How to Camp With Minimal Impact in the Winter

If you're camping in the winter, you're probably someone who has experience in the great outdoors and knows how to properly respect and care for your surroundings. But even the most well intentioned camper can forget that what winter snow hides today will be there for all to see come spring.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Candles
• Plastic Bags
• Backpacking Stoves
• Camp-stove Fuels
• Snow Shovels

1. Pick up garbage and centralize it in one bag as soon as it is produced. This way you'll avoid the risk that falling snow will hide your garbage, leaving you with a clean white paradise but revealing a littered camp in the spring.
2. Use outhouses whenever possible.
3. Dig a latrine in a hidden place, consulting a map for marked trails and streams. These may be frozen or covered with snow in the winter, and it may take some effort to keep them pristine for the spring.
4. Urinate away from trails and cover the yellow stains with snow out of courtesy for others.
5. Bury your feces with dirt and rocks, not just snow. If you can't dig in frozen ground beneath the snow you'll have to pack your poop out.
6. Try to avoid building a campfire (unless you have brought your own wood or can find fallen branches that haven't been buried by snow). Bring plenty of fuel for stoves instead, and candles to create a warm glow.
7. Stay on established ski trails if cross-country skiing.
8. Avoid wildlife encounters ' the critters are having a hard enough time feeding themselves and need to conserve energy. Don't camp in places with traces of animals, and wait for animals to move on if you see them ahead on a trail.
9. Disassemble your snow shelter once you break camp, and fluff the snow up to minimize any trace of your presence.