Leave No Trace Master Educator Course

I was extremely fortunate enough to attend a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Leave No Trace Master Educator course in Grand Canyon National Park recently.  The course was taught over 5 days, four of which were spent backpacking in the Grand Canyon itself.
Leave No Trace, or LNT for short, is a set of principles that govern how we as human beings ought to  act in the wilderness to minimize our impact on the environment.  More than just a set of seven principles, it is a philosophy, some might say even a way of life.  I'm not sure about that last part, but I certainly learned plenty.  The course was taught by two instructors, one from NOLS and one from the Parks Service, and included nine students, ranging in age from mid 20's to mid 50's.  We were a varied bunch, consisting of a couple wilderness rangers, some volunteers, a girl scout, an outdoor educator, a mountaineer from Croatia and myself. 
The course began early Friday morning.  Not surprisingly, the fact that I had strained my back the day before did not help matters at all.  Talk about bad timing...  Undecided if I should even bother attending until late Thursday night, I eventually maneuver myself into my car for the 6 hour drive from Tucson to the Grand Canyon and roll up in the dead of night.  Friday was pretty chill, focusing on introductions, gear prep, some fun ice breakers (Ninja anyone?), and a class on LNT Principle 1: Plan Ahead and Prepare.  Seems pretty obvious, right?  You would think so, but it's surprising how many people can mess this one up, like the guys who showed up super prepared for their Grand Canyon backpacking trip except for the fact that they forgot to get the necessary permit a couple months in advance.  Whoops...  Anyway this relatively easy day allowed my back some much needed recovery time, so that by Saturday I was ready for the trail.

Sunrise on the Mesa

Saturday bright and early all 11 of us carpool out to the Grand View Trail Head.  Of the roughly 5 million people that visit Grand Canyon National Park each year, only about 10% will go below the rim.  Of these 10%, almost all will take either the North/South Kaibab trail or the popular Bright Angel trail, which together make up what is known as the corridor.  This leaves the other trails fairly empty for folks like us.  When it comes to hiking, at least in my mind, the more does not make the merrier!  The Grand View Trail was relatively empty as we plodded our way down to Horseshoe Mesa, about 3 miles and 3000 feet below the rim.  Horseshoe Mesa is pretty well equipped; campsites, composting toilets, some old miner artifacts (even one of those old school ore carts) and a fresh water spring that's one hellava climb down a steep gully to get to.  After setting up shop classes were taught on LNT Principle 2: Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces.

Hiking down to the Tonto Plateau

Sunday we started with my class on LNT Principle 3: Dispose of Waste Properly.  A fascinating subject if I do say so myself, including the debut of my LNT rap.  After lessons on LNT Principle 4: Leave What you Find, Principle 6: Respect Wildlife, and an interesting discussion on trash versus treasure, we suited up and headed down Cottonwood Creak another 1000 feet of elevation to our next campsite on the Tonto Plateau.  Here the camping is 'at large', meaning no formal campsites or, god forbid, composting toilets.  After settling on a nice patch of land near the stream we cooked up a feast and learned about LNT Principle 7: Be Considerate of Other Visitors, as well as a rousing discussion on Wildland Ethics.

Nice and cozy in my "water proof" tent.

Monday saw us climbing some pretty gnarly switchbacks back onto Horseshoe Mesa, as well as covering our final subject; LNT Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts.  Settling in for our last night in the backcountry, things invariably get interesting.  The 20% chance of rain that was predicted for Monday night pulls through, and we get dumped on.  What are the odds?!?  My old school Eureka A frame, not the most weather proof tent out there, suddenly becomes hot real estate as we somehow manage to cram all of us into it for a quick meeting.  It may only be 6:30 pm, but it's cold, dark and wet outside.  Sounds like bedtime to me!
Tuesday is cold but dry as we hike up back to the rim.  We go over Action Plans, aka what the hell are we going to do with all of this new found LNT knowledge back in the real world, clean group gear, go over a few more things and yippee, it's time to graduate.
So what have I learned from all this?  If you have been following the LNT principles, you have probably noticed that they are all pretty obvious.  I mean, who doesn't plan ahead when they go into the backcountry, and what kind of idiot isn't considerate of other visitors?  Well, you'd be surprised.  Not only did we go over the seven principles ourselves, but we learned how to convey the LNT message to as wide an audience as possible.  Plus, I learned new and interesting teaching methods, met some pretty cool cats, and hell, I hiked in the Grand Canyon for 4 days.  What could possibly be wrong with that?!?