Expedition Journal--August 3

Following dinner we had a lengthy lesson from Deb and Cleve concerning the ideas of LNT. Some of it was review for Vanessa, Jess, and myself (Cleve had already given us a lesson on some of it), but the way in which they had decided to teach us was quite a good idea and was very beneficial.

We were each given a LNT principle to work with, and partnered up to do skits on them. Jess and I did our skits on two principles. Following the skits we discussed how these principles applied not only to where we are and what we are doing 200 miles above the Arctic circle, but also how they apply to our environment back in Colorado. John Alderman, Cleve, and Deb were the judges of the skits and decided that we came to a universal tie, so we were all given chunks of the prize, chocolate cats.

Rachel Flood
Leave No Trace, based in Boulder, Colorado, teaches how to use public lands. It started with NOLS and now has variations for each type of environment. LNT is a set of principles rather than rules. The idea is to give people some guidelines to minimize their impact wherever they go:

Plan ahead and prepare
Camp and travel on durable surfaces
Pack it in, pack it out
Properly dispose of what you can pack out
Leave what you find
Minimize use and impact from fires

Leave No Trace has been an important part of the Alaskan experience. As Gates of the Arctic just recently became a national park (in 1980) and it shows little human impact. It is this that makes Gates of the Arctic stand out from other national parks.

One of the objectives of our expedition is to increase awareness on the principles of Leave No Trace. Not only are we going to cover LNT at the Outdoor Retailers show in Salt Lake, but we are also going to be bona fide LNT trainers.

Our training for LNT has been to live in the Alaskan wilderness with these principles in mind. So far, the guidelines of LNT have taught us not only how to minimize our impact on the environment but also helped us to understand how the ecosystem works.

Today was a layover day. We spent the morning in a small channel of the river perfecting our canoe skills. We took a short break for lunch and then set out on a short day hike.

Vanessa Bacher
We had a layover day, so we went on a hike with Deb and picked blueberries. We sat and talked on the top of this mountain overlooking our campsites. Later that night we went over LNT skills by performing skits about the elements of LNT. Peter and I paired off and made up a skit by singing a song about taking a dump in the outdoors to the tune of the Velveeta cheese commercial. We were trying to portray the concept of properly disposing of what you can't pack out. We also performed a skit for the camp and travel on durable surfaces aspects. When everyone performed their skits we had a group discussion on the topics in which we performed.