As a backpacker, I started learning about hiking and camping as a member of a Boy Scout troop that spent a lot of time in the mountains in New Mexico back in the 60's.
From the very beginning, the ethos of taking care of the wilds was drilled into me, and it was something I readily embraced. It's also something I still do as a matter of habit and routine. Please note that I was doing things such as packing out my trash, going out of my way to not pollute streams with dish/bathing water, attending to bodily functions in an environmentally and animal-friendly way, and damn near everything else you espouse well before "Leave No Trace" became such a big hit.
Accordingly, I would like to suggest that as you use some of your enthusiasm for keeping the wilderness as pristine as possible through your education programs, you also caution people agains becoming rabidly holier-than-thou judgemental self-righteous assholes toward those that don't do things exactly the way THEY approve of, or don't agree on the One True Way to minimize their impact when backpacking and camping.
To wit:
- Just because I use an e-tool to dig whatever holes are necessary, instead of the suggested tent stake or similar implement, it doesn't mean that I'm single-handedly destroying the entire fucking planet by taking a crap in a hole bigger that you approve of.
- Yes, I'm using alcohol as a cooking fuel, and sometimes a little bit of it spills. This isn't the End Of Life As We Know It. Please note that the cans of compressed gas that so many of your members use aren't any better environmentally (in the Big Picture you're so fond of) than the alcohol I use (think: manufactured cans, lack of refillability, etc).
- IF I find some wood already on the ground, or an already-dead tree, I may build myself a small fire in the evening. Kindly observe that said fire IS small, and located in a shallow pit. I A) watch it closely, and have plenty of water handy for if it even THINKS about getting out of hand, B) make sure it's not just out, but COLD before I go to bed, and C) put the sod/dirt back in and return it to as near-normal as can be done well before I leave. So fuck off.
- I neither need, nor want, your supercilious approval that I use rechargeable batteries for my electronics. Nor do I want to hear your comments or "suggestions" about my gear; I've got what works for ME, with my limited resources; I can't run out and buy the high-end specialty gear that you find so appealing. Mind your own business, 'kay?
- I really don't much give a rat's ass where you've been and what you did when you were there; I'm "here", "now", enjoying myself - or was until your yuppie ass came along. I've been places and done shit you've got no idea about, and I came out here to get AWAY from assholes like you, so piss off and leave me the fuck alone.
- Don't bother giving me your advice, suggestions, recommendations, hints, tips, or other unsolicited comments, lest I lose my self-control and tell you what your input is worth to me - you probably won't like what I have to say.
Basically, I came out here to be by myself and get away from noisy, intrusive, obnoxious assholes. If you'll show me the courtesy and respect of leaving me the fuck alone, I do the same in return. How does that sound to you?
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