are as fast as a horse, uphill, downhill, or on the flat ground, they can swim well, and have acute sense of
smell, good eyes and good ears. All Black Bears can climb trees.If they are standing erect they are trying to identify you. Speak softly and move away slowly always keeping them in view, avoid making eye contact.
Safety first, hike in a group, not alone.
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