If you build a fire, use the minimum amount of wood. Gather only dead and down firewood and be aware of your impact on living vegetation and soils. Choose smaller pieces of wood, no thicker than your wrist. Sawing or chopping wood from larger pieces leaves long-lasting signs of your presence. Large logs dragged into the fire do not burn well, tend to be very smoky and present a fire hazard from retained embers. Before leaving camp, make sure your fire is dead out by pouring water on it, stirring it with a small stick and checking for remaining heat with the back of your hand.
Where fires are permitted, build them only in established fire rings and keep them small. Fire rings often become quite large, dominating campsites and turning into trash receptacles and eyesores. If you must build up a fire ring to protect the fire from wind, dismantle it to a single layer of rocks when you leave. Broadcast the extra rocks well away from the campsite. Consider carrying a wind screen, which can also reflect heat toward you and divert the smoke away.
Do not use fire to dispose of waste unless it can be burned completely. Better yet, plan on packing out all of your garbage and trash. Foil-lined food wrappers, plastics, tea bags, uneaten food and other items burn incompletely or not at all. Cigarette butts should be field stripped and filters packed out.
The Campsite Check Many wilderness travelers perform "the campsite check" before they leave their campsite. This activity allows the visitor to take a good look and check to see if their actions have had a negative impact on wildlife, plant life or other visitors.
Look for overturned rocks, flattened flowers or plants, bits of garbage or food, or any other sign that someone has camped there.
Strive to leave the wilderness as you found it, or better.
