Leave No Trace

Tonight I attended a zoom class called Leave No Trace. The two millennials who developed the Leave No Trace website, you tube channel and materials were very enthusiastic and fun to listen to. I have changed my behavior over the years. I used to throw apple cores out of the car window but now that I know this attracts wildlife to road edges and ends up with more raptors being killed by cars, I don't throw apple cores out of the car window. Also, seeing apple cores or orange peels on a trail is disgusting to me so I pack the apple cores home. My pockets get a little juicy but pants are washable. Also, I learned that disposable diapers last 450 years. I'm so glad I used cloth diapers when my offspring were young. I try to use less plastic. I stopped smoking cigarettes. I recycle quite a bit. My garbage each week is usually less than one plastic bag full. I use cloth bags at stores. I was out of plastic bags for trash until I got some plastic bags from a deceased relative. He had many bags. I'm glad he kept them. I don't carve my name in trees. I forage for food but I think that is okay as long as I don't take it from a state park or someone's private property. Surely the Superior Forest can afford me  few pine cones and birch sticks and red twigged dogwood branches and mountain ash berries and wild rose hips.

I have also been guilty of walking around mud puddles on a trail. That damages the trail. Now I walk through the mud whenever I can. If I come home with muddy pants and muddy boots the nice neighbors next door think I am adventurous. Most of the time the Superior Hiking Trail has bedrock under the puddle so the puddle won't be real deep.

When we waited for the train in Denali a lady kept feeding her Cheetos to a gray jay. I was tempted to do that too but not Cheetos. Birds do not need empty carbs and neither do I but I still like them once in awhile. I wish I had said something to her. If I had it to do over I would say, "Hello. Aren't gray jays cute? They are like little snack robbers, aren't they? I wonder if they would like to eat seeds too? Do you have any peanut butter?" I do feed the chipmunks at my place but that is because the birds spill some seed on the ground. I don't mind chipmunks as long as they stay outside.

I will try to walk the leave no trace walk instead of talk the leave no trace talk.