One of 10,000

Bears were on the loose

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Leave No Trace e-tour set up on just one lake this Monday -- Lake Bemidji. Visiting a beautiful town, the First City on the Mississippi, we got a chance to go to Lake Bemidji State Park to work with a stellar group of high school students. They were joining us from Voyageurs Expeditionary High School in town, a cool school where some of these students will later this year have the opportunity to take the Leave No Trace knowledge and skills they learned on Monday with them on trips to the Badlands of the Dakotas as well as Florida! Each one of the students we saw will get to be a leader of their peers with their newfound excitement for Leave No Trace!

Students exploring why they make the decisions they do

The students got to learn about all seven principles through discussions, games, and demonstrations. Coming from a variety of different outdoor experience levels, it was great to introduce them to everything from cat holes and human waste disposal issues to using a campstove to cook dinner. Throughout the day, the concept of Leave No Trace as a personal ethic and mindset weaved its way throughout each discussion. For the capstone of the day, they explored the considerations that go into their own decision making both in the outdoors and in the rest of their lives. During the activity, the students evaluated different factors in their decision making processes and considered why they do what they do. As they make individual decisions both in backcountry travel and everyday life, we hope they take what they learned from this activity with them!

Beautiful Lake Bemidji

While at Lake Bemidji State Park, we learned from our new friend and naturalist at the park John about an awesome program called I Can Camp! John, who came ready for the day with a Leave No Trace Bigfoot t-shirt on, participates in this program that Minnesota State Parks put on to help families who've never been camping before get outside, provides them with gear for a weekend, and teaches them techniques so they can have fun in the outdoors. Not only do they learn about how to put up a tent, cook outside, and start a fire, but they get to learn about Leave No Trace as well! It's a great way to educate, connect, and protect our favorite Minnesota wild places! We hope people take advantage of this awesome program, including the weekend at Lake Bemidji State Park coming up on June 8th!

On the Paul Bunyan Trail,

Quinn & Frank