Leave No Trace Ethics

PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE

• Contact land managers and consult guidebooks to learn the regulations and special concerns of the peaks you are climbing.
• Get an “Alpine Start” - - be descending from your climb by noon.
• Carry and use appropriate equipment to Leave No Trace.

CAMP AND TRAVEL ON DURABLE SURFACES

• Stay on the Trail!
• Concentrate travel on existing routes
• Walk through muddy areas, not around them
• Never cut switchbacks - - this can cause erosion problems.
• When snow covers the trail, travel over snow and rock until regaining the trail.
• Where no trail exists, travel over durable surfaces (snow and rock) and avoid gullies and steep slopes prone to erosion and vegetation loss.
• Disperse use over a wide area to minimize impacts to fragile vegetation.
• Camp responsibly.
• Use existing campsites.
• Camping above timberline is not recommended because of the visual and social impacts and damage to fragile plants.

DISPOSE OF WASTE PROPERLY

• Pack out solid human waste above timberline - - catholes damage the tundra and other techniques such as smearing are unsanitary. NOTE: Colorado State Law requires a portable toilet device capable of carrying human waste out of the area and a fire container or pan with at least a 2" rigid side. These fire containers must be elevated off the ground. These are available at THE TRAILHEAD.
• Avoid urinating on vegetation - - salt from urine can encourage animals to denude bushes and trees and disturb tundra and grasses.
• Pack out all trash, including biodegradables. A single piece of litter can kill the alpine plants it covers in three to four weeks.

LEAVE WHAT YOU FIND

• Leave natural and historical artifacts for others to discover and enjoy.

MINIMIZE CAMPFIRE IMPACTS

• Fires are not advised, especially above timberline. Use a camp stove to cook meals.

RESPECT WILDLIFE

• Observe wildlife from a distance.
• Never feed animals.

BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER VISITORS

• Travel in small groups and avoid popular areas during times of high use.
• Consider the social impacts or your behavior on the trail and in the campsite.

With thanks to Leave No Trace and the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative. For more information and important route beta for Fourteener climbs visit them on the web at www.ColoradoFourteeners.org. Feel free to make a donation or join a volunteer work crew.