Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is something that we should all do and to help save and protect our woods. This program is being practiced around the world, many people are not aware of this and what they could be doing to protect and improve our outdoors. It is a national and international program to help outdoor lovers with their decisions about how to reduce their impacts when they participate in outdoor activities. LNT also means leaving things how you found them and picking flowers, leaves, or fruits off a tree. Girl Scout and Boy Scout camps follow this right to the fine print.

Everyone has an impact on the world no matter who you are or where you come from. Sometimes all we can is to be who we are which is the healthiest. By doing outdoor activities we learn about who we are and what we enjoy, not how we belong to a group of people and what they think. Everything you do you're going to get a label with it. Leave no trace is a great way to get out there and find the real you and have fun doing it. When you participate in LNT you're showing everyone that you care about your environment and that you don't want our wilderness to keep changing. When you support a cause like this you learn something about yourself and what you believe in.

When my group and I go on our kayaking trips we always pick up our site when we leave, specially trash even if it's not ours. After we have all our gear packed up we spend about five minutes walking around and making sure we didn't leave anything behind. By doing this were protecting the woods but also making sure animals don't start to depend on humans for food. I was on an island with bears that were used to people leaving food, and were just starting to live on their own. But we had to make sure everything was always picked up when they came out. In the end we were evacuated off the island because the bears were to tame and needed to be retrained. This should us that no matter what we need to practice LNT, because in the end it's saving everyone including the animals.

Would You Trade in Your Boots?

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature" -Anne Frank

One of the best ways to find yourself is to go hiking. Take the time to enjoy mother nature at her best and enjoy the peace and quite. Go far away from the city and make a trip out of it. You'd be amazed by the things you see, hear, and learn. Not only is hiking relaxing but enjoyful. Go out and try to sing with the birds, see how close you can get to wildlife, and experience something you never have before. Hiking is one of the best ways to let your mind wonder and go free. This nature activity can help you find something about yourself that you were missing, something that makes you who you are, or something you love to do. Consider yourself the richest person in the world, your in one of the only places that havent evolved. Nature is true beauty.

I would never trade my hiking boots in. Hiking trails can take you to points and places you never thought you'd imagine. I remember at one of our sites we found this trail and followed it for miles. It was hot, tiring, and seemed to never end. But once you got past all that and enjoyed everything you saw amazing nature. Things you can't find in the city, animals that you don't see unless you go to a zoo. Our trail took us to a light house that we climbed up, and the view was to die for. You could see for miles and miles all around you, the view took my breath away. I saw the top of the tallest pine trees, boats coming and going, the current rushing against the rocks, and animals that you wouldn't see on the ground.

Best kind of hiking is when you follow a trail that many people don't, you experience most. Hiking isn't hard when you let go and relax, let your mind flow and let lose. When night awakens you, lay under the stars. Farther north you go the more amazing the site is. Canada has great hiking trails to enjoy nature and to find yourself, but the best part is seeing the northern lights and feeling like if you extend your arm you can touch the light. Just picture yourself laying under the northern lights, hearing a wolf howl and one after another, and being the most relaxed you have ever been in your life. The moment is amazing, something you can't talk about but something that will always be with you. At the end of your trip you won't want to come home, you've learned so much about yourself and what your capable of. You can do anything you set your mind to.

Mind Over Matter

Everyone has something that makes them who are they, something different and something that makes you stand out. Not only do we have that we have our individual physical and mental power, or as some people would say "mind over matter". There are many things in life that take alot of mental and physical strength at the same time.

Kayaking requires a huge amount of physical and mental strength. You could be stuck on the water for days or paddling through whitecaps to make it to safety. Hard times come and go out there, specaily when the lake has it's own mind lake superior, one of the most dangerous lakes out there. When the lake throws you something unexpected you have to be ready to handle it all the time. For instence, the waves increase and the wind grows stronger you can't give up, not on yourself or other people your with. You have to work together, find the stregnth within to keep you going and not give up. When you're out there you may have a 13 mile paddle and no place to stop on your way to your site, and you have to connect yourself to your boat and paddle like you never have before. How are you going to get there? How are you going to put mind over matter?

I remember a time when i was on Lake Superior that there where five foot waves with white caps and the wind was growing stronger, and we had to leave our site. We all knew it was going to be a challange. When we reached our half way point I wanted to quit. I was tired, sore, cold, and physicaly thought I couldn't do it anymore. But then I put mind over matter and I pulled my paddle faster through the choppy waves, and I forgot about everything else around me and believed in myself that I could do it. After we got to our site it didn't seem so bad. I kept thinking how proud I was of myself for doing what I did and that I was ready for anything ahead of me. That day I felt that I as a person was stronger and that I stood out from other people cause not many people could do what I did that day.

When your out there in your boat paddling and the going gets tuff you have to believe in yourself and remember that it's only something mother nature is throwing at you and you can do it. You can find yourself through nature and find your belonging when you're out in the woods.