2010 e-tour slideshow!

Heading for the Barn

From Final_Misc

After fits and starts, Indian Summer is finally giving way to Autumn for true. Trees and shrubs along our route have burst into a brilliant red and orange flame of color before literally going bare overnight in a shower-storm of leaves. The rest of nature is faithfully following suit: reptilian creatures metabolically slowing down and slithering into hibernation holes; warm-blooded migratory birds heading for Gulf Coast marshes and Central American wildlands; and, like the “V”-flights of geese honkily winging their way towards more seasonable climes, we’re seeing flocks of human RVers abandoning their northerly summer habitats and beating a hasty retreat down to Florida, South Texas, and Arizona. The state parks have been suddenly and rapidly depopulated as if by some instinctive genetic signal that winter is imminent. Campers have packed up the strings of lights, banners, bird feeders, and grills. They've folded pullout modules back into the RV and securely stowed canopies, screened cabanas, and bikes. Where once we might have been cheek by jowl with a host of frontcountry campers, we now have our pick of overnight sites in an otherwise empty campground estate. But, sadly, we too are heeding the seasonal clock as we head down the e-Tour's final stretch and contemplate a return to our South Louisiana home.

However, before returning the Subaru and Coleman camper to Boulder, CO where we started our odyssey, there was one last stopover that we wanted to make. Accordingly, we planned our route back to our Boulder barn so that we could pass through Wichita, KS, home of the Coleman Company. Coleman is the primary sponsor of our e-Tour, and it was great to have an opportunity to make a final e-Tour presentation to folks at the corporate HQ. We reviewed the e-Tour mission and the itinerary of our four-month sojourn, and demonstrated some of the teaching-learning activities and techniques that we've used to reach our widely varied audiences. At the presentation conclusion, a gent from corporate communications approached us with an epiphany of sorts... this e-Tour sponsorship and Coleman's commitment to promoting outdoor ethics and stewardship is a significant source of pride for Coleman employees. He expressed a desire to make the story of the e-Tour and Coleman's ongoing relationship with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics part of every Coleman employee's orientation and training. Well, we couldn't agree more... it is a great story, and e-Tour is a fitting and right-minded sponsorship for the Coleman Company.  

The conversation reminded us of a quote that we recently came across: "We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And, if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know." Reflecting on this, we can hope that the 2010 e-Tour has helped folks frame some of the questions about personal choices, find common ground for dialogue and constructive action, and have a better understanding for the necessity of a sustainable conservation ethic. We can also hope that our shared love for the outdoors is mutually beneficial, sustaining both the environment and ourselves. It's the ongoing, generous support of Coleman and other Leave No Trace sponsors and partners that enables the e-Tour to shed a little (lantern) light on how we can all, regardless of age or experience, enjoy the outdoors in a responsible, sustainable, and yes, loving way.

From Final_Misc

Hoping that this is but the prelude, and that we will meet you yet down the migratory road, perhaps in another clime and another season, always seeking to Leave No Trace as the story continues...

Thanks go especially to Coleman's Nicole Freund, who has been and continues to be a dedicated champion for the e-Tour and Leave No Trace. And, of course, incalculable thanks go to the extraordinary folks at the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics for their dedication and support.

From Final_Misc

Peggy and Barrett

2010 Leave No Trace e-Tour

Sponsored by Coleman

e-Word: end-of-the-beginning

Leave No Trace Down the Natchez Trace

Another weekend, another encounter with a congregation of 10,000 to 12,000 boy scouts… This time we traveled down the Natchez Trace from Nashville to a location deep in the Mississippi Delta for the Chickasaw Council ScoutBase 2010. This particular Boy Scout centennial celebration brought troops from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi to a former cotton field that's been transformed into the Paul Battle Arena and Exposition Center in Tunica, MS.

From Tunica_ScoutBase2010

No matter the location, it's impressive to see these legions of scouts encamped at the jamboree events. Tent cities arise in a matter of a few hours, complete with physical infrastructure, civic services, neighborhoods, and commerce. We begin to imagine what armies of yore must have looked like when on campaign. It's also interesting to note the prevalence of Coleman tents, lanterns and kitchen gear in these scout campaigns... particularly when it comes to the kitchen gear, the scouts are well-equipped and provisioned. Napoleon knew that a battle-ready army marches on its stomach. Today's scouts are no exception, and the food prep area is more often than not the center of scout activity. For our part, we are appreciative. More than once we've been the grateful recipients of a generously shared meal (see earlier blog entitled "Bleu in the Blue Grass State"). 

We've also been wowed by the Scouts' management of logistics for the diverse exhibitry at these jamborees. In Tunica, we had a great location for our e-Tour booth at the intersection of two main pedestrian boulevards through the exhibit area. We were next to a row of livestock pens in the expansive open-air shelter, just across from the popular NASA exhibit (cool space-age ink pens and Star Trekky badges with flashing LEDs). A few steps down from us was the booth promoting "Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion." We're talking strategic placement for sure... Shaded from sun and protected from threat of rain, we had ample room for our Subaru Tribeca billboard, exhibit table, Bigfoot feet and poster, and the hordes (and we do mean hordes) of boy scouts, cubs, parents, and Council staff who visited. The crowds impressed us as being extraordinarily friendly, and time and again folks thanked us for bringing the e-Tour to the ScoutBase event.

From Tunica_ScoutBase2010

In addition to the incredibly friendly and thoughtful folks we met at Tunica and every other stop along our way, a most enduring impression stands out: the image of a small child cradled in their parent’s arms, tired and spent from a long day at the festival or jamboree, whose eyes immediately light up in a sparkle as their face is transformed by a sweet, often shy, elfin smile at the offer of a Bigfoot sticker. Now that’s the kind of pleasant and poignant sensation that we’re bound to carry with us as we travel down the road. Who knows what Leave No Trace magic our gentle Bigfoot mascot might work in the mind of a child. Safe to say, we’re confident that during our travels we’ve met innumerable outdoor ethics champions of the future.

From Tunica_ScoutBase2010

Hoping to meet them again along the way…  maybe you'll be in their good company (you could be one of those champions, too).

Peggy and Barrett

2010 Leave No Trace e-Tour

e-Word: "enlumine"

PEAKing in Nashville

From REI_Nashville

We made a stop at the REI Store in Nashville for a Wednesday evening workshop on teaching with the PEAK Pack. The turnout was pretty eclectic, and included a Boy Scout who is his troop’s new Leave No Trace leader, YMCA youth activity coordinators, an education specialist from Tennessee State Parks, a board member from the historic Traveller’s Rest Plantation, and REI employees seeking to sharpen their skills with the PEAK Pack. We find that a regimen of Step On It, How Long Does It Last, and Minimum Impact Match usually encourages active, uninhibited audience participation, and this group was definitely no exception. 

From REI_Nashville

We had great questions about approaches to teaching Leave No Trace and the choices that we face as we enjoy our outdoor experiences. These are the kind of questions that, hopefully, help us think about our personal practice of Leave No Trace ethics. The choices aren't black-and-white, and they're not always obvious or easy. Developing a sense of outdoor ethics means that we have to exercise-our-uniquely-human-capacity-for-reflective-thought. Whereas other creatures may live and die according to purely instinctive behaviors in response to environment and circumstance, we humans have the ability to make conscious choices about our actions... for better or for worse. 

From REI_Nashville

We ended the workshop with each participant using our U.S. map to locate a great park or wild place that they had visited and then to identify an equally compelling wild place that they would like to go. It’s fascinating when folks thoughtfully reflect on the memorable experiences they’ve had on our public lands, and to hear about the allure that beautiful and compelling places hold. We're hoping that those places continue to offer the same allure for our children and grandchildren. Perhaps they will, but only if we manage to make the right choices... 

Thanks go to Chuck Robinson, Outreach Specialist at the Brentwood REI Store, for coordinating our visit.

Hoping, just hoping…

Peggy and Barrett

2010 Leave No Trace e-Tour

e-Word: “exercising-our-uniquely-human-capacity-for-reflective-thought”

Bleu in the Blue Grass State

From Louisville BSA Jamboree

E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park on the eastside of Louisville, KY was the site of the big centennial rendezvous for the Blue Grass, Lincoln Heritage, and Shawnee Trails Boy Scout Councils. It was an absolutely beautiful and mild autumn weekend, so the turnout was huge and folks were in exceptionally good spirits. Estimated crowd size ranged upwards of 12,000 scout and parents. We set up our camper and Subaru at the entrance to the exhibition midway next to our event host, Dan Thompson of Troop 111 from Lexington, who is the Blue Grass Council's Outdoor Ethics Advocate. Dan created an amazing Leave No Trace maze for the troops to navigate, while we used the high profile Subaru and Coleman pop-up as the marquee for our joint Leave No Trace activity area.

It seemed that we were busy from the time that we arrived on Friday until our Sunday departure. Dan was a great host, and the event was well planned and executed. Friday night there was a warm-up concert on the main event stage, and even then we were button-holed by a number of folks who expected to be too busy with their own exhibits on Saturday to drop by our encampment.  On Saturday, our day began early as we were visited well before sunup by a scout who was eagerly reporting for volunteer duty at Dan’s maze. By first light, the array of activities in our neighborhood had begun in earnest, and from that point forward we had a steady stream of customers all day. The day was capped off with an evening of great bluegrass music that provided an accompaniment for the choreography of a 12 bag and basket hot-air balloon glow.

On the gastronomic front, Dan’s troop also shared their lunch with us on Saturday as well as a fantastic meal on Saturday night: chicken cordon bleu, brown rice, fresh snap beans, and baked raisin-cinnamon apples for dessert. Whoa! It was some good! We tried to recruit the troop’s incomparable gourmet chef, Don, to travel with us in our Coleman pop-up’s guest bedroom…

From Louisville BSA Jamboree

Hoping to see you next time we’re in the chicken cordon bleu grass state.

Peggy and Barrett

Leave No Trace e-Tour 2010

e-Word: “epicurean”

Pyrotechnics on the Platte

It was time for the Mid-America Boy Scout Council's ScoutQuest, and with our Leave No Trace Subaru and Coleman Pop-Up camper set up near the Order of the Arrow tent and the Quartermaster's station (and flush toilets) at Mahoney State Park near Omaha, Nebraska, we had a splendid weekend for talking Leave No Trace with scouts from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

From Nebraska BSA ScoutQuest

Mahoney State Park, one of the premiere state parks in Nebraska, overlooks the Platte River near its confluence with the Missouri River. We situated our pop-up along the main park road high on a hill that caught both pleasant breezes and scouts making their way back and forth from their troop's camp site to the midway. "Camp Oh-No!" served as a catalyst for discussing good/bad camping practices with cubs and experienced scouts alike. We continue to be impressed with the Boy Scouts' concerted efforts to teach and train scouts and leaders about minimum impact camping, and our Bigfoot Challenge is the perfect complement for this initiative by encouraging youth to teach each other about the practices of Leave No Trace.

It was a long and full day, and by the time the sun was setting we were ready to pack up our Bigfoot slippers and put "Camp Oh-No!" to bed. Outreach can be hard work indeed, but gratifying when you have the opportunity to reach audiences numbering in the thousands. As we took a walk on the outer loop around the park Saturday night, we listened to the ScoutQuest centennial celebration grand finale featuring a performance by the American English Beatles Band followed by a fireworks display that rocked the prairie's expansive night sky. It put an explosive finishing touch on our week in Nebraska.

From Nebraska BSA ScoutQuest

Thanks to Steve and Tommi Foy Jones for facilitating our set-up at the ScoutQuest.


Hoping to see you out enjoying the natural pyrotechnics in the night sky...


Peggy and Barrett

Leave No Trace e-Tour 2010

e-Word: "explosive"

Whooping It Up on the Platte

After the Watchable Wildlife Conference in Kearney, we visited the Iain Nicholson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon, Nebraska. Situated along the Platte River, the sanctuary is located in the heart of the sandhill crane staging area where mind-boggling numbers of birds can be viewed during their spring migrations northward. Populations of sandhill cranes in these gatherings tally in the hundreds of thousands at their riverine roosts, and the spectacle of the birds' dawn and dusk commute to feed in nearby agricultural fields and wet meadows brings in birdwatchers from around the world. Rare and endangered whooping cranes are also found among the migrating crane populations.

Director Bill Taddicken and his wife Autumn welcomed us to the Center, instructed us on current land management strategies for the Platte River ecosystem and wildlife habitat, and vividly recounted the amazing crane rendezvous and chorus. We were also intrigued by the energy conserving features of the straw bale construction system that was used in the Iain Nicholson administrative and education building. It's a great facility for learning about and witnessing a spectacular annual migration.



We look forward to the prospect of a springtime visit to the Rowe Sanctuary, and hope you'll be at the rendezvous.

Peggy + Barrett
Leave No Trace e-Tour 2010

e-Word: "endangered"