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

Impromptu Awareness Workshop

Typically an Awareness Workshop with the Traveling Trainers is set up months in advance. The host contacts our Outreach Manager, Dave Winter. Dave puts the workshop on the calendar. We contact the event host and work out all the logistics well in advance. This is not a story about one of those Awareness Workshops.

Over the weekend we headed to Malibu Creek State Park for an event sponsored by Subaru. The evening before the event we showed up at the park's campground in hopes of finding a place to camp. As we drove around the campground loop we noticed that we seemed to be drawing more attention than usual (if you've ever seen the Leave No Trace Subaru, then you know it has potential to draw a modest amount of attention). As we commented to each other about all the staring, one camper waved us down for a quick photo (of the Subaru, not us). We pulled over and jumped out to chat while several people began photographing the car. As we chatted to the photographers we discovered that they were all part of the same recreation class at a local university. We also found out that this was their first camping trip as a class and that they had recently taken a test that focused on Leave No Trace...talk about perfect timing!

We got the whole group to take the Bigfoot Challenge! What a great group and the perfect opportunity for some impromptu Leave No Trace talk.

If you are interested in setting up an Awareness Workshop with the Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers for the 2010 season (and don't want to take the chance that we'll just happen to show up at the perfect time) please submit an online request.

Are You Ready for Adventure?

We spent the weekend at Silver Strand State Beach near San Diego, California for a Subaru-Ready for Adventure outdoor extravaganza. Subaru covered the fees and invited anyone and everyone out for a free day of fun and outdoor adventure at one of the most beautiful beaches in the area. In addition to learning about Leave No Trace, park users were treated to surfing and paddle-boarding lessons courtesy of Billabong, free food, and lots of drawings…think bikes, boards, and kayaks!

Another highlight from the event was the Animal Behavior Specialist from American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who was on hand to answer questions about pet behaviors. With the help of pups from the local animal shelter she demonstrated ways to train your dog to be an excellent adventure companion. It was a great event and the best part was that Subaru raised around $2,500 for Silver Strand State Beach over the course of the afternoon!
Join us at Malibu Creek State Park on October 24th for the next Ready for Adventure event!

Off the Beaten Path

I love road trips! There is nothing like the open road, a reliable atlas and no schedule to feed that craving for exploration. With so many well-known landmarks and destination spots across the country, there is never a want for new places to see.

Sometimes you have the good fortune to stumble upon some pretty incredible places en route to these "destinations." That's just what happened to me last week as I was visiting some relatives in the Midwest. Never having seen much of the Upper Midwest, I set my sights on the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. That destination became a stepping off point for several other small adventures. Here are few photos from the trip - enjoy! May your sense of discovery and exploration (and conservation!) never cease. :)


Kohler-Andrae State Park


Point Beach State Forest


Apostle Islands National Seashore

Free Admission to Colorado State Parks this Monday

From the Daily Camera:

Visitors to the 42 Colorado State Parks will receive free admission Monday to help celebrate “Colorado Day.”

Colorado Day was established by the state legislature in 1988 to recognize Colorado’s acceptance into the union in 1876.

While admission to the parks will be free for the day, all other fees will remain in effect.

For more information, call 303-866-3437 or visit: http://parks.state.co.us/ParksPasses.

Colorado State Parks encompasses 246,000 land and water acres.