Fires and Saunas:  Do you really need a fire?  It is OK to camp without one and enjoy the night sky.  If you need a fire, use a fire pan to eliminate any trace of your campfire.  Fire rings, blackened rock, and charcoal advertise your fire to future users.  Elevate the fire pan; pick up any charcoal that falls out.  Consider using a welder's blanket to catch debris.  Pack out all ash and charcoal.  If you have a sauna, consider using "permanent" sauna rocks you pack with you.   This also avoids the risk of exploding rocks.  If you must use native rock (please, no oil shale) heat the rock on a stove or on a grill after your fire has burned down to coals.  Toss the rocks into the main current of the river after you are done with them.

Who invited ants to the picnic?! Most likely you did.  If you tossed dish water or other water- based, liquid waste anywhere but in the river.  On desert, high-volume rivers, this is a preferred and least-impacting practice.  Some of our camps are overrun with ants, and surface deposition of food scraps and dish water is a major reason.  Use a tarp under the table to catch those crumbs, spills and drips.   Strain the dishwater to remove food scraps and pack them out with your trash.

 

Firewood:  Trees grow very slowly in this environment.  However, we have a great renewable source of firewood in the canyon---it is called driftwood.  Each year we receive a fresh supply from the Uinta’s and the mountains of the Colorado. 

 

 

Litter:  Pack it in, pack it out.  This is easier to say than do.  Watch out for the micro trash:  Twist ties, gum wrappers, cigarette butts, matches, crumbs, etc.  Pick these up as soon as you drop them or see them, otherwise they get covered over with sand until they surface and annoy the next group of folds.  A tarp laid down as a kitchen floor catches the crumbs and micro trash and makes cleanup a snap.

 

Toilets:  River corridors are small, narrow, and heavily used by both people and wildlife.  Toilets are required to pack out solid human waste, pet waste, and toilet paper.  Cat holes are unacceptable.  Even above the high water mark, animals will dig them up.  Biologic activity in our desert soils is minimal; toilet paper and feces take years to break down.  There are only two good places to urinate in the canyon: One is in the river; the other is far away from any camp site or tent sites associated with a camp. 

 

Deadman:  Your bow line is too short so you buried a post (deadman) to tie up your boat.  Don't forget to remove the post.  The water may be low now, but when it rises (at higher water levels), your deadman may rip a boat or injure a swimmer.