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Over the years, I’ve developed a respect for nature.
I take certain steps to make sure we stay safe on our trip
and we keep the wilderness as healthy as possible.
Step one. Planning ahead.
Finding and setting up camp takes time and energy.
We plan our itinerary in advance
and make sure we have enough daylight left to find the perfect location.
FEMALE: This looks like a nice flat open space
but it's really grassy.
Yeah, there’s a lot of grass around here.
But, what about under the tree there?
Step two. Choosing a good location.
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Camping too close to the trail
can ruin the experience for other hikers.
[giggling] What? Huh?
Plus, I value my privacy.
It’s important to be at least 25 feet from the trail,
but we prefer even further.
When looking for a place to camp,
[humming] we try to minimize our impact on the surrounding ecosystem,
so we stay away from grassy meadows and fragile vegetation.
GRASSES: Ahhhhh!
Oooh.
Instead, we look for a more durable surface
like rock, gravel or packed earth.
This is a great spot because we’re not on any grass or vegetation.
We look for established campsites
that others have used before us.
[hammering sound]
MALE: Surprised...
[laughing]
People’s instinct is to camp as close as possible to water.
But not only does this ruin the solitude of wilderness camping,
it also hurts shorelines
and can contaminate water that people and animals drink from.
MARMOT: Yuck.
We should be at least 25 feet from water,
but we prefer even further.
We set up camp between 100 and 200 feet away
or 40 to 80 paces
to really make sure we aren’t doing any damage.
Once we’ve found a good location
we’re careful not to set up our tents under leaning trees
or dead, overhanging branches that could fall on us.
[wood cracking] Ahhh!
We look up for dead branches
and down for damaged roots.
[snoring]
And finally, we make sure to avoid other kinds of natural hazards
particularly at night when we can’t see very well.
Step three.
Treating your campsite with respect.
When camping in the wilderness
we’re extra careful not to disturb the natural surroundings.
So we don’t build furniture or move rocks around to provide seating areas.
In areas where campfires are allowed
we only build fires in existing fire rings,
and we never rely on having a fire since wood can be difficult to find
and can get wet.
We don’t need a campfire to enjoy a night in the wilderness.
[laughter]
We want everyone who comes after us
to experience the wilderness we’ve grown to love.
[muffled grunt]
so we try our best to leave no trace
by packing out our trash and putting the campsite back the way we found it.
It was almost like we were never there at all.
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